The Greenville Eastern North Carolina (ENC) Alliance received three 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Awards from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The organization, representing the 25,000 - 200,000 population size category, received two Gold Awards and one Silver Award for its economic development marketing projects.
“The Greenville ENC Alliance is setting the standard of excellence for economic development. These awards highlight the organization’s commitment to its community and demonstrates the transformative impact of economic development,” said Nathan Ohle, IEDC President and CEO. “It is with great pride that IEDC presents these awards to the Alliance, celebrating their leadership and innovation in the field of economic development."
The Alliance received a Gold Award for its work in the Innovation in Economic Development Week (EDW) category, a Gold Award for its role in planning and executing Better Skills, Better Jobs, and a Silver Award for its Salary Transparent Street viral social media partnership.
“We are appreciative that the IEDC has again recognized the outstanding work that Alliance staff and partners continue to produce on behalf of the community,” said Greenville ENC Alliance president and CEO Josh Lewis, CEcD. “In the spring of 2023, as one of our five primary goals, the Alliance committed to being an innovative economic development organization and a recognized industry leader. These awards are positive reinforcement that our efforts are making steady progress towards those aspirations.”
This is the second consecutive year that the Alliance earned a Gold Award for its innovation in Economic Development Week programming. During the week of May 6-10, 2024, the organization put together a week-long event series to target those involved in economic development. This included a mini summit, young professionals networking event, and downtown scavenger hunt. A second Gold Award in the Talent Development and Retention category was given for the Alliance’s role in the annual Better Skills, Better Jobs career fair which connects hundreds of job seekers with more than 100 employers and educational resources. In the Digital Media category, the organization won a Silver Award for its use of a social media influencer campaign to attract Gen-Z talent to Greenville-Pitt County, North Carolina.
“Our partnership with Salary Transparent Street, which is a social media platform with nearly three million followers across Instagram and TikTok, proved to be a great success for our organization as we look to target Gen-Z and younger millennials to share job opportunities and cost of living information,” explained Maria Satira, director of marketing and communications for the Greenville ENC Alliance. “The host visited Greenville during PirateFest weekend and conducted interviews with 40 individuals and asked them about their career fields, earning potential, and quality of life. The videos highlighting Greenville gained more than 17 million views combined on social media throughout a fourth-month span.”
Lewis and Satira will be recognized and honored at the IEDC 2024 Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado next month. Learn more about IEDC by visiting its website: www.iedconline.org