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Economic development director awarded scholarship for program
Fort Scott Director of Economic Development Heather Griffith has been selected as a 2015 recipient of the annual Bob Ady Scholarship.
Griffith, economic development director for Fort Scott since 2013, is one of eight recipients recently selected by the Mid-America Economic Development Council for the annual Bob Ady Scholarship Program.
The program is named in memory of Bob Ady, a champion for economic development in the U.S. and especially the mid-America region. The program aims to help people new to the economic development field learn more about the profession, a news release said.
"I'm incredibly pleased and looking forward to the opportunity it affords so I can better serve the citizens of Fort Scott and do my job more effectively," Griffith said. "The more education about the industry I have and the more contacts I have, the better educated decisions I can make."
The scholarship program is available for MAEDC members and non-members. Applicants were evaluated based on their interest in economic development overall, as well as their interest in the MAEDC organization, the news release said.
"We're thrilled to see so many professionals new to the field of economic development interested in learning more about the economic development profession," Ady Advantage President and CEO Janet Ady said in the release. "The future of economic development is very bright, and our partnership with the Mid-America Economic Development Council will help ensure that the industry will continue to have talented people leading the effort to improve economic conditions for their communities."
Griffith said she was nominated for the scholarship by Craig VanWey, Southeast Regional Project Manager, Business and Community Development Division for the Kansas Department of Commerce.
According to the nomination VanWey submitted, Griffith's "background has provided a good foundation of skills on which to build; however, her formal training in economic development is mostly limited to participation in the University of Northern Iowa's week-long Heartland Economic Development Training in April 2014. She attends as many free or low-cost seminars in the region as possible. Like most small rural cities, the budget is extremely tight, with limited resources for economic development (Fort Scott's population is 8,000)."
Recipients of the scholarship receive a complimentary registration to the MAEDC's 2015 Competitiveness Conference and Site Selector Forum to take place Dec. 6-8 in Chicago. Recipients also receive a reimbursement of up to $500 in travel fees related to their attendance at the conference. Scholarship winners will be announced at the end of an awards luncheon on Dec. 7.
Griffith said the scholarship will cover the conference fees for members, which is $675, as well as the $500 in reimbursement for travel costs, making the scholarship worth a total of $1,175.
Griffith joined the MAEDC last year and attended the 2014 conference with economic development representatives from three other rural communities in Southeast Kansas. In the nomination, VanWey said "it was an excellent learning experience and helped to strengthen relationships and foster greater collaboration within the region.'
"I attended the conference last year with several other economic development representatives from the region and found it really educational as far as understanding trends in business recruitment. Primarily, that's what it's about," Griffith said. "There were various panels, roundtables and presentations about site selection, competitiveness and how to market the community and sites for development. I liked the regional collaboration that came out that and the relationship with other economic development directors to potentially work together."