Economic development official shares insights on economic recovery
Even through these tough economic times, the Wayne Economic Development Council (WEDC) has been able to rack up an impressive list of accomplishments.
Through the WEDC’s leadership, 2,938 jobs, with an average wage of $17.15 per hour, have been created and $465 million in capital investments have been made in the county. And for the fifth consecutive year, the Wooster/Wayne County area has been ranked as one of the top six micropolitans in the United States.
During the March 7 meeting of Wooster City Council, Rod Crider, WEDC president, described a recent meeting with U.S. Senator Rob Portman and State Rep. Ron Amstutz when he was asked about the secret to the WEDC’s success.
“I told him that it really was the partnership that existed here between a lot of different organizations,” said Crider.
“We are a public private partnership at the WEDC. About 30 percent of our total revenues come from governments like…the county and…cities throughout the county and 70 percent of it comes from private businesses who have an interest in seeing our community grow.
“I think that partnership has been the real key to our success because everybody here is working toward the same goal. We don’t see any hidden political agendas,” said Crider. “I think that’s special about Wayne County, and if I could bottle it up and sell it to other communities we’d all make a lot of money.”
Crider’s team is looking to proven strategies to build on their success.
“We’re going to stick to our tried and true formula,” said Crider.
“We’re concentrating on working with our existing businesses first – that’s our number one priority, to help them grow and expand.
“I think you are going to see us much more involved in new business formation, working with Justine (Starlin, economic development coordinator for the city of Wooster) and Jeff (Griffin, president of the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce) and other people to get the Wooster Opportunities Fund up and going and finding some new business opportunities as it relates to new business growth,” said Crider.
The WEDC team is also looking at new innovative approaches to economic development.
“We think that in the future the economic gardening model of growing your own business is probably going to be more substantial in terms of its return to the community than traditional business attraction efforts. We don’t want to give that up because there are always companies looking to relocate for a lot of different reasons and I think we have to continue to promote what we have to offer here,” said Crider.
“We have a very compelling story to tell, but I think that we’ll be focusing much more on trying to form new businesses like ABS Materials, quasar energies and companies like that, that we have seen recently who have evolved from a small idea into some pretty significant businesses.”
Crider is often asked what the mood is in the business community about the state of the economic recovery.
“What people are telling us right now is there are signs. Nobody is really excited about the growth that is occurring, but there is growth that is happening,” said Crider.
“Right now I think there is still some uncertainty about the economy and people are a little bit cautious yet.
“But even given that, people are telling us that they are seeing more orders coming into their businesses and they are growing, not to the level they were in 2007 - which for many people were record years - but they are approaching those numbers again and I think they feel comfortable with that,” Crider added.
Through the WEDC’s leadership, 2,938 jobs, with an average wage of $17.15 per hour, have been created and $465 million in capital investments have been made in the county. And for the fifth consecutive year, the Wooster/Wayne County area has been ranked as one of the top six micropolitans in the United States.
During the March 7 meeting of Wooster City Council, Rod Crider, WEDC president, described a recent meeting with U.S. Senator Rob Portman and State Rep. Ron Amstutz when he was asked about the secret to the WEDC’s success.
“I told him that it really was the partnership that existed here between a lot of different organizations,” said Crider.
“We are a public private partnership at the WEDC. About 30 percent of our total revenues come from governments like…the county and…cities throughout the county and 70 percent of it comes from private businesses who have an interest in seeing our community grow.
“I think that partnership has been the real key to our success because everybody here is working toward the same goal. We don’t see any hidden political agendas,” said Crider. “I think that’s special about Wayne County, and if I could bottle it up and sell it to other communities we’d all make a lot of money.”
Crider’s team is looking to proven strategies to build on their success.
“We’re going to stick to our tried and true formula,” said Crider.
“We’re concentrating on working with our existing businesses first – that’s our number one priority, to help them grow and expand.
“I think you are going to see us much more involved in new business formation, working with Justine (Starlin, economic development coordinator for the city of Wooster) and Jeff (Griffin, president of the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce) and other people to get the Wooster Opportunities Fund up and going and finding some new business opportunities as it relates to new business growth,” said Crider.
The WEDC team is also looking at new innovative approaches to economic development.
“We think that in the future the economic gardening model of growing your own business is probably going to be more substantial in terms of its return to the community than traditional business attraction efforts. We don’t want to give that up because there are always companies looking to relocate for a lot of different reasons and I think we have to continue to promote what we have to offer here,” said Crider.
“We have a very compelling story to tell, but I think that we’ll be focusing much more on trying to form new businesses like ABS Materials, quasar energies and companies like that, that we have seen recently who have evolved from a small idea into some pretty significant businesses.”
Crider is often asked what the mood is in the business community about the state of the economic recovery.
“What people are telling us right now is there are signs. Nobody is really excited about the growth that is occurring, but there is growth that is happening,” said Crider.
“Right now I think there is still some uncertainty about the economy and people are a little bit cautious yet.
“But even given that, people are telling us that they are seeing more orders coming into their businesses and they are growing, not to the level they were in 2007 - which for many people were record years - but they are approaching those numbers again and I think they feel comfortable with that,” Crider added.
Published: March 15, 2011
