In giving their quarterly reports to the Kosciusko County Commissioners Tuesday, one organization revealed a forthcoming retirement while the second organization said a new CEO would be taking the helm in June.
Suzie Light, Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation interim co-CEO, reported during KEDCO’s first quarter she and Greg Fitzloff served as interim co-CEOs.
“We have had an interesting task. Greg is now focusing on projects and we’re still working heavily on entrepreneurship, housing and talent recruitment and retention. Business development is critical. We’re working closely with the North East Regional Partnership on business site development,” she said.
KEDCO is participating in four studies.
“You’ve heard of the Hunden Transformational Downtown Warsaw Feasibility and Parking Study. Those results were presented to the community in quarter one,” Light said. “We’re working on the Winona Lake Town Center study, the 1300 North study and the countywide sewer and water study.”
She pointed out that KEDCO’s staff is “much leaner” than it was at the end of 2023.
“We are not making a public announcement. We are happy to report that there will be a public announcement soon on the new CEO, who will take the helm in mid June. We’re really excited that we’ve got a very talented individual who’s coming on board. There were 20 applicants from all over the United States seeking this position, and we believe we have a highly qualified, very talented individual who will be joining us,” Light stated.
A marketing and communication plan also is in the works.
“We do continue to use consultants for specific projects, so our entrepreneurship has a consultant that is funded through a grant,” she stated, adding that the commissioners will hear back from KEDCO in the second quarter that will include more detailed information.
Commissioner Brad Jackson thanked Light and Fitzloff. “You guys have made this a seamless transition. You’ve done an excellent job,” he said.
Stillwater Hospice CEO Leslie Friedel started her quarterly report by stating, “I am officially taking over from Glenn Hall, who will be retiring in June of this year. He’s typically been the one giving this report. I’m thankful for Glenn’s service as part of our organization, especially for the last year as we combined Kosciusko Home Care & Hospice with Stillwater.”
Since the merger of the two hospices in March 2023, Hall served as the Kosciusko community outreach director. He previously was the executive director of KHCH.
Friedel then gave the rest of her report of what Stillwater Hospice accomplished in the first quarter of 2024 and how they used county dollars granted to the nonprofit. She had given a similar report to the county council on April 11.
In the first quarter, Stillwater served 59 Kosciusko County residents, which equals 2,747 days “that we walked alongside of Kosciusko County residents as our patients. For each patient, it cost about $7.50 to provide the wraparound services that is not reimbursed through any insurance or Medicare or any insurance program.”
Stillwater allocated $20,600 to support Kosciusko County residents and their families in the first quarter, she said. They also provided bereavement outreach to 91 individuals and supported them in many other ways. There currently is a grief support group in Warsaw and Stillwater is looking to grow its grief program here. The grief programs are provided to individuals at no cost to them, but through the generosity of support like county dollars.
Going into the merger last year, Friedel said Stillwater knew that KCHCH employees were under market value for pay. Over the last year, Stillwater was able to raise their pay to market value, she said, “and be able to give significant pay increases to those staff members, which was equivalent to about $68,000 annualized for those working here in the county.”
She thanked the county for its support.