Longtime Daviess County Economic Development Corp. executive director Ron Arnold has announced he will be resigning from his position at the end of the year. Arnold made the announcement to the Washington Times Herald. He said one of the biggest reasons for leaving is that the job has stopped being fun.
“There are a lot things,” said Arnold. “The last couple of years have not been a lot of fun. We have always approached this as “let’s do what is best for Daviess County.” We’ve been involved in several large projects that brought hundreds of jobs to the community. Things have changed.”
He says there has been a shift politically that has begun to limit the ability of the DCEDC to do its work. “Projects are difficult enough when everyone is pulling together,” said Arnold. “Without everyone’s support, they are close to impossible. There are individuals who are knowingly spreading falsehoods related to economic development projects. This has divided the support we have previously received and has greatly slowed our progress. The political climate has changed and our organization can no longer access the resources in the manner we have used in the past to bring projects to fruition.”
One of the biggest changes has been the organization’s access to Economic Development Income Tax or EDIT Funds. For years, that money went almost exclusive to the EDC. That changed recently.
“The EDIT was put in place years ago for economic development and in my estimation, it was very successful when you look at how it brought in jobs and the revenue that came in through the local income tax. We always had access to those funds and we’d often use them as a backup. If we made a mistake and stumbled, those funds were there. Without them available, we can not afford to make a mistake. We’ve had to change the way we operate. There is a risk in anything you do, but that helped the board be comfortable with some things. That’s not the case now. It has forced us to be much more conservative.”
Arnold says that during his 17 year tenure, the EDC has been heavily involved in a number of projects that have not only led to hundreds of jobs but also opened the way to more development. The Tech Park and several buildings and businesses there including URS and the WestGate Academy’ Olon, the McAllisters expansion, the upcoming expansion at GPC, Eagle Rail, Alliance Barrier and M&C Tech are all projects the EDC has had a hand in.
The projects appear to have dried up for awhile. “Those are multi-million dollar projects we’ve been involved in,” said Arnold. “Right now there is nothing in my desk drawer that leads me to believe another project like those will start tomorrow. This job is about relationships. It’s about getting to know people, getting to know how we can assist them. Most projects take two to five years. For the good of the organization and dealing with people, this is a good time to make a change. It’s a good time for the organization to step back and bring someone in as the projects start to come and I think things will be good moving forward.”
He feels even though the future is bright, it could have been even bigger. “I thought we were on a path to make things great,” said Arnold. “That’s my opinion under the set up we had, but that has been changed, so we’ll adjust and do what we can. I had hoped there would be a hotel and more things built out along I-69 by now. It just looks like it will take longer now.”
With the upgrades in infrastructure on the east side, the construction of a shell building, the cross dock facility and the opening of I-69 the next executive director will have plenty of opportunities for development.
“All we can do is serve as a catalyst for a lot of these projects,” said Arnold. “The ones where we have built buildings have been a little more involved. We did the shell building and the Core Center at the same time and it was all we wanted at that time. Those things are, for the most part, completed. We are actively following several leads to get someone in the shell building. We do have a couple of companies working out of there. The reason M&C Tech came here was originally the shell building.”
Over the last few years the DCEDC has changed some of its direction. Instead of just concentrating on getting business and industry to locate in Daviess County the organization has taken on quality of life and quality of place projects that led to the construction of the Core Center for the hospital, the re-development of the movie theater, parking for downtown and more.
“The board directed us years ago to support projects involving quality of life,” said Arnold. “We supported the pool project, the new tech program at North Daviess, some things at the Sports Complex and street and sidewalk projects. When you look at our unemployment rate and that of surrounding counties and some of the projects they are working on, for Daviess County to remain a leader and competitive you have to look at quality of place items. I am still a strong fan of the education, tourism center on I-69. That’s a project that would cost millions and I don’t think some of our local leaders have the heart to take that on. We need to do a better job of training our workforce, but at the end of the day, you need to have a community people want to move to and a facility like that would set Daviess County apart from every community we are competing with for not only jobs but also to get people to move here.”
Arnold’s resignation is several months off, but the DCEDC board is aware he is leaving and is beginning the search for his successor. In the meantime the 62-year-old Arnold is not ready to go fishing.
“I’ve got to work,” he said. “I’m old but not that old. I’ll be doing some independent consulting and hopefully work for some groups and organizations that aggressively want to improve what they are doing and I feel I have something to offer. I’m looking forward to working with communities that feel the best way to predict your future is to create it.”
Arnold says he has been discussing the change with the board for months and feels now is the time to go.
“I’ve thought about it for a long time,” he said. “I think the timing’s right. I’ll still be involved and provide assistance where they need. This has been a great opportunity for me personally. To deal with all the people and the people I have met, even internationally, I have met some darn good folks — people who operate at a high level and get things done. I’ve been very fortunate to be in this position. We’ve had a very good run here. I think people will look back at what was accomplished by the organization and realize it had a good board and was a highly successful endeavor.”