A Letter to Investors

A Message from the GFMEDC Chair and President & CEO

2025 brought another active year of strategic programming and projects for our metropolitan region. With our eye always on the mission of supporting primary-sector companies, your team at the GFMEDC kicked off the first year of our four-year Innovate28 campaign having achieved some significant results, including:

• Supporting 17 primary-sector projects that will pump more than $660 million of purchases into our local economy in the next two years alone. A couple of examples of these impacts are the generation of nearly $29 million to the real estate sector, and $12.5 million to area hospitals. And our local taxing bodies will see a boost of more than $8.6 million in local taxes to support our cities, counties, schools and park districts.
• When completed, these projects, and their indirect and induced impacts, are expected to add more than 700 new jobs to the regional economy.
• To support filling the thousands of open positions in our region, the GFMEDC has been implementing a strategic workforce recruitment strategy that in 2025 helped us to capture more than 19,000 individuals who have shown an interest in learning more about our region as a place to relocate.

We know that the ability to announce a successful project starts with building the relationships and trust of our existing companies. In 2025, the GFMEDC staff conducted 152 strategic engagements with our existing companies, and through that outreach we were able to assist 90 companies, setting the stage for future expansions.

The most pressing need of our companies still remains the human capital critical to growth and innovation. This past year, the GFMEDC hosted the region’s first Data & Analytics Workforce Summit with nearly fifty primary-sector companies and dozens of regional and state agencies and elected leaders taking part. In partnership with Lightcast, the nation’s leading labor market data and analytics firm, the Summit generated a set of mid-and-near-term recommendations that will drive our workforce development programming through this decade.

And we know that in order to work on the plan you first have to plan the work. This past year, the organization began a refresh of its strategic playbook as well as kicked off a board development process to ensure the organization’s leadership and strategies are aligned with the continued evolution of the economy and world of work.

Throughout this report, you will find stories and information on the companies we supported this year, as well as our workforce and business development programming that is setting the stage for future opportunities.

None of what you read in this annual report would be possible without the investment of more than 140 private and public organizations, as well as the work of the board, partners, volunteers and experienced staff that continues to guide this important mission. We are truly grateful for the commitment of so many and look forward to continuing this work into 2026 and beyond.

Don Campbell, GFMEDC Chair, Cambia Health Solutions

Joe Raso, President & CEO, GFMEDC