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Kelsey Bergen
I had the opportunity to give a tour about Aurora industries to a group of freshmen high school students from Aurora Public Schools this week and I want to share a few reflections from this tour with you.
First some background. This was a two-part tour where half of the students walked around the square with Justise Rhoden, executive director of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, to talk about the variety of retail and service businesses located downtown. The other half of the students loaded onto a school bus, and I gave them a riding tour of larger businesses and industries in and around Aurora. Then we switched groups and repeated the process.
I regularly give tours of Aurora and the information I decide to talk about changes based on the group. For this tour we were short on time so I was only able to cover places that we could drive past in 30 minutes.
We started at the Aurora Coop headquarters where I pointed out that Aurora is home to two headquarter offices including Aurora Coop and Hamilton Telecommunications. Both companies span several states with many employees located outside of the community.
Next, we drove down Highway 34 and I encouraged the students to look at this familiar stretch of road and notice how many new or newly renovated businesses are located along this corridor. The amount of growth along this stretch of road is impressive when you pay attention.
We also drove past the industrial park and discussed how many manufacturing jobs are available in the area. Some of these positions pay a high wage with only a two-year degree or on-the-job training needed to start.
We ventured west of Aurora to see the ethanol plant and Mars Pet Food. These large industries not only employ a significant number of individuals from Aurora and the surrounding area, but they also had significant impacts on the tax base and created new local markets for the agriculture sector, which is our largest industry.
The local health care industry was a topic when we headed back toward town as Memorial Community Health is the largest employer located in Hamilton County. Locally owned health care is also a large community asset and working in health care is a great career path for students to consider.
Our final stop was to look at the new housing subdivision on the west side of Aurora. It is always fun to see construction happening, but you can also see the variety of jobs that are needed to carry out the construction process for building homes and developing a street.
Reflecting on the hour I spent with these students, I was reminded of how progressive Aurora is, and how much we have to offer. There are so many more places we could have talked about with more time.
After the tour, students were asked to share which businesses they didn’t know existed or products they learned were available for sale in town. Hearing their response was a great reminder that it is easy to overlook some of the products and services our community has to offer. It is important for all of us to continue to explore what is around us because it is likely there are businesses and services we aren’t aware of.
There is a wealth of opportunity in Aurora and Hamilton County for these students and our residents. A narrative I hear in rural communities is that students need to leave to be successful, but the truth is we have very successful people and businesses right here. The level of support, opportunity, and potential for success in our community is limitless.
Most of the students will be leaving Aurora when they graduate. My hope is that this tour planted a seed that they were raised in a great community, where opportunity grows, and someday they will choose to return to their hometown, start a business, and continue to help Aurora grow.
KELSEY BERGEN serves as executive director of the ADC. She can be reached at kelsey@growaurora.com
