Amador County – The Amador County Board of Supervisors approved last Tuesday the allocation of $15,000 to the Amador Economic Development Corporation for fiscal year 2010-2011.
AEDC Executive Director Ron Mittelbrunn gave an extensive overview of what his organization has accomplished and changes he plans on implementing in the coming year to increase business growth and attraction. He also spoke of his business philosophies. “The process of economic development should be (thought) of as an investment and not an expense,” he said.
According to Mittelbrunn, AEDC has funded or assisted in funding 45 projects in Amador County, including notable businesses like Jeff Holman Auto Sales and the Feed Barn in Martell, Taste Restaurant in Plymouth, and the Imperial Hotel in Amador City.
He said he plans on adding a “business attraction section” to the website and “creating and maintaining a listing of vacant and industrial business sites,” complete with pictures. “These incentives have no real cost to the county and are vital,” he said.
He said he recently partnered with consultant Renee Chapman to pursue “sources of funding from (organizations) geared toward the funding of business development in rural areas.”
AEDC is also an active partner in the Central Sierra Economic Partnership, where Mittelbrunn said he and other economic developers “share ideas and resources.”
Mittelbrunn referenced the 2009 “Small Business Survival Index” put out by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, which lists California as the 49th “least friendly policy environment for entrepreneurship,” the 48th in rankings of top personal income tax rates, and 43rd in top corporate capitol gains tax rates. “It’s not my objective to stand here and whine about California’s woes,” said Mittelbrunn. “(We) have a high quality of life but…that does not transfer to the bottom line.”
Supervisor Richard Forster said that Mittelbrunn had noted in his report the “successful sitting of a community college in Amador County…in two years.” Forster said that should be changed because it is “not necessarily an achievable outcome” in that time frame. Mittelbrunn agreed it should be reworded with no set time frame.
Supervisor Ted Novelli questioned why Mittelbrunn had not been providing quarterly reports, as specified previously by the board. He said: “whatever happened to coming back and giving us updates?” Mittelbrunn said he gave a report “last April,” but would be happy to come in quarterly as well.
The board voted 5-0 to approve the allocation of funding out of the county’s contingency fund to the AEDC for the next fiscal year.
Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
