Transcript
SOURCE TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is downloaded from the source you provided but we haven't reviewed it for accuracy. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record. You can also request an AI-transcription of the audio file with the button to the left.
[0:00]
[Music]
[0:06]
as we look back over the last year we're
[0:08]
happy to report successes both in
[0:09]
traditional Economic Development
[0:11]
projects as we bring new employers to
[0:13]
our community and in more
[0:14]
non-traditional areas such as our work
[0:16]
and partnership with the shasi county
[0:24]
landbank my name is Ken Nelson I'm the
[0:27]
owner of Lifetime metal sales Lifetime
[0:30]
metal sales produces metal roofing and
[0:33]
siding and we mainly sell that to
[0:36]
contractors in about a 75 mile circle we
[0:40]
are currently producing out of a plant
[0:42]
in Rose Bush Michigan and we're about to
[0:45]
open a plant in Perry we got a lot of
[0:49]
help from uh all the local uh government
[0:53]
officials from uh sedp um the township
[0:57]
the counties the cities they've been
[0:59]
great great for uh for us to work with
[1:02]
really takes a interest in the process
[1:06]
um Justin has actually asked us if we
[1:09]
would be interested in helping other
[1:11]
local businesses produce parts for them
[1:13]
uh given the fact that he knows the kind
[1:15]
of equipment that we're putting in our
[1:16]
plant never ever have I had an an
[1:19]
economic development person reach out
[1:22]
usually that process ends when the
[1:24]
building is done and it seems like
[1:25]
Justin is someone that's interested in
[1:28]
drawing us together well but after that
[1:31]
process is finished and I I appreciate
[1:33]
that attention to
[1:35]
detail if you are someone that is
[1:38]
considering relocating a business or
[1:40]
starting a new business consider the
[1:42]
sedp consider shasi County they've been
[1:46]
great to work with very detail oriented
[1:49]
and they're more than just interested in
[1:51]
you coming in they're interested in
[1:52]
helping you after you're
[1:58]
here
[2:01]
my name is Joshua Hicks I'm an owner at
[2:04]
uh J&J egg equipment over in Duran
[2:06]
Michigan uh we are a antique and late
[2:09]
model uh tractor parts restoration and
[2:12]
repair facility uh we also sell um a
[2:15]
large amount of aftermarket tractor uh
[2:18]
replacement tractor parts as our
[2:20]
business grew we found that there was a
[2:23]
ideal location there in chasi County
[2:26]
where we are currently located that
[2:28]
allows us to operate within a building
[2:30]
that holds all of our different entities
[2:32]
we have different business units for uh
[2:35]
remanufacturing cylinder heads and
[2:36]
cranks and a lot of heavy machinery uh
[2:39]
located inside a building with large
[2:41]
electrical needs uh we found that in in
[2:44]
the Duran location that we're in right
[2:46]
now we've experienced massive growth uh
[2:49]
two years ago when we first started
[2:50]
working with the sdp I feel that they
[2:52]
saw something within us that we didn't
[2:54]
even see and they knew some of the needs
[2:56]
that we needed before we even saw them
[2:59]
it gave us an opportunity to work with
[3:01]
them to see what New Paths that we
[3:03]
weren't seeing that they did allowed us
[3:05]
to be where we are
[3:06]
today without the sedp and the shasi
[3:11]
county land bank none of this
[3:12]
opportunity would would have been
[3:14]
available to us we wouldn't be within
[3:16]
shasi County right now uh we'd probably
[3:18]
still be struggling along the path of uh
[3:21]
trying to find new places and trying to
[3:23]
find that extra help that this community
[3:25]
actually brings to us and and has given
[3:26]
us the the opportunity to to grow
[3:36]
within hi my name is Cameron Horvath I'm
[3:38]
the city manager for the city of Durand
[3:40]
and I am the vice chair on the shasi
[3:42]
county landbank so land bank's
[3:45]
countywide we've done projects in lenon
[3:47]
some in Duran we've got some slated for
[3:49]
aaso the townships so the land bank
[3:51]
gives us tools that we wouldn't have had
[3:52]
access to one of the tools for the shy
[3:55]
wasi County Land Bank is blade
[3:56]
elimination so had we not created the
[3:58]
land bank these dollars has never been
[4:00]
appropriated to the to the community 209
[4:03]
South Oak or the old Simplicity building
[4:04]
that we call it perfect example of of
[4:07]
that's utilization City didn't have the
[4:09]
funds to take care of it on its own we'
[4:10]
applied for grants in the past but there
[4:12]
was always some type of red flag or
[4:14]
stipulation as to why it wasn't going to
[4:16]
work and this was The Perfect Storm of
[4:18]
the Stars lining and kudos to our
[4:21]
Council to take the leap of faith big
[4:24]
thanks to the shasi county land bank for
[4:26]
the help and getting the dollars but now
[4:29]
it's down we've got an end user and
[4:31]
hopefully a good Community partner going
[4:33]
forward I'm Barbara Baker omod and I am
[4:36]
the President of the village of lenon
[4:38]
the village has been struggling with uh
[4:40]
blight issues for some time and we've
[4:42]
been trying to come up with some way of
[4:45]
taking care of it the community is very
[4:48]
tighten it we're very very small so we
[4:49]
don't have a lot of money to uh do that
[4:52]
but it's really come to a head recently
[4:55]
and the downtown area was completely um
[4:58]
decimated with uh abandoned buildings
[5:00]
and it was looking really really rough
[5:02]
we had previously worked with Michigan
[5:04]
landbank and we were thrilled to learn
[5:06]
that shasi County had uh gotten a land
[5:09]
bank going and so that has been
[5:11]
extremely helpful to us and really
[5:13]
beneficial since we're so tiny and when
[5:15]
we're trying to deal with uh the state
[5:16]
of Michigan we still look really tiny so
[5:18]
it's nice with shasi County that we were
[5:20]
able to um work together with the new
[5:23]
land bank and try to get that going and
[5:25]
they've been amazingly helpful to us we
[5:28]
were able to get the downtown buildings
[5:30]
taken down it's a huge huge benefit to
[5:33]
the Village to be able to work with the
[5:35]
shasi land bank the land bank and the
[5:37]
SCP staff have been amazing to work with
[5:40]
they came to all of our meetings they
[5:41]
helped us all the time they would come
[5:43]
to special meetings that we'd call at
[5:44]
the last minute they were constantly in
[5:47]
contact and very very helpful and
[5:50]
responsive 2023 was an exciting year
[5:53]
fordp and shasi County Business and
[5:56]
we're looking forward to even more
[5:57]
successes in 2024
[5:59]
[Music]