MINUTES
STATE
OF NORTH CAROLINA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
COUNTY
OF HENDERSON JANUARY 3, 2001
The Henderson
County Board of Commissioners met for a special called meeting at 12:30 p.m. in
the Conference Room at Advantage West at the Asheville Airport. This was a
joint meeting held with the Greater Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce to
discuss economic development.
Those present
from Henderson County Government were:
Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chair Marilyn Gordon, Commissioner Grady
Hawkins, Commissioner Charlie Messer, and County Manager David E. Nicholson
(also Acting Clerk to the Board).
Absent was:
Commissioner Don Ward.
Also in
attendance were: Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, the Committee of
100, Advantage West, NC Department of Commerce and the public.
CALL TO
ORDER/WELCOME
Chairman Moyer
called the meeting to order at 12:45 p.m. He
then turned the meeting over to Scott Hamilton with the Committee of 100 of the
Chamber of Commerce for a presentation on economic development activities in
Henderson County during the past 12 months.
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT in Henderson County
Scott Hamilton
gave an overview of Carolina West which is a seven county consortium of
economic development professionals in Western North Carolina. They are a not for profit organization that
does economic development marketing.
They work to assist both expanding industries and to recruit new
business.
Dale Carroll of
Advantage West updated the Board on the activities of his organization. Advantage West is a part of the North
Carolina Partnership for Economic Development.
They are one of seven of this type of organization in North
Carolina. They are the promotional arm
for economic development in the western 23 counties. They are primarily funded by the State. Some of their initiatives include advertising available
industrial sites, working with the local economic development professionals and
the State Department of Commerce. They
are currently working on opening an office in Germany, developing a master plan
for industrial sites and hiring a firm to do a labor force study.
Mr. Hamilton
then presented the report from the Committee of 100. They have 89 members and their goals include assisting existing
businesses, attracting new businesses and to attract and retain quality jobs in
Henderson County. They receive their
funds from the membership and County Government. Some of their programs include industrial visitations, providing
business seminars, and working with Blue Ridge Community College in studying a
small business incubator. They have attended several trade shows to present our
community to potential industries. Last
year they had 25 inquiries from industries requesting information on Henderson
County. Based on these inquiries, an
additional taxable investment of 75 million dollars has been made in the
community and 300 new jobs created.
QUESTIONS &
ANSWERS
During the
question and answer period, the Board discussed issues such as how to go about
the development of an industrial master plan and the activities that were
addressed in the 1996 Technology Park Plan.
Also discussed were the slowdown in the automotive industry and the
effect on local industries as well as the County=s role in developing a master economic
development plan.
Chairman Moyer
thanked the group for the presentation to the Board.
Commissioner
Hawkins made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:30 p.m. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
Attest:
Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk to the Board William L. Moyer,
Chairman
Notes taken by
David E. Nicholson for
preparation of
these minutes.
.