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Council approves $50,000 annual fee-for-service with Accelerate Jackson amid public scrutiny
Summary
Council approved a $50,000-per-year service agreement with Accelerate Jackson to provide economic development services including business retention and property marketing; several public commenters questioned the nonprofit’s transparency and board diversity, and council members asked why the city did not use an open RFP.
The Jackson City Council voted Aug. 19 to approve a $50,000 annual fee-for-service agreement with Accelerate Jackson to provide targeted economic development work for the city, including business retention, property marketing, redevelopment facilitation and strategic planning support.
Council members pressed city staff and Accelerate Jackson’s CEO about why the city elected not to use an open request-for-proposals process. City staff said the arrangement is intended as a collaborative county-city partnership rather than a one-off consultant engagement, and that Accelerate Jackson will perform hands-on work — from business outreach to brownfields and site marketing — that staff characterized as “real work” rather than a study.
Keith Gillenwater, identified in the meeting as Accelerate Jackson’s CEO, described recent projects including property marketing for an industrial building and countywide brownfield efforts. Public commenters raised concerns about Accelerate Jackson’s board diversity and transparency about how it spends public dollars; one speaker urged the council to instead invest in police and public safety.
The motion to approve the annual fee was moved, seconded and carried; one council member later declared an abstention on the record citing a campaign donation.
