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Commissioners
Corner...
Darke
County the place to locate and grow
Summer is
in full swing in Darke County now.
Once
again, it is hot and humid, the children are out of school, and
vacation time
is just around the corner for most people.
It is hard to believe, but the Great Darke
County Fair is less than 2
months away! Where
has the time
gone?
Time is
moving forward in the Commissioner’s Office also.
By the time this is printed, the mid-year
budget process will be completed, and we will be waiting on other
projects, or
completing and starting others. We
are
holding the budget line for all Departments again, as we have done for
several
years now. We will
have a much clearer
budget look in November. Right
now,
things are going pretty well, the sales tax is up slightly, and our
Department
Heads and Elected Officials are holding the line on spending. If you see one of our
Department Heads or
Elected Officials, be sure to thank them for all their hard work. Darke County is fortunate
in that our
Department Heads and Elected Officials and their personnel do a great
job of
being conservative with the people’s money.
The CDBG
(Community Development Block Grant) hearings are done, and with the
lessened
amount of money received this year, it was really difficult to make
some
projects winners and some losers.
In
2010 we received $151,000 from the Grant.
In 2011 the amount was $138,000.
This year the Grant was cut even more to
$120,000. We are
sure this trend will continue, so it
is imperative that we pick projects that the Commissioners feel give us
the
most “bang for the buck”. All
of the
applicants for the Grant have worthwhile needs, and it is a shame that
we
cannot help them all. This
year, Union
City, the Village of Wayne Lakes, and Pitsburg got all or part of their
projects funded. This
will continue to
get harder and harder to do as the funds become more depleted.
On the
economic front, Darke County continues to lead the Dayton area in job
retention
and expansion. Midmark’s
announced
expansion is greatly welcomed, and it is always a pleasure to work with
the company’s
directors. Midmark’s commitment to Versailles and Darke County only
reinforces
the concept to other major companies that Darke County is the place to
locate
and grow. Because
of the collaboration
between Midmark, the Economic Development Office, the Commissioner’s
Office,
and the State’s Jobs Ohio Program, Midmark will continue to be a very
prominent
member of the County and the State.
Thank you to all involved.
Marc Saluk,
the Economic Development Director, has many more projects in the works,
and
almost all companies that he is working with are planning some sort of
expansion or project for the future. Our Workforce Development
Initiative is
well underway, regional collaboration with our neighbors is continuing
and
growing, and the Partnering for Progress initiative continues to add
members. These
efforts by all involved
parties have led to our unemployment rate for the county to have
dropped to
6.3%, far below the State average, and almost 2% below the national
average. Our
successes have led to Darke
County being featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Whirlpool, by bringing
back hand mixers from
China to the Greenville facility, was prominently featured and created
interest
in how smart companies are competing in the world market. This not only promoted
Whirlpool, but gave
Greenville and Darke County tremendous exposure.
Thank you to all of our major manufacturers,
smaller businesses and shops for showcasing Darke County in a positive
light.
As Darke
County continues its positive path forward, we encourage everyone in
the County
to get involved and help us to move forward.
One way to do that is to attend a
Commissioners meeting and let us know
your suggestions and comments. We
meet
every Monday and Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. in the Commissioner’s Office
located at
520 S. Broadway in Greenville, just south of the Courthouse. Hope to see you there!
The
Darke County Commissioners
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