Greene County Development Corporation is striking up a new partnership and the head of the board could not be happier.

GCDC President Scott Weber says earlier this month, their board voted unanimously to be with the Ames Regional Economic Alliance (AREA). He tells Raccoon Valley Radio this was not a decision that the board took lightly, as he explains one of his mantras as President is to allow every one of their over 30 member board to have a voice and share their thoughts.

“And we accomplished that. And it’s been a month and a half of a lot of work by everybody, and a lot of meetings, Zooms, phone calls, (and) in person meetings. And if you were at that meeting where we invited AREA to come talk to us, we had a packed house, which was really exciting to see. Because it showed that people truly do care about this, and the direction it’s going, and also showed the excitement for our organization.”  

Weber highlights that AREA has an 18 member staff, each with their own specialties, but that they chose to include housing and workforce as the additional services. He notes that workforce will be with employers in the county, recruit new employees, make connections at community colleges, among other responsibilities. Weber points out that AREA will also help with their Business, Retention and Expansion modeling, use contacts with the Governor’s Office and Iowa Economic Development Authority, along with having expertise with website development and social media.

“So, you’re going to see a lot more communication come out of our organization just from those, and they do newsletters, and host events, and it’s just going to be a whole host of things. You’re going to see more out of GCDC in the next three to six months than we’ve probably seen in quite some time and so I’m excited for that.”  

Weber adds that the GCDC Board will remain as the local entity, the new director is an AREA staff member with Greg Piklapp, who is a former Boone City Council member, and he is already transitioning into the position, and is looking forward to attending all city council meetings, County Board of Supervisors meetings, and other community events and programs.