Power of Partnerships Caps Off Greater Beloit Economic Development Corporation’s 20th Anniversary

When the Greater Beloit Economic Development Corporation (GBEDC) was established in 2005, its mission was to foster investment and job growth in the economy.

How? Improve the quality of life for its residents. Improve housing availability. Support the educational framework.

And it was this unyielding belief in the power of partnerships to serve its businesses, workforce and residents that continues even today as the GBEDC celebrates its 20th anniversary during the month of April.

Building Trust

The inception of the GBEDC dates back to the 1970s, when thought leaders first proposed the idea of an organized economic development effort.

“Since that time, it had gone through several evolutions as leadership and approaches changed.  The formation of GBEDC was driven by the necessity to consolidate two existing organizations, one public and one private, to create a more efficient public/private partnership,” said Andrew Janke, who served as Executive Director from 2001 to 2021.

As the organization came into being, there were also a few hurdles to overcome.

“Merging two entities into one always has its challenges but we were able to overcome them, I believe, because at that time there was a sense that we all needed to work together and focus our efforts on economic development to build the Greater Beloit area,” said Janke. “Building trust between our many public and private partners and finding common goals and actionable objectives helped the organization thrive. And as we saw economic development success more folks bought into our mission and supported it.”

A Champion and Supporter

The ability for the GBEDC to thrive was also due to a series of early wins and success stories.

“Being an active partner in the design, acquisition, and establishment of the Gateway Business Park was by far our greatest early success,” said Janke. “Development started off slow but it was always well balanced with a mix of small and large scale industrial development projects along with single and multi-family developments. Being a champion and supporter of the amazing improvements being made in our City Center was also extremely rewarding.”

For Janke, one of the many highlights during his tenure involved the Vision Beloit project, which brought together the GBEDC, Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Beloit Association, and Visit Beloit into a single office suite downtown.

“Along with our offices, the space provided a unique place where we all could conduct business meetings, meet with clients, and show off Beloit’s recent City Center accomplishments and visualize the future,” he said. “For me Vision Beloit was not only an impressive accomplishment in design but also broadcast to the community and beyond that as a community we were on common ground and collectively looking to the future.”

GBEDC investors and their employees are invited to an ice cream social to celebrate the 20th Anniversary from 3-5 PM on Friday, April 25th at Irontek.