[share]Dear Partner in Economic Development,
Economic development is not an endeavor of a single person or single organization. Successful economic development is a collaborative and aggressive process. That’s why GREDF places a high value on partnerships and welcomes the opportunity to work with businesses and organizations like yours for the good of our region.
2013 has been a transitional year for our organization. The staff and I, with the support and direction of our board, have been hard at work developing a strategic plan and 2014 work plan. We’re not quite ready to share the entire plans yet (you’ll have to wait until our Annual Meeting on January 8, 2014), but here are the highlights:
- Business Retention and Expansion – Conducting regular visits with our area businesses to help identify opportunities and threats is key to our region’s overall economic growth.
- Workforce Development – We must work with our businesses and educational institutions to ensure existing and new businesses alike will have the qualified workforce they require to grow.
- Business Attraction – We’ve already begun to promote our region to prospective businesses and site consultants and we’ll continue to do this on a greater scale in 2014.
- Marketing and Branding – It’s important that we communicate a clear and concise Quincy and Adams County brand to potential investors and businesses.
- Entrepreneurship – Providing assistance to individuals and small business owners helps grow our economy.
- Membership – This is where you come in. We need income in order to maintain a qualified staff and provide exceptional economic development services.
If you haven’t done so already, please consider becoming a GREDF member or renewing your GREDF membership today. Although we receive funds from both the City and County to carry out economic development activities on behalf of both, half of GREDF’s budget comes from private members like you. You are an essential part of our economic development program. You care about the Quincy and Adams County area, so we’re asking you to invest in our efforts. We think you’ll like the return.
I look forward to getting to know you better in 2014. Our door is always open at GREDF and we welcome the opportunity to work with you more closely, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of service.
Sincerely,
Marcel
Marcel W. Wagner, Jr., CEcD
P.S. Just click on the Become a GREDF Member graphic above to download a pdf of our current membership investment form.