Brian Muska has been hired by the Jasper County Economic Development Inc. as the Economic Development Coordinator for Jasper County. Brian will be collaborating with local entities and businesses to gather baseline information about the county, assess the needs of the community and the businesses currently operating within the county, assist all businesses in finding ways to maximize the benefits offered by operating in Jasper County, and strategically seeking out new businesses to join our community.
Please give a brief introduction of yourself
“My name is Brian Muska, I am 52 years old and live here in Newton, Jasper County Illinois. My wife (Kim) and I have 3 children (Kelsey, Kyle, and Blake), 1 granddaughter (Sophie) with our grandson (Memphis) soon to be born. My family and I have lived here for 12 years and love the “small town” living as well as the people/businesses within the community.”
What do you believe to be some of the important aspects of economic development in our area and why?
“When interviewing for the position, I felt the need for this position to encompass not only economic development, but also community development by focusing and putting emphasis on our current businesses within our county and city. Someone needs to meet with the business owners and establish a relationship in finding out what long term goals their business has within our community and ways in which WE as a WHOLE can help provide assistance in growing their business. We not only need more growth but we also need to concentrate on retaining the businesses we currently have and I feel that I can be the person to assist in making this happen.”
What do you believe are some of Jasper County’s strengths and how can we grow on those strengths?
“Many may not agree with me on this, but from an outsider looking in, one of the most important aspects of Economic Development is getting ALL entities working towards the same goal and that goal being success within our community by growing what we currently have and bringing in new business relationships to our area. The city, county, chamber, JEDI, tourism, JJI all need to work more closely together to ensure success.
Hats off to our educational system, we have a very strong and stable school system, in fact I don’t think our teachers get enough credit for all that they do. I just want to take a moment to say Thank You!
The CEO program is phenomenal – a true testament to our youth being our future!
Our community is strong – even too strong, for example our property taxes – I hate to bring this up but there is a lot of truth to this statement and I personally feel that this could be a deterrent towards bringing more people and families into our community. Find the way to lower the taxes and our community will grow on its own. By creating a bigger tax base, we create the opportunity to lessen the tax burden on individuals. “
To reach Brian, you can contact him via email at jaspercountyjedi@gmail.com.
