Club President Kristin Keller welcomed all to the meeting at Palmera Inn & Suites
Announcements:
The All Club Conference is March 11 - 13 and we still need more people for the committee to handle door prizes.
It is the third posting for prospective new member Gary Ostroski
We will be able to have the Popcorn wagon at the Heritage however it will be located across the street from where it was located in the past.
Sergeant at Arms, Suzi Oliver collected Happy $$
Speaker: John O'Toole, Executive Director of Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation.
He is responsible for business, retention, expansion and attraction to Beaufort County. The mission of BCEDC is to "engage key stakeholders to diversify the County's economy, attract investments, create well-paying jobs, respecting the natural environment". John was hired to focus on economic development but needs to focus on all spokes of the wheel. Their approach: Marketing, networking, product development, workforce (Marines especially), Branding, Teamwork. They partner with many in the county:
He spoke of the diverse businesses that are involved. 75% of the leads come from people that are here and 98% of completed projects are local. Some of the projects are: Custom Woodworking, Glassworks, MRG, MIRA foods, Stone Works, Burnt Church Distillery, Salt Marsh Brewery, Magnus - spec building, RX Industries moving from Spanish Wells, Knights Company to hire 80 people, Lot 9 Brewing wants to expand, etc. "Any kind of business challenge send" their way.