One hundred and twenty-seven.

That’s how many jobs the Jackson County Economic Development Commission has helped create via property sales or lease agreements with Clearwood LLC., Diversified Exposition Services, Pepsi Bottling and QC Apparel. If the EDC itself was considered akin to a business, its job creation total would rank tenth on the list of the county’s largest employers, just behind Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company.

However, some local merchants say that while manufacturing jobs are necessary for a well-rounded economy, more should be done to foster small business growth and provide opportunities beyond manual labor.

This discussion is one expected to be had by county commissioners as they continue efforts to bring the EDC in-house, a move that does not appear to be supported by EDC officials. Nearly a month ago, commissioners launched an investigation into EDC operations and attempted to remove EDC Chairman Tom McClure from his position.

The investigation is ongoing, though EDC officials have protested against it, as county commissioners have no clear-cut authority to order an audit of the EDC’s books as they have done. Consequently, the question for many taxpayers and local merchants has become not just a matter of right and wrong, but of getting the most bang for their buck.

At Arsenal Artifacts, a Civil War history and picture framing store in downtown Sylva, a newly made wall hanging bears a letter of commendation issued from the N.C. Department of Transportation thanking the recipient for his participation in a recent homeland security discussion.

The recipient? Tom McClure. Arsenal co-owner Chrissy Alligood doesn’t know him. She didn’t even know there was such a thing as the EDC, despite the fact that she and her father-in-law, Howard, have been in business in Sylva since 1996.

Alligood’s second job is in Cherokee. Her assistant, Lindsey Kearning, also works in Asheville. Neither Alligood nor Kearning has seen much come from the EDC’s self-described mission of creating jobs within the county.

“Traditionally the EDC’s efforts have been tied to the types of businesses and commerce that the Department of Commerce embraces and promotes,” McClure said. “The bottom line is jobs creation.”

Alligood said she would like to see more public relations style work out of the EDC, such as ads placement to bring in tourists and the sponsorship of downtown events that span more than the stretch of Main Street from the old county courthouse to the Sylva Herald.

“The events are all upper Main Street,” Alligood said. “We always get left out.”

For the most part, downtown events are organized and sponsored by groups other than the EDC such as the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Sylva Partners in Renewal. But that doesn’t mean the EDC shouldn’t get involved, Alligood said.

“Economic development is unique for each area,” she said.

According to statistics from Western Carolina University’s Center for Regional Development and the EDC, manufacturing jobs in Jackson County dropped 60 percent from 1993 to 2000. Meanwhile the number of retail jobs has more than doubled, construction jobs tripled, and the finance/insurance/real estate sector quadrupled.

Bruce Carpenter, a mechanic thinking of opening his own foreign car repair business, said he would like to see manufacturing make a come back, but that it’s the smaller, locally owned businesses that make the community what it is.

“Whatever they do I think they do not need to just go for big business,” Carpenter said.

Should economic development be focused on assisting struggling sectors or bolstering those that already are growing by leaps and bounds? Joe Ritota, owner of Annie’s Naturally Bakery in downtown Sylva, says both.

“It should be both manufacturing and small businesses,” Ritota said.

Ritota said he has yet to see any direct benefits from the commission, but has seen the EDC at work via his friend and fellow business owner John Kevlin of Metrostat Communications.

Metrostat, which is in the process of running high-speed fiber through downtown Sylva, has been the recipient of revolving loans from both the county and town. Kevlin was one of the first business owners to come forward to express gratitude for the EDC’s efforts when county commissioners launched their investigation into the EDC’s operations nearly a month ago.

“This stuff that’s going on really disturbs me,” Kevlin said, referring to the county’s actions. “I appreciate what the EDC has done for me and for the county.”

Kevlin’s business has far-reaching implications, not just from an employment perspective but from enabling other businesses to do their work. It’s not quite the same for Cingular dealer Aaron Krauss.

“I’ve never had anybody approach me from an economic development standpoint,” Krauss said.

Krauss is a one-man operation, selling cell phones and repairing computers from a small store located near the new Eckerd’s in Sylva. Krauss’ store has been open for 18 months, and while successful, isn’t showing signs of rapid expansion.

In keeping with their mission, the best thing the EDC could do for Krauss is helping develop tax break initiatives and conducting classes about proper tax filing practices, he said.

Also, Krauss, a graduate of Western Carolina University, would like to see the EDC help break down the barriers between the university and the community by facilitating internships. The internships would provide the community with cheaper labor and give students real world experience, Krauss said.

McClure, who in addition to serving as EDC Chairman works full-time as Western’s Director of Regional Affairs, said the EDC does not have any major planned initiatives right now.

“We’re just trying to do business as usual,” McClure said.

Recently the EDC assisted local company Architectural Woodwork in getting a grant from the economic development organization AdvantageWest.

“We matched that to help them get a piece of equipment that provided five jobs,” McClure said.

Otherwise, the EDC is moving forward with discussions to attract large companies to Western’s upcoming Millennium Campus. The campus, to be located in Cullowhee on a parcel of land between the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Cullowhee Post Office, will bear similarities to N.C. State’s Centennial Campus, which provides companies such as RedHat with laboratory and office space alongside high-tech classrooms.

In terms of bringing the EDC’s mission more in line with business community expectations, McClure said the EDC would be open to another customer service satisfaction survey akin to one conducted in 2001. Respondents then indicated they would like to see less “development” and more “business development.”