Published: May 21, 2008 04:30 pm            

Commission begins work on local economy

The newly created Zionsville Economic Development Commission met for the first time Wednesday, May 14, to nail down its duties.

“There are a lot of groups ... that have been wanting to get in front of you,” Zionsville Town Council President Matt Price told the EDC.

The EDC was created by the town council earlier this year and appointed members Charlie Edwards, Bob Goodman and Brett Swanson.

At the organizational meeting, Edwards was selected president, Goodman vice-president and Swanson secretary.

The main duty of the EDC is to help increase the town’s commercial tax base by coordinating efforts to help attract businesses to Zionsville and identify potential employment opportunities for town residents, said Zionsville Town Attorney Andy Buroker.

The EDC will begin its mandate by talking with organizations already working on economic development in the Zionsville area, including the Boone County Economic Development Corporation, the Greater Zionsville Chamber of Commerce, the Zionsville Merchants Association and other town boards, Price said.

These groups are doing many good things, Price said. However, their efforts could be enhanced if they were coordinated in some way, and he sees that as the EDC’s task. The all-volunteer group doesn’t have many resources to work to coordinate between these groups with because they have no budget.

EDC President Charlie Edwards said he wants to create an economic development plan by the end of the year that is consistent with the town’s objectives and takes into account what various other organizations are doing in Zionsville, he said.

“The idea is to make a plan that makes all that work together,” Edwards said.

Part of that plan will be how to use economic development bonds. Businesses that want to build a new building, make improvements or purchase new equipment can ask the commission to approve a bond the business will use for those improvements.

The commission acts as a conduit for the bond and does not issue it. However, by receiving the loan through an economic development commission, the business can save money because the bond is tax exempt. A bank issues the bond and the business must pay it back. The town does not guarantee it or have any responsibility or liability with respect to it, Buroker said.

The commission cannot approve an unlimited amount of bonds, though, because the state caps the amount of bonds the town can issue in one year at $10 million. That number also includes the bonds the town issues for other purposes. For example, when the town issued a $6 million parks bond in 2006, it would have had only $4 million left for economic development bonds that year.

Edwards said the commission’s job is to make the best use of the limited amount of bonds the town has available.

At its next meeting June 11, the commission will discuss with town council members economic development strategies and how the council envisions the commission’s future role.

        

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