Mayor urges local cooperation

Successful communities have developed a common vision for their area. They decided upon common desires and commitments by both the private sector and public leadership to achieve success. Those communities have come together with the planning of local, county, regional needs and cooperation and they remain united for the common good and have resolved any of their differences.

They are willing to adapt and quickly change their strategy, based on local and global changes, as needed. That is why it is best for our community that we disagree in private, but agree in public. We need to find the common goals that are best for our community and those looking to locate their business or industry in our area.
Site selectors and prospects are evaluating our community before we even know we are being considered. They are viewing local newspaper articles, private data services, community websites, blogs and other Internet available material. That is why it is so important that we understand what is said about, and what happens in Van Wert, does not stay in Van Wert.  It becomes part of our community’s resume for the world to see.
Site selectors and prospects are looking for reasons to exclude a community. They are looking for the overall cooperative attitude of an area, how change has been handled in the past, and how that change was addressed by elected officials and the community members..
Companies don’t care about local boundaries. They are looking for regional collaboration. They are looking, and care, about the labor market area and other regional assets. The prospect’s needs are rarely defined by local political boundaries; however, economic development is always sold on the local level using the resources available to a local area: ODOD, Jobs Ohio, Ohio State Extension, the public attitude and any other source that will help promote the economic development effort.

Never should local economic development efforts be sacrificed by thinking that a regional effort will totally replace the local economic development effort.  As I said before, economic development is always sold on the local level.

Van Wert continues to work for the betterment of the entire county and region. As elected officials and the individual members of the community and region, that cooperation will pay dividends in the future.

–Van Wert Mayor Don Farmer