George Rebane

*** 25jul08 – This 17jul08 post is featured this Fri, Sat, Sun because it is referred to in my radio commentary that airs these three days.  After this weekend it will be relegated back to its normal place in the date queue.  I am grateful to the management of KNCO, Nevada County’s leading news station, for inviting me to become one of their guest commentators.  ***

We have not heard much about the NC Economic Development program that got so much publicity last winter.  The main idea of the time was that the various county jurisdictions – GV, NC, Truckee, and County – should all get together to back a united effort to bring more businesses to the county and do what could be done to help those already here to stay put.

A lot smiles, nodding, and handshakes got things off to a good start.  They even agreed that it would be good to define what economic development really meant, and what ‘success’ in this effort would look like, and that they should focus the effort on a few projects that would make that success likely.

The county’s Economic Resource Council or ERC under CEO and President Gil Mathew was given the job of pulling the ED program together – a mighty effort given the propensity of all the jurisdictions to go their separate ways.  Then all the councils and supervisors went home and thought about for a bit and came back with a lot of reasons why they all needed to have things done twenty different ways from Sunday. 

As one of the county’s active bloggers and commentators, I attended these happy meetings and, along with other observers of the local political scene, shook my head about the prospects.  Gil Mathew, a gentleman of demonstrated capability, looked mighty lonely and underfunded to herd all those cats into a tight enough of a bunch so that they could be, maybe, headed in one direction. And sure enough, about May things got real quiet.

The other day I decided to contact Gil and asked him how the ED effort was coming.  The man has been busy and has had some success in getting our electeds to support a unified effort.  Here’s the update from Gil –

The jurisdictions have agreed to or “refined” the ED to the following five task areas.

1. Create an inventory of property for commercial/Business and its state of readiness.  This task has just begun and will take several months to complete.
2. Create a business outreach program to assist retaining and expanding businesses.  This project is now underway and will be finished in early August.
3. Update the matrix of services and service providers – include Truckee Chamber and Down Town Merchants.  This task will be completed shortly.
4. Create and implement an ombudsman program for new and expanding business dealings with local Government.  This effort is still in the planning stage.
5. Create a brand for Nevada County as a desirable area in which to do business.  This is perhaps the most difficult assignment in the list.  A brand is a short, easy to remember label or icon that communicates a longer more complex message about what is branded.  It is must be believable and easy to relate to Nevada County.  Once selected, an investment must be made for an extended program to introduce and embed the brand in the minds of people involved in the various stages of locating businesses.  A tough row to hoe since the brand has to be built from scratch.

In addition to working on these tasks with a limited staff and budget, ERC is also working with three start-up companies and an established firm that would bring up to a 100 new jobs to the county if they located here.

The county’s ED effort is not limited to west county, but will include the Truckee area which presents a set of different challenges and attractions to locate in that intensely  recreational region.

Finally, Gil has a program manned by a volunteer group to keep in touch with Nevada County high school graduates living elsewhere.  The intent here is to remind them that the home of their youth is a good place to return and start the business that they have had their eye on.  This is called the “Bring Them Home” campaign and it could use additional people.  If you would like to get involved in this or another phase of ERC’s Economic Development program, please contact Gil Mathew (gil@ncerc.org) or
Barbara Campbell (barbara@ncerc.org), ERC’s Executive Assistant.