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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 25, 2009 - PAGE 5A
Fund Shortfall Causing
Chamber To Reconsider Budget
Jackson Still Getting Nibbles
From Industrial Prospects
By Mark Beardsley
With membership
renewals running 20 per
cent behind last year, the
Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce
will re-think its 2009 bud
get.
Treasurer Keith Johnson
broke the not-unexpected
news to the organization’s
board of directors last
Friday morning.
Most chamber member
ships come up for renewal
in January and Johnson
reported that 67 percent of
members billed in January
renewed. That compares to
87 percent last year.
“The staff is working hard
on that. We hope to get
that number to 75 percent,"
Johnson reported.
President Shane Short
said the chamber’s financ
es are “just now seeing the
true results of the econo
my."
He said the Executive
Committee will discuss the
matter and come up with
a recommendation for the
directors to consider in
March.
“We’ll have to make more
cuts," he noted. “Our goal
is to keep our services at
the current level."
One month into its
budget, the chamber was
operating at a $7,772
deficit, with income of
$37,139 — an 18.6 percent
shortfall. Meanwhile,
expenses ran 3.7 percent
over budget.
The good news, Johnson
said, is that cash flow
remains strong, and the
chamber expects a num
ber of significant checks
to come in during March
and April.
The chamber billed
$91,000 in dues invoices
for January and collected
$61,701, reported Linda
Foster, who is in charge of
membership.
The economy also makes
it harder for the chamber
to sell sponsorships at
its numerous events. For
example, said Short, in
past years staff has had no
difficulty finding sponsors
for the monthly member
ship breakfasts.
“We only have two this
year," Short said, adding
that had the chamber not
instituted a $5 charge for
the breakfasts, it would
be losing money on the
monthly meetings.
The funding shortfall has
also put one of the cham
ber’s more ambitious 2009
ideas on hold.
The “community vision
ing" project was designed
to get input from people all
over the county about how
they want the county to
develop over the next sev
eral decades. It would have
involved an aid facilitator,
numerous town hall type
meetings all over the coun
ty — and an expenditure of
$250,000 to $300,000.
The University of
Georgia’s Archway
Project, which would have
done the work, will appar
ently not get state fund
ing it needed to undertake
the Jackson County work,
Short noted.
The chamber’s Economic
Development Council will
discuss the circumstances
and come back with a rec
ommendation to the board,
Short said.
“Committing the kind
of money it will take is
going to be difficult," he
conceded. “In this kind of
economy, raising that kind
of money is tough."
Likewise, times are tough
on the economic develop
ment front, where 12 of 18
projects looking at Jackson
County are either gone or
on hold.
There is one new proj
ect that Short said would
have “a significant invest
ment and a large number
of employees."
Gaus: Words Are A Powerful Tool
Cont. from Page 4A
James, the acclaimed
mystery fiction writer, a
"show-off" for the words
she uses. Among those
I found I did not know
in James' work were
"palimpsest," "appurte
nances," and "cicatrice."
Their meanings, in
order, are a parchment
or papyrus written over
an earlier work; a legal
term dealing with own
ership; and a scar. I am
convinced James wants
us to use our dictionar
ies.
Not all interesting
words are as esoteric as
James'. A simple word
like patter comes from
a familiar source. In
medieval times people
were taught or heard the
Lord's Prayer in Latin.
Since few people outside
the clergy knew Latin,
and the first words of the
Lord's Prayer in Latin
are Pater noster, the rote,
mechanical rumblings of
the uneducated acquired
the term patter which
now means glib, rapid
speech or meaningless
chatter. Other common
words with interesting
histories are the names
of the days of the week,
which have their source
in Norse mythology.
Some words seem to
have just the perfect
tone or emotion to fit
the need. I was so proud
of my daughter's choice
of the word duplicitive-
ness to describe the
wrong done to me by
people I trusted. My hurt
actually lifted because
she had used the abso
lutely correct word to
name the wrongdoing.
On the other hand,
the use of some words
can inflict pain, destroy
good relationships, or
brand individuals or
groups with labels dif
ficult to overcome.
The infinite variety of
words, their histories,
their effects, or their
appropriateness make
language a powerful
tool. This tool should be
used wisely and well.
Claire Gaus is a retired
educator and volunteers
in the community in a
number of capacities. She
lives in Commerce.
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By Mark Beardsley
Although visits by pro
spective industries have
declined, Jackson County
is getting a few nibbles.
The most recent, cham
ber president Shane
Short reported to the
Jackson County Industrial
Development Authority
(IDA) last Friday, is a com
pany looking to invest
$35 million in three build
ings. It would employ 500,
and hopes to start up in
October.
“The investment is great,
but more importantly at
this point in time, we need
the jobs,” Short told the
IDA.
While there are several
potential sites in Jackson
County, the most attrac
tive is off Jett Roberts
Road behind Kubota in
Jefferson, where a building
that matches one of the
three the company needs
is already in place.
“The trick is who can pro
vide it in a very tight time
frame,” said Short.
The company needs 1
million square feet in three
buildings, plus 1,000 park
ing spaces. It is also seek
ing significant incentives.
Should the project opt for
the Jefferson site, it would
likely negotiate through
the Jefferson Industrial
Development Authority.
The company is report
edly looking over sever
al sites in a number of
states.
Meanwhile, two-thirds
of other pending projects
have either been cancelled
or put on indefinite hold
due to the economy.
“We’ve still got about
six projects that are con
sidered active right now,”
Short said. “Some of them
are sizeable."
In other business, the
IDA looked at a Jefferson
proposal for realigning
and paving Martin Luther
King Drive in the Central
Jackson Industrial Park.
The project, which would
not be undertaken until
about 2011, would take
some of the IDA’s remain
ing 42 acres in the park,
but members appeared to
view the project as being
a benefit in that it would
make the IDA’s land easier
to sell.
“Whatever we’re giving
up pales in comparison
to the value added," said
member Jim Shaw.
Chairman Scott Martin
said the road would run
through to Galilee Church
Road, giving easy access
from U.S. 129. In addition
to making the IDA’s land
more attractive, the move
would open up other tracts
to potential industrial
development.
Martin said he would
find out from Jefferson
city manager Jeff Kellip
the exact amount of IDA
land the road project will
require.
City School Board Declines
Overtures To Rejoin Consortium
By Ben Munro
Citing the financial
strain of paying dues,
the Commerce Board of
Education (BOE) declined
overtures to rejoin a con
sortium of schools suing
the state.
The Consortium for
Adequate School Funding
seeks litigation against the
state, claiming it doesn’t
properly fund education.
The Commerce Board of
Education was a member
of the consortium until
2008, spending nearly
$30,000 before it dropped
out.
“In the end, I don’t know
that anything will change,"
Commerce superinten
dent James “Mac" McCoy
said, noting that mostly
smaller school systems
with less clout are cur
rently funding the fight.
This discussion over
membership came in the
wake of state attorney
general Thurbert Baker’s
opinion that the consor
tium’s use of taxpayer dol
lars to sue the state was
illegal.
The consortium, which
said the lawsuit will pro
ceed, had tired to woo
Commerce Schools to
rejoin just prior to Baker’s
statement.
Board chairman Paul
Sergent said, “I think
we’re in sympathy with
them (the consortium),"
but added that the system
isn’t in the best position to
spend the money.
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