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New agency chief will have hands full© St. Petersburg Times published February 7, 2002 Also on Tuesday, the County Commission hired Mike McHugh, a former president of the Hernando County Mining Association, to temporarily direct its newly created Office of Business Development. The commission gave tentative, but unanimous, approval to hiring McHugh; a final vote is scheduled for next week. McHugh is a fine choice for the job. He is well-known in the business community and his professional, cooperative demeanor virtually guarantees there will be no repeat of the embarrassment and resentment that plagued the county's previous economic development efforts. Less certain, however, is exactly what McHugh will do, and how he will interact -- if at all -- with the Economic Development Commission, a private group the county fired last spring. The EDC had been latent since then, but in a curious coincidence of timing, some of its members announced recently they planned to resume an active role in economic development. More specifically, they plan to concentrate on the retention and expansion of existing businesses, rather than courting new companies to move. Problem is, helping existing businesses is exactly what the county has said it plans to do. That seeming overlap in activities begs the questions, "Who's in charge?" and "Can, or should, the two groups work together?" On Tuesday, no commissioners asked those questions. A week ago, Commissioner Chris Kingsley did raise a concern that the EDC is setting itself up to compete with the county, but his colleagues chose not to discuss it. Without answers to those underlying questions, it would appear Hernando County is embarking on an economic development effort that -- as it did years ago -- lacks a clearly defined mission. There's plenty of work for both groups. But uncertainty will make McHugh's job more difficult from the outset.
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From today's Hernando Times |
