Cobb County Development Authority members want more transparency from the county chamber of commerce, which provides support staff for the authority, and its own authority administrator.
In a meeting Tuesday, members questioned authority executive director Nelson Geter and chamber officials about incentives that had been offered to companies without their knowledge. Authority rules allow Geter to offer companies relocation incentives up to $100,000, but members had not been told about a $50,000 offer Geter made for Fabric.com., a company that announced its move from Marietta to Kennesaw this month.
Thea Powell, one of the newer authority members and a former county commissioner, blasted Geter and the chamber, which knew of the incentive offer since at least January, for keeping authority members in the dark.
Tension between some authority members and the chamber has been high over the past few months, with Powell and other members arguing for more transparency on economic development and incentive deals in the county. To deal with the issue, a committee of authority members will devise guidelines on how the executive director incentives should be handled in the future.
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