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Void In County Economic Development Needs To Be Addressed Says Del. Buckel

July 8th, 2019 by WCBC Radio

At a public meeting in May, Allegany County Commissioners President Jake Shade expressed concern with what he sees as a lack of direction and no clearly defined benchmarks when it comes to economic development efforts, but it remains to be seen what changes, if any, may be forthcoming.  While the commissioners continue to wait to study the findings of an Indianapolis-based consulting firm which conducted a detailed strategic plan for economic growth- the economic development department is working essentially with a bare bones crew. The county’s economic development director, Jeff Barclay, has been dealing with health issues in recent months. Given the importance of economic development for the county, Delegate Jason Buckel says the absence of a full-time department head has created a void that needs to be addressed…

 

5 Responses to “Void In County Economic Development Needs To Be Addressed Says Del. Buckel”

  1. July 08, 2019 at 5:58 am, mac said:

    Delegate Buckel states that more people are needed in the area of economic development. It should seem obvious that those already employed there should be shown the door and replaced by anyone else who might be able to produce real results.
    Once again the County is waiting for that consultant’s report. Commissioner Shade commented, weeks ago, that the report was due any day now.
    Please, please, please, let’s hope that the report doesn’t just focus on acquiring more retail business, another chain restaurant and another hotel, boutique or otherwise.

    Reply

  2. July 08, 2019 at 11:01 am, Brian said:

    Does anybody ever contact companies and find out why they didn’t consider this area look at Martinsburg Hagerstown Winchester more business than their businesses and then they can find employees for

    Reply

    • July 08, 2019 at 2:13 pm, mac said:

      > I think you’ve pretty much described what the economic development employees are supposed to be doing. They should try to determine just what major employers need in infrastructure, access to highway transport, available employee pool, and the all important sweeteners in the way of tax rebates and etc.
      Think about this. Delegate Buckel states that more employees are needed in economic development but that didn’t stop him from attending a retail convention in Las Vegas. Why wasn’t one of the 2 or 3 actual employees sent to perform work as described in their job description?

      Reply

  3. July 09, 2019 at 9:15 am, LRH said:

    Hey, I have an idea….lets hire a consultant to do ANOTHER study.

    Reply

  4. July 10, 2019 at 7:04 am, Paolo Primavera said:

    BUT, that will cost our taxpayers more money.

    Reply

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