A Message from GRCA CEO & President

Cooperation and fiscal support keys to economic development success

By Jim Gerlach, President & CEO, GRCA

One of the most important responsibilities for our GRCA team is to promote and facilitate economic development projects and initiatives in Berks County. We have an excellent team of professionals that engage in a wide variety of activities to grow our local economy from business attraction initiatives to agribusiness loans, from workforce development services to development of key industrial sites. Sources of growth and development vary greatly, and we are hard at work in connecting people, businesses and government to make growth a reality.

However, as is one of life’s truisms, GRCA is not an island unto itself. We realize that to accomplish anything of lasting value, we need to partner with our talented friends in both the private and public sectors. As for the latter, the Berks County Commissioners and their team have been outstanding partners in not only identifying critically important projects, but also in providing significant financial support to assist us in our daily work. We thank them for their support and appreciate the ongoing working relationship we have in promoting and developing the County.

Additionally, Berks County is blessed with incredibly engaged companies that want to contribute their own resources to building Berks. With the financial support of 40-plus Berks companies, we are able to carry out our development mission with real results.

Here are just a few examples from our work over the past few months:

• Facilitated two PA Industrial Development Authority loans for Berks County businesses on projects totaling $2.2 million. • Engaged with 27 businesses to connect them to local resources including workforce hiring, site selection and funding issues. • Continued lead on the “Grow Together” agriculturebased social media marketing campaign to connect Berks ag producers with local customers and consumers. (RebuildBerks.com/Grow-Together) • Continued facilitation of our County’s Manufacturing Industry Partnership — a coalition of over 100 manufacturers focused on talent attraction, employee development and training and manufacturing sustainability in the coming decades. • Provided outstanding professional development services to local companies in Lead Worker Certification, Supervisor Training, Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace and Excel Training. • Provided advisory and administrative support to the Commissioners and the Tri-County Rail Committee to continue the advancement of the passenger rail restoration project in the region. • Maintenance and promotion of a comprehensive commercial and industrial property database to market the County with site selectors, realtors and developers. (GreaterReadingSites. com) • Management and promotion of key state- and federal-based development zones in the County, including the Keystone Enterprise Zone, Keystone Opportunity Zone, Keystone Innovation Zone and Foreign Trade Zone 147.

In just the first four months of this year, GRCA has made much progress in moving the development ball down the field. And that progress could have only been made based on the exemplary cooperation and support we have from our public and private sector partners. They care deeply about taking Berks County to the next rung of economic success, and we should be proud of their civic commitment to the betterment of the community and its families.

Moving forward, we know that much work remains. And our success collectively will depend on public and private sector companies and organizations working together to achieve mutually shared goals and projects within mutually shared time frames. More than ever, we all need to pull on the same oars at the same time, or unfortunately our individual and diverging expenditures of time and resources will only serve to slow the progress we all desire. Berks County is in the enviable position of having top business, governmental and civic leaders that contribute unselfishly to the County’s economic and community progress. But to ultimately realize the fruits of their hard work and commitment, we need to better coordinate, prioritize and implement the key initiatives. GRCA will continue to lead in that effort, and with the terrific support we receive from our supporters and stakeholders, we are excited about the great achievements that will certainly flow from the collective efforts of our leaders.

Thank you!

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE