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Current Client Communities
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Barrow County, GA
Boise, ID
Bossier City, LA
Brewton, AL
Cedar Rapids, IA
Clarksville, TN
Columbia, TN
Cookeville, TN
Irving, TX
Joplin, MO
Missoula, MT
Pensacola, FL
Pittsboro, NC
Stillwater, OK
Tacoma, WA
Winnipeg, MB
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NCDS clients create their own recovery act
March 2010
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Chambers of Commerce and EDCs across America (and even Canada) are leading their communities' efforts to dampen the downturn, prepare for the recovery, and take control of their economic futures. Increased funding is a key ingredient in these strategies. This month's newsletter features three communities that just finished raising impressive dollar amounts to fuel their efforts.
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Grow Greater Dalton
In late 2008, Dalton - Whitfield County, Georgia's unemployment rate was among the highest in the nation. With the economy, especially the housing market, in a nosedive, the outlook for "The Carpet Capital of the World" was bleak. Faced with this realty, community leaders came together to find solutions and answers to the biggest threat their community had faced in decades. Armed with an economic development strategic plan that had been completed during better times - but never implemented - the Dalton Whitfield Chamber of Commerce, led by Brian Anderson, President & CEO, and the Economic Development Authority were determined to reverse the complacency that had taken root during years of prosperity.
NCDS was brought in to test the community's desire for, and willingness to fund, the Grow Greater Dalton Initiative, an aggressive plan to diversify the economic base and increase the capacity for economic development. Despite the economy's impact on their businesses, the leaders and stakeholders knew they could not just sit back and do nothing. A green light was given for a campaign to raise $4.5 million over four years - an ambitious goal, even in good times, for a county with 94,000 residents. The campaign was launched in February 2009. By Thanksgiving, NCDS Project Director Les Hough had secured over $6.1 million in four-year commitments - 35% over the original goal! We salute and congratulate Brian, his staff, and the exceptional leadership of Dalton and Whitfield County.
Click these links for an overview of the program and for a compelling editorial, written by a former volunteer chair of the Chamber, and published in the local paper shortly after the campaign's public kickoff in July.
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Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative
Joplin, located in Southwest Missouri is a town of around 50,000 residents whose daytime population swells to over 250,000 because it is the economic hub of a region that includes parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Because of its diversified economy (including health care, manufacturing, and strong retail), low costs, and high quality of life, it has been a "steady" economy with no real booms or busts. Even though it has fared better than most places in the current downturn, its leaders recognize the need for people, programs, and resources focused on retaining, growing, and attracting jobs and opportunities.
Rob O'Brian (pictured at left above with NCDS' Dennis Fuhrhop) heads the Joplin Area Chamber, the Joplin Business and Industrial Development Corporation, and the Joseph Newman Innovation Center. His tenure and track record have earned him respect and appreciation from Joplin's public and private stakeholders, and he enjoys a high degree of trust from his volunteer board members. But when he began thinking in late 2008 about renewing funding for his multi-year economic development program, he was uncertain whether the community would provide additional financial resources to support a more robust plan, with a broader regional focus. He also suspected that his leaders might resist, or even resent, bringing in an "outsider" to raise money. But after one of his top volunteer fundraisers signaled he would be open to professional counsel, Rob put out an RFP.
In February 2009, NCDS helped craft a comprehensive strategy that would provide resources to all three of the affiliate organizations, and invite participation from some of the smaller, rural jurisdictions in the four-state region. A five-year budget / campaign goal of $3.5 million was establishedfor the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative, representing an increase of over $1 million from the previous five-year program. NCDS' Dennis Fuhrhop completed our nine-month campaign in January, with over $3.7 million in written commitments. Rob and his leaders anticipate the total will exceed $4 million, providing an additional $100,000 per year to the original budget. Dennis credits strong campaign leadership for his success, especially campaign chairman Bill Gipson, President & CEO of Empire District Electric Company. We know Rob and his staff will do great things for the region with these resources. Read more about the program here.
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Coffee County GA: LEaP
Douglas - Coffee County, GA is often called the model for rural economic development. With a population of only 40,000 and a rural location in South Georgia far from a major metro and no direct interstate access, it would appear to be a "have not" in the competition for jobs and investment. On the contrary, this community has prospered from a legacy of committed leaders, close relationships with State officials, sound strategies, and public investments in infrastructure. But future growth and development is now hindered by a limited supply of industrial land and buildings, and workforce challenges. JoAnne Lewis, President of the Douglas-Coffee County Chamber and Economic Development Authority is an accomplished professional with a proven record of success in bringing projects and jobs to Coffee County, but she knows future wins will be hard to come by unless these two key issues are addressed.
The LEaP into the future! program (Leadership, Excellence and Progress) is her solution for her community. It's a bold, but straightforward strategy: secure "seed capital" from the community's private sector that will leverage additional monies from local, state, and federal programs to acquire industrial land, create shovel-ready infrastructure, and educate and train the current and future workforce.
NCDS is proud to have partnered with such a dynamic leader to convince her supporters and community that the strategy was not only necessary, but also achievable. Private money had never been required to the degree that it is now, and leaders were skeptical about their small town's capacity to make major investments, especially in a down economy. But NCDS project director Wayne Burns demonstrated the effectiveness of our proven process, raising over $2 million in four-year commitments.Those private dollars will be leveraged to secure another $18 million in state, federal, and local funds and to launch future "economic engine" projects. As noted in the LEaP materials, "Private sector funds serve two purposes: (1) the private sector funds demonstrate to state and federal elected officials that a pro-business community is committed to its own economic survival; (2) the private sector understands that its investment will stand as leverage to gain other funds for economic development projects."
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