Economic Development Foundation receives $45,000 from Economic Development Authority

Athens-Clarke County's will be able to increase their budget by $45,000 due to a bond issued by the Economic Development Authority.

The bond will allow the Economic Development Foundation, which focuses on creating new jobs and attracting new businesses to Athens, to spend $310,000 on economic development during the coming year. It was issued by the EDA, which is a five-person organization backed by the mayor and commission that . 

Foundation board members said during Monday's meeting that they were excited to have more money for the coming year. The money will be used to pay the foundation's outstanding bills, equipment repairs, newspaper and magazine subscriptions and insurance.

"When we got the $45,000 from the EDA, the first thought was to put some of it in the bank so we could save some of it," said Paul Chambers, chair of the Economic Development Authority. "[That money is] really going to help to pay those back bills, but also gives us a little reserve."

The Foundation closed this fiscal year with $1,400 in reserves and $5,000 in outstanding bills, a situation the board hopes to avoid during the coming year. Peggy Chapman, CEO and President of the Foundation, said there were some times during the year when bills would come in and Foundation employees would be unsure what they were for. She also said unforeseen costs related to technology and Caterpillar contributed to this year's bugetary problems.

"We did have some bills that were due during the last fiscal year that will be paid this month to catch up," she said. "The good news is we now have a full budget that we can put out teeth into and hopefully things will look a little better next year than they did this year."

Board members are considering ways to cut unnecessary costs within the Foundation, and will discuss better ways of handling financial obligations during next month's meeting. 

Board member's also discussed the 's proposed move into the Chamber of Commerce building. Many of the board members agreed that it would create a "one-stop shop" and would make economic development issues easier to navigate for residents. 

The Foundation's board will next meet Aug. 13. Along with discussing better ways to handle money, Chambers said the board would discuss accepting the revised budget for the fiscal year.