During my internship, I have frequently been asked, “What is economic development? and “What is it we do at KEDCo?” The truth is that I have seen, firsthand, how the KEDCo team is working hard to reframe the answer.
Economic development happens when people have different ideas under the same goal: to make things better than “good enough.” Sometimes that means creating. Sometimes it’s enhancing. Sometimes it’s redeveloping. But, the liquidity is what fosters development; keeping ideas in a state of adaptability eliminates the possibility of limitations.
“Good enough” should never be good enough, no project is ever really done, and ideas should never have limits. For example, projects like a business park focused on agribusiness, one of the biggest sectors in the county, redeveloping older parts of Warsaw to repurpose the land, buildings and locations, or developing KEDCo consulting services, like talent requirement with TMAP, are projects that could make the county better than “good enough.”
I haven’t learned a set definition of what we do at KEDCo, but I have learned that purposefulness is what that turns change into growth. My favorite thing about the work we do is the personality that comes through with each project. If we’re meeting with a new business and asking them to locate here, meeting with an existing business and opening a door for partnership, or meeting with people for redevelopment projects, the work we do has personality; it has real optimism.
– Allison Minier
