Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) Executive Director Lisa Dan updated the commissioners on the status of the board and operations last week.
During contract negotiations between the county and the SCEDF for this year, the Foundation was asked to reduce the number of board members to narrow the focus where economic development and workforce development are concerned. Lisa Dan asked the commissioners to keep the number of board members that are currently serving which has already been reduced from 28 to 23.
Dan stated, “Our board is committed to what is going on in Starke County and the betterment of Starke County. They bring expertise in a variety of skill sets in many different disciplines. We try and harvest those assets to make up our board. We have a plan in mind – it’s just that we feel like the people that on our board are important to our board.”
Commission President Charlie Chesak asked to see a list of members on the board and what positions they hold. Lisa Dan will be back before the commissioners at their next meeting to discuss it further. According to the contract, the SCEDF has until September 1 to make the reductions as requested.
As for the SCILL Center, the contract asked that the SCEDF and SCILL Center separate. She noted that they are standalone business entities concerning tax status and the bylaws are separate. The bookkeeper is the same, but finances are separate. The Foundation office is no longer housing SCILL staff as Ron Gifford retired in June.
Beyond that, Lisa Dan said there are some ways that the entities work together.
“As an economic development organization, we will always have an overlap with SCILL in regard to workforce development because workforce development is economic development. SCILL was created to trade up a workforce and the Foundation attracts and retains companies for those workers. While we can be separate in every way, there’s still a connection.”
As they continue to look into the matter, a copy of both of the contracts for the SCEDF and the SCILL Center will be reviewed by the commissioners by their meeting next week.
Lisa Dan said there has been a lot of progress with both entities with just two employees in the office and they will continue to work with the county to ensure all is working to the expectations outlined in the contracts.
