City is fulfilling commitment to economic development

In 2007, Cassville's City Aldermen and Mayor committed to develop business opportunities and stimulate job growth to insure Cassville's quality of life in the future. In 2008, the first step in this process began with the hiring of Eugene and Lynette Dilbeck as the City's economic development team. The City has worked with and been supported by the Industrial Development Corporation throughout the process.

Impact of an Economic Development Office Quite simply - good, small rural communities like Cassville have difficulty competing with larger cities for jobs. Many small cities throughout Missouri and the nation have recognized the need for, and advantage of, a dedicated office to develop & market the city for business growth. Without a focused, professional presence in the marketplace, Cassville will have great difficulty telling its story and competing against communities who already have such offices in place.

Good and Unfortunate Timing From a high-level view, distressed economic periods, like the current one, are an excellent time for a city to be planning and getting its economic development act together. This will insure Cassville is positioned to capitalize on opportunities when the economy takes off again.

The unfortunate and ironic side to the timing during a current distressed economy is the severe contraction in overall business growth & development. Such a contraction naturally shifts economic development office priorities from growth and expansion to retaining existing industries and the jobs they provide. Cassville's Economic Development Office's priority has to be on preserving the jobs that we already have. Cassville is truly fortunate to have the industry base it has to provide the jobs that it does for a community this size. But, as we are beginning to see, no community is immune from plant closings, layoffs and downsizings.

Economic Development Office Goals The two primary goals of the economic development office are to:

This second goal is critically important if Cassville is to keep and nurture its greatest resource: its young people. Cassville must develop and provide quality jobs and opportunities for the next generations if we are to keep them here.

To accomplish these goals, it is important to identify Cassville's -- strengths & weaknesses as a location for industry; and the -- needs and concerns of its current business & industry.

To this end, the economic development staff has been individually interviewing business leaders in the community -- this is an ongoing process. The Economic Development Office has also teamed with Missouri's Workforce Investment Board (WIB) to conduct a survey of Cassville's local employers to identify and prioritize their needs and concerns

An economic development planning process is in the beginning stages and, with community input, will be formalized over the next months. Community input from every level will be critical to produce the best actionable plan and imperative to insure its community adoption and success. Opportunities for business and community leaders and interested citizens to attend public meetings will be afforded in the near future. These meetings will provide input to the City and the Economic Development Office on the direction that the economic development program should take in order to preserve the culture and values that have made Cassville the great town that it is.

Written by Eugene and Lynette Dilbeck, City of Cassville economic development directors