MECOSTA COUNTY — Since the retirement of the Mecosta County Development Corporation director Jim Sandy in May, the executive committee for the organization has been looking for a new director.
After reaching out to different economic development organizations, the committee initially decided to keep things in-house, developing a new job description and advertising for the position.
Following several weeks of interviews, however, the committee changed gears and decided to go with an outside vendor.
County administrator Paul Bullock told the Mecosta County board of commissioners during its meeting this week that the committee made the decision to contract with The Right Place, Inc. out of Grand Rapids.
“Since (Jim) Sandy’s retirement, the executive committee has been looking and trying to figure out what to do and what is going to work for us,” Bullock said. “We advertised the position, they interviewed some people, they decided that was probably not going to work. Pretty quickly we determined we wanted to go with someone who knew what they were doing.”
Mecosta Township supervisor Michelle Graham, who headed the search for a new director, told the Pioneer that the decision to go with an outside vendor rather than hiring an in-house director resulted from being unable to find the right person to fill the position.
“MCDC interviewed several individuals and could not find the right fit,” Graham said. “After some time, we decided to contact The Right Place, and we believe they are a good fit for MCDC.”
Graham said The Right Place, Inc. will provide services such as marketing and branding; business attraction, retention and expansion; site location support; workforce development; community education and outreach; community development support; regional leadership and support; and competitiveness initiatives statewide.
“One person cannot provide all of these services that The Right Place offers,” she said.
Bullock added that The Right Place is the “gold standard” for economic development in the area. They currently work with several surrounding counties including Newago, Mason, Oceana, Montcalm and Lake counties.
The Right Place, Inc. is a regional economic development organization funded through investments from the private and public sectors, which drives regional economic development initiatives to stimulate economic growth, wealth creation and operational excellence by focusing on productivity, innovation, and the retention, expansion and creation of quality employment and companies, the company’s website states.
The mission of the company is to drive sustainable economic growth and shared prosperity for all, it said.
“We have done this on our own for 26 years, and for that I would give us an A for some years and others we didn’t get to a C, because we were trying to do what we were trying to do without support and often times without people that really understood what they were doing,” Bullock said. “What they (The Right Place) will do is hire a development professional and assign them (sic) to our county. We think this is our best option at this point.”
Bullock said the executive board decided to request a two or three year contract proposal, which would cost up to $100,000 per year.
“Between our contribution, the city’s contribution and the FSU contribution — those are the big three — and then there is Big Rapids Township and Mecosta Township, we bring in $80,000,” Bullock said. “Because we have been without a director a few times, we have enough money in the bank that we can do this and be fine, and then three years from now, we can come up with some additional revenue. At that point, we show you the value of the contribution, or we pull the plug.”
Graham said she did not believe the financial responsibilities of the different entities would need to change by going with The Right Place. Inc.
“The cost of contracting with The Right Place compared with the cost of an in-house director is very comparable,” Graham said. “If we were to hire in-house, we would need to provide a benefits package and training. Finding qualified candidates, along with offering wages and benefits and staying within our budget were some of the issues we faced. The Right Place provides all the benefits and includes the support of their 35-plus professional team.
“I don’t believe the contracts for the city of Big Rapids, Mecosta County, Big Rapids Township and Mecosta Township will change,” she continued. “We do hope that more municipalities will partner with the MCDC.”
Bullock told the board that although they were not being asked to vote on anything, he wanted to let them know about the decision of the executive committee.
“This is the direction that the development corporation is looking at going,” he said. “After watching this for a long time, I think this is the way we take the steps to the next level.”
Some board members questioned how a company based in Kent County could be good for promoting economic development in Mecosta County, considering the differences between the two.
Commissioner Linda Howard told the board that she had heard from commissioners in Montcalm County that were not happy with the services they had received.
“I don’t want to throw cold water on this, but I have talked to a couple of commissioners that were not impressed,” Howard said. “I think we really need to get a handle on those counties that are out there on the fringe and assess the value they (The Right Place) have brought for those counties. Let’s go in with our eyes open.”
Bullock responded that they will keep our eye on it, but so far, they have gotten “very positive feedback” from people that belong to The Right Place.
“I am going to continue to ask you to fund this for the life of whatever contract they decide on, whether it is two years or three years,” he said. “That will give us a baseline for our own evaluation and opinion of their services, rather than depending on someone else’s opinion.”
OUT OF THE LOOP
The MCDC is a collaboration between the county, the city, Ferris State University, Big Rapids Township and Mecosta Township. They work with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to bring new businesses to the area and grow those that are here.
When Sandy announced his retirement plans, several MCDC board members decided it would be a good time to re-evaluate the structure of the organization.
The executive committee entertained several options for moving forward — hiring a new director, contracting with an economic development organization and collaborating with Osceola County for economic development purposes.
Initially, the decision was made to collaborate with Osceola County, whose economic development director Dan Massy had also recently retired, and hire a director who would work with both counties.
“The option that we are pursuing at this point is for Mecosta County and Osceola County to cooperatively try to fill the vacancy with someone who can work for both counties,” Bullock said at the time. “We are going to tailor it so that the resources we have available will allow us to do it even if Osceola County doesn’t join.”
Osceola County board of commissioners chairperson Mark Gregory told the Pioneer at the time that they were also considering different options and would wait to hear from MCDC regarding a collaboration before moving forward.
Gregory recently told the Pioneer that they had kind of fallen out of the loop with what the MCDC was doing and had not made any decisions regarding economic development.
“I just learned today that Mecosta went with The Right Place,” Gregory said. “I am not honestly sure at this point what we will do now that they have chosen to go with The Right Place.
“The thing for us, now, would be to talk to them and see what we can do in collaboration with them,” he continued. “It will probably come down to dollars. If we can’t afford to go along with them for The Right Place, then we obviously will have to come up with something different.”
Bullock told the board that the initial proposal to contract with The Right Place was just for Mecosta County.
Graham concurred, saying there were no plans, at this time, for Osceola County to be a partner in the contract.
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Mecosta County Development Corp. to hire The Right Place - The Pioneer
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