In October of 2016, John Marek took the reins of the newly formed Anson Economic Development Partnership (AnsonEDP). We checked back in with him to see how things were going after his first full calendar year on the job. So, we're in the final days of 2017 and you've been on the job for 15 months; what are your general impressions of Anson County? I came into the job with few preconceived notions. Although I'd driven through here a few times on my way to the coast and actually had some business with the then Coffing Hoist back in the late 90's, it was pretty much a blank slate. The thing that stood out to me and still does is how welcoming the people here have been. Everyone's just been fantastic to work with. From an economic development standpoint, I have been pleasantly surprised by how much structure was in place. I was tasked with building AnsonEDP from the ground up and was prepared to start from nothing, but found that some key pieces were already in