An economic development strategic plan that was nearly a year in the making was adopted Tuesday by the Athens County Commissioners.
The plan was developed through the Athens County Economic Development Council (EDC), which hired a consultant, The Montrose Group, to complete the plan. The council adopted the plan at its Feb. 15 meeting.
Five-year goals of the plan include:
- Adding 2,500 new high-wage jobs paying about $17.40 per hour.
- Cutting child poverty by 5 percent.
- Increasing per capita incomes by 15 percent.
“… It is the first time we’ve actually tried to write down what the vision is, where we want to go, what we want to do and how we want to get there,” said County Commissioner Lenny Eliason, who is chairman of the EDC’s board. “It’s going to take some adjusting and tweaking over time, but it was the first step to actually get this down on paper.”
One feature of the plan is creation of an Athens County Community Fund with private and public contributions. It would provide a funding source for emerging entrepreneurs and companies, and the goal is to raise $2 million in the next six to nine months, according to the plan.
Sara Marrs-Maxfield, EDC executive director, said a committee is currently developing guidelines on how the Athens County Community Fund would operate.
The plan warns that the county has an over-reliance on public-sector jobs and low-wage service jobs, and there is a need to diversify its employment and industrial base.
“It’s not us that are going to create the jobs, it’s the private sector,” Eliason commented during the meeting. “We can only make the conditions better for the private sector do do this.”
The plan calls for a “re-tool” of the Athens County Economic Development Council, including implementation of an aggressive business retention and expansion program. It also calls for the EDC to get engaged in the site development business and focus on advanced manufacturing, advanced services and technology industries for growth.
Marrs-Maxfield said one of the challenges Athens County faces is a lack of developable sites because of typography and the need to develop infrastructure.
“I don’t think this is ever going to work until we work on the infrastructure,” said Commissioner Charlie Adkins, who mentioned as an example the need for sewer service to potential development sites between Athens and Albany. Included in that area is Ohio University-owned land near Hebbardsville, which has long been eyed as a potential development site.
“One of the sites that’s really going to be talked about more and more is Hebbardsville…,” Eliason said. “That’s going to require water and sewer, and that’s going to require an investment group and that’s going to require a lot of resources going that way, but that’s clearly one of the major sites we’ve identified that need to be developed.”
The plan also calls for the EDC to explore developing a major mixed-use development at The Ridges to provide new office, retail and residential development. It says the EDC should explore acquiring the Athens County Fairgrounds for future development.
The commissioners voted to adopt the plan and place it on the county’s website.
From The Athens Messenger | February 22, 2017
