Jay, Randolph weigh teaming up

The possibility of teaming up with Randolph County on economic development has been discussed, but any decision is months away.
“There have been discussions,” Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley said this morning. “They approached us about six months ago. … To be honest, we’re about six to nine months away from a yea or nay.”
Randolph County has been without a full-time economic development director for about nine months, and consultant Greg Beumer has been hired as interim director.
Beumer told the Winchester News-Gazette that one of his assignments was to contact contiguous counties in search of a partner in the area of economic development.
Bradley convened a group of about 70 to 80 people on Thursday to discuss the pros and cons of a two-county economic development partnership. But he acknowledged that serious questions remain.
“There’s more of a positive feeling about this in Randolph County,” Bradley said. “We have a lot more questions.”
The issue will be on the agenda when the JCDC board meets at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. “We’re going to talk about it tomorrow with the whole board,” said Bradley.
Beumer acknowledged to the News-Gazette that there is apprehension about the prospect of partnering by the two counties.
“We determined very early on … that we are not having this conversation to try to save money,” Beumer said. “Saving money could be an outcome, but that’s not our primary mission, to do it for less. Our mission is to take two similar counties that are both doing economic development and to do it better by combining some of our efforts.
Beumer said the only comparable partnership is in southern Indiana where Clark and Floyd counties are working together.[[In-content Ad]]