Dear Alliance Stakeholders, Chamber Members and Partners,

Thank you Steve, and thank all of you for being here to "connect" with The Alliance.

When the Alliance was formed over 2 years ago, our community was embarking in a transformation of our traditional model. A national recession, changes in our key employment sector and our community being listed as a "dying city". The leadership in local government, higher education, small & larger employers, health care and community partners concluded that the "City of Firsts" needed to set the standard for economic development and recovery.

This vision became The Alliance, led by collaborative partners, to break the mold and bring new strategies and programs to Kokomo and Howard County. The Alliance focus is on 3 key areas: Chamber Existing Business Services, Quality of Place and Economic Development.

The first order of business was to "set the table" for our community to re-tool our collaborative efforts, put the appropriate structure in place to carry the strategies out, and leverage our assets to be successful in "connecting" our community for tomorrow's economy.

In the little over 2 years of the formation of The Alliance, we have been successful in carrying out these initiatives with guidance and support from our partners and stakeholders. Although time does not permit me to report many of the outputs of success, I do want to highlight some. 

• The Alliance has led and partnered to re-develop our urban area
•  New Riverfront District & first Tax Increment Financing District
•  Leading beautification and stimulating downtown events
• 13 new businesses locating in our downtown

• Inventrek Technology Park
•  9 incubating companies
•  4 graduates operating in Kokomo
• Nearly 100 total jobs created

• Formation of Neupath, a partnership venture providing contract engineering expertise to the private sector with over 400 people in our data base

• Launched the only public CAD Lab in the country, allowing existing business & entrepreneurs to use sophisticated and expensive software to develop to products and services

• We held the first regional Business 2 Business Expo and Candidate Forum, connecting our stakeholders to regional business and future government leadership

• Launched Chamber University, a collaborative business education program to provide topics of interest to our Stakeholders from experts

• Launched our comprehensive website, bringing information to multiple audiences on the assets, opportunities and programs available in our community to 1 platform

• Developed first Supply Chain program with Purdue, allowing us to showcase our proficiencies to the world through our website

• Developed first IEDC designated "Shovel Ready" site, allowing us to market the property through new and key channels

• Secured over $500,000 in grant funding injected into our community

• And of course the jobs and investment, leading the business development effort which has resulted in nearly 1,000 new job commitments and over $1.5 Billion in new investment

Lastly, the strategies resulted in the fullest pipeline of prospects we have ever had with the goal of securing the new jobs and investment. But we are not done. Moving forward, our community can expect new tools and strategies that will continue to move us forward.

We are developing an International Strategy to build partnerships to encourage international investment and partnerships. The Alliance will continue to expose our assets and success to the national marketplace, adding Medical Device to our targeted industry focus for new business attraction.

Partnering with the City of Kokomo on the "message" of building our residential base.

Bringing new opportunities to our community programs for existing business and events, such as the Great Connect.

Developing the strategies and opportunities that the new US 31 Expressway will present to our community.

More regional collaboration, partnering to bring more opportunities that impact our community.

These successes and continued efforts moving forward can only be achieved with the support, guidance and engagement of our Stakeholders. The Alliance model is unique, our funding is made up of 24% local government, 42% private sector, and the balance from earned income and grants. This is non-traditional in our industry where typically over 50% comes from the public sector.

I personally want to thank the leadership of our major employers. Haynes International, Delphi, Chrysler and GM Components Holdings have been instrumental in the stabilization and vision for future growth.

The Alliance is committed to executing the over 75 programs and initiatives that our Board and Councils each year, and we thank them for their engagement. We also appreciate the hundreds of volunteers, strategic partners, and especially our Stakeholders who are critical to the success of our annual work plan and long term strategic goals.

Thank you all for being here and being a part of getting Greater Kokomo Connected!

President & Ceo