Putnam County Development Authority seeks modest operating increase, highlights surge in housing projects

Morgan Tenny, executive director of the Putnam County Development Authority, told the Putnam County Commission that the authority has focused recent work on housing, workforce and business support and is asking the commission for a modest operating increase in the coming fiscal year.

Tenny said the authority is supporting a number of housing developments across the county, highlighted the Woodworth Farms project (about 400 homes) and said the authority is assisting at least a dozen housing projects now in various stages. She said workforce efforts include an apprenticeship program tied to Toyota that graduated 16 students, 11 of whom are now employed at Toyota in Buffalo, West Virginia. The development authority also reported three business expansion projects expected to create roughly 150 jobs.

Tenny said she is not requesting funds to pay real-estate notes or to increase staff salaries and that marketing dollars will be funded by the newly named PCDA Foundation. The requested increase would pay operating overhead and day-to-day expenses.

Commissioners thanked Tenny for the presentation and said they would take the request under consideration. Planning and economic development staff will include the request in the commission’s budget deliberations.

Tenny closed by emphasizing the authority’s role in business outreach and workforce retention and answered commissioners’ questions about development activity.