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'A lot of questions to be answered' as to economic development
"We are already growing. It has just increased the interest." That is thanks to the efforts that have taken place by county and city officials over the last several years, she said. TK makes the county even more attractive. Relationships to be discussed The Clarke County Commission is asking board members of the Twin Rivers Economic Development Partnership and mayors in the county to appear at the Aug. 13 work session to discuss the relationship between Twin Rivers and county development agencies. Twin Rivers was created in 2006 to promote the regional development interests of Clarke and Choctaw Counties. The agency has since joined with the Coastal Gateway Regional Economic Development Authority to market a five-county region, including Choctaw, Clarke, Escambia, Monroe and Conecuh. Wiley Blankenship, President/CEO of Coastal Gateway is serving as the economic developer for the combined effort. In addition, Sullivan-St. Clair Advertising of Mobile was hired by Clarke County to create a marketing plan for the county. Where does Clarke County's development office fit into this new regional approach? "There are a lot of questions out there to be answered," Bolen said. "…There's no doubt…that we need to be looking at economic development and the way that we market our area from a regional perspective. 'A role for each....' "…I think there is a role for each of the organizations. It is just a matter of defining that, where each of the organizations and the elected officials and the board members understand those roles and how they work in conjunction." Would Bolen like a transparent situation where each agency tells each other what they are doing? "I think it would benefit each organization," she said. The organizations should truly work as a team. "All of these organizations have the same mission for improving the counties, the municipalities, the regions we represent." A native of Jackson, Bolen has served in her position since April 2002. The county development office, housed in the Clarke County Courthouse, has evolved over the years. The position was originally created with an emphasis on industrial development, "recruiting jobs to the area," she said. In addition, the Clarke County Development Foundation, a public private partnership, was created at the end of 2003 that had a focus on economic development, tourism, education and workforce development. Members of the public could make contributions to the foundation. Until several months ago, Bolen was in charge of both the county development office and the community foundation. One benefit of having both the county office and foundation together was the ability to use the public foundation contributions in the county development effort, she said. Foundation splits off However, it was decided that having both entities in the same office was a large task, and the foundation split off on its own. "The purpose from the beginning was trying to get that [the foundation] up-and-running, making it a sustainable organization," Bolen said. "That had happened. You had a great board of directors who we felt like could take the development foundation [on its own]." The foundation office is now located in Thomasville and it has tightened its focus to just community and quality of life issues. The current chairman is Steve Green. Bolen's current duties involve promoting both industrial and retail development in the county in partnership with development efforts in Thomasville. She reports to the county commission and the mayors and is in constant communication to the county commission chairman, currently Joe Hunt. If a possible industrial or retail recruit is looking at Clarke County and the possible site is in a municipality, Bolen will notify city officials. However, city development officials do not have to contact Bolen when they are working with a possible development recruit, she said. Bolen said she gets more requests for help from Jackson and Grove Hill because Thomasville has its own Economic and Community Development office. All three communities have chambers of commerce, and Bolen has good ties to all three. New marketing materials were recently created by Bolen's office for Jackson and Grove Hill, she said. When designing marketing materials, she tries to give each package a similar appearance to the county materials. That way, "it's not as much a competition," she said. The county had worked with architects Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood of Montgomery on initiating a master plan for overall county development. "Due to financial situations, we were not able to complete that plan," she said. "But, the beginning phases of that was the identification of retail and industrial properties (throughout the county). We have all of that information on hand, where the ideal locations are. "The City of Jackson has taken that a step further, and they are doing their own comprehensive plan for the city." In addition, Jackson and Thomasville are going through the certification process to become "Alabama Communities of Excellence." Cities going through the ACE program must have a comprehensive plan. Bolen, of Jackson, is married to Jackson City Councilmember Daron Bolen by the way. In regard to infrastructure, Bolen said that water, sewer and natural gas ability for potential industry is "in excellent shape….The one weakness that we would have…and it's being worked on - is the availability of industrial property. While we have availability of property, it is not prepared for industry." That includes property owned by the counties or municipalities, she said. For example, not all the 365 remaining acres in the North Industrial Park (south of Thomasville where Louisiana Pacific is building a new oriented strand board mill) are ready for development. "Each of the elected officials I work with realize that is a need. That is an obstacle that we need to overcome. We've had meetings in Montgomery with the Alabama Development Office. We've had representatives from Alabama Power come in and meet with us. "That's what we hear over and over - that we must have prepared sites," she said. It is an issue of what financial resources can be committed to preparing sites. "A huge need in the area is the availability of buildings….Approximately 85 percent of people that are looking want to go into an existing facility. That is something we can't offer." The City of Thomasville is proposing building a spec building. Jackson is also interested, and Grove Hill Mayor Lamar Hudson recently spoke to Bolen about a possible spec building.
Development is a long term process, she said. "You've got to continue the effort throughout the process." Residents and elected officials must be patient. "Just because it may seem like there is not a lot happening today, you can say we don't need this process. You've got to see it through."
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