A great resource (5/9/05)

Put yourself in the other guy's shoes.

Let's say you're working for a company that's trying to decide where to locate an industry or business.

You know that about 90 percent of your decision-making will be based upon numbers.

How far is the site from the nearest interstate highway? What's the median household income? What's the average level of education for the workforce?

Those are the hard numbers. That leaves the other 10 percent, the judgment calls, the first impressions.

Jay County can't do anything to move its industrial sites closer to an interstate highway. It can't do much to raise the median household income to attract commercial prospects. Short of mass enrollment at John Jay Center for Learning, there are limits to what can be done to improve the smarts of the local workforce.

But it can control the other 10 percent. And that's what the new Community Resource Center sets out to do.

Thanks to leadership by local banker Barry Hudson and Mayor Bruce Hosier, the old site of the Ford Brothers Pontiac-Oldsmobile dealership on South Meridian Street is being transformed into the sort of place which can provide the great first impression and cement a positive judgment call.

Though furniture is still being moved about and there's an air of "just getting settled," the resource center is taking shape.

When everything comes together, it will be the home to the Portland Area Chamber of Commerce, Jay County Development Corporation, the Jay County Visitor & Tourism Bureau, the county's community development office, and the offices of Jay/Portland Building and Planning.

In other words, if you were that hypothetical site specialist for industry or business, you'd encounter a one-stop shopping center, a place which could answer your questions, offer assistance, and get you on track.

The same is true if you were a home-grown local entrepreneur trying to figure out how to make a dream come true.

Simply put, the Community Resource Center provides an opening point for building a better future.

As an example of public-private partnerships, it sets a great example.

As a use of county Economic Development Income Tax revenue, it makes good sense.

Will it work miracles? You know better.

Small towns and rural communities like Jay County have to run hard sometimes just to stay in the same place.

But the new Community Resource Center sends the message that we're ready to run and compete with the best of them. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]