CONYERS — Rockdale County Commissioner Doreen Williams said a report that Rockdale County has decided to defund economic development is unfounded.
Officials at the Conyers Rockdale Economic Development Council and the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce announced earlier this week that they had been told that the county would not fund economic development in 2021. Withdrawal of the county’s $170,000 in annual funding would mean an end to the Economic Development Council.
According to an email sent to Conyers-Rockdale County Chamber of Commerce members Tuesday, the Chamber was informed Nov. 5 that the county would pull its funding as of Dec. 31 and move economic development functions in-house or outsource the work in 2021.
“The Chamber is incredibly concerned about the negative impact to recruitment, retention and expansion of business in Conyers-Rockdale and strongly disagrees with this decision,” according to the letter that was signed by Chamber President Fred Boscarino and board Chairman Scot Ward.
The Chamber is a founding member of CREDC and has worked closely with CREDC for the past 17 years, according to Ward and Boscarino, and “is in full support of keeping this business entity separate from county government. Through the years and specifically over the last few months, the Chamber has spearheaded an effort to help county and city government officials understand the value of keeping economic development as a separate, independent organization and not part of local government.”
However, Williams said Tuesday afternoon that the county has not reached a decision on what to do with economic development and that she would not be prepared to make a decision until a study by the Carl Vinson Institute is completed.
“We have not made a decision,” she said. “In fact, we haven’t really had a whole lot of discussion about it. We will in the next few weeks. But I personally am waiting for the data and research to come back from the Carl Vinson Institute to see what their suggestion is on the best way to approach economic development in Rockdale County. There are some pros for bringing it in-house, but there are some cons to that, too, and there are some pros to keeping it with the CREDC.”
CREDC has two employees, Marty Jones, executive director, and Gina Hartsell, project manager, who also oversees filming projects for the city and county. The county currently funds CREDC at $170,000 annually; the city of Conyers reduced its funding in the current budget year from $90,000 to $40,000.
Jones said Monday he was informed at a board meeting on Nov. 5 that the CREDC would be dismantled. He said the county has provided “no clarity on moving forward” with economic development. Jones said he was told by Rockdale County Commission Chairman Oz Nesbitt Jr., who sits on the CREDC board, that the county was eliminating the funding as a budget-cutting measure.
Williams said that neither she nor Commissioner Sherri Washington have made a decision on economic development yet, “and it can’t be done with one person.”
Williams said she expects the Carl Vinson study to be completed within the next few weeks.
“I haven’t been entirely pleased with how (economic development) has been, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be tweaked and made better,” she said.
Nesbitt was not immediately available for comment for this story.
Check back for more information on this story as it develops.
