Darke Among Top Area Counties in Development Projects

County companies, development efforts acknowledged at the regional level

The Dayton Development Coalition (DDC) presented
this power point slide to an audience of a thousand
recently in Dayton. Dot size on the slide is commensurate
with number of company projects advanced in conjunction
with local economic development efforts. Among DDC
partners, few had as many such projects as Darke.

DARKE COUNTY- According to state and regional data, Darke County companies were among the most aggressive in the Dayton region in 2011 in terms of the planning and implementing of local expansion projects. Furthermore, those companies partnered with local and state economic development organizations more consistently than in most area counties.

Recent information released by the Dayton Development Coalition, the regional economic development partnership of which Darke County is a member, shows that Darke had as many company projects brought to the state in cooperation with local development organizations as any county in the region.

“What’s been happening in Darke County is significant in several ways,” explained Marty Hohenberger, VP of Business Development for the Dayton Development Coalition. “Most importantly, there have been a significant number of companies recently with projects that have created or retained jobs. But it’s also significant that those companies have had strong relationships with county development personnel and the confidence to partner with them on these projects. Private-public collaboration in Darke County right now is one of the many strengths of our region.”

According to the Darke County Economic Development Office, the county’s Partnering for Progress (P4P) Initiative has helped leverage almost $19 million in state and federal funding for local business in the past two years, which has greatly assisted company projects. These projects have retained or created approximately 650 county jobs during that time span. According to Economic Development Director Marc Saluk, the numbers are disproportionately large for a county of Darke’s size.

“As the country came out of the recession, Darke County had companies that were ready to grow and expand before other counties in the Dayton region,” he explained. “The timing was perfect as county leaders had just finished putting the partnership together at about this time. The impact of the partnership working with these companies as they have sought new opportunities has been significant.”

Saluk also adds that the county’s exposure during this period of growth has also been helped because many of the local projects have been brought foreword by big names. Whirlpool and The FRAMGroup are just two examples Saluk cites of companies that the partnership has collaborated with recently on high-profile projects. He said that there does not appear to be any slow down on the horizon.

“We are still finding plenty of companies with plenty of aggressive growth projects in development. It’s actually rare that we visit a company that doesn’t have these plans at some phase of development,” commented Saluk. “Obviously, we will continue to lend whatever assistance we can to these efforts. But, either way, the county’s future looks bright so long as we continue to support the efforts of the businesses that we are lucky enough to have here”