LCEDG surpasses 60% of campaign goal

LEE COUNTY – Even before they kicked off their public Connect Lee County Campaign, the Lee County Economic Development Group announced it is past 60% of its goal.
The news came as an affirmation of the work being done in the sphere of county economic development by LCEDG at Thursday morning's investors' breakfast at the organization's office in Montrose.
And although the county has raised more than $1 million, there’s still some work to do over the next five years of the campaign.
Campaign chairman Matt Morris said 36 investors have already contributed to the campaign.
“I’d like to extend significant thanks to early investors in this campaign. The 36 contributors on this list are some of the 'who’s who' of our region and I’m very proud that they have made a leadership investment towards this effort. Equally important, however, is who is not on this list, yet,” Morris said.
“Though impressive, much work remains to be done.”
LCEDG has brought in Erin Bemis from Convergent Non-Profit Solutions as the campaign director to assist in securing the rest of the campaign goal.
LCEDG President and CEO Emily Benjamin said many people have been working hard to help get the campaign off the ground.
Benjamin highlighted some of the investor levels including a Titanium level of $100,000+ including Lee County, Alliant Energy, and Great River Health Systems. Platinum level investors of $50,000 to $99,999 include Pilot Grove Savings Bank, Climax Molybdenum, Mohrfeld Electric, Two Rivers Bank & Trust, JJ Nichting Co., Silgan Containers, Jet Gas, Connection Bank, Menke & Co., and Amsted Rail. Gold level contributors include ConAgra, Cryotech, and Seither & Cherry Co, with contributions of $25,000 to $49,999, and 20 additional contributors to date who had pledged up to $24,999.
Benjamin also spoke to the benchmarks of the organization’s work over the past several years to include becoming an International Economic Development Council accredited organization, joining just 77 other organizations in the U.S. to achieve the designation.
She also pointed to the Lee County Broadband project which created a broadband intervention zone and connected 120 homes to high speed internet in the Wever area. It also created a redundant loop for Danville Telecom that has opened up additional possibilities for other telecom companies to expand services in the county.
The group also initiated the first CEO class in the state of Iowa. CEO is Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities, which seeks to prepare individuals to be come business owners contributing to economic development.
“The CEO program is much more than a textbook course. Rather, students are immersed in real life learning experiences with the opportunity to take risks, manage the results, and learn from the outcomes,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin, along with the direction of former LCEDG CEO Dennis Fraise, integrated the three county economic development groups into one organization, as well as forming a new partnership with Greater Burlington Partnership to focus on workforce development.
“We’ve been working hard to deepen relationships and connections with leaders throughout the county," she said.
“To that end, we’ve created and will be presenting LCEDG Impact Awards at both the Fort Madison Chamber Annual Dinner and the Spirit of Keokuk Annual Awards Reception as our way of recognizing and celebrating community development projects that are creating a lasting impact in our communities.”
Under the new structure, LCEDG has brought on former Fort Madison Partners Executive Director Tim Gobble as Director of Economic Development, Hailey Tweedy, as Operations and Communications Specialist, and Teli Fedele as Regional Director of Workforce Innovation. Fedele’s position is a shared position between LCEDG and The Greater Burlington Partnership.
In March, LCEDG will be adding a Workforce and Community Specialist.
"You could say things have happened at warp-speed… and we’re just getting started," Benjamim said.
Those interested in making a contribution to the capital campaign can do so by contacting LCEDG at 319-463-9030 or by email at info@leecountyedg.com.