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Kelsey Bergen
As 2022 comes to an end, Aurora Development Corporation wants to take this opportunity to thank all the businesses and individuals that have supported our efforts to grow Aurora and Hamilton County over the course of this year.
Working in economic development is a multifaceted never-ending job that changes every day, and it would not be possible to be successful without local support. There are three areas of supporters to specifically recognize: shareholders, annual funders, and community advocates.
When Aurora Development Corporation was started in 1963, it was organized as a for-profit organization with shareholders. Over the years, shares of stock were sold when development projects were needing funds to get off the ground. As those ventures came to fruition, income generated from the initial projects was reinvested into the next development to grow the community further.
Currently there are 3,923 shares of Aurora Development Corporation stock owned by various businesses and community leaders. These funds are still used to support development projects that are too risky for individual developers to finance on their own. One of the most obvious and recent examples of these funds working in the community can be seen in the development of Northridge housing subdivision north of Aurora. Another example is the demolition of the building on the property north of city hall to make way for new development. Thanks to the Aurora Development Corporation shareholders, these investments, whether in the last year or over 50 years ago, are still working to grow Aurora.
Another way businesses and individuals support Aurora Development Corporation is through our annual funding campaign. Different from the shareholders, these contributions support our organization by funding our operating expenses. This makes it possible for our executive director to work on projects that local businesses need to support their company growth, but they are not able to do and fund on their own.
Examples of this include creating housing options for employees, growing the tax base to keep taxes low, attracting and retaining supply chain and value-added businesses in the community, and much more. Thanks to the businesses and individuals who support these efforts annually, Aurora Development Corporation can keep funding development while also funding support for our current businesses.
The last group of individuals that support Aurora Development Corporation can be referred to as economic development advocates. This isn’t an organized group and there is no financial or time commitment associated with their support. They are important to our organization because they support growth happening in our community for a variety of reasons. This backing from individuals includes talking about and putting support behind economic development projects, people who are open to change and thinking outside the box, supporting local businesses that land here, and many more small actions and gestures that create a much bigger community movement.
Aurora has been known as a progressive community for a long time and being that type of community isn’t possible without these types of support. None of our community’s growth over the years would have been possible without the effort and support of a variety of businesses, organizations and businesses working together. Aurora Development Corporation is happy to be one of the many players at the table.
Whether you are a shareholder, annual funder, or economic development advocate, thank you for supporting economic development in Aurora and greater Hamilton County.
KELSEY BERGEN serves as executive director of the ADC. She can be reached at kelsey@growaurora.com
