Council, Chamber Tout New Era of Cooperation

At the last meeting of the Howell Township Council there was a sense of cooperation when members of the Howell Chamber of Commerce addressed the members on the dais. 

Jim Godfrey, who serves as 1st Vice President of the chamber thanked the council for working to help local businesses in the township. Godfrey said he has seen the two groups work well together in recent years and was hopeful that trend would continue. "I think we all realize the burden of the residential taxpayer cannot continue to be sustained without a strong, smart business community," he said. 

Identifying what he saw as a "shift change," in the attitude of the administration, Godfrey said he has been glad to see the council working to help the business community. That includes a streamlining of the permit process and working with owners to help not only bring more businesses to the township but also keep existing ones in their current locations. "We don't want carte blanche, but what we do want is a representative that we can go to if we have an issue that might be in a grey area."

Godfrey said the chamber represents close to 300 business owners who have seen the change. "They see what's going on," he said. "We're all real people, we're all real citizens and we want what's best for the town."

Also representing the chamber was 2nd Vice President Tom Comer who said he was glad to see the council reaching out the business community as well. "We're very appreciative that you did that," he said.

Township Manager Helene Schlegel was part of that effort and Comer said she came to a meeting with local business owners. "The manager came out and talked to us about how do we develop sensible business in Howell," he said. "There seems to be a change in attitude in the township that if you want to come to Howell and start a business or if you're in Howell and you want to keep your business in Howell the changes I'm hearing today say how can we help you to bring new business into Howell or how can we keep good business here in Howell."

Comer said for 2013 the chamber's unofficial motto is "Howell is Open for Business." The goal, he said, is "if we we're open for business that only works if businesses are going to come and businesses are going to stay. There's no doubt that change of attitude will be met with a change in results."

Mayor Bill Gotto said he was glad to see the two groups working well together as they look to increase ratables in the township. "It has been a good partnership that we've formed," he said. "There were things that we needed to do and we needed to stop acting like we knew more than everybody else." 

That included seeking guidance from the business community to see how they could help them improve and work well in a still difficult economy. "Through your input and some things that we've been working with Mr. Priola, I think we're starting to see those results," he said of the Director of Community Development.

Gotto has promoted improving the business environment in the township during his campaign last year and when he was sworn in and said he has been pleased to see the progress made. "I'm not saying what other people did before was right, wrong, or different," he said. "We're doing it differently and I think we're doing it smarter."