by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Patti Gartland, the former city administrator of Sartell, recently visited the Sartell Economic Development Commission to give an overview of the accomplishments of the Greater St. Cloud Development Corp. during 2015.
Gartland has been president of the GSDC for several years. She was offered the job before resigning as Sartell city administrator, replaced by Mary Degiovanni, the current administrator.
The GSDC is a private collaboration of about 100 regional business and city leaders in the counties of Benton, Sherburne and Stearns. Its goal is to tap into the resources of central Minnesota and foster collaboration to improve the business climate and economic base of the region. The corporation is completely self-funded via investor fees.
Its new location is in the first floor of the First National Bank Building at 501 W. St. Germain St.
The following are some of the statistics Gartland shared with the Sartell EDC:
- 748 jobs were created or retained last year in the area.
- 128 visits were made to area businesses.
- 67 potential or near-term expansions were in the business-development pipeline.
- 499 employers have used GSDC, and more than 1,800 job seekers are registered in GSDC’s Talent Portal and JobSpot, with 21 percent of the job seekers currently living outside Minnesota.
- 18 companies/organizations joined the GSDC investor group, growing the group to 168, with an investor retention rate of 96 percent.
- 498 attended the annual GSDC Innovation Summit.
- 282 people and 125 organizations attended the annual GSDC Well-Being Summit.
- 143 people attended the Board of Advisors’ annual meeting.
- 181 job seekers made one-on-one personal connections with 25 companies at 10 Coffee and Careers Talk events.
- 177 employers and more than 3,000 individuals engaged in the GSDC Workplace Well-Being Initiative activities, which were launched in February 2015.
This year, the GSDC will host six major events to work on its six strategic initiatives. Two events have already been held – the Talent Summit and the Workplace Well-Being Summit.
The upcoming events are as follows:
- The GSDC annual meeting, with keynote speaker Lester Bagley of the Minnesota Vikings. 7-10 a.m. Thursday, April 28. River’s Edge Convention Center, St. Cloud.
- Downtown Summit in the summer of this year.
- GSDC Board of Advisors/Stakeholders meeting. 7-9:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4. Kelly Inn Grand Ballroom.
- Innovation Summit. Thursday, Oct. 13. River’s Edge Convention Center.
- GSDC Board of Advisors/Stakeholders meeting. 7-9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 17. Courtyard at Marriott Ballroom.
- Transportation Summit in January 2017.
