Letter from the President and CEO and Chairman of the Board
During 2012, the Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) took one
“
giant” step forward and totally reconstituted its membership program into a new signature
investment program more consistent with CCEDC’s mission as a leading economic
development entity in the region.
e new program, called i2i, was designed to create more value for our investors by
proactively addressing their business needs and carrying out our mission.
Speaking of carrying out our mission, we are proud to share just a few of our successes from
this past year:
We established i2n (Ideas x Innovation Network) by combining the Chester County
and Delaware County Keystone Innovation Zones. We were proud to be
a key partner in the opening of the Innovation Center at Eagleview (ICE) and the
Innovation Center at Evolve IP.
Our Certified Development Company, Seedcopa, achieved over $50 million in SBA
lending – a record year!
Our industry partnerships combined to train over 1,300 incumbent workers.
We were honored to play a key role in two key projects that celebrated their grand
openings: the Courtyard by Marriott in Coatesville and the Chester County Public
Safety Training Facility.
We were pleased to be part of the team that secured Chester County’s second Keystone
Opportunity Expansion Zone (KOEZ) approval in Oxford, PA.
We launched EDPI (Economic Development Partners Initiative) to encourage
commercial development along the Route 1 Corridor and the City of Coatesville.
Smart and sound investing always involves critical decision-making by your company. Making
such an investment in i2i not only helps to grow CCEDC, it also creates and sustains a
meaningful reflection of your company’s business values, community commitments and
corporate ethos. e long term impact of your i2i investment on the future of business success
in Chester County and on the county’s quality of life will be fully vested and truly appreciated.
Once again, our sincere thank you for your support!
GARy w. Smith
President and CEO
JeRome S. PARkeR
Chairman of the Board