CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Shannon N. Barrios, of Emlenton, was recently named the new executive director the Clarion County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC).
Barrios comes to the CCEDC with a background in marketing and a wealth of international business experience. She has spent several years directing and overseeing social justice, relief, and development efforts amongst the marginalized of society in various nations around the world.
“The CCEDC is very excited to have Shannon on board. We look forward to working with her,” said CCEDC Board President Terry George.
George said he believes that Barrios’ diverse professional background will be a great asset to the Economic Development Corporation.
Barrios replaces Jamie Lefever who resigned to take another position. Lefever served as executive director for five years and was also on the board for several years.
Barrios, originally from Knox, has a varied academic and international business background.
“I went to Bucknell for my undergrad, and I started my career focused in the area of marketing and advertising and moved in that direction for a few years,” said Barios. “I worked in some technology companies with a very start-up entrepreneurial atmosphere, which was amazing and with incredibly long hours, but there are things I learned from that period of time that I continue to draw from still today.”
She then wanted to expand things into a more international realm.
“I had spent my junior year of college abroad in Italy and kind of got bit by the international bug,” said Barrios. “I went back to school for a Masters Degree at Columbia University, and I studied public administration and concentrated on the area of international business. From there, I moved to Europe and worked as an international business correspondent for an international business newspaper. It was mainly throughout the southeast area where the publication went, but I was based in Europe and lived in a few nations there meeting with corporations to talk about their international business exposure and so forth.”
After taking another turn to the spiritual side, she poured her full-time into the development of locally-based Eden Ministries.
“My husband is Mexican and (we) met when I was doing international ministry work in Latin America. We just have a real heart to see cultures transform. We have a real heart to see wherever we are (located) look better because we are there.”
“Coming back here, we wanted to engage with the spiritual community as a whole. We’re not necessarily associated with any local church, but we try and work with many of the local churches to help them with any kind of needs they might have. Our heart is to empower people and help them be great.”
Asked about how her background would help CCEDC meet one of its objectives of enhancing the economic landscape of the region.
“It’s important everywhere, and it’s something I’ve done I’ve done throughout the developing world, particularly in Latin America, Africa, and some ongoing projects in Asia. I’ve worked specifically at bringing community development and economic development in those areas that have been marginalized historically.”
“I’ve seen a lot of growth, advancement, and change and when my husband and I came back to this area and decided that this was the place where we were going to spend our lives, at least for the foreseeable future, it really felt like I wanted to invest in this region. This is my home, this is where I grew up and I see greatness just popping up all over the world and wanted to see the same thing here.”
What is the CCED’s roll in bringing jobs to the area? How can we bring businesses here?
“It’s the main goal, isn’t it? As the economy grows, there are more jobs and as there are more jobs, there’s more expandable that people have and they can go out and pour it back into the community. It’s a bit of a cycle and I’m just a couple of weeks in and I have some broad strategic ideas, but I think it’s going to be really important to look at just the overall economy. The overall landscape, both nationally and internationally and look at what kind of industry trends are happening. What industries are really going, what industries are providing services, what industries are increasing market share. ”
“I also need to look at the culture that we have here in Clarion County. There are so many great things about Clarion County. The cost of living here is really exceptionally low. The workforce here is incredible. There are a lot of really skilled people in this region who want to work. I think in many ways it’s a process of looking at what’s out there and going after those types of industries and meeting with them and telling them ‘Hey, there’s this place in Northwestern Pennsylvania.'”
“In the regional market we’re really central to both Pittsburgh and Erie, we have six exits off Interstate 80 and it’s an excellent location in that regard. Even in larger markets, we’re an eight-hour drive from Chicago and a five-hour drive from New York City, a five-hour drive from Philadelphia. I think we are in an excellent location and have a lot of resources to offer.”
