DeKalb County on Thursday gave its development authority an additional role: recruit and retain businesses to the county.
The five-year deal between the county and the DeKalb Development Authority is the first countywide formal economic initiative to bring jobs and development to Georgia’s third-largest county.
“For the first time, we will have a focus on stimulating new development and creating an intersection of business, community and investment in DeKalb,” said development authority Chairman Vaughn Irons.
The new authority has yet to develop a snappy name or clear agenda of its model, Invest Atlanta.
So far, the agreement only calls for county taxpayers to contribute $750,000 a year and the development authority to pitch in $500,000 a year, to prioritize ways to draw new business, develop or create access to more capital investment and tackle other economic development efforts.
One of its first goals: Raise $40 million to seed a small business program, as DeKalb waits on the results of an economic development study.
A draft of the $300,000 study by Angelou Economics, released late last month, shows the uphill battle DeKalb faces with its effort.
Most recently, the county has struggled with a troubled school system, charges of political corruption in county government and a trend of more affluent areas forming into new cities or being annexed into existing ones.
Those woes are on top of DeKalb’s sluggish efforts to shift from a bedroom community of Atlanta into its own place, as neighboring Gwinnett County has done, the report says.
The new authority is designed to battle those specific challenges, even as the county works on a plan on what sorts of business it wants to encourage, officials said.
“It’s really important for us as a county to be able to project an economic development presence that is comparable to other local jurisdictions,” County Commissioner Jeff Rader said.
The new authority will eventually have 12 employees, including three staffers who now work for the county’s economic development office.
The authority also plans to begin advertising nationally for a chairman, expected to take over leadership of the group by year’s end.
“There are a ton of things that have to take place,” interim CEO Lee May said. “This is just the framework, but we are committed to moving forward.”
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