Organizations Honored for Exemplary Initiatives in Economic Development
The Site Selectors Guild (the Guild), the professional association of the world’s leading corporate location advisors, announced the winners of its Projects with a Purpose and its Community Innovation awards at its 2022 Annual Conference in San Diego, California. The awards, started last year, recognize exemplary initiatives by state, local or regional economic development organizations in addressing social and environmental issues and building healthier environments for business.
Winners for 2022 are:
- Projects with a Purpose Award: Bourbon County Regional Economic Development, Inc
- Community Innovation Award: Rung for Women
“Congratulations to the winners of the Projects with a Purpose and Community Innovation awards,” said Chris Lloyd, Site Selectors Guild board chair. “Now in its second year, the awards recognize communities which see economic development as about more than just creating new jobs but as a way to help to address pressing social issues and to enhance opportunities for all.”
The Projects with a Purpose award honors individuals or organizations who have successfully implemented location selection projects that go above and beyond job creation to address social and/or environmental issues within a community. Recipients are helping to tackle the most challenging problems by reducing inequality or promoting a healthier environment.
The Community Innovation: Building a Better Business Climate award recognizes a unique initiative, public policy program or legislative action that was created and successfully implemented in support of economic development and building a healthier environment for business on a local, state/province or national level.
Details on the winners are as follows:
- Projects with a Purpose: In 2019, the local hospital in Fort Scott, Kansas closed. The hospital is reopening thanks to Project Phoenix, led by Bourbon County REDI. The reopened hospital will bring 300 jobs and $20 million in annual payroll back to the community. Moreover, the reopened hospital provides the healthcare necessary to attract and retain future job opportunities.
- Community Innovation: Rung for Women operates a full-service program for women in the St. Louis, MO area seeking to transition into a career path leading to family-sustaining wages. Even before the pandemic, women were eight times more likely to work in occupations with poverty- level wages and hold only 36% of middle-skill occupations that pay at least $35,000 – only to be exacerbated during the pandemic, particularly among women of color. Rung enrolls 200 women across two cohorts annually, with women achieving improved career mobility, wages and economic mobility.
To learn more about the Guild Awards program, visit https://siteselectorsguild.com/guild-awards.
About the Site Selectors Guild
The Site Selectors Guild is the only association of the world’s foremost professional site selection consultants. Guild members provide location strategy to corporations across the globe and for every industry, sector, and function. Founded in 2010, the Site Selectors Guild is dedicated to advancing the profession of international corporate site selection by promoting integrity, objectivity and professional development. Members are peer-nominated, vetted, and must demonstrate significant professional location advisory experience. In the past three years alone, Guild members facilitated the announced creation of approximately 165,000 jobs and $90 billion in announced capital investment. Guild membership is the highest standard in the site selection industry. For more information, visit siteselectorsguild.com or follow @siteselectguild on Twitter.
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