By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
Proponents of a nascent effort to create a new means of economic development in Orange County may not agree on everything, but all will accede that their task would have been easier if the sales tax had passed.
Whether it was just a bad year to try to pass a tax, or the fact that the size of the decimal point on the ballot made it look to some like a 25 percent hike instead of a quarter-cent, the tax was narrowly defeated in November, taking down with it plans to pump hundred of thousands of dollars each year into economic-development efforts.
Aaron Nelson, president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said that while the additional money – estimated at more than $970,000 annually – would have been a great boost, the loss at the polls should not deter the idea that a change is needed in the way economic development is done throughout the county.
“We’ve got to get on this,†Nelson said in a recent interview. The current way of doing things, he said, is inefficient and lacks the kind of cooperation between the business community, the university and local governments that has proven effective elsewhere.
Nelson said a separate public-private entity similar to the one at work in Chatham County is needed if the public is ever going to see a return on its investment in economic development. Such an entity would not only foster collaboration, but, like in other places, it could attract additional capital.
“I think the private sector would financially support these efforts in addition to government,†Nelson said.
Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs said he also wants to see a sweeping change in the county’s approach to economic development.
He notes that there are two chambers of commerce and three economic-development administrators in the county along with a major university with its own economic-development office.
“Six groups that don’t do a very good job of working together,†he said. “We talk about working together, but all it is is talk.â€
Jacobs, who proposed a comprehensive review of the county’s economic-development efforts and alternatives at Monday’s board of county commissioners meeting, said the defeat of the quarter-cent sales tax underlines the urgency for “a new paradigm.â€
He said the review should be a springboard for a county-led effort to build a new partnership. Forming it, he said, will require an end to the turf wars between local governments that have made it difficult to collaborate.
“Everybody’s operating in their silo as opposed to realizing we’re all in this together,†he said. “We’re frozen in place.â€
Buy-in
As word has spread of an effort to create for Orange County a similar kind of system to that of Chatham County or those reviewed by local delegations during intercity visits to Madison, Wis., and Asheville, elected officials in southern Orange County weighed in with a mix of concern and polite applause.
At a recent Chapel Hill Town Council meeting, council member Laurin Easthom said she worries about the council giving up control over what might happen within its borders. With a sizable recent investment in a new economic-development office and effort, Easthom and other council members are wary about where the town will fit into a new system.
Across the Norfolk Southern line into Carrboro, the topic has come up several times at town hall. At Tuesday night’s board of aldermen meeting, board member Randee Haven-O’Donnell, the town’s representative on the county’s Economic Development Commission, told her fellow board members that there remains a wide gulf between the county’s vision and Carrboro’s continued focus on local businesses and markets.
“We’ve been in meetings with [the county] where they quickly dismiss us,†she said. She and other members urged that the town take time at its planning retreat in late January to decide how to present their ideas to the county in light of the new effort.
Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said that while it may be difficult to put together a new collaboration, the towns can’t afford to sit it out. Since the Chapel Hill brand is one of the area’s prime recruitment tools, the town, he said, “has to be at the table.â€
Chatham and Durham counties have done a good job of exploiting the Chapel Hill brand, he said. “It’s time for us to do the same.â€
Kleinschmidt said he thinks it makes sense to get beyond the idea of turf. Recent collaborations with the county and Hillsborough have convinced him that economic development outside the town’s boundaries has a positive effect on the town as well.
One of the main reasons to increase commercial activity is to help reduce the tax burden on homeowners, Kleinschmidt said in a recent interview. “The county’s share is the bulk of that tax bill. In as much as we can assist the county in reaching its economic-development goals, the better the tax value for our citizens.â€
Right now, he said, there is no proposal to look over and the council is likely to want to make sure the efforts are in sync with the town’s values.
“It will have to be done thoughtfully,†Kleinschmidt said of the potential collaborative effort. “It’s hard to predict how it will end up.â€
The council, he said, won’t be willing to abandon its duty to oversee development to a third party, and finding ways to measure success and provide accountability will be important parts of any deal.
In Carrboro, finding a way to work with a new economic-development entity could be even more complicated. Like Chapel Hill, the town has its own economic-development office, and recently members of the board of aldermen have underscored their differences with the county on strategies for boosting business.
“To me, you don’t go into a collaboration assuming what you’re going to collaborate about,†board of alderman member Dan Coleman said in a recent interview. “We need to be clear about our common interests.â€
Coleman, a strong proponent of the town’s local-business focus, said that while there will likely be places where the town and the county won’t share the same goals, there are several areas of agreement, such as promoting green enterprise and support for local start-ups.
“I don’t think there is a 100 percent difference between the county and Carrboro, but there are major differences,†Coleman said.
One disagreement is over infrastructure improvements for economic development, which the county has focused along the U.S. 70 corridor near Hillsborough. Coleman said since it draws the majority of its tax revenue from residents in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, the county should also be willing to invest in infrastructure in southeastern Orange County.
Jacobs said he’s convinced the various public and private entities can find common ground. Local governments have come together in the past to hammer out tough agreements on growth, transportation and water and sewer boundaries. Looking back at how those agreements came together could be instructive, he said, because everyone had to give a little.
“Right now, we don’t have much appreciation for how we did work together in the past,†Jacobs said.
Coming next: Well, how did we get here?