Jennifer Laurent, Executive Director of Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), gave an update to the Culver Town Council last night. Aside from giving a report on some of the activities MCEDC is involved in throughout the County, she discussed some of the specifics for Culver. One these was her interactions with Elkay Wood Products, formerly Medallion Cabinetry. Jennifer facilitated a radio interview June 15th on WTCA with Rick Coffman, Operations Manager, to discuss what they do and what their plans for the future are. I think a key point here is that no one else in Culver is making these kind of contacts and making sure our largest industrial client is helped.
Jennifer also commended the Plan Commission and Redevelopment Commission for making the first steps towards a new Comprehensive Plan. (20/20 Vision for Culver!) She stressed some of the visioning needs that the plan should address along with the nuts & bolts infrastructure and land planning functions.
This is much like what I’ve been trying to promote with the various groups… We need to use the development of the new Comprehensive Plan as the catalyst for new ideas about Culver’s future. Communities are either growing or dying. Maintaining the Status Quo is impossible.
Jennifer is also working with Culver’s new Town Manager, Jeff Schoeff, to coordinate some training sessions for the Redevelopment Commission, Plan Commission and Town Council. One important topic will be TIF Districts. Others topics relating to finances and the various powers of these boards will be considered as well.
I hope the council members and those in the audience recognize the value Culver gets from leveraging their funds in with Marshall County and the other Marshall County communities. Budgets will no doubt be tight again this year, but without MCEDC, who would be doing these things for Culver? We have so many individuals with good intentions, but they can’t make up for someone with dedicated time and tenure based on performance.
Random Thought: As we progress into another election season and see how close the polling is, I wonder how is it that we allow politicians on either side to claim a win by 10% or less as a “Mandate”? That’s not even factoring in our country’s level of political apathy where 63% turnout of eligible voters sets a record!
Definition of Mandate from Dictionary.com: “A command or authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative.”
An interesting tidbit I picked up from Nina Easton’s article The Pay Gap is Vexing, But Don’t Blame the Rich: A Defense of the 1% in the April 30th addition of Fortune Magazine.
“Harvard’s Lawrence Katz has calculated that even if all the gains of the top 1% were redistributed to the 99%, household incomes would go up by less than half of what they would if everyone had a college degree.”
Random Thought: At what point did it become okay to refer to government subsidy programs as “entitlements”? It’s scary that it’s moving up in the definition list! Apparently the third definition has a lot to do with the second definition getting out of control…
Primary Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of “entitlement”: The state or condition of being entitled.
Secondary Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of “entitlement”: A government program providing benefits to a specified group.
Third Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of “entitlement”: The belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges.