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Develop Frankfurt asks county for $250,000 to fund workforce and downtown development roles
Summary
Develop Frankfurt told the Fiscal Court it helped recruit roughly 500 jobs and requests $250,000 (county share) to fund two new positions focused on workforce and downtown/infill development; board also discussed a potential $500,000 capital corpus to seed a CDC/CDFI-style vehicle.
Penny Peebler, chief executive at Develop Frankfurt (formerly the Capital Community Economic Industrial Authority), presented the organization's annual budget and strategic work to the Franklin County Fiscal Court on March 25.
Peebler said Develop Frankfurt helped recruit approximately 500 jobs in the previous fiscal year, highlighted a $30 million infill investment tied to Meridian Biotech and named other wins including Nido’s expansion and a 100‑job Nan McKay operation. She said the organization is implementing recommendations from a strategic plan and is seeking increased operational support from the city and county.
"We are asking you for $250,000," Peebler said, describing that amount as the county’s requested contribution for the coming year to fund staffing that the strategic plan prioritized. She explained the operational request would fund two additional positions: one focused on workforce development and another on downtown/infill development, along with existing executive and administrative staffing.
Peebler also described a separate potential capital request the board approved to explore creating a community development vehicle (CDC or CDFI-style finance organization). That idea would require a one-time corpus the board initially discussed at $500,000; Peebler said that capital request is not part of the operating request and would be pursued separately.
Court members asked for clarification on numbers and structure. Squire Wissman expressed caution about committing capital without private-sector buy-in and asked for clearer plans about mission, partners and sustainability. Peebler said the board intends to pursue private matches and philanthropic partnerships and to prioritize workforce and downtown outcomes from the strategic plan.
The court formally received the Develop Frankfurt annual budget during the voting session; receipt does not constitute final appropriation. The court noted the request for increased support and signaled further budget‑committee review during the county’s budget process.
