“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke
If you had asked me at our welcome reception at The Garden in late-summer 2018 if our economic development work plan would include housing development or talent recruitment (let alone both), I likely would have said ‘no.’ My response would not have been for lack of interest, but rather for not knowing then how we could contribute toward addressing either of these important challenges.
Yet here we are, less than 18 months later, involved in an important housing initiative and launching our own talent initiative within our new mission to convene, build, and show our community’s economic growth resources. These are exciting opportunities to leverage area assets and build statewide partnerships to propel our community into a new growth trajectory.
Recall from last week that we are on a journey to reach a regional population of one-million residents by 2031.These housing and talent initiatives (added to others already underway) highlight the best of what our community has to offer as a thriving Micropolitan area with a combination of education, employment, and quality of life options not found elsewhere.
Our talent initiative seeks to position Kosciusko County as a magnet to attract and retain the talent we need to keep growing our local economy. We are hanging a “help wanted!” sign for volunteers to contribute to this initiative, residents to participate in it, and companies to utilize it. We’re just getting started and look forward to seeing it develop in the weeks and months ahead.
– Alan Tio
