New Board Line-up for PCDI

Marsha Willhite, Holly Town Administrator, stepped down as president of PCDI, Prowers County Development Incorporated, following her one year term.  Rick Robbins, GM of Colorado Mills, was elected President, followed by new board member, Aaron Leiker of Holly as Vice President and Lawrence Brase will remain as Secretary-Treasurer for his final year as a board member.  Skip Ruedeman, the City of Lamar’s liaison to PCDI, announced that the March 25 meeting would be his final one, as he and his wife, Candy, will soon move to North Carolina.  His departure means the city will need to find a replacement on the council for his Ward 2 seat to fill the remainder of his term, about one and a half years. 

Willhite praised her board for their professionalism at PCDI and in public.  “You’ve brought a breath of fresh air to the board for your service this past year, through your ideas and optimism,” she said.  Willhite added that PCDI, as an economic representative for Prowers County, has a reputation for its performance and efforts throughout the state.   

Lance Benninghoff, Executive Director, announced the business oriented seminars he discussed during PCDI’s recent annual meeting, will start in May.  “A succession planning seminar will be held on May 7 at 6:30pm at the Cow Palace Inn.  That will be conducted by CSU representatives,” he stated.  Benninghoff said three speakers will be present for a two day seminar on May 22-23 on customer service training.  He noted the first seminar will be held in the afternoon and the following session will be in the morning.  He said progress is being made on developing a more informative PCDI website. 

The board was brought up to date on efforts to develop a Parks, Trails & Recreation Master Plan for the City of Lamar by Emily Nieschburg of Healthy Places.  A series of seminars and ‘think tank’ community meetings will be held from March 29 to April 5, sponsored by the Healthy Places Initiative, she said.  Brochures are being distributed throughout the community and residents are welcome to attend any of them.    Nieschburg explained that, “Studies show that Prowers County has a high rate of obesity through our age groups, coupled with a high poverty level.”  She said that improved health can correlate to economic development.  Benninghoff echoed her statement, saying he’s found that businesses, looking to locate to a community, always take into consideration the type of health-oriented infrastructure offered by a town or city.  Nieschburg said the Master Plan should be completed by July and she hoped the PCDI board would be a stakeholder in the project. 

In other developments, Ruedeman told the board the water runoff pump purchased by PCDI for the incentive property on East Washington Street should be ready for installation by next week.  There are some low lying areas of the lot that hold water during heavy rain falls.  Treasurer Brase said a portion of the warehouses have been rented.  The two story building is still available, as well as some storage buildings on the north side of the state patrol headquarters.  The board voted to join Ports to Plains for an annual membership fee of $250, as that organization is closely tied to economic development in Prowers County.  A membership with the Lamar Chamber of Commerce was also approved, with the annual fees being traded with PCDI and a $100 in-kind donation for Anderson Accounting was approved for their services to the board.  The next board meeting is set for April 29.

By Russ Baldwin