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.

Community and business development efforts throughout the year focused on supporting projects that strengthen Marion’s economic base and overall quality of life. In the first year of the campaign, progress toward several key benchmarks was seen, including four new or expanded industrial warehouse or office facilities, eight new or remodeled commercial or retail properties, and four new or remodeled homes in core neighborhoods. Together, these projects contributed to more than $50 million in new construction investment in 2025 alone, putting Marion on pace toward the campaign’s $250 million investment goal.

As MEDCO looks ahead to 2026, the organization remains focused on building upon this momentum. Continued progress toward campaign goals will rely on strong partnerships, targeted workforce initiatives, strategic housing alignment, and support for business growth and site readiness. The first year of the campaign demonstrated that Marion is moving in the right direction and that sustained collaboration will be key to achieving long-term outcomes.

None of this progress would be possible without the continued support of MEDCO’s investors, employers, educators, and community partners. Your engagement is what turns goals into action and vision into results. Together, we are moving Marion forward.