Mayor Marion Presley welcomed mayors to Tuesday evening’s meeting of Franklin County Regional Economic Development. Held in Triple E Plus restaurant in West Frankfort, executive director William Dill introduced board members and presented a PowerPoint presentation of the year in review.

“We celebrated the grand opening of FedEx in July,” Dill said. “That brought 27 new jobs to the county.

“We retained the Lewis - Goetz Company in the county by providing them with several options to expand their business,” he said. “That saved seven full-time jobs and they expect to add three more as soon as they get into their new facility.”

Dill said FREDCO approved a $100,000 loan to SI Dermatology that was finalized in November.

“We have been in contact with several local businesses regarding loan availability and expect applications to be forth coming sometime next year,” Dill said.
Board members have also worked to revise the loan process and forms in order to make the process more similar to local banking practices, he said.

“We started having regular quarterly meetings with mayors of the county and the news media in order to improve communication, foster cooperative efforts, and increase public awareness of our activities,” Dill said.

Dill said contacts are being maintained with organizations interested in economic development.
“We were also very fortunate to receive a year’s free rent in a highly visible office,” he said. “Speaking financially, we have received the first grant to assist with the operational costs of the corporation.”

Dill said a farm ground lease for the acreage in FREDCO Park has been signed, also to assist with operational costs.

“We are actively working to meet with all of the industries in the county,” he said. “We have been involved in a joint project with Connect SI to install fiber optic communication in the West Frankfort and Benton area with a proposed leg into the Christopher area.

“We submitted proposals to three separate Request for Proposals during the year and reviewed an additional eight,” Dill said.

He said building and sites that were listed on the Location One Web site have been reviewed.

“We have started the process of updating inaccurate information, have changed the status on the sites and buildings that could not be confirmed and have listed several new sites and buildings on the Web site,” Dill said.

“We have engaged legal counsel that will do pro-bono work for the corporation and have completed developing the Web site, compact discs and associated brochures,” he said. “The distribution process has already began.”

Dill outlined challenges for 2009. “We need to ensure that all of the sites and buildings in the county are listed on Location One, have accurate and up to date information, and periodically review the listings,” he said. “We need to improve our knowledge and documentation of infrastructure availability and characteristics, building and site characteristics, and need to better qualify and quantify incentives that are available locally and at the state level for submission through an RFP or inclusion on the Location One Web site.”

He said meetings needed to continue with industry representatives. “We need to determine how we as a countywide organization can help the existing businesses become more successful,” Dill said.

Dill said FREDCO needed to become more proactive and search out new industry for the area.

“To meet this goal, we should increase contacts with potential employers through trade shows, professional organizations and other networking avenues,” he said.

He said board members needed to develop local entrepreneurs and assist them in the establishment and growth of their business.

“We need to seek funding from outside sources in order to reduce the burden on Franklin County residents,” Dill said. “We need to develop stronger relationships between all of the entities that will benefit as we develop the county.

“We need to build strategic alliances between Jefferson, Franklin and Williamson counties,” he said. “Overall, the residents of the county are benefiting from the work we are doing.”