Site Selection and Utilities with Mike O’Grady
On episode #29 of the Building BN podcast, CEO Patrick Hoban sits down to talk with Mike O’Grady, Economic Development Representative — Illinois, at Wabash Valley Power Alliance out of Indiana. O’Grady, alumni of Illinois State University, resident of Bloomington-Normal, and native Illinoian, had a 35-year career as a Director at ISU before working for the BNEDC in various roles These included both Vice President and interim CEO. He has been in his current position with Wabash Valley Power Alliance for nearly 2 years.
O’Grady spoke to Patrick about his time at the BNEDC, including deals with Rivian and Brandt that were closed during his tenure at the council. Driving economic development, O’Grady says, helps everyone in a region — not just those directly impacted. “I believe that if you build something over here, it benefits everything in the community, both locally and regionally,” O’Grady said. “When something lands in Peoria, it has a ripple effect here. And vice versa. So working together as a region, I think has great potential for future development.” Hoban added that it takes a team to get things done. Said Hoban, “There's a lot of stakeholders and community partners that come together for a deal to get done.”
Asked about the best of Bloomington-Normal, O’Grady immediately had his favorites. On his list of must-sees, he includes: the quad at Illinois State University, the Coffee Hound — with locations in both Bloomington and Normal; The Rock, in Uptown Normal; Lake Bloomington & Evergreen Lake, which accommodates horseback riding and is a fantastic spot to fish, according to O’Grady; and Maggie Miley’s Irish Pub, also in Uptown Normal, where he recommends the corned beef on rye.
Listen to the entire conversation between Hoban and O’Grady on episode #29 of the Building BN podcast, here. O’Grady also talks about the importance of site selection, why infrastructure development is truly vital to economic development and includes an interesting story about how an aircraft tail number helped his team to close one really big deal.
