Lexington, KY - When Adam Johnson goes to work, he bounds up a flight of creaking wooden steps built in 1785.
"My job is to accost people when I run into them," he said.
Johnson is executive director of the Danville/Boyle County
Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). His office is in Grayson's Tavern, one of a handful of small buildings in Danville's Constitution Square, the site of constitutional conventions for Kentucky's statehood.
The framers of Kentucky's constitution would be pleased with Johnson's CVB efforts in promoting the former "Kentucky County, Virginia," albeit with techno-tools such as Facebook, Twitter, SlideShare and mobile apps.
"I pride myself in doing a lot with very little," Johnson said.
The framers would also be amazed to see the collaborating spirit of city and county organizations since the formation of the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) four years ago. The EDP has four missions: business development, business services, downtown development and tourism development.
"Those missions are all siblings of the same mother: economic development," said Jody Lassiter, EDP president and CEO.
A 12-member board meets monthly, so that each entity knows what's going on with the others. Trust is an important component in working together, "as well as a willingness to cede turf for the benefit of the greater good," according to Lassiter.
Board members come from the EDP and its nine partners: the CVB, Boyle County Industrial Foundation, Danville/Boyle County Chamber of Commerce, Heart of Danville Main Street Program, Main Street Perryville, the local governments of Boyle County and the cities of Danville, Junction City and Perryville. Each partner agency also has its own board of directors.
"We're pulling in the same direction," Johnson said. "What's good for Jody (Lassiter) is good for me."
The EDP is "a great opportunity to provide focus and to work together to make sure our limited resources are used as efficiently as possible," said Paula Fowler, EDP vice president and executive director of Danville/Boyle County Chamber of Commerce, which has 350 members.
"We work well together, sharing information and staff as needed to make sure we respond quickly to any requests that come to our county," Fowler said.
The new Jump Start program, a creation of the chamber, EDP and city, assists new, expanding and relocating businesses.
"The Jump Start program brings all regulatory departments around the table in one setting to give the businessperson all the information they will need to get started," Fowler said.
In the challenging economy of the last three years, the EDP adopted a "keep what we have" strategy. In 2010, Danville was able to retain Intelligrated and Red Wing, two industries with a combined 200 jobs, after each had announced a planned closure the previous year.
In 2011, Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems Corp. added a second facility, with a $7.3 million capital investment that produced 63 new jobs. Denyo Manufacturing Corp.'s diesel generator production facility expanded, at a $7 million capital investment, and retained 101 jobs.
"Both of these re-investments are strong indicators that Danville is a productive and profitable place to do business," Lassiter said.
Just a couple of years ago, downtown Danville pretty much rolled up by 6 p.m. Now the area is hopping, in locally owned establishments, thanks in part to the ongoing efforts of the Heart of Danville Main Street program and a wet vote that passed in March 2010. The previous seven-year-old "moist" law allowed alcohol sales by the drink in restaurants with a seating capacity of at least 100.
"In a historic downtown, getting a place big enough for 100 seats is a big deal," the CVB's Johnson said.
There's a strong industrial and manufacturing base in the city (16,218 in population) and county (28,432 in population), as well as diverse commercial businesses. In addition to the largest employer, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center (named after the surgeon who removed the first ovarian tumor), employers include American Greetings Corp., Centre College, RR Donnelley, banks and hotels.
"The EDP partners are taking a holistic approach to community and economic development in which multiple development strategies are being pursued, rather than focusing
solely
on new industrial recruitment as the answer to economic growth," Lassiter said.
Earlier this year, Money Magazine picked Danville as fourth on its list of the 25 Best Places to Retire.
"The reasons they listed to retire here - the Norton Center, the microbreweries and restaurants, the Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center - are the same reasons to visit here, live here and work here," Johnson said.
For more information on the city of Danville, visit www.danvillekentucky.com.
Kathie Stamps posts grammar tips at www.facebook.stampscommunications.com.