As 2025 comes to a close, Marion continues to move forward with strong momentum and a clear sense of purpose. This year marked the first full year of MEDCO’s Partnering in Moving Marion Forward capital campaign, setting the foundation for the community’s five-year economic development goals. Throughout 2025, MEDCO focused on aligning people, place, and opportunity, ensuring Marion remains competitive, welcoming, and positioned for long-term growth.
Over the past year, MEDCO supported new and expanding businesses while maintaining a strong emphasis on business retention and expansion. Employer visits, industry conversations, and peer roundtables provided valuable insight into real-time challenges and opportunities, helping guide strategic priorities. As a result of this work, MEDCO worked to make meaningful progress toward campaign goals, including the creation of 67 new primary-sector jobs in the first year toward a five-year goal of 300 jobs.
Workforce development remained a defining focus in 2025. MEDCO strengthened connections between employers and education partners through internships, job shadows, career exploration, and hands-on learning opportunities such as Community Build. These efforts help establish clearer pathways from classroom to career while supporting employers’ future workforce needs. Workforce alignment remains central to MEDCO’s strategy, recognizing that talent availability directly influences business growth and investment.
Housing also emerged as an increasingly important workforce consideration. Through employer and HR conversations, housing, particularly attainable entry-level homeownership and affordable rental options was consistently identified as a factor influencing recruitment and retention. While Marion has seen progress in rental development, employers emphasized the importance of starter homes for young families and early-career professionals seeking long-term stability. These insights continue to inform MEDCO’s approach to community development and workforce alignment…