Amador County – The Amador Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) succeeded in convincing the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to provide some support in order to keep the struggling organization afloat. AEDC Executive Director Ron Mittlebrunn asked the county to invest $35,000 in economic development and to be included as a regular line item in future budget cycles. He said AEDC engages in a number of non-revenue generating activities “essential to Amador County…such as business attraction, business consulting and managing loan workout modifications.” Its primary duty is to arrange and package business loans through the US Small Business Administration (SBA). He said a number of factors led to his request before the board, including a decline in service fees due to “an unusual amount of SBA loans seeking lower interest rates through re-financing, an unprecedented number of project cancellations after or during the loan approval process requiring the refund of deposits, and a complete lack of new loan requests since early 2009 – a major source of revenue.” “Conceivably, AEDC could have survived any single of these events, but all within a relatively short period of time has proven to be financially overwhelming,” said Mittlebrunn. As a result, the agency’s loan revenue stream has declined and its loan portfolio is down from $8 million in 2006 to just under $5 million today. Mittlebrunn said beginning last year he voluntarily took a 50 percent pay cut. Since its beginning 30 years ago in the attic of the old El Dorado Bank building in Jackson, AEDC has provided business loans to many well-known companies now considered cornerstones of the community. These include the Best Western Amador Inn, Pokerville Market, Jeff Holman’s Auto Sales, TASTE Restaurant and the Feed Barn, to name a few. Mittlebrunn said incentives his organization has offered, like short-term property tax reductions, have attracted major businesses like ISP Minerals located in Ione, which now generates an annual property tax of $149,000 for the county. He also cited US Tile and Lowe’s as successful examples of big business attraction that resulted in significant sales and property tax generation. Gillian Murphy, Director at San Joaquin Delta College, said AEDC is essential because it is also a small business development outreach center affiliated with the San Joaquin Delta College Small Business Development Center. Pine Grove resident Doug Ketron said “economic development is needed to sustain our population and keep our young people.” He said Supervisors should look at this as “an investment and not a cost.” Supervisor Louis Boitano said the “path out of this recession is small business.” The Supervisors agreed to consult with staff to find a business space in county facilities in order to cut operation costs and to provide at least some of the money requested. County staff will flesh out the details and bring the item back for discussion at a later date. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. -
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Amador County – The Amador Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) succeeded in convincing the Board of Supervisors Tuesday to provide some support in order to keep the struggling organization afloat. AEDC Executive Director Ron Mittlebrunn asked the county to invest $35,000 in economic development and to be included as a regular line item in future budget cycles. He said AEDC engages in a number of non-revenue generating activities “essential to Amador County…such as business attraction, business consulting and managing loan workout modifications.” Its primary duty is to arrange and package business loans through the US Small Business Administration (SBA). He said a number of factors led to his request before the board, including a decline in service fees due to “an unusual amount of SBA loans seeking lower interest rates through re-financing, an unprecedented number of project cancellations after or during the loan approval process requiring the refund of deposits, and a complete lack of new loan requests since early 2009 – a major source of revenue.” “Conceivably, AEDC could have survived any single of these events, but all within a relatively short period of time has proven to be financially overwhelming,” said Mittlebrunn. As a result, the agency’s loan revenue stream has declined and its loan portfolio is down from $8 million in 2006 to just under $5 million today. Mittlebrunn said beginning last year he voluntarily took a 50 percent pay cut. Since its beginning 30 years ago in the attic of the old El Dorado Bank building in Jackson, AEDC has provided business loans to many well-known companies now considered cornerstones of the community. These include the Best Western Amador Inn, Pokerville Market, Jeff Holman’s Auto Sales, TASTE Restaurant and the Feed Barn, to name a few. Mittlebrunn said incentives his organization has offered, like short-term property tax reductions, have attracted major businesses like ISP Minerals located in Ione, which now generates an annual property tax of $149,000 for the county. He also cited US Tile and Lowe’s as successful examples of big business attraction that resulted in significant sales and property tax generation. Gillian Murphy, Director at San Joaquin Delta College, said AEDC is essential because it is also a small business development outreach center affiliated with the San Joaquin Delta College Small Business Development Center. Pine Grove resident Doug Ketron said “economic development is needed to sustain our population and keep our young people.” He said Supervisors should look at this as “an investment and not a cost.” Supervisor Louis Boitano said the “path out of this recession is small business.” The Supervisors agreed to consult with staff to find a business space in county facilities in order to cut operation costs and to provide at least some of the money requested. County staff will flesh out the details and bring the item back for discussion at a later date. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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