New EDC director brings a lot of experience to the table

MOSES LAKE — Linda Martin’s credentials made her a viable candidate in several employment arenas. But in the end, she followed her heart to Moses Lake where she will take over responsibilities as the new director of the Economic Development Council. She starts work April 11. 

“I feel Moses Lake has a lot of good things going for it. You have the agricultural things, but you also have some high-tech things, aerospace, you also have the advanced manufacturing and food processing,” Martin said.” A lot of things like that can be interesting to other industries that want to find a home there. It’s up to myself and the board of directors to nurture that to bring in more jobs and skill sets in.”

Martin is an International Economic Development Council Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), providing management services for site location, business attraction, retention/expansion, community development and redevelopment activities, and business advocacy.

“We are extremely excited for Linda to be a member of the Grant County EDC family,” Ray Towry with the city of Ephrata said. “I really look forward to working with her and learning from all the knowledge and experiences she brings. We’re convinced she will be able to lead us as we work to fulfill our strategic plan.”

Over the past six years, Martin has led over $600 million in capital investments and/or payroll, and in excess of 4,500 jobs created, retained, or anticipated in Idaho Falls, Idaho, where she was the CEO, CEcD for Grow Idaho Falls Inc. Prior to moving to Idaho, Martin was with the Quad City Development Group in Rock Island, Ill., where she led 29 projects, which resulted in approximately $157 million in capital investment and over 2,000 jobs.

“One of the things I would like to do is focus on education and talent development. I think that would be very, very important,” said Martin, who graduated from the University of Louisiana-Monroe with a B.A. in government and a minor in psychology. “I have read the EDC’s strategic plan and marketing plan, and I think the next step for me is to meet the players and to work with the board to figure out which is the most feasible strategy to make as many accomplishments as we can.”

Martin’s background also includes working with the Oglethorpe Power/Georgia EMCs, specializing in domestic and international clients, which resulted in 57 companies to select plant locations, with over 4,800 jobs. She was also director of marketing for a construction materials testing and environmental company in Atlanta. Linda was in the industrial division of Grubb & Ellis, and a member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors.