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Lake Economic Area Development reports $100M fiber investment and other leads; commissioners press for measurable job outcomes
Summary
Lake Economic Area Development (LEAD) presented a progress report on its strategic plan, including a Wire 3 announcement of a $100 million infrastructure investment that the presenter said will support 40 permanent jobs and up to 200 construction jobs; commissioners asked for clearer year-by-year job-tracking against LEAD's five-year goals.
Lake Economic Area Development (LEAD) updated the Board of County Commissioners on March 11 about progress against its five-year strategic plan and recent business development activity.
Abel Berry, chair of LEAD’s board, and Heather Schubert, LEAD’s chief growth officer, told commissioners LEAD has expanded private-sector investment since last fall and hosted national site selectors last week. Schubert said LEAD has raised additional private investment and has been pursuing targeted industry leads in manufacturing, logistics, agribusiness and life sciences.
At the meeting LEAD announced that Wire 3 will make a $100,000,000 capital investment in county infrastructure related to fiber and broadband and that the company expects to create 40 full‑time permanent positions plus roughly 100–200 construction jobs over 24 months. Schubert described the announcement as an example of the county’s ability to attract infrastructure investments that can broaden the tax base.
Commissioners asked for clearer, audited year‑by‑year reporting against LEAD’s published five‑year goals — 3,500 new primary jobs and assistance to entrepreneurs — and discussed the importance of available industrial inventory and shovel-ready sites to convert leads into permanent local jobs. Several commissioners said they want metrics that distinguish local permanent hires from short-term construction or out-of-area contractor labor.
Ending: LEAD will continue outreach to site selectors, pursue targeted industries and coordinate with county staff on inventory and infrastructure work; commissioners asked for more granular job-count reporting in future updates.
