PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners are expected to approve $125,000 for the county Economic Development Corp. at their meeting today as the nonprofit strikes out on its own toward self-sufficiency under new Executive Director Bob Schroeter.
During a five-minute agenda item at their Monday work session, commissioners set the stage for the meeting at 10 a.m. at the county courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
The $125,000 allotment is the final of three installment totalling $425,000 in county Opportunity Fund proceeds over 2015-17, three years during which the EDC has been reorganizing from being a government-oriented to a more private-business-focused group.
“This would be the third and final influx” of funding, commissioner’s Chairman Mark Ozias said Monday.
“I am pleased with how this has worked out. Various commissioners have worked hard with the EDC to ensure that funding.”
Six existing goals — referred to as “deliverables” in the EDC-county agreement — include five that focus on existing businesses and organizations and the coordination of workforce development, while one goal hones in on “efforts at attracting businesses to the region.”
Additional requirements added to the agreement for this third year of funding include coordinating efforts with other economic development groups, collaborating with permitting agencies and providing updates to commissioners.
“I’m very pleased with the current focus of the EDC and the new director,” Ozias said after the commissioners’ meeting.
“What I am observing is the EDC is taking a broad view with regard to jobs and employment and focusing on a variety of industry segments or sectors that has already impacted jobs and will continue.”
The EDC has 187 members, up from last year, Schroeter said after the meeting.
He said he did not have access to comparative membership totals for the last few years.
Commissioner Randy Johnson, a former EDC board president who resigned from the board in 2016, estimated membership has increased by a factor of four since 2010.
Schroeter said after the work session that he expects the Opportunity Fund grant will be the county’s last funding for the nonprofit through the Opportunity Fund — although it may not be the last county funding the EDC receives.
“If the county chooses to go to fee for service, we certainly would be able to do that,” Schroeter said.
The city of Port Angeles has a $5,000 fee-for-service contract with the EDC for business retention and expansion of services, he said.
The EDC also is working on a contract with the city of Sequim and may obtain a contract with the Clallam County Public Utility District.
While the EDC does recruit new businesses to the area, workforce development that leads to job creation is a primary focus of the EDC, he added.
“The job creation efforts that are presupposed by this agreement are that the Clallam EDC will be actively coordinating workforce development efforts among the different participants in the county,” Schroeter said.
“We are still in a position of fielding calls. Our website is geared toward that effort. We are definitely active in that area.
“When you get a hit, when you get a nibble, that’s when you do outreach.”
The EDC has just three full-time staff members, including Schroeter, which limits the EDC staff’s ability to travel, he added.
Schroeter took over May 1 from former EDC Executive Director Bill Greenwood, who retired after he and the EDC “mutually decided to go in different directions,” Johnson said Monday.
From May 1-July 14, Schroeter attended 83 meetings, gatherings and presentations with county commissioners, service and business groups, and other presentations.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
Terry Ward, publisher of the Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum, serves on the Economic Development Corp. board of directors.
