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The Board of Directors and Staff of the
Great River Economic Development Foundation

Invite you to attend our
2014 Annual Meeting

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Oakley-Lindsay Center
300 Civic Center Plaza, Quincy, Illinois

Cash Bar 5:00 p.m.
Program 5:45 p.m.

No charge to attend. No RSVP required.

The Great River Economic Development Foundation’s 2014 Annual Meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 8^th in Kent Hall at the Oakley-Lindsay Center, 300 Civic Center Plaza in Quincy. Doors open and a cash bar will be available at 5:00 p.m. with the meeting beginning at 5:45 p.m.

No RSVP is required and there is no charge to attend the meeting. Members of the business community and the general public are encouraged to attend.

Current Chairman of the GREDF Board, Tim Finlay, will give the 2014 Annual Meeting presentation which includes highlights from the past year. This year’s theme is “Growing from here”. GREDF president Marcel Wagner, Jr. will share highlights of GREDF’s new Strategic Plan which was adopted by the Board of Directors at their December meeting.

“What you’ll hear from Marcel during his remarks is that GREDF has a plan and we are committed to executing this plan,” says Finlay. “For our city, county and region to grow, we need to be aggressive in our economic development efforts and we need to have focused goals.”

“Our Strategic Plan will serve as a blueprint for Board policy decisions and guide the activities of the staff over the next three years,” says Wagner. “We’re thankful for the members of the Strategic Planning Committee and the work they and the staff have done to develop the goals, strategies and measurements of our economic development activities. Now the real work begins.”

Additional speakers for the evening include Mayor Kyle Moore and Les Post, Chairman of the Adams County Board. Dan Henke, incoming Chairman of the GREDF Board of Directors, will recognize outgoing board members Connie Schroeder and Ken Sparrow, Jr. Ms. Schroeder is a former Chairman of the GREDF Board and Mr. Sparrow is a former Treasurer.

Henke will also introduce the newest members of the GREDF Board of Directors which include:

• Dr. Robert Gervasi, Quincy University
• Mr. Dave Hetzler, Jr., Gardner Denver
• Ms. Maureen Kahn, Blessing Hospital
• Ms. Carol Lewis, Quincy Medical Group
• Mr. Harry Marcionetti, The Knapheide Manufacturing Company
• Mr. Nick Rinella, The Rinella Company

The Great River Economic Development Foundation exists to maintain and improve the economic vitality of the Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, region through the retention and expansion of existing businesses and the attraction of new businesses to our entire region. For more information, call 217.223.4313.

[share]Community leaders and stakeholders are making progress on developing a shared vision for workforce development in the Adams County region. You may recall that in April of this year, more than 40 area leaders gathered to discuss workforce issues and create a platform for continued collaboration. Much work has been done since that time to move this agenda forward.

Several key issues were identified during the April meeting, and three teams have been established to address the most critical of those issues.

• Career Guidance Team: working with businesses to convey to individuals the career opportunities and earning potential available in the Adams County region
• Work Readiness Team: helping individuals understand what qualities they will need to be successful, productive employees and citizens
• Succession Planning Team: ensuring that as workers retire, the knowledge of those retirees stays with local companies and within the community

All three groups have met and are in the process of developing missions and goals specific to their area of workforce development. (The goal is to tie work of all the teams together into one comprehensive plan with measurable short and long-term objectives.)

This Adams County workforce initiative is being guided by a steering committee consisting of representatives from theWorkforce Investment Board of Western Illinois, John Wood Community College, United Way of Adams County, Quincy University, West Central Region Education for Employment System #240, Quincy Public Schools, Vatterott College andGREDF.

If you would like to get involved in one of the workforce teams, please contact Megan Backs at 217.223.4313 or meganb@gredf.org.