After spending several years working at the state level, Molly Whitehead is excited to come back home.
Whitehead was hired as the new Boone County Economic Development Corp. executive director and hit the ground running Monday. She is a 2001 Western Boone High School graduate and spent the last two years working for the Indiana Economic Development Corp. as a senior project manager.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to come back and help Boone County residents and make this a better place to live and work,” she said. “Working locally has been a long-term goal of mine. I’ve got a connection from growing up here, and want to make it a better place. The people here are my family, my friends, and people I went to high school with.”
Whitehead said she didn’t have any specific goals or initiatives in mind yet, other than to carry out the work the EDC has already done.
“Our primary mission is not only to attract businesses, but also work with existing companies and help them grow in our community,” she said. “Ultimately, we want to create an environment that is conducive to bringing in new jobs and improve the quality of life overall.” She said she does see quality- of-life issues facing Boone County.
“We want to provide a place where people want to live and want to work,” Whitehead said. “That’s not just well-paying jobs; we need to provide a place for kids to hang out, families to do things together. Those are the sort of things that you want to attract to your community and the jobs will follow.”
Joe LePage, Boone EDC director of marketing and communications, said Whitehead was the person they wanted to fill the chair after Bryan Brackemyre took a job with Ernst and Young in July.
“Growing up in Boone County, working with the state, she obviously knows her stuff,” LePage said. “We are looking forward to learning from her. Her experience set her apart from other candidates. Having someone that knows the ins and outs from a personal standpoint is a tremendous asset. To bring in a candidate of that caliber and the fact that she grew up here, we feel she’s someone that is invested in this area for the long haul.”
LePage said the stars aligned in hiring Whitehead.
“I’m looking forward to see where the EDC goes and where the county goes with it,” he said. “The future is bright for sure.”
Whitehead said she is spending a lot of time getting to know what is going on in each of the communities.
“I’m educating myself quite a bit,” she said. “One of my priorities is to see where things stand for all the communities and what they want to happen, because what Lebanon is focused on is different than Zionsville or Jamestown. I’m looking forward to that process of figuring out where they stand and what they want.”
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