SCEDC celebrating victories
New website, development honor announced at annual meeting
By ANDREA GIBSON
SCEDC
FREMONT – Sandusky County was ranked among the best nationally based on number of business development projects. The honor was announced by the Sandusky County Economic Development Corp., a non-profit organization that focuses on business retention and expansion, business recruitment and workforce development for Sandusky County. A national economic development publication, Site Selection magazine, recently announced their Annual Governors Cup Rankings and that of the 5,000+ micropolitans in the nation, Fremont-Sandusky County has been recognized as one of the top 20 micropolitan regions in the country for business investment and expansion. Fremont-Sandusky County was the 14th ranking, up five spots from last year when Fremont-Sandusky County was the 19th ranking for this prestigious award. In 2019, Sandusky County had a total of 48 projects and $183M in Capital Investment, resulting in 1,811 retained and 262 new jobs. Out of those projects, nine of them qualified for the Governor’s Cup.
The U.S. Census Bureau defines a micropolitan community as a “rural county whose largest city does not exceed a population of 50,000.” Site Selection magazine’s standard for a qualified project is a project with a dollar investment greater than $1 million for building and equipment, square footage of at least 20,000 in new/expanding construction or the addition of 50 new jobs. To be eligible, the project must be in one of the following sectors: Manufacturing, Distribution, Data Center or R&D facility. Fremont-Sandusky County places in the top 20 percent of micropolitan communities nationwide.
Beth Hannam presents outgoing board member Tom Kern with an award for his 23 years of service to the SCEDC Board of Directors.“Sandusky County has a lot of momentum right now and the EDC is excited to be a part of it. 2019 had a number of projects that qualified for the Governor’s Cup, including ABC Inoac, CDSF, Crown Battery, Evergreen Plastics, Goodwill Industries in Bellevue, Quality Steel, Revere Plastics, Total Distribution, Tower Automotive and Whirlpool,” said Beth Hannam, Executive Director of the SCEDC. “The Governor’s Cup Awards are bar none, the most prestigious awards in economic development and is such an honor to be ranked so highly.”
Not only will the Governor’s Cup Award draw the attention of C-level corporates and site selectors but the SCEDC has made huge changes to their current website to draw more attention to Sandusky County from those C-level corporates and site selectors ready to start or expand their business and looking for the perfect business friendly location.
SCEDC announcement of website launch.In 2019 the SCEDC’s Business Attraction and Marketing committee’s focus was to update the SCEDC’s website so it is easily accessible to site selectors.
“We know that websites are the first thing site selectors and companies look at, before they even make a phone call to an organization, so we wanted to make a good first impression,” said Hannam. “Site Selectors now have access to utility information, market access and transportation, incentives, Sandusky County data, Labor Market Information, and the tax structure, business climate of our county, and much more right at their fingertips on the brand new SCEDC website.”
The SCEDC website was launched publicly at their 2020 Annual Meeting of Investors on Thursday, Feb. 27, with more than 140 investors and community members in attendance.
The SCEDC would also like to announce its new officers and members of the Board of Directors.
Hans Rosebrock, First Energy and 2020 Board President presents an award to Wade Weaver, Martin Marietta and outgoing EDC Board President.2020 SCEDC Officers
President – Hans Rosebrock, First Energy; 1st V-President – Kendall Rieman, Croghan Colonial Bank; 2nd V-President – Jim Weiss, ProMedica; Treasurer – Jeff Geary, First National Bank; Secretary – Bruce Schrader, Clyde Tool & Die, Inc.; Past President – Wade Weaver, Martin Marietta Magnesia Specialties
Re-elected to a three-year term as SCEDC Board of Directors: Rachel Wynkoop, Chamber of Commerce of Sandusky County; Phil Rudolph, Jr., Rudolph-Libbe; Bob Gross, City of Fremont; Bruce Schrader, Clyde Tool & Die; Wade Weaver, Martin Marietta Magnesia Specialties; Dr. Ron Schumacher, Terra State Community College;
Elected to a new three-year term as SCEDC Board of Directors: Bruce Boyce, ABC Inoac
The SCEDC recognized Tom Kern for serving on the board from 1996 – 2019 and thank him for his 23 years of service to the SCEDC Board of Directors. Wade Weaver was also recognized for serving as the SCEDC President from 2017-2019.
Jim Walton, Brand Acceleration was the keynote speaker for the Annual Meeting.The Keynote speaker for the annual meeting was Jim Walton with Brand Acceleration spoke on the topic of workforce development, retention and attraction. With more than three decades of experience, Walton is widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading experts in economic development marketing. A powerful ally for economic development professionals, Walton is regularly invited to share his knowledge about community branding and location marketing at conferences and meetings. Audiences appreciate the practical, actionable advice he delivers.
The entire article about the top micropolitans is available by visiting siteselection.com. For information about locating or expanding in Sandusky County, contact the office of Sandusky County Economic Development Corporation at 419-332-2882, email director@sanduskycountyedc.org or visit sanduskycountyedc.org.
Andrea Gibson is communications and project Administrator of SCEDC, 2511 Countryside Dr., Suite C, Fremont, 419-332-2882.
