Mitchell Kirk recently started work as communications director for the Hancock Economic Development Council.
HANCOCK COUNTY — After decades running as a one- or two-person operation, the Hancock Economic Development Council is growing right along with the county.
The staff has added one new position each year over the past three years, bringing the total staff up to five.
The latest addition, Communications Director Mitchell Kirk, started work on Monday, April 17.
Kirk previously served four years as a reporter at the Greenfield Daily Reporter, where he covered economic development, business and government.
At HEDC, Kirk will be responsible for communications including news releases, web content, social media posts and publications.
“I’ll also be serving in a community engagement role, which I’m not used to, but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” he said.
Kirk said his work as a business and development reporter sparked a passion in him for economic development.
“My work as a reporter has led me to become fascinated by the way government and business intersect,” he said. “I am very much looking forward to telling HEDC’s story.”
Part of that story is how the economic development council has expanded to better serve the community.
Project assistant Cailee Brewer joined the staff in 2021, followed by business development director Andrew Carty in 2022.
Longtime employee Connie Schmidt, who began working for HEDC in 2007, has been happy to see the staff grow.
“With the increased activity in our office, it’s become necessary to have additional staff because one or two people can’t do everything,” she said. “I’m actually kind of envious it didn’t happen sooner.”
Schmidt was hired as an administrative assistant by former director Dennis Maloy in 2007. She later served as executive assistant under Skip Kuker and was later promoted to project manager by current diretor Randy Sorrell, who took over in 2019.
“It’s been nice to watch the office grow,” said Schmidt, who semi-retired in January, but still works there part-time. “I think the work we do is a lot of fun.”
The development council was formed in the mid-1980s and ran for years by a one-person staff.
Kirk said he’s glad to join the growing team serving the economic development needs of the county, a cause he’s become passionate about while covering business and development news for the Daily Reporter over the past four years.
During that time, he wrote about the development surge in Mt. Comfort and surrounding western Hancock County, the towns of Fortville, McCordsville and Cumberland as well as Greenfield and Hancock County planning and government.
Kirk’s new job marks his first position outside of a newsroom. He previously worked as a reporter at the Pharos-Tribune in Logansport after earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from St. John’s University in Queens, New York. He has won several awards from the Hoosier State Press Association throughout his career.
“We at HEDC are so busy doing the work of our organization, we have no time to tell our story,” said Sorrell. “We need someone to get our story out to the public, and we couldn’t think of anyone better than Mitchell. He’s a known quantity in our community and everyone comments on what a great writer he is. We’re really pleased to have him become a part of our team here.”
For more information on the Hancock Economic Development Council, visit hancockedc.com.
