On April 28, the Darke County Community Improvement Corporation and Darke County Economic Development held their Annual Investor Meeting at the Radiant Lighthouse.
After the welcome note of Jeff Subler, Darke County CIC President and the recognition of guests, Dave Burrows from the Dayton Development Coalition gave an overview about the work of this organization. Dave Burrows opened his presentation with showing a bottle of Bourbon from Stillwrights Distillery, telling the audience “This is from this County” (the distillery uses grains from Darke County). Btw: In 2013 the control of the liquor business was transferred JobsOhio.
He talked about JobsOhio and its success in helping at job creation (they helped creating 1.2 Million Jobs in Ohio since 2019), which led to large increases in gross State production, employment and payroll.
Then Mike Bowers presented an update about the Economic Development in Darke County.
After that Tamala Marley (Workforce specialist at Darke County Economic Development) gave an update about the Emerging Workforce and after that Tamala awarded 7 young talents of Darke County with the 20 Under 20 award.
This award was developed to recognize students, educators, and businesses collaborating to help prepare the next generation of workers in our region. For consideration, nominees must be under the age of 20, a resident of Darke, Mercer, or Auglaize counties, and enrolled in high school, post-secondary education or adult education related to their career. Nominees must also be engaged in work-based learning, such as an apprenticeship, internship, co-op program, or other business/education partnership.
The winners were:
- Lexie Arnett (STNA at the Brethren Retirement Community)
- Nathan Hittle (AutoTech at Hittle GMC)
- Emily Kelly (Dental Assistant at Family Health Service)
- Ben Kitts (Body Technician at Carstar)
- Austin Obringer (IT/Audio Technician at Ansonia Schools)
- Zane Osbourne (operating Heavy Equipment, welding at Hollinger Escavating)
- Grant Pohlman (participant at the CapStar project, Custom Foam Products)
Next , Mike Bowers presented the “Business of the Year Award” to Zechar Bailey Funeral Homes.
Kent Zechar accepted the award and talked about the history of the company. The company served the community for over 75 years and built a lot of long lasting relationships. Jim Buchy and Darryl Mehaffie spoke about their personal experiences with Zechar Bailey Funeral Homes and both of them praised how their families were treated by Zechar Bailey and that Darke County is fortunate to have them here.
Featured photo L-R: Grant Pohlman, Austin Obringer, Lexie Arnett, Ben Kitts, Zane Osbourne, Nathan Hittle and Emily Kelly.
Click here for more photos of the event.
