THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 26, 1995 TAG: 9508260416
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Every homeowner, resident, and factory operator in the Albemarle could be affected if even a part of a broad new pump-priming program soon to be considered by the Northeast Economic Development Commission is put in place.
The goals to be accomplished by August of 1996 include:
Getting natural gas into Northeastern North Carolina to provide an alternate energy source required by many industries and to put household heating and cooking costs into a more competitive market.
Finding and developing new water sources for counties and municipalities, now unwilling or unable to encourage large-scale industrial development or residential growth because of uncertainty over future water availability.
The water and gas goals are part of a 12-point plan being developed at the request of Jimmy Dixon Jr., the Pasquotank County commissioner recently elected chairman of the Economic Commission.
``What we're doing is bringing together good ideas into a program that can be accomplished if we work closely with local governments and private groups,'' Dixon said Friday.
Dixon, with the support of many on the 15-member commission, is trying to redesign the commission from its previous configuration as a talk-heavy think tank into a hands-on group of economic mechanics who can make wheels turn at all levels of government and private industry.
``All of us, the members of the commission and developers and business leaders in our communities, will now be working together to make the commission more helpful and a more realistic asset to the northeast,'' Dixon said.
The commission took a major step in the new direction last Wednesday when it earmarked $550,000 to bring NEED, a group of county and regional developers, into a close advisory capacity within the commission.
NEED, The North East Economic Developers Technical Assistance Group, is made up of county and municipal planners and industrial developers who for two years have stood on the sidelines wondering how to get some of their ideas before the commission.
The commission and NEED will use the $550,000 to develop and implement a joint program to better advertise and use business opportunities in the Albemarle.
Dixon said other ``goals to be accomplished by August of 1996, as drawn up by various commission members, will include:
Creation of a tourist development advisory board that will help unite efforts of Chambers of Commerce and existing tourism groups.
A re-examination of the Harbor Town proposals to link the Albemarle's waterfront communities with a high-speed water transportation system for tourists.
Stronger ties to Southeastern Virginia that will include joint regional development and promotion operations with the Forward Hampton Roads organization.
Earlier this month, the commission fired its executive director and a tourist director, and Dixon said the pump-primers are moving quickly to find a new director who would be in overall charge.
``We think we can work out a plan for the former Tourist Division that will be similar to the NEEDS program,'' Dixon said.
Bunny Sanders, the tourist director who was dismissed, developed the Harbor Town proposal, and the commission seems determined to salvage some parts of the program.
Dixon also said the commission would probably divide the 16-county area served by the commission into four regions to allow better use of local assets and geography.
``We're going to win respect and acceptance in the Albemarle because we're going to earn it,'' Dixon said. by CNB