EVERETT – Members of the Snohomish County Economic Development Council are breathing a sigh of relief after Everett decided to restore funding to the agency.
Former Mayor Frank Anderson last year did not earmark money for the agency in the 2004 city budget because he was waiting for a debate on whether Everett was getting its money’s worth from its $50,000 contribution. Anderson lost last November’s election to Mayor Ray Stephanson, who shared some of Anderson’s concerns.
The Stephanson administration agreed earlier this year to give $10,000 to the council. It then negotiated a new agreement in which the agency agreed to the city’s key requests. The City Council recently voted to approve the agreement and allocate an additional $40,000.
The development council helps recruit businesses to Snohomish County. Cities pay dues based on population.
Stephanson said the city wanted to ensure that Everett is able to compete fairly with other cities in trying to lure businesses. So he insisted on a clause in the new contract that requires the development council to let city officials meet with representatives from any business that is seeking to locate in the county. That didn’t always happen in the past, he said.
“We just want to be there so we can say, ‘This is what the opportunities are here, and this is the inventory of property we have here,’” Stephanson said.
The agreement also requires the development council to provide a quarterly report on how its activities are benefiting Everett.
Diana Dahler, the development council’s vice president, welcomed the agreement, which will prevent cuts to the group’s budget of nearly $600,000. The council always tries to respond to requests from individual cities, she said.
The $40,000 will come from the city’s economic development budget. As a result, the city will have to scale back on promotional material and travel to some conferences.
Stephanson said the agency complements the work of the city’s economic development department.
“Developers or site selectors looking at Snohomish County will naturally go to the economic development entity in the area where they’re looking,” he said. “They might not necessarily know about Everett or Lynnwood or Monroe.”
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com.
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