EDC director highlights local hiring, company expansions and planned infrastructure request
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Summary
Dale Book told commissioners that Lear plans retooling and hiring, Quick Cuts has taken over a vacant fabrication site and will host hiring events, and Triad will expand with help from a county tax abatement; Book said he will seek an RDA grant for infrastructure north of Columbia City.
Dale Book, director of the county’s economic development corporation, briefed commissioners April 6 on several local business developments and workforce connections.
Book said Lear, which supplies parts to vehicle manufacturers, is preparing a significant investment and additional hiring and is "almost 500 in employment." He said he will pursue training grants through the redevelopment commission to support the company.
Quick Cuts, the firm that took over a recently sold parent-company facility, plans a hiring event and has started outreach with the local career academy and high school welding students, Book said. "It's gonna be a really good company moving forward," he said.
Book also reported that Triad is expanding at a local site after the county approved a tax abatement that helped make the project competitive; he said the parent company will hire skilled workers and expects to add roughly a dozen positions during the expansion.
Looking beyond those immediate items, Book said he serves as the county’s representative to the Regional Development Authority covering 11 counties and will ask for a substantial RDA grant to support an infrastructure project north of Columbia City. He described the RDA seat reaffirmation as a no-cost formal recognition that helps the county access state and philanthropic grant dollars.
The board received the update; Book said he will bring further grant requests and workforce-training proposals to future meetings.
