December 5, 2011
Warrensburg Daily Star Journal
Sue Sterling, Staff Writer

Warrensburg – The 2012 Program of Work for the Johnson County Economic Development Corp. has five main goals with numerous action items and objectives under each category. Executive Director Tracy Brantner presented the program at the annual board meeting Thursday, December 1st,  at the Johnson County Courthouse.

The first goal, taking care of existing and potential customers, includes developing a business retention and expansion program and an innovation and entrepreneurial initiative. Among other activities, the Business Development Task Force will host quarterly employers' roundtables and visit with selected employers. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Task Force will promote the county's innovative climate and set up a mentoring program for start-up businesses. The group also will focus on retail recruitment and work with the University of Central Missouri Business Innovation Institute to conduct training and workshops for entrepreneurs and organizations, and maintain updated Web data and develop marketing/sales tools communicating Missouri's "Fresh Approach."

The second goal is to aggressively market Johnson County, which includes generating 25 investment leads/prospects annually.

The third goal is to build an efficient and productive organization in partnership with stakeholders using the task forces and other committees. The Partnership Task Force will host three stakeholder events for the real estate, financial and utilities segments and develop a marketing brochure and "fresh idea" stories for local media. The organization will continue to focus on the Johnson County Innovation District and work with public agencies, utilities and businesses to formulate a plan and goals to make the county more competitive as a business location. A Certified Sites Subcommittee will select a potential candidate for the county, and the Infrastructure and Development Task Force will work on obtaining better wireless coverage and Internet access, establishing land use guidelines and developing a speculative or virtual speculative building. The agency will assist the county and communities in their local development efforts and potential funding, cooperate with UCM on airport development and development of the surrounding business park/energy center area, and cooperate with the county on developing Shamrock Business Park.

The last goal is to work regionally on economic development and encourage local leaders to become involved in regional economic development organizations.