by Olivia Otte

Eight months ago, I accepted the position of director at Green County Development Corporation. Since then I have greatly enjoyed getting to know the people of Green County. While meeting everyone, one of the most common questions I have been asked is “why Green County?” This is a fair question. I had never been to Green County before interviewing for this position. Before I started in my current role, I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska where I worked as an economic development consultant for the State of Nebraska. I enjoyed my time with the state, and it gave me a strong base for what economic development looks like at different governmental levels, but because my position required that I traveled a lot, I was never able to get to know the community and people that I was working with. Because of that, I was looking for an opportunity to get to work at the local level. When this job came my way, I immediately knew that this was a community that I wanted to be a part of.

These past eight months have flown by. I have truly been enjoying getting to know the community and continue to learn new things every day. Here at GCDC, our focus remains on promoting and encouraging economic growth while maintaining the quality of life that makes Green County, Wisconsin a great place to live and work. 

We currently have many different initiatives that we hope will promote economic growth. We are focusing on problems such as childcare, housing, broadband, clean energy, and business support. No matter the challenges that we face, our mindset of why we do this remains the same. We want to serve the members of our community. 

GCDC is a unique organization. Every day we get the chance to talk with different people from different backgrounds. Everyone has unique perspectives and stories. The differences in people and issues that we face, allow GCDC to first and foremost be a place to connect. As the author Michele Jennae wrote, we want to connect people with people; people with ideas; and people with opportunities. 

So, to answer the original question that has been posed to me so many times... Why Green County? The answer is really very simple, because of the people. It was immediately evident that the people in Green County care about their community. That is why, as GCDC looks forward to the future of our county, we will continue pursuing projects dedicated to both improving the quality of life for our citizens and attracting our future workforce. By investing in these efforts, we can continue to build a community where industry thrives, culture emerges and people visit. 

For more information on the work that we do, please visit greencountydevelopment.com or give us a call at 608-328-9452. 

— Olivia Otte is the Executive Director of the Green County Development Corporation (GCDC). She can be reached at olivia.gcdc@tds.net, or by calling 608-328-9452.