Business group serving Western Clark County appoints new president

Credit: Submitted

Credit: Submitted

A business group that has roots in western Clark County has announced a change in leadership as its president Rhonda Ledford has stepped down as board president due to personal reasons.

The Gateway Business Group’s new president is Rick Slark, the owner of Slark Consulting Group LLC. He was voted into his new position on Friday, according to a recent news release.

The Gateway Business Group was formed in 2012 and was originally called the Western Clark County Business Coalition. It was created with the purpose of being a voice for small businesses in places such as Enon and New Carlisle.

The group has approximately 70 members and represents local businesses not just in Western Clark County.

Ledford served on its board for nearly two years and championed its rebranding initiative that occurred last year. She will continue to serve the group’s board and will offer guidance to its new president Slark, according to the news release.

Slark said the goal of the group is to serve local businesses by providing information regarding best practices, creating networking opportunities and other services with the intention of helping those businesses grow.

Slark has been a member of the group for several years and said that he wants to focus on ways that Gateway can aid small business development as well as local economic growth.

“It’s not about coming up with fresh ideas. But instead on focusing on our original intent. Those ideas are incredibly vital today especially due to (the coronavirus pandemic),” he added.

Slark said that means focusing on getting relevant and crucial information out to the small businesses they serve by using virtual platforms. He said the goal is to create more avenues to share that information as well as provide more data to those businesses.

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