Executive Director Donna Litton’s final day with the Economic Development Corporation was May 22.
A Jefferson County native, Litton is moving to a new job opportunity with Freedom Bank in Willard.
A little more than three years ago, County Executive Dennis Gannon encouraged Litton, who had worked in the banking industry for more than 20 years, to consider the EDC position.
The EDC is a not-for-profit public corporation that helps Jefferson County businesses grow and attracts new businesses to establish operations here.
“My adult career has always been in banking, so it was a refreshing step away from the banking industry,” Litton said. “I feel like, in all my time in Jefferson County, I have been very fortunate to have countless relationships and friendships with wonderful people from all walks of life, and those connections will always mean a lot to me, both personally and professionally.
“It’s a little scary to start over in a new community, maybe a little intimidating, but I feel like growth comes from embracing new challenges, so I am looking forward to this next chapter with excitement and gratitude at the same time.”
Gannon said it was Litton’s engagement with the community that made her the perfect fit for the EDC role. Litton joined the Arnold Rotary Club in 2013 and served as president of the club for two years. She’s also heavily involved with the Arnold and Twin City Area chambers of commerce, Jefferson County BackStoppers, along with the Jefferson County Growth Association, where she served as vice president.
“She has a personality that she’s not afraid to go out there, introduce herself to people and engage, and that’s one of the things you need in that position,” Gannon said. “Now, Donna was not a professional EDC person; she was a banker, but a lot of the attributes that you need in EDC work and being a community leader are the same things you would want from a bank person.
“It turned out to be a good collaboration for her, and certainly good for the county, too.”
Gannon said Ben Brown, the EDC’s director of small business development, will serve as interim executive director. The EDC’s board of directors is set to meet June 3, and Litton said the board will likely vote to appoint the next executive director then.
Litton said Brown was hired just a few months after her and has since helped to expand the EDC’s small business loan program. With the SBA 504 loan, the small business provides a down payment of 10 percent, a third-party lender finances 50 percent of the project and the EDC finances up to 40 percent. Litton said the loan is intended for businesses looking to expand or re-establish in the county.
“Ben has worked very hard, and he has grown that pipeline for 504 SBA loans,” she said. “I mean, it’s bursting right now.
“We haven’t funded a loan in the SBA since, I think, 2019, so it’s long overdue. It has been our mission to get out and reestablish relationships with commercial lenders in the area. We’ve done that, and it’s certainly paying off.”
Brown said Litton has played “a defining role” in shaping the EDC’s direction and visibility.
“What many may not realize is that Donna also brings a fearless determination to every challenge she faces,” he said. “She has a unique talent for stepping into difficult situations, finding solutions, and moving important initiatives forward with confidence and professionalism.
“While we are excited for her as she begins this next chapter in life, she will always remain a part of Jefferson County and someone we know will always be in our corner.”
Litton said the EDC works with Greater St. Louis Inc. and the Missouri Partnership to help businesses find the perfect spot to develop in Jefferson County. On average, she said the EDC receives five requests for information (RFIs) a month from businesses intending to settle in the county.
“So many times, my challenge has always been that (the business) wants 100 acres, or they want a building that’s 100,000 square feet, and they want it already built,” Litton said. “It’s hard to meet the criteria and those deadlines. We’ve had a couple that we could not accommodate because it was food processing, including live animals, so that’s just something that’s hard to find an area that would be accommodating to that type of criteria.”
Litton said she attended grade school at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Crystal City before graduating from De Soto High School.
She attended some classes at Jefferson College before starting a job at Eagle Bank, now Enterprise Bank & Trust, in Crystal City.
Litton said she won’t stay a stranger to Jefferson County; her daughter, Ginny, grandchildren, and sisters, Denise and Shirley, still live in the area.
“I told everybody, it’s not really goodbye; it’s just see you later,” she said. “At the last chamber meeting I went to, (Twin City Area Chamber of Commerce director) Mary Zebrowski asked me, ‘Are you going to work Twin City Days for us?’ So, I’ll be back working that.”