Hello {First Name}, We hope you enjoy our March 2017 Newsletter!
BDC holds Annual Investors' Meeting
On Wednesday, March 8, 50 of our investors and elected officials attended Monroe County BDC’s Annual Investors' Meeting. Our meeting was held at Monroe News who last year, was acquired by Gatehouse Media.  
GateHouse Media is one of the largest publishers of locally-based media in the United States. Jeanine Bragg, Director of Sales, has been with the paper for over 23 years. She presented the history of Monroe News and details about their new diverse line of media marketing advancements and resources since being acquired by Gatehouse (view Jeanine's slide deck compliments of Monroe News).  
Other presenters included our Chairman of the Board and Monroe Bank & Trust's President, Doug Chaffin, and our own Tim Lake and Charlene Page. They detailed the work of the BDC over the past year and discussed initiatives the organization is working on in 2017. It was noted that the business environment continues to improve and issues regarding new development sites and talent continue to provide challenges within the county.  

The BDC Board of Directors is led by its vision that "the community will thrive as a result of a diversified business and industrial base that provides capital investment and quality jobs," as we strive to meet our mission … "a non-profit organization that attracts and retains a diverse range of business & industry by leading initiatives that create an environment for economic growth."

We thank all of our speakers, investors, and elected officials for joining us for this year's meeting. 
Our Board has a New Director
"We are pleased to welcome Niall Geoghegan to BDC's Board of Directors", stated Tim Lake. "The BDC Board will be strengthen by Niall's long experience in the manufacturing environment as well as his vision for the future of advanced manufacturing." 

Niall moved to the United States from Ireland where he was born and raised. He earned a Certificate in Mechanical Engineering in Dundalk Regional Technical College, then moved to Scotland to earn a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. While working at his first engineering position, he became a Chartered (Professional) Engineer.   

In 2012, Niall moved to the United States and accepted the position of Plant Manager with Pioneer Metal Finishing in Monroe. Since joining Pioneer Metal Finishing, their business has grown 30% in sales whilst enjoying record numbers in safety, quality, delivery and profitability of their operation through the delivery of their brand promises, namely ‘Your Specs’, ‘Your Schedule’ and ‘Your Security’. He has a great team who are focused on delivering on their promises and who continue to delight their customers. 
And we say Congratulations
& Good-Bye
Let’s start with a little BDC history! The Monroe News was one of the original founders of Monroe County BDC. At its inception, Grattan Gray, the owner of Monroe News, and many local government and other prominent business leaders recognized the need for support and retention of our industrial businesses and jobs. 

Our relationship with the Monroe News brought us Lonnie Peppler-Moyer. This month marks her retirement from Monroe News. She has been involved with the BDC since May of 2004 serving as a Board Member and Officer.

We recognized Lonnie at our Annual Investors’ Meeting but wanted to take this opportunity to share this news with our readers We thank Lonnie again for her dedication and support not only to the BDC … but to our community and Monroe County. 
Floral City Beverage Receives Award
Congratulations to Floral City Beverage!  Floral City Beverage was recently honored at Anheuser–Busch’s annual Sales and Marketing Communications Meeting in Nashville for 75 years of outstanding achievement and dedicated service. They have proudly distributed Anheuser-Busch products since 1942 and this relationship is still going strong!

Floral City Beverage has been in business for 79 years and is the only one out of 7 Monroe County wholesalers still in business.

Congratulations to Michael Miller, CEO and BDC Board Member, his family and staff!
Pictured are Mike, Mark Zochowski -President, Kristy Linster –Vice President and daughter of the late Denny Miller, and Anheuser-Busch's executive management team
And don't forget ...
> Take our BDC Business Survey! We promise, just a few questions so that we can know you a little better. The survey questions are general in nature about your company, operations and workforce needs. Please click the button below to access; it should be completed in one setting since incomplete surveys cannot be reaccessed. Your responses will be held in confidence and used only for the purposes stated above. We appreciate your time and thank you in advance!
Please feel free to contact us anytime!
Tim Lake  |  Charlene Page  |  LuAnn Hogberg