Exciting times in Aurora!

A few weeks ago, we had the honor of hosting Gov. Pillen at a groundbreaking ceremony south of Aurora for Specialty Ag Formulations, which will be a new micro-nutrient manufacturing facility starting next year. 
It is a big deal when the governor comes to your community, and I have had the privilege of being a part of two different projects that have brought the governor to Aurora. 
Something that I have learned through this process that may be surprising is that when an event like a groundbreaking takes place, it is the result of more than a year of hard work to make everything come together. Additionally, even though the event has already happened, there is likely another year of work that needs to happen to execute the project that was celebrated. Every business development that is celebrated, whether the governor is present or not, is the culmination of many months of work, but none of those projects would even be possible without individuals who want to see growth and have ideas for expanding their operations. 
Since I began working at Aurora Development Corporation in the beginning of 2020, I can honestly say that I have never had as many projects in the works as our organization is looking at today. We have several local businesses who are looking to grow and expand, we have a few new industries exploring their ability to develop in Aurora, and it is apparent that there are several opportunities for new development that need to be explored to keep our community relevant with what our residents and visitors want to see and do.
In economic development we often talk about business attraction and expansion as a funnel. First, we cultivate projects to add to the top of the funnel and then we work to move viable projects down the funnel, so they can become a reality. Aurora Development Corporation is just one of the many partners that it takes to move some or potentially all these projects through the funnel. 
In some cases, a business doesn’t even need the support of our organization because there are so many qualified local individuals to provide support from realtors to contractors and bankers to attorneys, which is a huge benefit for our community.  
If you are a business owner interested in growing your business, or you know someone who has a great business idea that they need to act on, this is your encouragement to take a step forward. If you run into a roadblock, don’t be surprised because every project will face bumps in the road. Aurora Development Corporation along with many other individuals and businesses are here to help when the unexpected happens. 
If you are a do-it-yourself person, the GrowAurora.com website has a tab strictly with information to support and help businesses, which you can access at any time.  
Aurora Development Corporation’s tagline is “Opportunity Grows Here” and I can’t think of a better way to describe our community today.  
 KELSEY BERGEN serves as executive director of the Aurora Development Corporation. She can be reached at kelsey@growaurora.com