What kind of future do you want for Valley County? Do you value our rural communities, the people that live in them and the superior quality of life that we all enjoy?
Then please consider supporting Valley County Economic Development.
I ask this as a personal plea: your financial contribution will support a major agent for change that has helped over 40 business owners secure $2.2 million in low-interest financing to grow their business and our communities. You can help our volunteer economic development board, committee volunteers and staff execute an agenda that has transformed a region in 11 years, delivered national acclaim and provided hope for the future.
Some of our efforts just in 2010 have included: breaking ground on the $9.4 million New Neighborhoods housing development, program administration of the sales tax loan fund that financed $650,0000 in sales tax loans to make over $1.2 million in economic impact in Valley County. We launched an award-winning website that has 150,000 pageviews in 18 short months. We helped return Valley County employment to pre-recession levels. In partnership with the Ord Area Chamber we implemented the Ord Area Option and kept over $81,000 in the Ord area during the holiday shopping season. We also worked closely with Central Community College-Columbus to secure a $175,000 RCDI grant through USDA-Rural Development to create a self-sufficient community college presence in our area.
In 2012, we will work in partnership with the City of Ord, Valley County and UNL’s College of Architecture to deliver a county-wide design and redevelopment plan that will build on our past 11 years of excellence. We will also work closely with the Chamber to deliver a cutting-edge eCommerce platform that will allow our local businesses access new customers, only for the price of Chamber membership.
I would like to ask you personally to support our efforts again in 2012. The private partnership of our local business community, which is also tax-deductible, is essential to moving our communities forward.
We know the challenges in front of us. We are working against NINETY years of rural population decline. That isn’t easy and we need all the help we can get. We know that if we don’t work together, both in action and with our pocketbooks, we won’t have a future to look forward to.
Please consider funding a proven change agent that has catalyzed millions of dollars of investment in our home.