After six months on the job as Garrard County’s Economic Development Director Nathan Mick is excited about the forward motion he and everyone else is seeing in the county. "You will only move forward if you keep a positive attitude," Mick said to Lancaster City Council members Monday night. "I have no trouble doing that here. I enjoy my job."
Mick talked about the growth in the community, highlighting the Lancaster Higher Education Center, the planned justice center, the new high school, the Grand Theatre project, a potential Herrington Lake lodge and the expansion of Kentucky Highway 152 and US 27.
"There are opportunities to move forward here," Mick said, "but there’s still a lot to do to see this community grow." More than anything else he has done since he took the position here has been to enhance the county’s web presence in numerous areas at Garrardcounty.ky.gov.
"Web sites are symbolic of your communty," Mick said. By basing numerous, even non-governmental organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, the schools and businesses, all linked together on the county’s website, a partnership has been created. That partnership shows the browser a synergy in the community and points them to what Garrard County really is all about.
The City of Lancaster which has never had a web presence at all, is also linked now, and hosts a letter from Mayor Don Rinthen with links to all the city’s available resources and information about the council members.
Links with other community organizations including tourism, the Chamber of Commerce, the Grand Theatre and more have all been enhanced giving Garrard the ability to better market itself in a world where computer technology has become nearly everyone’s source of information.
One area of concern for him is the 30,000 square foot spec building and the 13 additional acres that have been sitting there for more than 10 years, since 1997. His job is to find ways to draw viable prospective businesses to the area, he said.
Mick related growth in manufacturing to a communtiy’s close proximity to an interstate highway and/or a truck line, making the sale of the spec building a difficult task. He said that about 200 companies a year call the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet requesting information about possible sites they could move their business to. But only about 50 of them come and that’s because interstatehighway access is so important to their success. In order to counteract that problem here incentives become the key to drawing manufacturing to the area.
Although the building is valued at $450,000, even giving it away to a business that could promise 100 jobs would be a win for the community, he said. Those jobs would translate into about $25,000 a year each or $2,500,000 in taxable payroll and other related expenditures inside the county.
Mick has also been very involved in the county’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin project that has taken a front seat to all ideas that have come through Garrard’s tourism commission which is still in its infancy stage as well.
He calls the project a "hidden treasure" that needs to become "part of the conversation" and marketed to the hilt. With two other locations in the nation claiming a viable connection, one in Canada and the other in Bethesda, Maryland, Garrard’s claims are even more realistic and should be developed.
Not only does Mick serve on the tourism commission but he is the marketing and publicity committee chairperson as a director for the Chamber of Commerce. With new energy and ideas emanating from the directors who are committed to becoming ambassadors for the community, the COC is gaining much needed credibility.
Regular ribbon cuttings, news articles and highlighting them through the new website have all become a regular part of what the COC does. Just recently the COC sponsored a free customer training workshop for all of the county’s businesses that was a huge success and its annual golf scramble held at Garrard’s own Peninsula Golf Resort raised funds that will be used to promote area businesses.
As economic development director, Mick has gained support both from the COC and the tourism commission for a cartoon map that would give visitors to the county a birdseye view of what is available for them to see here. The map is scheduled to be completed this year and promised to be available on the website and in every possible location in the county where it can be taken and used as a point of reference.
Having it available by the 2010 Equestrian games is an absolute must as far is Mick is concerned. He has also planned a town hall event in October with Congressman Ben Chandler slated as the featured guest.
Although the Grand Theatre project is one of the community’s projects that helped him make his decision to come here because of his own background in the arts, the project is not without problems that have created numerous delays.
Although it may not happen, Mick would like to see that the theater is complete and hosting events by the 2010 Equestrian Games.
In closing Mick thanked everyone for welcoming him so wholeheartedly to the community.
"I’m enjoying it. Everyday is a new challenge."