The Richland County Community Development Group (RCDG) effort to save the 179th Ohio Air National Guard mission was named the winner of the Business Retention Award for 2013 by Team North East Ohio. Gayle Gorman-Green and Col. Gary McCue accepted the award for the RCDG at the July 11 event held at the Intercontinental Hotel Cleveland.
It was the 7th Annual Team NEO Economic Development event and the eleven different awards recognized and rewarded outstanding economic development contributions that positively impact Northeast Ohio’s economy.
RCDG Executive Board Members Dan DeVille, Deborah Schenk and Dave Eichinger were in attendance along with Executive Director Bridget McDaniel. The award was made in front of a sold out crowd of more than 450 business and community leaders, economic developers, and chambers of commerce representatives from throughout 18 counties of Northeast Ohio.
The RCDG Project focused on the C27J mission and resulted in the local Guard unit receiving C 130 planes that not only saved the 800 existing jobs but added an additional 200 jobs to the base.
John Brown, Chairman of the Board of RCDG, said he was very pleased with the regional recognition, “RCDG has always focused its efforts on improving the economic vitality of the county, and any success we have achieved has been with the tremendous involvement of our citizenry in our activities. The Project to save the 179th Airlift’s Mission is the perfect example of over 25,000 citizens getting involved to help our community. This award belongs to all of them.”
The project resulted in over 25,000 emails of support for the 179th sent to Ohio’s Congressional Delegation.
The Team NEO Plus Awards are a one-of-a-kind event that honors Northeast Ohio’s local economic development community who is working hard to improve economic vibrancy. The event celebrates the “wins” in Northeast Ohio: the projects that have helped retain jobs, expand local companies, and create jobs during the calendar year 2012.
Nearly 100 organizations were nominated in more than 60 entries. The Workforce Development Partnerships of Richland County was also a finalist in the Workforce category and nominated by RCDG. Representatives from Workforce Development Partnerships attending the event included Commissioner Gary Utt, Mary Beth Busch, Greg Busch and Greg Timberlake.
RCDG is a non-profit agency working for the betterment of the county through economic and community development efforts. The RCDG website is www.ChooseRichland.com.
