The Industrial Development Board was established in 1963 to maintain and increase employment opportunities by recruiting companies to locate in Clarksville-Montgomery County. Over the last 50-plus years, the agency has been responsible for the recruitment and expansion of billions of dollars worth of industry and securing thousands of jobs for the community. In 1996, the IDB would find itself shifting gears from acting as a department of Montgomery County to become a part of a larger umbrella organization, the Economic Development Council. There the IDB began to work in unison with the Chamber of Commerce and the Tourist Commission (now acting as the Convention and Visitors Bureau) to help foster growth in the community. No matter if the face of the IDB has changed, the mission has remained the same. To recruit industry and good paying jobs to Clarksville-Montgomery County, Tenn. Currently, under the leadership of Michael J. Evans, the IDB has secured over $4.8 billion in capital investment and recruited over 7,600 direct jobs since 1999.