Lincoln County EDC summarizes progress

The following is a summary of the larger projects and programs that the Lincoln County Economic Development Council was involved with in 2011. It was compiled by EDC executive director Margie Hall.

EDC Board

• Added four new Board Members, increasing the volunteer board size from 7 to 11.

• Supervised EDC operational and program costs and monitored grant funds from the Department of Commerce and the Lincoln County Economic Development Fund.

• Contracted with Lincoln County to act as the Lincoln County Convention & Visitors Bureau in the administration of their lodging tax dollars (second year).

• Administered the Lincoln County Economic Development Fund grant process on behalf of the County’s commissioners.

• Finalized the process to become a foreign trade zone in partnership with the Moses Lake Port District.

• Responsible for preparing the County’s first strategic economic development plan.

Economic Development

Strategic Plan

Because a current economic development plan is required in order to apply for several government grants and because community-based planning provides the basis for improving our quality of life, the EDC began preparing a County plan late last year.

The plan was selected as the senior project for students from Eastern Washington University studying Urban & Regional Planning. Students spent three months researching past and present economic data and then created, utilized and analyzed a community vision process, a requirement for the document. Their involvement allowed us to utilize the services of a neutral party without the expense of hiring an outside consultant.

Next step will be to take the information collected by the students and EDC staff and turn it into goals and objectives with options on how we can achieve them.

Chamber of Commerce

Partnerships

This past year, the EDC committed to working more closely with the County’s six Chambers. In doing so, we learned that they are completely dedicated to their communities, however too few are burdened with too much (usually community events.) We also learned that the Chambers are by far the EDC’s best resource for business news within their communities.

The EDC would love to see a more business-focused Chamber system because that very communication enables us to be more effective in serving their businesses. In 2012, we plan to offer Chambers assistance with their tourism promotion and website and social media tasks with the goal being to allow them more time to expand on their commerce missions. Most Chamber and event leaders that we have worked with agree that increased collaboration can be beneficial to us all.

We continue to assist with three large projects:

The Sprague Emergency Response Center. This year the EDC assisted the County and the Fire District with their CDBG application and post award process, including performing the cultural and environmental assessments for the project.

The Cattle Producers of Washington’s USDA-approved slaughter facility. This year CPoW moved the planned facility from the Barr Regional Bio-Industrial Park to the Odessa Industrial Park and moved forward with fund raising. In March, representatives from CPoW, the Odessa PDA, the EDC and Lincoln County’s commissioners made a trip to Olympia that resulted in preliminary approval of a $1.2 million loan by the state’s Community Economic Development Board (CERB.)

NoaNet’s Broadband Enhancement Grant (2010). We continued to assist NoaNet with the pre-construction process in order to expedite the installation of high-speed fiberoptic cables in our county. We also pressed to relocate the project's ribbon cutting/strategic planning kick-off from Spokane to Davenport. That event introduced the state’s broadband office and several others involved in broadband build-out and promotion to Lincoln County.

Other

The EDC developed a free property listing resource to help Lincoln County's commercial and industrial property owners and real estate agents sell or lease vacant properties. We have advertised the list on the west side of the state and in the Spokesman-Review. It is also linked to our homepage at http://www.lincolnedc.org. If you have a property to add, let us know. There is no charge.

The EDC partnered with WSU Extension’s Leadership Specialist to develop a workshop on how to effectively recruit and retain volunteers in the 21st Century. We took the workshop on the road to six Lincoln County locations.

The EDC supported the Davenport Chamber’s Brown Bag Business Lunch Series by providing the program for three of their events.

The EDC hosted mayors meetings in February and June.

The Lincoln County Economic Development Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that operates exclusively for social welfare purposes specifically related to economic development. The EDC strives to facilitate countywide communication regarding economic development; to create a favorable climate for business recruitment and development; to help private-for-profit businesses grow and provide jobs; and to market Lincoln County's tourism and recreational opportunities on behalf of and for the Lincoln County Visitor & Convention Bureau.

To find out more about EDC services or to become a member, contact Margie Hall, Executive Director, at 509-725-1170 or edcmargie@centurylink.net.