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Commissioners
Corner...
Wrapping
up 2011: A better position
than most
October 29, 2011
October
is here, along with falling
leaves, harvesting, and cool Friday nights for High School Football. Autumn in Darke County is
truly one of the
prettiest times of the year. With
the
year nearing its close, everyone will be getting ready for Halloween,
then
Thanksgiving, and finally Christmas, and wrapping things up for the
year.
We
in the Commissioners office are
winding things down for the year also.
This
month begins the yearly
appropriations for all county offices.
Carol Ginn, the County Auditor, and her staff
have been preparing the
appropriations, and we will be meeting with the department heads
shortly. We are
keeping our fingers crossed, as it
looks like we should be able to keep the budget that we sent to the
Budget
Commission in July. Thanks
to all
department heads for diligently keeping their offices on budget and
helping us
through this really tough economic stretch.
We can tell the people of Darke County this,
we are in a better position
than most other counties. Our
department
heads, their staffs, and the Commissioners office have worked together
for the
last several years, and that has allowed us to suffer less than most
other
counties. Please be
sure to thank your
department heads and their people for all they have done to get us
through this
difficult time.
John
Cook, our very capable business
manager, has informed us that our county health insurance rate for next
year
has actually dropped 4 tenths of a percent!
We have been working hard to maximize our
dollars, and because of our
efforts our insurer, CEBCO (County Employee Benefits Consortium of
Ohio) has
seen fit to lower our premium a little.
We are one of 5 counties in the state whose
rate was below a 4.9%
increase. A
decrease in premiums for
insurance is almost unheard of. Thanks to John and all the employees
who
continue to work hard and lead a healthier lifestyle to keep our
premiums
manageable.
On
the economic development front,
things are still progressing very well in the County.
Marc Saluk, the Economic Development
Director, continues to keep us on a positive roll.
Marc is currently working with several
companies on expansion, and a few new companies that are exploring our
County. On
October 19th, Our Partnering
4 Progress group met at Family Health Services for our monthly meeting.
Partnering 4 Progress (P4P) is a collaborative effort between the
public,
private, and individuals to promote economic growth. Matt Kolb, the
treasurer
of the group, presented the group with these numbers: Total partner
investment
has been approximately $638,000. The
approximate yields on this investment are:
New Capital Investment- $23,950,000 (a 37.5%
return for every $1
invested)- Annual Payroll(retained/created) $19,178,000 (a $30 to $1
return) –
and State/Federal funds secured was $18,725,000 (a $29.4 dollar to $1
ratio).
The
best number of all though is in
the jobs area. So
far P4P has assisted
in the creation or retention of 525 jobs.
The Commissioners and Partnering 4 Progress
will continue to
aggressively promote our local businesses, help with expansion, and
seek new
business at every opportunity. One
County business that needs to be recognized is Dynamic Weld of Osgood. They were recently awarded
the “Supplier of
the Year” for Honda. Dynamic Weld makes custom material handling and
returnable
shipping containers and have been in business since 1981, employing
about 35
people. Dynamic
Weld has been named
Partnering for Progresses “Business of the Quarter”.
Congratulations to Harry Heitkamp and Gene
Neikamp, the owners, for this excellent achievement.
We hope they continue to grow and prosper.
The
Darke County Commissioners hold
public meetings every Monday and Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. at the
Commissioners
office located at 520 South Broadway, just south of the Courthouse. Everyone is always
welcome, and we hope to
see you there!
The
Darke County Commissioners
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