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Supervisor urges EDA focus on supporting local businesses, citing New London Commerce Center costs
Summary
A board member urged the Economic Development Authority to shift emphasis from recruiting new companies to supporting existing Bedford County businesses, calling recent EDA expenditures and the New London Commerce Center costly.
A Bedford County supervisor urged the county’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) to focus on supporting existing local businesses rather than recruiting new firms, arguing EDA spending—including on the New London Commerce Center—has been costly.
The supervisor said, “For a long time, I've been harping on this because as a 40-year business owner in Bedford County myself… I think that the mission of the EDA should be to support Bedford County existing businesses.” He said the New London Commerce Center is “hemorrhaging probably a million dollars annually” and suggested those taxpayer funds could support essential county services such as the landfill.
The board member framed the recommendation as a call to “play to our strengths” and to avoid recruiting businesses that might compete for the same local labor pool. He said small employers already pay well to retain staff and that bringing new employers could draw employees away.
The comments were made during the board comment period and no formal board action was taken. Separately, another supervisor asked that board members limit their own comment periods to three minutes to match the time limit imposed on public commenters.
