The Starke County Commissioners this week looked over a draft contract proposal submitted by the Starke County Economic Development Foundation.
Initially, the contract called for the county’s compensation of $159,480, or 12.5 percent of CEDIT funds. The funds would be split with the operations of the SCIILL Center. The contract would be a one-year agreement beginning March 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022.
Upon review, the commissioners omitted the condition where CEDIT money would be an option and asked the SCEDF to trim down the number of board members. Interim Director Lisa Dan told the commissioners that work had already started on trimming down the number of directors from 30 to 25. The county representation on the board was two Starke County Council members and two Starke County Commissioners. One commissioner representative was eliminated to help with the process. The commissioner’s representative would also be on the executive board.
Some of the other terms of the contract is the SCEDF would serve as the county’s primary point of contact for community development and economic services, conduct business recruitment activities designed to provide new employment and an improved tax base throughout the county, marketing and promotion of the county which includes a website, industrial park planning and promotion, build relationships with other entities engaged in community and economic development, engage with current businesses and promote retention and expansion, acquire land for industrial growth, and more.
Since Monday’s meeting, the SCEDF was informed that the commissioners would like to see the number of board members reduced even further. The SCEDF board members will be meeting in the next few months to make those changes as specified, but the contract will reflect that updated request.
The commissioners are expected to act on the contract at their next meeting on February 15.
