Leaving JCDC

Jay County Development Corporation will be looking for a new leader.

The organization announced in a press release Tuesday afternoon that executive director Travis Richards submitted a letter of resignation Monday.

His last day in the role will be Nov. 15. He will start a new job as production manager at Sonoco on Nov. 18.

“For me, it’s all about more time with the family,” Richards said Wednesday. “My schedule here in this role has gotten more and more full over the past couple years. My oldest turns 16 in December and I’ve decided I need to be more intentional with my time at home with my family. That’s the main driver for me.”

The Jay County Development Corporation executive committee planned to meet Thursday to discuss the hiring process to fill the executive director role. They hope to present a plan to the full board at its regular meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5.

“I understand wanting to take time for family and I commend Travis for that, because you cannot get the years back when you’re missing evenings and sports events and family time,” said JCDC board president Angela Paxson. “It’s very understandable why he decided to step back … from JCDC.

“Travis has given so much time to help this community grow. It’s going to be very hard to find someone to fill his shoes.”

Richards described his departure as a “soft exit,” saying he will be involved on a limited basis to support the board as it goes through the hiring process and to follow through on initiatives that are underway.

“The main thing is so we don’t drop the ball on any of the critical projects that we have moving right now,” he said, mentioning the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) 2.0, projects in Dunkirk and upcoming tax abatement requests. “We just don’t want a gap in some of those key services.”

Richards has served as Jay County Development Corporation’s executive director since November 2018. He took over the role following the departure of Bill Bradley that summer to become president/CEO of the LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation.

He said he was not actively looking to make a move but was approached when the position came open at Sonoco. He initially thought he was not interested, but ultimately decided to apply.

“The opportunity came to me,” Richards said. “For the most part, I really didn’t think I was going to make an exit.”

Richards is a Jay County High School graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tri-State University. Prior to joining Jay County Development Corporation, Richards was the plant manager at the Fort Recovery Industries casing plant in Portland.

Looking back at his six years leading Jay County Development Corporation, Richards said he is proud of expanding the organization’s role in the community.

“I’m just so proud I was able to bring Jay County to folks across the state,” he said. “I was really excited when I was asked a couple of years ago to present at an IEDA (Indiana Economic Development Association) conference talking about rural leadership and I was able to talk about Jay County through the decades and share our story.”

He referenced other efforts, including involvement in Indiana Bond Bank’s Flipping Finance Challenge, starting the Launch Jay! business pitch competition and expanding other small business activities. He also noted the county’s selection as one of the inaugural participants in the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP), through which it received $1 million that is going toward an owner-occupied rehabilitation program to install new roofs and make other home upgrades.

“We’ve ventured into new territory in my time here,” Richards said. “We were kind of able to expand the horizons of what the role was.

“One of the biggest things for me is I have managed to make new friends and colleagues all across the county and the region and even in other parts of the state. To me, that’s been the coolest thing about the job.”

Richards’ departure will leave the county without executive directors for both Jay County Development Corporation and Jay County Chamber of Commerce. (Former chamber executive director Tabby Sprunger resigned this summer but has continued to assist the organization on a limited basis during the transition period.)

Jay County Development Corporation and Jay County Commissioners have been at odds for more than two years, with commissioners in May sending an email as part of contract negotiations that demanded Richards be removed from his role. Commissioners pulled back on that demand a few days later, but the county and JCDC have yet to be able to come to a contract agreement. (As a result, the county has provided no funding for JCDC’s operations this year.)

Paxson expressed concern that the current situation without a contract and funding from the county could make the hiring process difficult.