Media Release | September 25, 2025
Pasco Economic Development Council
The International Economic Development Council recognized Pasco EDC with two awards.
PASCO COUNTY, FLORIDA (September 25, 2025): Pasco Economic Development Council (Pasco EDC) received two 2025 Excellence in Economic Development Bronze Awards from the International Economic
Development Council (IEDC).
The awards were bestowed for the organization’s work in the Email Newsletter and Recovery, Resiliency & Mitigation categories that impacted over 500,000 residents. The awards were received at the IEDC 2025 Annual Conference in Detroit, Michigan, earlier last week.
“We are honored to be recognized by IEDC with two Excellence in Economic Development awards. Our
team works hard to maintain relationships with Pasco County businesses through the Pasco EDC Business
Retention and Expansion program, and it is exciting to see the Pasco Biz Connect campaign being
recognized as a part of their efforts to support business growth in our community,” shared Bill Cronin,
Pasco EDC President/CEO.
The following Pasco EDC projects were recognized:
- The Email Newsletter Award in the bronze category recognized the Pasco Biz Connect campaign.
- This campaign promotes the Pasco EDC Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) program by utilizing themed monthly email newsletters, social media, and new website features, including a new blog page and resource library, to provide relevant content to the business community. The campaign has shown tremendous success and surpassed the entire previous year’s social media engagements only halfway through the campaign’s second year. Additionally, the campaign maintained an email click-through rate of 16 percent, well over the industry average of 2.6 percent. The Recovery, Resiliency, and Mitigation Award in the bronze category recognized Pasco EDC’s
emergency communication efforts during the 2024 hurricane season. The Pasco EDC team worked with local, state, and federal agencies to share important recovery and mitigation updates and resources with the community. The past year’s storms were the worst to hit the area in over 100 years, and our team worked together with our partners, including Pasco County Government and Florida SBDC at USF, to disseminate all information in a timely manner to businesses. During the 2024 hurricane season, there were over 1,000 clicks in Pasco EDC emergency communication emails, which included links to various partner resources. During this same timeframe, Pasco EDC social media posts relating to emergency communications reached over 144,000 impressions.
“Pasco EDC is leading the field of excellence in economic development with its programs. These awards
shine a spotlight on Pasco EDC’s commitment to its community and showcase the significant impact of
economic development,” said Nathan Ohle, IEDC President and CEO. “IEDC is honored to present this
award to Pasco EDC to celebrate both their leadership and innovation in the field.”
