Big Turnout for Partnering for Progress Quarterly Investor Meeting

About 40 people attended the first Quarterly Partnering for Progress (P4P) Investors Meeting of 2010 on Friday, April 16th. The Partnering for Progress initiative, currently in its second year, is a collaboration between the Darke County Community Improvement Corporation (CIC), the Darke County Economic Development (ED) Office and almost 50 public and private investors from around the county that focuses on developmental efforts in Darke County. The event, held at the M. Sink Conference Room at Wayne Health Care in Greenville, featured a half-hour power point presentation from Economic Development Director Marc Saluk, a financial overview of the partnership from CIC Treasurer Randy Gump, and the election of two new investor representatives to the CIC board.

“I thought we had a great meeting,” said CIC President Phil Garbig, who opened the meeting with an overview of the CIC board and its recent efforts. “There was a lot of energy in the room, substantial participation from attendees and a great turn-out. It’s just another reflection of the initiative’s positive momentum. The progress of this cooperative effort bodes well for the county.”

Saluk’s presentation focused on three areas- a review of goals set forth at the last quarterly meeting in 2009, an overview of current projects and a summary of research being conducted in support of potential upcoming projects and initiatives. Two key points discussed included that the economic development office has ten current and on-going projects with Darke County businesses and that the BusinessFirst! program, a web based business retention and expansion program, would be rolled out by the CIC in support of county businesses in late May. The program will be utilized by various organizations and communities within the county at no cost to them and will be a powerful development tool for years to come. Saluk stated that there would be more announcements on BusinessFirst! and its value to the community as the roll-out date approaches.

Gump, who is also the Versailles Village Administrator, reported that four new investors had joined P4P since the last meeting in November, adding a total of over $15,000 new dollars in support of the initiative. Additionally, all existing investors had remained on-board as the initiative moved from year one to year two. Gump also reported that, despite the investment in the BusinessFirst! Program and several other long-term resources, the P4P program was still under budget for 2010.

“The initiatives financial and overall outlook continues to improve due to the investors’ efforts and contributions,” Gump commented, “The CIC and the ED office will continue to work hard to justify all of their support.”

Also at the meeting, investors elected two new investor representatives to the CIC Board for the next year. Perry Walls of Walls Brothers Asphalt and Nancy Zechar of Comprehensive Health will fill the shoes of year-one reps Wayne Deschambeau and Randy Gump. Zechar and Walls fill out a 2010 CIC board with several other new faces, including Todd Durham (Darke County Chamber of Commerce representative), Matt Kolb (Greenville Federal), and Tom Welbaum (Village of Ansonia Village Administrator). All the new board members attended the most recent CIC meeting on Wednesday April 21.

Questions regarding the quarterly investor meeting and the Partnering for Progress initiative can be directed to the Economic Development Office at 548-3250.