A task force former Mayor Heidi Davison appointed to reform Athens-Clarke County's lagging economic development efforts saw its recommendations ignored, but members of the task force that Mayor Nancy Denson appointed in January hope their recommendations will be taken more seriously. 

 Politicians and businesspeople alike have long criticized ACC's efforts to lure new businesses and jobs to Athens as fragmented and insufficient.  Until Caterpillar picked Athens for a new plant that will employ up to 1,400 people—a rare and exhilarating success for local leaders—the only bragging seemed to be about big-box retail jobs.  Better-paying industrial and bioscience jobs seemed always to go elsewhere.

 Davison's task force warned in 2005 that the Athens region "is missing out on hundreds if not thousands of private-sector jobs per year" because Athens-area counties and development agencies  don't work together to present a single face to interested industries.  That earlier report's central recommendation—to partner with adjacent counties on industrial recruitment efforts—has gone nowhere.  Some ACC commissioners feared that the other counties would make all the decisions and proposed to partner only with Oconee County.  Then Oconee commissioners rejected even that proposal, fearing the new jobs would all go to Athens.

 Aware of regional officials' reluctance to cooperate, the new 26-member task force asked ACC commissioners for a signed letter of support, which it received, before beginning work, co-chair and Athens Regional Medical Center CFO Grant Tribble told Flagpole at a task force meeting.  The group has been meeting since January, studied the job recruitment efforts of a dozen other cities and will soon hear recommendations from the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and the Athens-Clarke Economic Development Foundation.

 Those recommendations will form a "starting point" for the task force's discussion about how economic development efforts should be organized.  The task force has no apparent plans to talk to other economic development groups in the Athens region. 

 The 2005 report saw a strong regional chamber of commerce as a natural center for economic development efforts, but the Athens chamber mostly supports existing businesses, and the Economic Development Foundation is charged with attracting new employers to Clarke County but has no regional responsibilities.  There's also the county's Industrial Development Authority, which issues bonds for industrial and commercial developments, and Department of Human and Economic Development, which offers loans to small startups.

"We've had a good time looking at a lot of different things, and hearing from a lot of different people," Tribble told the group.  But "there are going to be some toes that are stepped on" when the task force reaches conclusions about who should do economic development, and how it should be funded. "We are not properly funding our economic development efforts" compared to other places that have been more successful at it, said task force member Alex Patterson. 

"I think we know the status quo is not going to do it," added attorney Mike Morris.   In some places, local businesses contribute money to fund business recruitment efforts; some large industries have made significant land donations or endowments to such efforts.  There is not a single organizational structure that works, task force members said; in some places, the Chamber of Commerce leads the effort.  "Many of them say it's personality-driven," said Georgia Power representative Rope Roberts.  

 One of the group's recommendations is likely to be about perceived foot-dragging by ACC departments (especially planning) that discourage new development.  Those criticisms echo persistent earlier ones, such as the 2010 Charter Review Commission, said Carl Parks.  The task force may recommend "creating a method that keeps planning and development staff on the promised schedule," he said.  "People need help and a leg up" in dealing with county requirements, not "an impediment and a costly procedure" that is unaffordable except to large developers. Recommendations of the task force are still under discussion, but they could also include:

• less stringent design requirements in industrial zones, such as allowing parking lots in front of buildings and not requiring developers to build sidewalks.

• gaining government control of industrial land, perhaps near Athena Drive, that could be offered to prospects.

• changing the name of the EDF to "Athens-Clarke: Open for Business."

• hiring an "ombudsman" to help applicants navigate planning and zoning requirements and auditing the process for efficiency.  Interviews with local industries indicated they do not feel encouraged to expand, but instead feel that ACC impedes their desire to expand.

• hiring an "industry steward" to travel and talk to potential industrial prospects and existing industries.

• countering "a general perception that the community's K-12 public education system is subpar."

• establishing apprenticeship programs between local industries and schools.

• reducing duplication of services among ACC's 600 nonprofit agencies, by encouraging nonprofits of similar missions to "collaborate or even merge," said a committee report.  "Administrators with Community Connection and with the Athens Area Community Foundation have encouraged collaboration among nonprofits with similar missions, and have met with some success, while other efforts have not succeeded."

• encouraging "green" energy-efficient building and alternative energy use.

The task force will also look at the role of local restaurants and entertainment in economic development.  A vibrant downtown is "one of the pieces that brought Caterpillar here," attorney Jim Warnes said.