GREENVILLE—The Darke County Community Improvement Corporation (CIC), along with Darke County Economic Development held its annual Partnering for Progress Investor meeting this afternoon.
Dave Burrows, Jr. Vice President of Engagement at Dayton Development Coalition, spoke about the coalition’s work within Ohio.
JobsOhio has grown three times over since 2019.
Founded in 2011, JobsOhio, is Ohio’s private economic development corporation. It acts as a catalyst for high-growth business investments and job creation that are helping propel the state’s ingenuity and ambitions forward.
Since 2019, JobsOhio has helped create 1.2 million Ohio jobs, increased the gross state production by 38%, increased Ohio employment by 22% and increased Ohio payroll by 29%.
During his speech, Burrows held up a bottle of bourbon from Stillwrights Distillery, which uses resources from Darke County.
“This is from right here in the county,” he said. “The grains put in here are out of Darke County. Give yourselves a hand for all of the products you make that contribute to JobsOhio.”
Burrows, who spends a lot of time in Darke County, added that he loves the community.
“I spend a lot of time up here with Mike (Bowers),” he said. “I love it up here. I’ve bought a lot of cars from Hittle. Thank you for all that you do here, I appreciate you all for having me.”
Next, Tamala Marley, workforce specialist at Darke County Economic Development, awarded youth from Darke County with the 20 under 20 award.
Nominees for the award must be aged 20 years old or under, be from Darke, Mercer or Auglaize Counties, be enrolled in high school or post-secondary education and be involved with work-based training such as an apprenticeship, co-op or an entrepreneur.
Out of the 20 selected winners, seven were from Darke County.
Darke County winners were Lexie Arnett of Greenville, Nathan Hittle of Greenville, Emily Kelly of Arcanum, Ben Kitts of Bradford, Austin Obringer of Ansonia, Zane Osbourne of Tri-Village and Grant Pohlman of Versailles.
The recipients worked with businesses such as Family Health Services, Brethren Retirement Community, Hollinger Excavating, Ansonia Local Schools, Custom Foam Products, Hittle GMC and Troy CARSTAR.
Lastly, Mike Bowers, Director at Darke County Economic Development, presented Zechar Bailey Funeral Homes with the Darke County Business of the Year award.
“They have served the community for over 75 years,” Bowers said. “On a personal note, they really do. I think their success is attributed to them building relationships that are long lasting, and generational in nature. When you look at that, it’s because you matter to Zechar Bailey Funeral Homes.”
Accepting the award for the business was Zechar Bailey consultant Kent Zechar.
Former state rep Jim Buchy, as well as retired teacher and former Ohio Board of Education member Darryl Mehaffie spoke about their experience with Zechar Bailey.
The Zechar-Bailey family are typical of what makes this area so special, Buchy said.
“They not only have become friends with my family, they have presided over 14 burials within my family,” he said. “I can tell you from personal experience, that the care that’s been given to my family over the years is just one of the reasons why we are blessed to be where we are.”
Mehaffie echoed his sentiment, and said one word that describes Zechar-Bailey is compassion.
“It takes a special people to be in this type of business,” he said. “They certainly know what they’re doing. I can’t say enough in support of this business. They represent Darke County, and we are fortunate to have them.”
