Jefferson County Commissioners approved a $110,000 two-year professional services agreement for economic development services Thursday night.
Commissioners agreed to a contract between the county and Purdue University, acting as the Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Corp. The contract will run from April 1 to March 31, 2017.
Commissioners had approved a motion to develop a memorandum of understanding with the Southeast ISBDC following a presentation by Regional Director Blayr Barnard during a meeting earlier this month.
The contract presented Thursday states the county will provide a total of $110,000 over two years, which will be paid quarterly.
As outlined in the contract, Purdue – through the Southeast ISDBC – will deliver a public report that discusses metric attainment and return on investment, plus disclose the number of local jobs created, dollars invested within the county, the number of public engagements, the number of clients served and the total number of hours providing direct service to small businesses, entrepreneurs, innovators and area employers with fewer than 500 employees at least once a quarter each year.
Purdue will release the number of jobs retained as a result of Purdue programs at least once a year, the contract states.
The contract also states the public will be able to ask questions during public meetings and Purdue officials will answer questions “to the fullest extent possible without violating confidentiality agreements.”
In addition to providing $55,000 a year in payment for the next two years, the county also will be required to provide part-time administrative support staff at no cost to Purdue and the Southeast ISBDC. The staff will work no less than 15 hours and no more than 20 hours per week, and no other administrative fees will be charged or taken from the contracted fee.
Either party may terminate the contract at any time with 30 days’ written notice, the agreement said.
Commissioner Mark Cash questioned several items in the contract prior to the vote.
He asked who would service businesses with more than 500 employees since the Southeast ISBDC only works with companies with up to 500 workers.
Commissioners said there are no companies in the county with more than 500 employees. All companies with more than 500 employees are located within the city limits, and the City of Madison still has a contract with Jefferson County Industrial Development Corp.
Cash also asked who would provide the 15 to 20 hours of administrative support.
Tami Hagemeier, a member of the Southeast ISBDC advisory board, said the administrative support position does not have to be a new hire. Instead, it could be a current employee or employees already on the county’s payroll.
Commissioner Norbert Schafer said several departments will have a role in economic development, so the hours could be split over several departments.
Cash also noted the county already spends $2,500 a year for services from the group for economic development services for someone to be in the county two days per week.
Commissioner Robert Little asked that wording be added to the contract that would show payment would be made from the 10 percent of the riverboat gaming revenue agreement with Switzerland County dedicated to economic development for Jefferson County.
Commissioners approved the agreement – provided the riverboat gaming revenue wording be added – by a vote of 2-0 with Cash abstaining from the vote. Cash said this morning that he saw the contract for the first time during Thursday’s meeting and did not have time to study the contract prior to the meeting, so he did not want to vote on the issue.
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