Jackson County Manager Ken Westmoreland said he wants the county’s new Economic Development Commission director to develop a more focused mission statement for the organization, saying that in the past the EDC has been criticized as “a lot of wasted energy.”

Westmoreland said the EDC in the past was “scattered.” The EDC focused mainly on attracting big industry, but the lack of flat land and infrastructure precludes large manufacturing plants, he said. The new mission statement should focus on recruiting and nurturing businesses that fit in with the character of the area, Westmoreland said.

The new director, Dorothea Megow-Dowling, agrees. She said she will spend little time recruiting large manufacturing as the area is not right for it, lacking “transportation and distribution channels.”

New director

Megow-Dowling said she wants to partner with other area organizations that take part in economic development such as Advantage West, Western Carolina University, WNC Pulse and the N.C. Department of Commerce.

Megow-Dowling said she has no specific goals at this time and is spending her first days in office trying to learn more about the county’s infrastructure. She said infrastructure includes educational systems, social services, water and sewer lines and employee base.

She would also like to further her knowledge of the county’s existing businesses.

Megow-Dowling, 53, comes to the county from the Small Business and Technology Center at WCU where she worked as a business counselor. Prior to that she worked in economic development in Australia for 25 years in the public and private sector.

As part of her information gathering quest she has met with members of the Economic Development Commission and county commissioners.

These difficult economic times present a good opportunity to get organized by developing partnerships and putting together an action plan, she said.

“It gives us time to regroup and look at the situation,” she said.

Megow-Dowling moved here from Australia a year ago to be with her ill mother in Cullowhee.

County returns to EDC

Westmoreland said Megow-Dowling is the first economic development director the county has had since it eliminated the position about three years ago when it withdrew itself from the EDC.

The county withdrew from the EDC because it was being mismanaged, Westmoreland said. When the county left it took with it the economic development director because she was an employee of the county.

About a year ago the county decided to get back involved with the EDC, Westmoreland said.

“The county felt it was time to get back in and contribute to the overall economic development efforts,” Westmoreland said.

When the county resumed its involvement, it decided it would once again hire an economic development director, he said.

Megow-Dowling makes $60,300 a year.

Westmoreland said he interviewed six candidates for the position and thought Megow-Dowling was most qualified because she has worked in economic development her entire career.

The former Jackson Development Corporation’s property holdings that were transferred from the county will now be under the management of Megow-Dowling, Westmoreland said.

The EDC is currently made up of Dillsboro, Webster and Forest Hills, which all get one vote; Sylva and the county get two votes each. The Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority, Southwestern Community College and WCU serve in an ex-officio capacity, meaning they have input but no vote.

The EDC has a budget of about $350,000, and some of that money comes from the towns and the county giving $1 per person in their respective populations. The county also kicks in money for the director’s salary.