Source: The Daily Record, B. Warren
April 26, 2012
WOOSTER -- A contingent from a Kentucky chamber of commerce descended upon Wooster Wednesday to explore what has made this area successful in terms of economic development. Members of the Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce periodically take trips to other cities to see what works for them and to determine if it can be implemented back home. The Jessamine Chamber office is in Nicholasville, about 12 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky.
Jessamine County was also where Wayne County Commissioner Scott Wiggam grew up. He spoke to the group of 20 about how the county operates. Wiggam, along with Wooster Mayor Bob Breneman, Orrville Mayor Dave Handwerk and Rittman Mayor Bill Robertson shared with the group the successes and struggles of their cities. Wayne County was able to make it through the difficult economic times because everyone was willing to make cuts, Wiggam said. The commissioners made a political decision not to raise taxes, and it worked when all of the elected officials and department heads brought their expenses under the projected revenue by 2010, he added.
The county uses the Wayne Economic Development Council as its economic development arm, and in 2007 the county revised its tax incentive policy. The new document contained the philosophy and the mechanics, Wiggam said. Robertson talked about the challenges Rittman faces after Caraustar, a paper packaging company shut down and left the city. At one time, the company, formerly known as the Packaging Corporation of America and the Ohio Boxboard Co., hired as many as 2,400 people, Robertson said. It started making wax-coated boxes for the salt company, now Morton Salt, and once produced all of the boxes for Tide detergent. Now, the 300-acre site sits empty, and the city is trying to clean up the brownfield in order to free up the land for commercial development. Right now, there is very little available land for development. The city is surrounded by valuable farm land, which is another reason why Robertson wants to see the Caraustar site cleaned.
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