Marion Economic Development president leaving

Marion Economic Development Co. President George Lake is leaving the organization to work for Buchanan County Economic Development in Independence.

Lake's last day will be June 26.

'We offer our sincere thanks to George for his leadership and effort, assisting and aiding the business community within Marion for the past seven years,' said Ray Brown, CEO of The ESCO Group & incoming MEDCO Board Chairman.

'George has positioned MEDCO and the City of Marion well to experience business growth and expansion moving forward.'

During his tenure at MEDCO, Lake oversaw the creation of the Marion Enterprise Center, 184 acres of shovel-ready land at the corner of Highways 151 and 13. The development has already attracted ElPlast, a Polish company that supplies large press-to-close zipper bags.

Lake is returning to Buchanan County Economic Development, where he served as extension director from 1998 to 2001. He also was Madison County Extension director from 1994 to 1998.

Chad Heiman, communications manager for MEDCO, said the executive committee will be meeting early next week to discuss next steps and how it plans to fill the position.

'But the transition should be relatively smooth,' he said.

This story was updated June 6 at 10 a.m. to reflect an error regarding details about Lake's previous employment.