OCEDC aims to consolidate economic development efforts

OREGON — A consolidated effort to promote the development, establishment and expansion of industries within Ogle County has just about come to fruition.

The Ogle County Economic Development Corporation is a not-for-profit that represents the communities, employers and citizens within the county. Its articles of incorporation were filed with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office on April 21.

“Ogle County as a whole [is] now coming together for this which is, I think, what we’ve always needed,” said Darin DeHaan, OCEDC Board of Directors vice president and Oregon city manager. “The foundation is in place, and I think we’re going to see some big things happening for all of our communities.”

Since 2019, more than a dozen communities, utility companies and state and regional economic agencies have worked to form the OCEDC, according to an Aug. 17 news release.

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the creation of the organization until 2021, when the planning process picked back up, said Randy Schoon, Board of Directors president and Polo alderperson.

Polo, Oregon, Mt. Morris, Byron, Rochelle and Ogle County have pledged funds to the OCEDC, Schoon said. The OCEDC’s budget will be between $300,000 and $350,000 to start.

“One of the things that I think we’ve all talked about from Day 1 is, this has already done all of us [good],” Schoon said. “Each town has gotten something out of this already. .. We all exist in this thing in maybe a different light, but I think we’re all going to benefit from it without a shadow of a doubt.”

Other Board of Directors members are Paula Diehl, secretary; John Rickard, treasurer; John Finfrock, Ogle County Board chairman; and Patrica Nordman, Ogle County Board vice chairman.

The nine other board of directors seats are open, and can be claimed by organizations with general membership in the OCEDC, DeHaan said. “They could be from banking, industry, utilities, commercial, real estate, agriculture, etc.,” he said.

ComEd, Nicor and Comcast representatives have attended all the Board of Directors meetings, but the companies haven’t yet joined as stakeholders, DeHaan said. That’s in part because the board still is in the process of setting up bank accounts, which they need to accept dues, he said.

At the OCEDC’s Aug. 17 meeting, board members unanimously voted to allow Rickard to set up a checking account with Stillman Bank. They also agreed that donations to the OCEDC could be sent to the city of Byron at 232 W. Second St., Box 916, Byron, IL 61010.

The OCEDC is seeking 501(c)3 nonprofit status – which is different than being a not-for-profit, and would allow donations to be tax-deductible – but that paperwork still is in progress, said Chris Manheim, an economic development consultant working with the group on behalf of Ogle County.

Also at the Aug. 17 meeting, a $20,000 contract with Next Move Group to perform an executive director search unanimously was approved. The OCEDC owes $6,600 upon signing the contract.

They put out a request for proposals and got two responses, DeHaan said after the meeting. Based on the presentations, they selected Next Move Group, he said.

Schoon and DeHaan said they’re looking for an executive director who’s a great communicator, driven and will make the connections needed to move the OCEDC forward.

“We don’t want to rest on our laurels,” Schoon said. “I don’t think any of us have time to. We’ve been go, go, go since I got here.”

DeHaan agreed, and explained that the OCEDC wants to solidify itself and Ogle County as a “place that we can continue to grow and increase our population and offerings to our communities and the workforce and housing and all of those issues.”

Each community has its own comprehensive plan and desired assets, DeHaan said. Lists of those needs and wants are being pulled together into a single location so the OCEDC can be a central hub for the entire county, he said.

“We talked a lot about housing, tourism, brick-and-mortar businesses, things like that,” Schoon said. “I think kind of in a mixed way some of us might be looking for industry, probably some of us aren’t going to get that.”

A key point is that, with the way things currently work, potential economic developments often die within a single community unless it gets around to other places via word-of-mouth that a developer is looking for something, DeHaan said.

For example, if someone reached out to him as the Oregon city manager and said they needed a 10,000-square-foot warehouse, Oregon might not have that, DeHaan said. However, one of the other communities in Ogle County might, and the OCEDC will be able to make those connections, he said.

“That’s a big key that we’re missing – there’s no connectivity,” DeHaan said. “So now we’ll have that, and each community will keep their inventories updated for economic development director, and then that person can facilitate seeking those facilities, land or resource things.”

That connectivity also plays into where workers live, Rickard said. If a business opens in Rochelle, for example, new employees might end up living in Oregon.

“So whatever comes to one parts benefits other communities because people will choose to live in different parts of the county, and so we build on each other that way,” Rickard said.