Ever since being announced as an entity independent of Dubois Strong in October, Grow Dubois County has “hit the ground running.”
Operating as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, Grow Dubois County is using taxpayer money to fund private business through grants, with the idea that entrepreneurship will help lure — and keep — business in the area. It is up to the organization’s board to decide which projects fit that description.
Board members are Grow Dubois County president Marc Steczyk, Dubois Strong president Ed Cole, Vincennes University Jasper Campus dean Alan Johnson, Greater Jasper superintendent Tracy Lorey and Phil Seger of Farbest Foods.
Another goal is to be transparent with funding, whether that’s dollars invested in the organization or with grants going out the door.
That should be a fairly easy task, Steczyk said, as nobody in the organization accepts a salary. Every dollar is “action money.”
“Our main intent is to be able to see where the money is going,” Steczyk said, acting as a transparent arm for its once parent organization. “We will publicly report every grant and be able to account for every dollar.”
Grow Dubois County received $72,500 from the Dubois County Council to bankroll the organization. The funds come from an agreement in 2014 by the council to increase its investment to Dubois Strong from $60,000 to $200,000 (Dubois Strong received $109,262 from the county). Both organizations are expected to report to the council several times a year about their activity.
“Although (Grow Dubois County) has some crossover with (Dubois Strong), as they need to work in conjunction and harmony with each other, they are indeed independent of each other,” Cole said.
County Council president Greg Kendall said an increase in funding was agreed upon by the council to motivate Dubois Strong to be more effective.
“Dubois Strong was kind of at a standstill. In order to get them off the ground, the council decided we were going to give them more money,” Kendall said. “Everybody on the council wants our kids to stay home, to create more jobs, to live and work here. We did what we felt we had to do.”
Kendall said the council did not earmark the money, but instead is trusting in a knowledgeable council at Grow Dubois County.
“We want it to go to a use to get more people in here and help our businesses grow,” he said.
Grow Dubois County, in partnership with the VUJC Foundation and the Dubois County Community Foundation, recently awarded its first grant. In an effort to engage economic development and entrepreneurship in the county, a $5,000 grant was awarded to Variable Technology, a company owned an operated by two Dubois County natives, Todd and Bret Mehringer, and two more individuals who reside in Bloomington. All four are employed by Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center. Their vision is to expand the technology sector within the county, and the grant will allow them to fund a patent request for a new healthcare technology product.
Steczyk says that’s exactly the type of forward-thinking and innovation Grow Dubois County is looking to support.
“These are two Dubois County residents who have big ideas,” Steczyk said, adding that grow Dubois County intends to have a balanced mix of helping entrepreneurs and using its funds toward items like the housing study that Cole has said will begin in the near future. “We want to stay true to the roots of the county and support those sort of (innovations).
“I think anything that we can do to help foster a spirit of (entrepreneurship) in this county, we should do it. This county’s entrepreneurial story is extraordinarily rich — if we can help in any way, I hope that we should. You never know what might grow into the next Kimball or OFS or Best Home Furnishings with just a nudge of support.”
Kendall noted that the housing study is an important item to the council, adding that there are currently 500 to 700 open technical jobs in the county and nowhere to house the employees who might fill them.
While all Grow Dubois County funds at the moment coming from taxpayers, Cole said they are hoping to grow into something more.
“Our hope is to entice private-sector dollars into Grow Dubois County in the future that may be program-specific to their needs, as well,” he said.
Stecyzk said the organization already has another group of local entrepreneurs called Current Blend they’re interested in supporting with a grant.
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