Tuesday, June 15, 2010

EDC developing New Strategic Plan, seeking Public Input

The board of directors and staff of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation are setting priorities and objectives for the region’s economic development strategy. The EDC is holding several sessions to receive input from, investors, stakeholders, and the general public throughout June and July.

A public meeting will be held on June 28 at 7:00 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at OCTC. EDC Strategic Planning materials are available at the following link.  An additional public meeting will be held in July in coordination with the Region of Opportunity Team (ROOT).

The current EDC Strategic Plan, adopted in 2006, significantly broadened the scope of work of the organization.   The 2006-2010 plan focused heavily on nurturing and helping existing companies grow and remain competitive in the region.  The plan also created infrastructure to support the growth of high tech companies, including state funding for the Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation, a seed capital fund and a business incubator, the Center for Business and Research, which will open this year.

"The primary accomplishment of our plan of work over the past five years has been to add significant amounts of infrastructure to make Owensboro more competitive," said EDC Board Chair Darrell Higginbotham.  "Moving ahead over the next five years, we hope to capitalize on the infrastructure with new private investment."

EDC President/ CEO Nick Brake said the plan has also positioned Owensboro to be successful in marketing to expanding companies.  Lead generation has increased 80 percent due to enhanced web presence and marketing activities with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and Kentucky United, an organization that promotes all regions of Kentucky to prospective companies.

With the new strategic plan the EDC will look to build on the development of existing clusters of industries in the region such as aluminum, food processing, transportation and logistics, and plant pharmaceuticals.

"From the revitalization of downtown to our support for existing industries and entrepreneurs, we definitely have gotten the attention of people statewide and nationally about all the development happening in Owensoboro," said Brake.

The new EDC Strategic Plan is expected to be in place by September.

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