Economic Development Seminar Draws 60 Public Officials

December 20, 2008

The Elmore County Economic Development Authority hosted an Economic Development Seminar for local county public officials on December 12 in the conference room of the Firemen’s Training Center in Wetumpka.

County Commissioner Paul C. Taylor found the seminar to be very educational and eye-opening. “Being self-employed I didn’t realize a lot of what was going on with economic development and I got a lot out of the seminar,” said Taylor.

The seminar included a variety of guest speakers familiar with different aspects of economic development.

Guest speakers included; Marilyn Stamps, head of the Publications Division at the Alabama Tourism Department; Gary Faulkner, Senior Economic Development Representative with the Alabama Development Office; Mickey Simmons, Community Development Project Manager for PowerSouth Energy Cooperative; Sharon Younger, President and founder of Younger Associates, LLC; and Daniel Martin, a realtor for Victory Real Estate Investments who is currently responsible for leasing 1.2 million square feet of retail space in the Southeast.

Sixty local officials from around the county attended the seminar and enjoyed the variety of presentations given by the speakers.

“I was so pleased with the Economic Development Seminar. I believe that there is great benefit in getting community leaders together in the same room and on the same page. The seminar provided all of us present with a “laser beam” focus on the opportunities and challenges of economic development that impact us all, regardless of our areas of specialty,” said Dr. Jeffrey E. Langham, Superintendent of Elmore County Public Schools.

Mayor Gary Wright from the town of Eclectic said “the conference was very helpful, especially as a brand new Mayor.  It showed me a lot of tools which are available to our town and our county which I didn't know we had.  It is very comforting to know that we have professional economic developers and planners working for us on an ongoing basis.”