MyFarms gets funds from EDIT

After some initial hesitance, the Jay County Council granted the MyFarms startup $75,000 in Economic Development Income Tax money over three years.
MyFarms creator Chris Fennig approached the council to explain his project and ask for the $75,000, which will be disbursed in three annual $25,000 payments. He also received an identical package from the city of Portland.
Fenning explained MyFarms, a Web application that will allow farmers to upload field data and have it analyzed by advisers who can make recommendations on how to improve land use.
“Helping farmers do what they do better … that’s what really spawned a lot of these ideas,” Fennig said.
Fennig, who has a prototype of the MyFarms system, plans to start up in Portland and create several high-paying jobs for college-educated employees.
During an introduction Jay County Development Corporation executive director Bill Bradley described MyFarms as “a project that was quite unusual from other projects we’ve worked on,” such as manufacturing startups or expansions.
That notion was reflected in some hesitance from council members before letting go of the EDIT funds.
Council president Gerald Kirby expressed concern that with a tech startup like MyFarms, there wouldn’t be appropriate collateral if the company fails.
“We’ve got burned in the past,” said councilman Gary Theurer, recalling some past county EDIT projects that defaulted.
Councilman Dan Orr also questioned how the Web site would generate revenue and if it would be enough to support operations going forward.
“We need to understand the economic viability of what you’re doing,” he said.
Fennig briefly explained how the site would generate revenue and explained that although the project will undergo a pilot phase in Jay County, MyFarms will be useful to producers all across the United States when completed.
“I do believe this is going to change the face of agriculture,” he said.
Fennig told the council that he has already poured his personal funds into engineering the MyFarms prototype and that the county’s contribution to the project is just one of many funding pieces coming together.
A portion of the money received from the county and city may be used as matching funds for possible state and federal grants, Fennig has said previously.
After hearing the information, Theurer said he felt that releasing the money for MyFarms would be a good use of EDIT funds and doing so in three parts would help protect the county from a massive default in the worst case.
“I don’t mind letting ($25,000) out there compared to how we’ve been burned,” he said. “I think this is the perfect way to use EDIT.”
The council unanimously approved the EDIT agreement.
“Good luck,” Theurer told Fennig.
In other business Wednesday night, the council:
•Approved appropriations of $1,458, $906.30 and $12,524.55 for pauper counsel in the public defender budget.
•Approved a transfer of $500 in the public defender’s budget to pay for office supplies.
•Were informed by public defender Tom Diller that the state has threatened to pull funding for the program because the public defenders had too high of a case load. Diller said he spoke with the appropriate people to let them know that he is addressing the problem and informed the council that the program is not in danger of losing funding.
•Approved an appropriation of $2,000 to the surveyor’s cornerstone perpetuation fund, which will be used to pay for surveying work.
•Approved appropriations of $5,000 and $10,000 to the infrastructure fund to pay for roofing work on the county retirement home and exterior repairs to the Meridian Street courthouse annex, respectively.
•Approved transfers of $13,277.60, $2,488 and $156.80 within the jail budget to cover compensation time costs.
•Approved a transfer of $600 in the reassessment budget to cover employee health insurance costs. The number was incorrectly calculated during budget time.
•Approved a transfer of $1,000 in the auditor’s budget to pay for postage.
•Approved a transfer of $5,030 in the jail budget to replace a paper shredder.
•Approved a transfer of $500 in the Jay Superior Court budget to cover increased cost of law books.
•Approved a transfer of $2,000 in the coroner’s budget to pay for wages.
•Sent a request for a tax abatement to the Jay County Tax Abatement Advisory Committee for Hoosier Pride Farms, LLC. The egg-laying operation will be located near the Jay County-Mercer County line near Ind. 18/67 and will house 2 million birds at full capacity.
•Agreed to review the pay scale for Jay Emergency Medical Services, Jay County Highway Department and Jay County Sheriff’s Office. The issue came up regarding how new employees will be paid in comparison to existing employees.
•Approved the Jay County Solid Waste District budget on second reading.
•Approved an amended Local Option Income Tax ordinance to clear up an error on the state level. The state claims it had a different LOIT rate than the ordinance’s reported rate.
•Were informed by Jay County Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. that the City of Dunkirk wanted a confirmation on whether the county will participate in its façade grant program if the city receives the grant.
The council told Miller to move forward plans to get the building at 102 Main St. repaired if the money is available.[[In-content Ad]]