Economic development plan presented

WADLEY–A good crowd of movers and shakers from Randolph County and elsewhere attended last week’s program at Southern Union State Community College (SUSCC) to hear about the economic development strategic action plan for the county. The plan has been a year in the making.

Randolph County Economic Development Authority (RCEDA) in its plan for recruitment, retention and renewal had four components with specific objectives under each component.

Recruitment is creation of jobs and investment through locating or re-locating companies. Retention is creation of jobs and investments through expanding existing industry. Renewal is entrepreneurial development, tourism opportunities, and downtown revitalization.

An example of specific objectives under the various components is, under human capital, to establish an existing industry outreach program to include existing industry visits, quarterly roundtables and an appreciation event.

Under physical capital they should work to engage utilities and state economic developers to increase and enhance industrial sites and buildings. A copy of the full list of objectives is available locally at RCEDA.

RCEDA executive director Cotina Terry and past president Wendell Shelton welcomed the group. Shelton thanked Shondae Brown from SUSCC, who he said had been a tremendous asset, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA), which helped them with the planning process. He thanked Jared Kirby, the steering committee chairperson, for the outstanding job he and his committee did.

RCEDA newly-selected president Sid Hare told the group he wanted them to leave excited about Randolph County. “My primary goal is we all worth together,” he said.

Hare said months ago the Martin Theatre renovation was an idea. With Vickie Cummings and others it is going to be the crown jewel of downtown, he said. The next big focus is the Wadley Depot renovation. RCEDA pledged to $12,500 for the theatre and $12,500 towards the deport. There are other treasures like the Wild River Trail in Woodland, and he would really like to see a golf course and hotel on Lake Wedowee, he said.

But you have to plan it and work it, Hare said. “It is not possible if you don’t dream it.”

Committee chairman Kirby said he has lived almost his entire life in Randolph County, 47 and a half years, and has lived on the same street for about 40 years. Since 1993 he has been employed in the county in the banking industry and he has seen economic changes.

One of the things he said he enjoyed the most was seeing the concern and caring for the county. The group’s objective was to identify and prioritize certain areas dealing with economic development, he said. The key of the strategic action plan was action. The plan will change and evolve and items will be added as they go. The committee learned a lot from the Economic

Development Partnership in developing this plan, he said.

Kirby recognized the co-chairs of the committees. Vickie Cummings and Lathonia Wright chaired the Recruitment Committee. Joe Ammons and Hutch Hammond chaired the Retention Committee. Clay Tinney and Shondae Brown chaired the Renewal Committee.

He said Terry’s excitement with the process was contagious. He encouraged everyone to stay involved with it.

Ernie Cowart with EDPA said EDPA was formed in 1991 by private companies to consolidate the various voices and work for economic development. They have worked with communities on different aspects. Randolph County Economic Development Authority was one of the initial partners. Last February the board of directors engaged them to work on the strategic action plan and it was decided to make this a model for the state.

After Gov. Robert Bentley was elected it was agreed to pull the different agencies together. He asked Bill Taylor, president of EDPA and with extensive experience in manufacturing at Ford, Toyota and Mercedes, and Seth Hammett, a veteran former legislator, to work on this issue. The work focused on recruitment, retention and renewal. They worked on growing the pie, innovation in new projects, new startups and revitalization.

Taylor said when he came to Alabama with Mercedes no one knew how to build cars here. If Mercedes did not have detailed plans and did not follow those plans it would have been a disaster, he said. It is important to bring in the nay-sayers because outside of the organization they can do damage but it is important to find out why they oppose something. Team building is important.

He learned planning at Toyota. The Japanese are gifted in this area. He would come in at 6 or 6:30 a.m. and the engineers were there and he would see them when he left. He finally realized they never went home. If one had problems all of them stayed to help make it right. They understood the team concept.

You are getting better or getting worse–there are no plateaus in business, he said. If a nice restaurant adds white tablecloths, paint, or makes other changes these small little things keep the engines running. You have to celebrate successes, and it is absolutely critical to keep people motivated, he said.

“Congratulations. I’m so impressed with what you have accomplished in this short period of time. I’m going to come back and see where you are,” Taylor said.

Greg Blalock of EDPA said working together was stressed throughout the planning process. The common theme was “Better Together.” There is a desire to prepare a workforce for jobs right out of high school.

He said Cotina Terry is already involved in existing industries in an on-going way, contributing to healthy existing industry. If these industries are not happy that will show up to potential industries. From 65 to 85 percent of jobs come from existing industry.

Hospitality training can help make a lasting impression to visitors. They want downtowns to look good and one of those projects, Main Street, is located in their office, Blalock said. Such projects are near and dear to his heart, he said.

Possible building locations and sites need to be maintained in the data base and regularly updated, he said. There are 44 Advantage sites he knows of in the state. This designation started in 2008 and is highly sought by some people looking for properties.

Cowart said their organization developed the data base in the mid-90s and private corporations paid for it, not government. There are a lot of resources throughout the state so people do not have to search through websites. They can call someone locally who may say “I don’t know but I will have it by tomorrow.” That is what you have got with Cotina Terry. She helped a business in the local community get a low-interest loan and 20 jobs were created, Blalock said.

“I think a lot of companies are looking to Cotina as a resource. We’re encouraging a lot of that,” Blalock said.

Terry said it is unusual to get this many people to turn out and be interested. She noted some people who attended were not from Randolph County, which shows the county is not an island to itself.