Position could help Lake County cities

Many of us, from the time when we are children, learn about the importance of sharing. As we become older and wiser adults, it’s obvious that sharing is a good thing not just for individuals, but also organizations, such as schools, churches and civic groups.

Sometimes, even local government entities and agencies can benefit through the sharing of funding, resources or services. One current initiative involving sharing of personnel is the Lake County Ohio Port & Economic Development Authority’s plan to hire an economic development manager to serve Kirtland, Wickliffe and Willowick.

We support this proposal for a variety of key reasons.

First, it’s a smart, budgetconscious way for these three cities to receive services from a professional economic development manager. The cost is to be divvied among the communities. The estimate is between $20,000 and $30,000 a year per city, depending on the candidate. That includes insurance and benefits.

The idea for the shared economic development manager was proposed by Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino, who approached the port authority for its help in turning the concept into reality.

“This is a very exciting initiative, and it’s the first time it’s been done in Lake County, for sure,” Cirino said. “This is one of those out-of-the-box solutions to bring good experience and competency on a shared basis.”

Cirino pointed out that Kirtland, Wickliffe and Willowick are governed by parttime mayors without the time, funds or resources to adequately address such economic development needs.

The time also seems right for an economic development manager to lend his or her expertise to each city, based on some current issues facing these communities.

Wickliffe, for example, is dealing with the departure of its second-largest employer, manufacturer ABB. Last year, ABB announced it was leaving Wickliffe for a new plant on a 16-acre site in Highland Hills. Losing ABB and its 400 employees will cost Wickliffe between $900,000 and $950,000 a year in lost income and property taxes.

Another topic with economic implications in Wickliffe is the future of the Euclid Avenue corridor. In fact, a group called the Wickliffe Euclid Avenue Corridor Committee formed last year and has been holding regular meetings. The panel is exploring ways to improve the city’s Euclid Avenue corridor, ranging from beautification projects to forming a business/restaurant association.

Willowick, meanwhile, also is focused on enhancing a corridor — the one involving Vine Street. Mayors Robert Fiala of Willoughby, Rich Regovich of Willowick and Dennis Morley of Eastlake have pledged to work together to help enhance the entire length of Vine Street for residents and businesses in their cities.

Regovich sees strong potential for his city to benefit from sharing an economic development manager with Kirtland and Wickliffe.

“We can plan for the future and actually have a great chance to implement our plan,” he said. “I believe having the backing and expertise of the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority will give our cities the tools to be successful in reaching our goals.”

Regovich makes a good point that The News-Herald wants to reinforce, and that is: the involvement of the port authority will help enhance the likelihood of success for the new economic development manager, and ultimately the three cities served by this individual.

Plans call for the manager to work from the port authority offices and receive support and direction from the authority’s executive director, Mark Rantala. Receiving guidance from Rantala, who has a strong background in economic development, will help ensure that the person hired works effectively on behalf of all three cities.

There have been more than a dozen applicants for the fulltime position. The hope is to have someone hired in June.

Whoever is hired as economic development manager will be dealing with three cities that have an interesting mix of needs, Rantala said.

“Willowick has almost no available industrial land, but needs retail and residential development. Wickliffe has long had a part-time economic development consultant, but we expect (it) will benefit from a more focused approach on redevelopment, and Kirtland is exploring ways to open up new areas for development through extension of utilities and implementation of a new master plan.”

Here’s hoping that the new administrator succeeds in helping all three cities to achieve their economic development goals. If this initiative is successful, it could provide one more example of why sharing can be a good thing.