The Seneca Industrial & Economic Development Corp. was created in 1983 through an idea started by then-mayor of Tiffin, Bill Fruth. The tough recession of the early 1980s had cost Tiffin and Seneca County many jobs, especially in the manufacturing area. SIEDC was formed as a public/private not-for-profit 501(c)3 economic development organization whose purpose is to attract, retain, and expand business in Tiffin and Seneca County.
For the past 27 years, SIEDC has been involved in activities that help to create wealth in Tiffin and Seneca County. The only way a community can increase its wealth is to attract dollars from outside the area. Businesses that make or sell a product or service they sell to other businesses or individuals outside of our region and import those dollars back to our region are called primary business.
Primary businesses can be in several industrial sectors. When a farmer sells grain, money comes back to the home community. When a contractor builds in another community, dollars come back to the home community. When a university brings out-of-town students into the community, dollars are brought into the home community. When a manufacturer is paid for the products it has produced, dollars are brought back into the community.
When a primary business is paid for its goods or services, its workers are paid and the wealth enters the local economy. It then is mixed into the local economy. It multiplies as it turns over in the local economy. On average, a dollar will turn over approximately 5-7 times in the local economy.
An example of this turning is the process of wages going to pay for food, clothing, housing, cars, insurance, etc., in the local economy. The business where the purchase has been made will use the same dollars to pay wages to its employees who will go into the community and repeat the same process. This turning over of dollars in the local economy will generate most of the jobs as goods and services are consumed.
For the most part, a business either contributes or consumes. A majority of businesses are consumptive in nature. This means they are dependent upon and use the money flowing into the area. They include most retail stores, service companies, restaurants, banks, doctors and lawyers. Local economies are dependent upon importing money to the area, which principally is caused by primary industries.
Fact Box
Rich Focht is president and CEO?of Seneca Industrial and Economic Development Corp.
Since its inception, SIEDC has been involved in a number of activities that have stimulated primary employers to locate or expand in our community and therefore help to create new wealth. In the weeks to come, I will outline with you how and what SIEDC is doing and has done to bring about economic opportunities for our citizens. In today's tough economic times, it is important for us to understand how our economy works and what needs to be done to improve it. SIEDC is dedicated to that improvement.
