(Cleveland) — This week, the White County Development Authority received word that they have been approved for a $70,000 Appalachian Regional Commission Grant that will be used to develop an Economic Development Strategic Plan for the county.
John Sell, White County Economic Development Director, said the county will use these funds and $30,000 in local funding to create a planning document to help us move the county toward the future.
The Development Authority will work with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and ARC to find a consultant to assist with the overall project. “We will hire an agency to do the work,” said Sell, “they’ll do some public meetings, they’ll do some engineering reviews, they’ll look at what we have here in the county and where would be the appropriate places for growth, especially from an economic and industrial standpoint and they’ll put that into a plan and then we’ll take that to the board of commissioners to work toward the future growth of this county.”
White County is primarily a tourist and agriculture-driven area, but Sell said, “we want to diversify that a little bit, bring in more potential employers for diversification of the job market.”
The county has until the end of 2022 to complete the project, and the plan, when finished, will be incorporated into the recently completed county comprehensive plan.
