The Haines Borough Assembly’s commerce committee on Wednesday endorsed exploring a shift that would put its economic development efforts under a non-profit development corporation.
The committee, comprised of George Campbell, Diana Lapham and Ron Jackson agreed to recommend to the full assembly that manager David Sosa be directed to flesh out the idea, working in tandem with the Haines Chamber of Commerce.
Working with chamber members, Sosa said he was confident he could propose a rough outline – including a structure of what such an organization would look like and a timeline for launching it – in a few weeks.
Sosa has been exploring options for economic development since the departure of former economic development director Bill Mandeville.
Options he identified included replacing Mandeville, hiring an executive assistant, or hiring an executive assistant “plus.” Pursuing creation of an economic development council originated with the Chamber.
Debra Schnabel, the Haines chamber’s executive director, told the committee that Skagway and Sitka are among municipalities that have placed responsibility for economic development into such councils.
Schnabel said she’d like to see the borough cooperate in exploring models of such councils, including bylaws, organizational structure, and funding options. “The main point is that other communities find ways to make these models work for them, to advance economic development in their communities.”
The models provide for involvement by business professionals, which makes the process more inclusive than with a single municipal employee. In addition, business people have a personal interest in seeing that the council’s efforts are successful, she said.
Previous attempts by the borough to hire an economic development director have been fraught with turnover, she said.
Committee member Jackson said one of the pitfalls to economic development is that the idea is broad and means different things to different people. In Haines, it could include reducing energy costs, increasing Internet bandwidth, and developing the port, he said. “Somewhere you have to define what economic development we want in the area.”
Jackson said he thought there was a merit in the council model. “Businesses have more skin in the game that a borough employee. It seems to make a lot of sense to me to release the borough from this huge role.’
Said Lapham: “The risky step is deciding, ‘Is this what we want to do and then to try it out.”
Schnabel said she envisioned that the borough would retain responsibility for public infrastructure decisions – like deciding the future of the Lutak Dock – and the council’s role would be “creating an environment that positive for business.”
“The borough administration and the chamber can identify and explore what the issues are and how they may be resolved using options A, B, and C,” Schnabel said.
Sosa told the group the community and economic development director position held by Mandeville was funded at $103,000 annually, including benefits. The borough levies a 1 percent sales tax for economic development and tourism that raises about $500,000 annually. Of that amount, $341,000 is spent annually on tourism promotion.
Committee members rejected a request by Jackson that “community development” wording be included in the model. Schnabel reported that the Skagway economic council has a subgroup called a community services corporation that functions to support community development efforts such as service provided by non-profits.