Marinette County is keeping all its options on the table when it comes to community and economic development. The Development Committee previously asked County Administrator John Lefebvre to create a draft job description and budget impact statement for a new community and economic development coordinator position within the county, which Lefebvre delivered to the committee at their meeting this week. That position would be responsible for planning, coordinating, and implementing programs promoting local development by working closely with businesses, municipalities, and organizations and would run the county up to $100000 annually. However, when asked, Lefebvre told the committee that although he’s willing to abide by their wishes, he’s personally still not in favor of this work being done in-house.
Representatives of inVenture North spoke prior to the committee’s discussion on the topic and said they are poised and ready to take on the county’s economic and community development needs. But County Board Chairman Mark Anderson says contracting with an outside agency won’t offer the same type of relationship and transparency that will be garnered by housing the position within the courthouse.
The Committee requested Lefebvre continue exploring both the internal and contracted execution of economic and community development by firming up the in-house job description and developing a cost analysis of external contracts versus the internal position.