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Praise for
Midmark, Darke County’s Growth Highlight P4P Meeting
Dayton Development Coalition CEO discusses county’s role in regional
economy and praises local companies for expansion efforts
“Darke County has
had some big wins in the past 18 months...”
VERSAILLES - The third Partnering for Progress Investor meeting of 2012
presented economic development to attendees from a different
perspective than normal at last Friday’s meeting. About 85 people from
Darke County’s business community attended the event at The Stillwater
Valley Golf Club in order to hear a number of speakers, including Jeff
Hoagland, President & CEO of The Dayton Development Coalition
(DDC). Presenters also covered Midmark’s recent growth and the
county’s growing workforce development initiative.
“Darke County has had some big wins in the past 18 months and has been
a major contributor to the regional economy,” stated Hoagland as he
addressed job creation and retention numbers for the Dayton region.
To back his case, Hoagland stated that Partnering for Progress had
assisted local companies create and retain over 650 jobs since the
beginning of 2011, mostly in the higher paying manufacturing sector.
Throughout the Coalition’s 14-county region, development organizations
helped companies create over 2,600 positions. According to
Hoagland, the DDC hopes that much of future job growth will come from
four core industries on which the organization will focus its support:
aerospace, advanced materials, IT, and biosciences. Locally, the
DDC expects much of Darke County’s growth to come in healthcare,
wholesale trades, transportation, plastics, and chemicals.
Midmark VP Karl Weidner led the meeting off by giving an overview of
Midmark’s recently announced project, which will see manufacturing
space at its Versailles campus expand by about 100,000 square
feet. P4P assisted this project in securing almost $3 million in
state incentives, including tax credits and economic development grant
funding. Weidner also provided an overview of the company’s
products and discussed Midmark’s global reach.
Midmark COO Greg Blackmore accepted the Darke County CIC’s Business of
the Quarter Award, given for outstanding contribution to the
community. The honor was followed by Rep. Jim Buchy (R-District
77) presenting commendation from the Ohio House for recognition
recently received by Midmark for a new and improved sleep apnea device.
Buchy stated that the county was “blessed” by having a company with the
reputation of Midmark within its borders and described the business as
“innovative and growing”.
The meeting concluded with Economic Development Director Marc Saluk
giving an overview of Darke County’s emerging workforce development
initiative, stating that the focus on workforce will remain for years
to come.
“Workforce development is Partnering for Progress’s number one priority
and it’s hard to imagine a year any time soon where that will not be
the case,” stated Saluk. “We need to listen to our companies and help
develop solutions that will ensure business and industry has the
workforce here they need to continue to grow and expand”
With one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region and the
continued growth of its major companies, Saluk stated that making
educational opportunities available for the existing workforce was
pivotal and said that input from area companies will drive development
of that curriculum. The initiative will also focus on better
preparing local students for the needs of the local business community
and on securing funding to help train the underemployed and
under-skilled population.
Partnering for Progress is Darke County’s collaborative public/private
economic development campaign. It is comprised of over 70 businesses,
governmental entities, development organizations, and individual
contributors and is managed by the Darke County CIC and the Economic
Development Office. Questions can be directed to Economic Development
Director Marc Saluk at 937-548-3250. The last P4P quarterly
meeting of the year will be in October at Whirlpool.
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