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The Simpson County Development Foundation was founded to stimulate the local economic growth through recruitment of new industry and commerce, assist in the retention of existing businesses, and improve the quality of life in the county through the resources of its members and partners.
We must compete with cities and counties throughout the entire country, if not the world, for job creation with an emphasis on “better jobs” – jobs that support a higher standard of living, offer stability and decent working conditions and provide opportunity for advancement.
Although there have been several successes over the years, there is always room for improvement. Unifying the county has been a barrier that has not been completely overcome and is one of the impediments to economic and community development. The Foundation has worked determinedly to unite us, urged us to listen to each other, disagree on occasions, and move forward gracefully.
While the Foundation has been instrumental in securing Howard’s Industries, Performance Food Group, Polk’s Meat Products, Pioneer Health Services, RealPure Bottling Company, and Love Travel Center, there have been many behind the scenes successes that very few realize. While we are primarily business focused, the Foundation has promoted education, health care, roads and transportation, and work force development to name a few quality of life issues.
I will end this address with a passage from a book “The Different Drum” (Scott Peck, Simon and Shuster, New York, 1987).
For community is an amphitheater where the gladiators have laid down their weapons and their armor, where they have become skilled at listening and understanding, where they respect each other’s gifts and accept each others’ limitations, where they celebrate their differences and bind each others’ wounds, where they are committed to a struggling together rather than against each other. It is a most unusual battleground indeed. But that is also why it is an unusually effective ground for conflict resolution
Donnie Caughman
Executive Director/SCDF
