Growing pains…   As with anything that represents change and growth, you will have proponents and opposition connected to those opportunities.  That is simply a fact about human nature that cannot be denied. In the business of economic development, it seems most will have an opinion one-way or the other, and some will form [...]

How IS Shawnee doing? A few weeks ago we told you about the Primrose Senior Retirement Community. In case you were wondering, yes they have already started work on the project, at an UNBELIEVABLE pace.  We also told you that our efforts to help them, and yours as well should you choose to participate, is [...]

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might get the data you need…., Or, we don’t know, what we don’t know, unless you tell us what we don’t know….. Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees, is how the old saying goes.  Possibly we can’t see [...]

The future part one… The facts about our future are undisputable, IF we are willing to look at them. The leadership and positive growth at our local universities is a critical step in the progress of this area. Spend some time with either of them and you will see how fortunate we are that they [...]

Listening to the future… A year or so ago, it was eluded to, by one prominent area resident, that the Monday Memo was nothing but a bunch of nonsense and not worthy of the effort it took to read it.  That certainly was one person’s opinion and while we respectfully disagree, it is still something [...]

Primrose 2.0…. A few weeks ago we told you about the Primrose Senior Retirement Community, our newest best buddy, and how they were going to make a significant investment in our community with their senior community center.  In case you were wondering, yes they have already started work on the project. But our efforts to [...]

What we have been reading these days… Over here at your economic development organization, we try to stay in touch with what others around the U.S. are saying about economic development, which includes issues that we as a region are also facing.  Recently one of our favorite bloggers wrote an article that we felt needed [...]

Who cares who gets the credit? At certain times you can’t tell who created the momentum, only that it is real and it is still happening.  Such is the case with new projects and activities all over the community.  Over the past 12 months or so, this community/region/area has seen over $59 million dollars worth [...]

What reopening the rail line really means… If you’re not a person who spends time working around manufacturers or industries, you probably don’t think about the railroad much. For those of us in the economic development business, we think about it a lot.  Many of our local employers need this vital link to help them [...]

Sometimes it just takes time Over the past few years, yes that’s correct YEARS, the Shawnee Economic Development Foundation has been working with a company from Aberdeen, South Dakota, called Primrose Retirement Communities.  This corporation is located in a dozen states and offers a different type of retirement center to those senior citizens who no [...]