County seeks unity on recruiter
Commissioners want to meet with their city counterparts to discuss plans for a new economic development model.
Floyd County commissioners underscored Tuesday their unanimous support for creating a new economic development authority to work with and oversee a professional industry recruiter.
“We’re in a position we’ve not been in many years, with the county manager and city manager working so well together,” Commission Chair Rhonda Wallace said. “We’re in agreement to move forward with this model.”
The board asked County Manager Jamie McCord to set up a joint meeting with the Rome City Commission next week to discuss the proposed authority.
Representatives from both commissions and the Rome Floyd Chamber spent months researching successful efforts in other communities to lure new industries and jobs. The city/county Joint Services Committee and chamber executive board backed the model recommended by the committee — but the City Commission balked, citing unanswered questions.
Funding is an issue along with the future role of the chamber, which currently handles economic development outreach. There also are three development authorities that participate in various roles.
McCord said City Manager Sammy Rich is drawing up a proposed budget, as requested by his board Monday. However, he and the county commission emphasized that it’s a concept that could change as the new authority determines what is needed.
“It’s a process, like everything else we’ve done together,” Commissioner Allison Watters said. “I feel very confident you all have done due diligence on this . ... We’re trying to be transparent: Start with a concept and build on it.”
The city and county contribute just over $200,000 together to the chamber’s recruitment efforts, but Commissioner
Scotty Hancock said it’s sometimes difficult to get hard numbers on what the money brings. The chamber was asked several years ago to come up with a new model, he said, but declined.
Hancock said he’s surprised that some city officials are now demanding hard numbers before trying a different approach to make the county more competitive.
“As elected officials, we have to do what we think is best for the community. We cannot govern being afraid we’re going to hurt somebody’s feelings ... There’s no takeover. There’s no hidden agenda. All we want to do is hire a professional with accountability to a board,” he said.
The proposed authority would be made up of three appointees each by the Rome City and Floyd County commissions, plus the city and county managers. The appointees would be local business people with experience in economic development, and they would hire the recruiter.
McCord said he believes the city and county boards will be able to iron out the issues to create a stronger model to recruit new jobs.
“Unification is a big topic. We’re not there on this yet, but we’ve got 31 joint agreements — more than any community our size in the state. We’re unified,” McCord said.