Scio established an Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) in the spring of 2010 to advise the Township board on how to address economic problems and pursue new opportunities.  The need for such a committee emerged following an economic study of the Township conducted by the Anderson Economic Group of Lansing.  The study, The Economic Strategic Plan, was sponsored by the DDA.  It identified areas of economic potential for the Township and made several recommendations.  EDAC was appointed to review the recommendations and to carry economic development in Scio further by suggesting specific steps for the Township to pursue.

The committee’s investigations uncovered a number of unknown and exciting facts about the Scio business community.  First, that the business community encompasses more than 900 enterprises, seven business parks and more than 20 business “complexes.”  Second, that there are several business clusters in Scio, representing areas such as medical device research and production, sports and exercise enterprises and automotive sales, servicing and repair.

The Advisory Committee submitted its Report and Recommendations to the Township Board in September, 2011.  The committee recommended that the Township:

• Reconstitute EDAC as a standing committee with a limited budget to implement a public relations program promoting Scio, to sponsor periodic “meet and greet” events for the Scio business community and to prepare a promotional presentation/brochure about Scio.
• Designate a person charged with responsibility for fostering economic development in the Scio business community.
• Develop a format and process for making an annual State of Scio Business report to the Board of Trustees.

Scio’s Board established the new EDAC (Economic Development Action Committee) in the fall of 2011.  The new committee is making progress on its first and third recommendations.  A budget for the committee was presented to the Board in January 2012 along with specific project plans.  The committee has developed a promotional video about Scio’s business community, for use by Scio officials, commercial real estate agents and any other parties with an interest in Scio.  It has also arranged for an internship, to be administered by Scio’s Planning and Zoning consultants – Carlisle/Wortman and Associates – to design and prepare a set of business metrics for assessing Scio’s success in promoting economic activity.

The EDAC differs from Scio’s DDA in that it is a smaller working group without an independent source of funding.  The DDA is a formal Township Authority with the ability to raise monies through tax increment funding and the sale of bonds.  DDA projects have been large and expensive – developing water and sewer services and building Jackson Boulevard.  However, the DDA would also have the ability to implement any larger program that EDAC might recommend, assuming that the economic environment made it financially feasible.