By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
Following months of uncertainty regarding its future, the Dawson County Economic Development Council appears ready to move forward with a plan to form a partnership with the Eastern Plains Economic Development Council which will provide DCEDC the ability to hire a new, full-time executive director and allow the organization to remain as a viable entity within the community.
On Tuesday, during the first DCEDC board meeting in several months, the six board members present — chairman Rhett Coon, Richie Crisafulli, Ross Farber, Mike Gibbs, Tim Mattick and Parker Powell — voted unanimously to give acting DCEDC director Craig Anderson the go-ahead to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding with the EPEDC whereby the two entities will share the cost of hiring a new full-time director for the DCEDC with each entity providing 50 percent of the funding.
Anderson noted that what the EPEDC is getting out of the deal is a grant writer, noting that is a position that organization has been looking for a way to hire. Under the plan, whoever the DCEDC hires as their executive director would pull double duty as EPEDC’s grant writer, answerable to EPEDC director Beth Epley on that score. That person would still be based out of Glendive, however, with the DCEDC retaining their office at Dawson Community College, and would continue fulfilling all the duties of the DCEDC director’s position.
During the discussion prior to the vote, Coon told his fellow board members he hasn’t seen a better option for keeping the DCEDC afloat.
“I think it’s strategic, it works financially, and I think it’s something we should go for,” Coon said.
Anderson noted that without the arrangement, the DCEDC would be especially hard-pressed to hire a new full-time executive director or even keep its doors open.
“If you add it all up (the DCEDC’s one mill from the county and investor member donations) we would a have $32,000 to $36,000 budget, that’s all we got,” Anderson said.
Coon further noted that the deal with the EPEDC makes sense as not only do the two organizations share nearly identical mission statements and purposes, but Dawson County is by far the most populous and most likely to attract new business enterprises of the five counties EPEDC services. The others in EPEDC’s service area are Prairie, Wibaux, Fallon and Carter counties.
“More than likely, we’re going to be working on common goals,” Coon said of how a partnership with the EPEDC would work. “More than likely, if we’re fighting for a big fish, they’re likely fighting for the same thing.”
Powell noted that the “one negative” he could see would be if the DCEDC were trying to woo a business enterprise to Dawson County that the EPEDC has in mind for one of the other counties. However, Powell also noted the high amount of influence Dawson County already wields on the EPEDC board, noting that he himself is a member of that board, which also includes Glendive Mayor Jerry Jimison and is currently chaired by Dawson County Commissioner Dennis Zander.
Coon expressed his belief that given all that, partnering with the EPEDC makes perfect, logical sense.
“I think there isn’t a big enough negative not to try it,” he said.
The vote the board took empowered Anderson to finalize the MOU, though Anderson himself noted the board would have “one more official vote” to make once presented with a finalized version of the MOU before the deal is done.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.