Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal — Economic Development — January 25 - February 7, 2013 — 25A
www.marejournal.com
E conomic D evelopment
By Jon Scott, Greater Reading Economic Partnership Evolving into something greater
M
ore than ten years ago Berks Economic Partnership BEP)
projects over the past ten years have included: • Cambridge-Lee Industries • CrossRoads Beverage • Dollar General Distribution Center • PetSmart Distribution Center • Minus Nine Technologies • SunRich Fresh Foods • TAB Industries We, like every community and city, have issues and prob- lems that must be dealt with and resolved. But we choose to focus our time and energy even more upon all of the things that we can do. The next ten years is our
opportunity to work even harder together; to build the momentum to help more people in our region do more than they ever thought was possible. Economic development and job growth are the keys to prosperity and provide the foundation and framework for our community. All of us at Greater Reading Economic Partnership are looking for- ward to what the ten years will hold. Jon Scott, president and CEOof the Greater Reading Economic Partnership. n
n o w t h e GreaterRead- ing Economic Partnership GREP) was c h a r t e r e d with the fol- lowing mis- sion: “to at- tract, retain
Economic development and job growth are the keys to prosperity and provide the foundation and framework for our community. All of us at Greater Reading Economic Partnership are looking forward to what the ten years will hold.
Jon Scott
and grow jobs by vigorously promoting, fostering and co- ordinating economic develop- ment in Greater Reading.” Prior to 2002, the Greater Reading region did not have an organization marketing the area for economic development purposes; there was no central focus upon job growth; and there was not a unified eco- nomic development plan or set of priorities for our region. The business of economic development is unique in many ways, and the past ten years have been an amazing journey. Every single prospect and proj- ect takes on a life of its own: they become huge, emotional roller-coaster rides where in many instances numerous fac- tors are not in either our direct or indirect control. And it is those projects that translate into jobs. In the past ten years, GREP has made over 5,500 connec- tions, which resulted in more than 1,000 prospects and leads, which turned into over 112 projects that have brought more than 9,600 jobs to the Greater Reading region. In addition GREP has been in- strumental in the creation of a number of successful ini- tiatives such as: The Ride to Prosperity, Careers in 2 Years, The Penn Corridor Initiative and the Keystone Innovation Zone KIZ). The organization has also been awarded as an Accredited Economic Devel- opment Organization AEDO) and was re-accredited in 2011 by the International Economic Development Council. We do not work alone, and regionally, we are committed to ongoing collaboration with our economic development partners on important regional strategies and tactics. Thanks to a lot of hard work and the supportive business commu- nity in Greater Reading, the Greater Reading Economic Partnership has enjoyed many successes over the past ten years. Some of the most notable
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