BDC's Annual Investor's Meeting Highlights
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Our Annual Investors' Meeting was held at the Local 671 Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Hall on March 9, 2022. This meeting was held in conjunction with our regularly scheduled Board of Directors' Meeting. It was great to finally be able to see many of our investors in person!
We had many things to celebrate at this meeting:
- We remembered our long-time Board of Director, Richard A. Sieb, for his dedication and service to the BDC. We were thankful to be able to share this time with his family who accepted the memoriam in his name.
- We honored long-time Board of Director Michael Miller of Floral City Beverage as he retires his seat from our Board this year.
- We celebrated Monroe Master Plumbers' Association for their long-time steadfast commitment to the BDC. Joseph Theisen of Monroe Plumbing & Secretary for Master Plumbers accepted the award on their behalf.
- The BDC celebrates its 40th anniversary this year! Tim Lake, President & CEO, shared that in looking back on the records from those initial years, not much has really changed in the BDC's mission of creating an environment for economic growth for Monroe County!
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Robert, Debbie & Sheryl Sieb and Jan Marra of Sieb Plumbing & Heating accepting Memoriam for Richard A. Sieb with Doug Chaffin, BDC Chairman |
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Joseph Theisen of Monroe Plumbing accepting award for Monroe Master Plumbers' Association with Doug Chaffin, BDC Chairman |
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Michael Miller of Floral City Beverage accepting Retirement from Board award with Doug Chaffin, BDC Chairman |
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Our keynote address was from a staple in Michigan's Cornerstone ... Michael Jewell, Local Union 671 Plumbers & Pipefitters' Union Business Manager & Financial Secretary Treasurer, and BDC Board Member, is a lifetime resident of Monroe County and grew up with many generations of his family in the trade.
Local 671 was chartered in 1937 by 13 plumbers. Since then, membership has grown significantly and today they have over 350 members! Through training apprentices (which is now at 50 students) with the US Department of Labor recognized apprenticeship program as well as with continuing education classes for journeymen, Local 671 provides their tradesmen and women with the best training in the industry. These are rewarding jobs that have excellent health insurance benefits and pensions that allow for a great retirement.
Other highlights of the meeting included an update on the BDC's work. As our investors make this all possible, we like to share our work of the past year and offer a look into the future. As we like to be transparent, a condensed version of our regularly scheduled Board Meeting was held which included the 2021 Audit results presented by Sarah Rafko of Cooley Hehl Sabo & Calkins.
The BDC Board of Directors and Staff are very appreciative of our investors, partners, and elected officials. We thank you for allowing us to assist Monroe County with economic development initiatives and work to help create an environment of growth and prosperity.
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REGISTRATION NOW LIVE - Career Expo 2022 |
The Monroe County Career Expo will be held on Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at First Merchants Bank Expo Center at the Monroe County Fairgrounds.
Over 300 high school juniors and seniors will be in attendance to learn more about the careers that exist right here in our community. We are actively looking for companies that would like to 1. Discuss prospective careers and or 2. Directly hire graduating seniors into full-time, part-time or seasonal employment.
To register your company/organization please click on the button below. If you would like more information, please reach out to Matt Vanisacker at mvanisacker@monroecountybdc.org or 734-241-8081.
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Child Care Network (CCN) has been named as a Facilitator Hub for an 8-county region including Monroe County. This program is a new initiative meant to help families (employees) with the cost of child care.
Affordability can be achieved by splitting the cost of child care between the state, families, and businesses. In order to participate, employers must be located in one of our 8 counties of Branch, Genesee, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, or Washtenaw. Employers must agree to work with CCN as the Facilitator Hub to identify and recruit eligible employees, cover one-third of each participating employee’s child care costs (as a benefit), and maintain communication with us regarding each employee’s continued employment and eligibility.
Implementation efforts are underway as CCN works to hire a program coordinator, after which they will be looking to recruit employers who are willing to participate and offer the program as a benefit to employees. Last year, there were Facilitator Hubs launched in other areas of the state so CCN is learning from their initial work and will be implementing some of their successes.
The Tri-Share Child Care Project is an exciting innovation that works to support employers to offer a benefit to employees that will help with employee recruitment, retention, and reliability, and also works to support families with the cost of child care.
We will share information as it becomes available on this new program. If you have any questions prior to that, please contact Annette Sobocinski, Executive Director for CCN.
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Monroe County Link Update
by Florence Buchanan
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The Monroe County Link Plan Pillar Teams have been busy with activity this past month. Here are the highlights:
The Prepare for Investment Pillar continued to plan for the EDC Municipal Planning & Zoning Conf. taking place March 23 at the Monroe County Community College. This year's event centers around “Preparing for Solar.” The objective of the seminar is to provide a broad perspective on solar energy with insights from keynote speakers representing Consumers Energy, DTE and Michigan State University Extension.
Quality of life amenities and community beautification projects continue. Mike Bosanac, co-captain of the Michigan’s Cornerstone Pillar reported on the progress of the I-75 Beautification program for Exits 15 and 18. Now that the LaPlaisance Road bridge has been replaced, Exit 11 will be added to the project. The project is manned by eligible inmates in the county jail’s Red Shirt Program. Weather permitting, the inmates are doing a great job to beautify the county’s I-75 interchanges. Also, a report was provided on the status of the Heritage Trail repairs and the 100 Mile Cornerstone Route directional signage project.
Launch 734 welcomed new members to the team: Amanda Phebus, VP, Corporate Social Responsibility Officer for First Merchants Bank and Kennis Wooten, Economic Development Manager for DTE. Both Amanda and Kennis bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the Pillar Team. The Entrepreneur-in-Residence position for Launch 734 was awarded to Nanokore. The principle owners, Dave Meerhaeghe and John Swiatek, will attend the Pillar Team meetings. Both Dave and John will work closely with local entrepreneur start-ups and grow-ups in their business development. Welcome to both Nanokore and our two new Pillar Team members.
Last but not least, the Talent Development Team did not meet in February since the majority of progress on the CTE Hub development and Production Certificate was being worked on in subcommittees. The next full Pillar Team meeting is scheduled for March.
In summary, all Pillar Teams continue to make progress with many successes on the horizon. Learn more or get involved - contact Florence, Project Manager, via email or by phone at (419) 654-1934.
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First Merchants Bank has launched a newly redesigned Resource Hub to assist businesses with their ever changing needs. This hub has information for every type and size of business and may assist you in: Starting Your Business, Optimizing Profitability, Succession Planning & Leadership, Accessing & managing capital, Safety & security, and much more.
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