O'Brien County Economic Development Celebrates 25 Years

October 27, 2014

O'Brien County Economic Development Corporation

1989-2014

It's Our 25th Anniversary here at O'Brien County Economic Development Corporation! We have been taking a look at the last 25 years and at all we have accomplished, thanks to the partnerships we have with O'Brien County, its Communities, Utility Companies, and Lenders as well as all the businesses and individuals who have partnered with us over the years, 

• Built a lending pool over $2 million (1991-Present)

• RLF made $2,225,313 in loans

• To 38 projects in O’Brien County

• With a Total Capital Investment of $20,590,661

• And an Assessed Tax Value of $11,881,390

• Saving 200 jobs and creating 163 jobs

• Working to attract businesses to O’Brien County since 1989

• CEPP (Community Economic Development Preparedness Program) Introduced to the individual communities (1990)

• First RLF Loan granted (1993)

• First Labor Survey Conducted (1994)

• Established O’Brien County Tourism (1996)

• Founded O’Brien County Value Added Ag Steering Committee (1996)

• First Executive Director for OCEDC hired (1997)

• Acquired $300,000 Housing Grant (1997)

• First Administrative Assistant for OCEDC hired (1998)

• Created a County Website (1998)

• Applied for & received Scenic By-Way designation for portions of Waterman Township (1998-2000)

• Published O’Brien County Tourism Brochures (2000 & 2007)

• Founded VAA Hall of Fame Award (2001)

• Produced First Marketing Materials (2001)

• Updated County Website (2001)

• Gained Designation as an Enterprise Zone—a state program offering tax credit incentives to businesses and developers meeting certain criteria—with 157.52 acres designated (2002)

• Completed the Housing Program—29 housing rehabs, 5 O’Brien County communities, $729,869 (2003)

• Formed O’Brien County Community Foundation (2005)

• Assembled O’Brien County Tourism Committee (2006)

• Secured $500,000 IRP Loan from USDA (2005)

• Joined NWID—a Regional Partnership (2005)

• Implemented LOIS—a searchable Economic Development Database (2006)

• Initiated Synchronist Business Retention Program (2006)

• Completed Enterprise Zone designation adding 3,467.89 acres (2005-2006)

• Worked to attract Renewable Energy Companies (2007– Present)

• Executed Welcome Back Survey & Study (2008)

• Became 1 of 2 Iowa Counties Selected for UNI’s Entrepreneurial Program (2008)

• Helped facilitate formation of the Regional Housing Trust (2009)

• Northwest Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund provided $1,445,356 in funding (2010-2014)

• Developed Community Impact Study Team (2010)

• Designed a new County Website including a mobile site (2012)

• Introduced a Business Succession Promotion (2012)

• Facilitated the Creation of O’Brien County Land Owners Association (2013)

• VAA Committee Received Silver Shovel Award from Iowa Area Development Group (2013)

• Formed Marketing Taskforce to attract businesses ancillary to Wind Energy Development (2014)

• Signed an Operating Agreement with Storm Lake Chamber & Area Development bringing $400,000 in IRP lending power to O’Brien County (2014)