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County seeks clearer community-benefit standards as recruitment policy shifts to 'expansion'
Summary
Staff proposed reframing Durham County'9s business recruitment program toward expansion of existing firms; board members asked for clearer job criteria and formal community-benefit commitments to appear in public hearings and annual reporting.
Durham County staff briefed commissioners on an updated Business Recruitment and Expansion policy that reorients the program toward growth by existing companies as well as new prospects. Matthew Filter, Economic Development Manager, said the change to "expansion" reflects efforts to capture additional local investment and job creation from companies such as Eli Lilly, Merck and Corning. He noted the program has supported about $2.9 billion in projected investment and roughly 6,000 jobs since the last update.
Board members asked staff to strengthen the criteria for job lists and to formalize community-benefit commitments and reporting. Filter said community-benefit lists would be more formalized during public hearings and that companies would be expected to make good-faith efforts to comply; staff will continue to provide an annual report detailing agreements and investments.
