News

Great Falls Development Authority Fund-raising campaign on way to reaching goal

The Great Falls Development Authority’s Founding the Future
fund-raising campaign is more than half way to its goal of $2 million,
and community leaders say the final tally will exceed their
expectations.

By BETH BRITTON
Tribune Business Editor

Ian Davidson, chairman of the GFDA’s Leadership Council, said the
amount raised so far from the private sector totals $1,154,500.

"We won’t stop at $2 million. We can exceed that," Davidson told the
250-plus attendees at a GFDA-sponsored breakfast Wednesday
morning at the Heritage Inn. "This is a very, very exciting time. I’ve
been around a long time, and I’ve never yet seen us as a community
approach (economic development) in such an organized manner. That
is key."

Led by GFDA President John Kramer, authority staff and the
14-member Leadership Council organized the fund-raising campaign.
The money will be used over the next five years to market Great Falls
and recruit primary sector companies.

Primary sector companies can loosely be defined as those that bring
new wealth into an area, or those that generate 80 percent or more of
their revenue from outside the area.

"We need to make an investment in our community; we need to
spend a little money to make a lot of money," said Rick Bourne,
president and CEO of Spectrum Medical Inc. and chairman of the
board of the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.

"It’s important for you to know the exciting things going on in Great
Falls," Bourne said. "Each one of you should be committed to helping
Great Falls grow."

Commitment is crucial, Davidson agreed.

"I think there are some people who have done very well in their
investment. There are others who have not done what they should do
because of what it will do for (their) business," Davidson said. "If you
as business leaders aren’t working to make long-term investments in
Great Falls, then maybe you’ve got the wrong concept of how we
develop an economy.

"This is a long-term investment for all of us. Five years from now, we’ll
be glad we created this private/public partnership."

Development Director John Luckie said that in addition to the $1.15
million already raised, there is $1.2 million in outstanding
commitments.

"The effort right now will be focused on cleaning those accounts,
bringing them in and answering questions about the program," Luckie
said. "The whole idea is to get the larger firms on board so that
everybody can see this is an across-the-board effort."

Luckie, who works on fund-raising campaigns nationwide, said the
exciting thing about the Founding the Future campaign is the
involvement and excitement that small businesses are bringing to the
table.

Kramer outlined some of the work that the GFDA has accomplished in
recent weeks. It hired corporate facility location and economic
development firm Wadley-Donovan Group Inc. to perform a target
industry study.

The list of 10 preliminary target industries — those industries that will
be considered by the GFDA as possibilities for future growth —
includes business information services, transportation related
services, catalog and Internet retail sales, equipment leasing and
beverage manufacturing.

That list will be narrowed down to three industries that will be the
focus of a three- to five-year international targeted marketing effort by
the authority. Wadley Donovan is slated to complete its work by late
July, Kramer said.

"These are preliminary targets," Kramer said. "We’ll analyze the
potential for growth in these areas."

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020627/localnews/109969.html

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.