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that in Guilford County they tried to avoid letting prime real estate turn into residential, <br />but decided what was the best public use. <br />Chair Carey said that the County Commissioners need to absorb a lot of this <br />information and pick another time to give staff direction in the area of recruitment. <br />Willie Best said that the Economic Development Commission would still like to <br />meet with the Board of County Commissioners on November 19t". There could be a <br />subsequent discussion after that meeting. <br />Commissioner Nelson asked for a timeline for the Economic Development <br />Director and Laura Blackmon said that she is interested in knowing what the Board <br />wants to do far economic development, so that she can hire the right person. She does <br />not want to advertise without parameters. She said that the reputation of Orange County <br />is "no growth", and if she does not have the Board's position before she advertises, then <br />it will be set up as a failure. <br />Willie Best said that the strategy in Guilford was to have the CEO's of the largest <br />corporations in the area to put in financial resources to increase the number of jabs in <br />the area. He suggested paying for the Economic Development Director to go to the <br />trade shows, etc. and to court businesses. <br />Commissioner Nelson said that the reality is that economic development is <br />critical to the community, but there is also a specific set of values as a community about <br />haw the economic development should take place. This means that the person should <br />came from a similar kind of community and should be non-traditional. He suggested <br />someone who understands how Orange County has suffered because it has not done <br />enough economic development. He said that it should be someone who is really <br />creative and who "gets" the values in Orange County and not a Chamber of Commerce <br />type of person. <br />Commissioner Jacobs would like a schedule or timeline about this position. He <br />would like to see a matrix where the County Commissioners give weight to values, <br />different kinds of development, different kinds of strategies, etc. <br />Chair Carey said that a matrix would make it obvious as to what is needed, and <br />he would like to see more aggressiveness in the Economic Development Department <br />and the strategy. There are some natural constraints in Orange County, and that could <br />be part of the matrix. He suggested scheduling a discussion about this matrix as soon <br />as possible after November 19t" <br />The meeting was adjourned at 9:47 p.m. <br />Moses Carey, Jr., Chair <br />Donna S. Baker, CMC <br />Clerk to the Board <br />