By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
This is the third in a series on new economic development in Orange County. You can read the rest of the stories at carrborocitizen.com/main/ecdev
Timing is everything. And with a transition in personnel, continued slow growth and the need to regroup after the sales-tax loss at the polls, proponents and skeptics of a new look at economic development say this time something is likely to happen.
Orange County Manager Frank Clifton said his staff has been working with researchers at the UNC School of Government to get an idea of options ahead of a report in mid-February. Carrboro and Chapel Hill elected officials will hold discussions about economic development soon as well. Meanwhile, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce is planning a meeting with elected officials and business leaders about a new structure.
Clifton said the Orange County Board of Commissioners will take up the new ideas at their retreat Feb. 11-12. With the recent resignation of Brad Broadwell, the county’s economic-development director, Clifton said the time is right to look at the structure, the direction of the county and how to work better with other local governments.
“We’re in the very early stages of looking at that,†he said. Whatever comes out of it, Clifton said, it has to be different.
“You can’t just wave a new banner and say ‘we’re open for business,’†he said. “You have to have something behind the banner.â€
Commissioner Barry Jacobs said anything the county does has to represent a real change, “not just a fad.â€
Jacobs said the new collaboration would be based on commonly held principles. He’s boiled them down into the acronym SAGE, for sound economic principles like fair wage and work environment, assertive marketing, green and locally grown and engagement of the business community as well as the public sector.
Carrboro entrepreneur Brian Russell said he sees a lot of overlap in the areas various officials are discussing.
“I feel positive about the next five to 10 years,†he said. There seems to be an effort building aimed at green and socially responsible businesses. “I think we’re well poised to take advantage of that.â€
Russell, who serves on the Orange County Economic Development Commission, said he’s not convinced an all-out merger of all economic-development activities is necessary or even possible, but that a change in strategy and in leadership will be important.
He said he would especially like to see the county be more supportive of smaller businesses and a wider variety of enterprises.
“The fact is that there are 100 technology workers in downtown Carrboro right now,†he said.
Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton said he anticipates a challenge in making sure local and smaller businesses don’t just get lip service.
He cites Figure 8 films, which produces shows for the Discovery Channel, and technology firms like the Newfangled Web Factory as small companies that are relocating because of the quality of life downtown.
“They’re bringing in top-notch talent to work for them, and part of their pitch is ‘you get to work in downtown Carrboro,’†Chilton said. “That’s an asset [for economic development]. Let’s use it.â€
Chilton said his worry is that when all is said and done, economic development will still mean recruiting large out-of-state companies and that those pushing the local economy and boosting small businesses will take a backseat.
“To me, it’s very frustrating, since that sort of thing ought to be the primary focus,†he said.
Like the county, Carrboro’s leaders are going into the new year contemplating a change in economic-development efforts, with the retirement on Feb. 1 of the town’s economic- and community-development director James Harris.
Chilton said discussions at the board’s upcoming retreat at the end of January, as well as a hard look at the recommendations of the town’s recent Local Living Economy Task Force, will play a role in shaping Carrboro’s interactions with any new economic-development entity.
Clifton said he thinks efforts to help local businesses expand and retain employees will be a part of the county’s thrust. He said it’s important to recognize that while there’s a general consensus things have to change, there’s not likely to be a unanimous approach to how to move forward on economic development.
“There may still end up being individual efforts,†Clifton said. But the goal, he said, has to be to find a way to better work together. “That’s the important thing.â€