Vicki Pratt Gerbino (L) of EDC Warren County and Tori Riley of Washington County LDC will soon share office space and combine their efforts on regional development.
By Peter Miller
In May 2011, Ms. Vicki Pratt Gerbino joined Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Warren County as president. Members of the EDC Board of Directors and the Search Committee had met with many qualified candidates, and Ms. Pratt Gerbino was their top choice for the position. According to Board President Michael Borgos, “Getting Vicki here was the biggest recent success for EDCWC. Our board members are committed to moving this community forward, and now we’ve hired someone who will make real changes.”
Being called EDC’s biggest success is no small honor. In the last decade, EDC has assisted companies in creating 1,600 new jobs across Warren County and provided support for projects totaling more than $300 million in capital investments and $1 billion in cumulative wages and benefits. That’s a tough act to follow.
Established in 1999, EDC Warren County is a non-profit entity formed by private-sector businesses and supported by both private and public funding. EDC assists existing and new businesses in accessing local, state, and federal business development programs, and markets commercial and industrial properties across the county to prospective business owners, developers and tenants.
When Vicki Pratt Gerbino, CEcD, became President of EDC Warren County last May, she was already a leading economic development executive with experience growing regional economies in three states,. Ms. Pratt Gerbino, a native New Yorker, previously served as the managing director of business development at the Greater Rochester Enterprise, an economic development agency serving the Rochester-Finger Lakes region.
Most recently before arriving in Warren County, she was the President of the Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition, where her efforts helped attract significant manufacturing operations, leading a region that has a manufacturing employment rate double the national average. The Greater Wichita Economic Development Council oversees economic development across a nine-county region of south-central Kansas, and Wichita has led the nation in export share of gross metropolitan product (GMP).
A Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), and a member of the International Economic Development Council, Ms. Pratt Gerbino had also led the Columbia, MO-based Regional Economic Development, Inc., and served as executive director of the Orleans (N.Y.) County IDA, between Buffalo and Rochester. She graduated from Albion Central High School in Orleans County, N.Y., and the State University of New York at Buffalo and attended graduate school at Cornell University and at the UW-Madison.
It was recently announced that EDC Warren County and Washington County Local Development Corp. will receive a grant to join forces in a common office facility in Glens Falls. Omar Usmani, CEO of Aeon Nexus, has donated the first-floor space at his 176 Glen Street headquarters for use by the two agencies. The two counties have many similarities, and could likely see improvements in both efficiency and effectiveness through this coalition of economic development muscle. (In a related story, we speak with Tori Riley, president of Washington County LDC about the opportunities afforded by this new alliance.)
The Glens Falls Business Journal sat down with Ms. Pratt Gerbino to explore her approach to economic development and her plans for her agency in Warren County. We asked her several questions and heard some refreshing and provocative answers:
In simple terms, what is economic development?
VPG: Many people think economic development is solely about creating jobs, but it’s not quite that simple or straightforward. People go into business to return a profit. It’s those businesses that are profitable that create employment opportunities.
Therefore, when EDC Warren County works to keep businesses profitable in our “dot on the map,” that will result in employment opportunities for the residents of our area, and that promotes economic development. At EDC, we are working to enhance investments by private sector businesses in our area to ensure that there are employment opportunities for the residents.
How did you choose economic development as a career?
VPG: Before getting into economic development, I worked for a decade in health care/human services, and in that capacity, touched the lives of many people who were unable to provide for themselves and their families. In short, they needed a job; one which would provide them with benefits that allow better primary care prevention, and help them to avoid more costly health intervention services at taxpayer expense.
It was through my work in health care that I began to realize the interdependencies of our economic ecosystem. I became very interested in helping businesses run profitably so they could grow and create the employment opportunities needed to sustain healthier communities.
Have the recent cuts in government funding hurt economic development progress? VPG: While government funding is important, we want the Private Sector to be the ‘job generator’ – why? Because private sector jobs are what pays the public sector’s bills!!! In Economic Development, private sector involvement leverages public sector funding. I like to say that economic development is everyone’s business. It’s not just a government concern.
It is critical to build a dynamic public/private partnership. You don’t want elected officials or their minions making all the decisions about strategies and tactics to stimulate private sector growth – you want the private sector engaged. The concept of NY’s ‘regional economic development councils’ is predicated on exactly this model – thank goodness – get the private sector at the table when you’re focusing on using public sector dollars to stimulate private sector investment. Why wouldn’t you?
As an EDO (Economic Development Organization), I have first-hand knowledge of what happens when the private sector has “skin in the game”; i.e., financially supporting the efforts of the EDO. Their engagement changes the conversations, and ultimately the outcomes, of economic development efforts. Relying on government funding alone is not the answer in economic development endeavors.
What is the private sector’s role in economic development?
VPG: The influence of the private sector cannot be overstated. Private sector engagement changes the dynamics of how economic development is accomplished. That’s why I’ve worked hard with our board of directors to create working committees to tackle key objectives for our organization. Some of these committees focus on engaging the private sector and providing services that businesses need to be more profitable. What are some of the things you have been doing with your EDC staff and Board of Directors to build private sector involvement?
VPG: We’ve been re-aligning our Board focus to key areas. One important goal is to develop a sustainable funding stream and business model to support our tactical and strategic initiatives. And, we are developing marketing/outreach strategies to take on bigger roles in attracting local and outside investors.
We are also working to ensure that our product (Warren County) is competitive. For example, our Product Improvement group is focused on addressing the obstacles/barriers to investment that are solely within our local control, such as our permitting processes, and delivering “best practice” solutions to make Warren County the logical choice for business. Because “time is money,” anything we can do to take time out of the process and add predictability into the process makes us that much more competitive.
What will EDC’s upcoming co-location with Washington County LDC mean?
VPG: On the face of it, our shared offices will display unity. Co-locating allows us to build a stronger regional approach. The economic development professionals and leadership of our two agencies all want the same thing: provide more options for our residents to earn a living wage so they can become taxpayers and build our community.
Put together, Warren and Washington Counties have common factors that distinguish us from other regions. These include our geography (proximity to transportation networks, natural resources, and trade hubs) and our labor basin (the pool of workers employers can draw from).
Municipal boundaries are not important to our workers or employers. Better that we work together to collaboratively market our region, sharing our finite resources to attract new investment.
Upon meeting Vicki Pratt Gerbino, it becomes evident very quickly that she is a woman of uncommon vision, experience and energy. As she focuses on the revitalization of economic development in this region, she explores every option, including new partnerships with constituents in both the public and private sector.
To find out how EDC Warren County can help your organization, or to get involved in the effort to help attract new economic engines to our area and to grow our existing job-generators, contact the office at 761-6007 or through the website: www.edcwc.org.