Elected officials have put the objectives of the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association under a microscope in hopes of making the group better.
The association's board and staff have established 11 priorities for the group after a strategic planning retreat this spring. Among those priorities is using education to help retain, expand or create businesses and being "more financially efficient" in reaching development goals by collaborating with businesses or other groups.
The association is responsible for economic development in Asotin, Whitman, Garfield and Columbia counties. The evaluation the association underwent locally reflects questions that have been raised at the state level about the effectiveness of spending money on economic development.
Washington lawmakers are in special session working on the state's 2016-2017 budget. Despite a growing demand for state funding in other areas, including education, the Legislature is expected to maintain funding levels for the association and a network of regional economic development groups that cover the state of Washington.
"Current-level funding for associate development organizations is continued in the base budget we're working from," according to an email from Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, who is vice chairman of the appropriations committee for the Washington House of Representatives.
Ormsby did not address why legislators might be moving in that direction and was unavailable for follow-up questions. That stance comes despite an October 2014 state audit requested by the Legislature that found it was "virtually impossible" to measure the impact of the groups.
SEWEDA receives about $150,000 in state money and another $75,000 in federal funding. The state's share comes from the Washington Department of Commerce and county commissions in Asotin, Whitman, Garfield and Columbia counties get to choose where the money goes.
It's always the job of elected officials to make sure public money is being wisely spent, said Brian Shinn, an Asotin County commissioner and treasurer of SEWEDA. "Part of that process is to periodically take a look at your strategic plan and do a needs assessment and fine tune and retarget efforts in every county."
The association and its counterparts in the state are supposed to help create jobs and encourage capital investment, but it can be difficult to discern what their involvement actually was, according to the audit. "Factors beyond the control of economic developers - such as the availability of loans, company sales, inflation rates, and the price of raw materials - all play into business decisions to relocate, expand or invest capital."
The audit, coupled with the association's own reports that show 33 jobs created or retained in 2012 and none in 2013 or 2014, prompted him to take a close look, said Dean Kinzer, a Whitman County commissioner and chairman of the association board. "If we can't quantify the benefits, why are we doing this?"
Some of his concerns were addressed by Terry Lawhead, the business retention expansion manager for the Washington Department of Commerce, who facilitated the strategic planning session, Kinzer said.
Board members learned from Lawhead that what can look like community development is actually economic development because businesses are more likely to locate in a town if it's thriving, Kinzer said.
Another reason the board wanted the strategic planning session was to clarify how Marshall Doak, the association's part-time executive, should spend his time after a recent tweak, Shinn said.
Doak also serves as the part-time executive director of the Palouse Regional Transportation Planning Organization. A planner was hired for the transportation group, so Doak would have more time to work on economic development. In addition to Doak, four part-time employees spearhead efforts in each of the counties that SEWEDA covers and they are assisted by a part-time bookkeeper.
Much of the work the association does is behind the scenes and not readily noticeable to the public.
The association, for instance, has helped Columbia Pulp get established in Starbuck, said Dwight Robanski, a Columbia County commissioner who serves on the board.
Columbia Pulp is expected to start construction this summer and be up and running by 2017, employing about 135 people and creating a market for straw left after wheat is harvested. The straw will be drawn from a 75-mile radius, providing benefits to farmers in all four counties the association serves, Robanski said. "We're happy because it has worked well for us."
Even though Kinzer and Shinn asked questions, they continue to support the association financially.
County commissions can designate any organization they want to receive the state economic development money and all four counties continue to choose SEWEDA.
The Whitman County Commission recently renewed its commitment to the association for two years, Kinzer said.
The time Whitman County commissioners were spending discussing the issue was disproportionate to the $45,000 a year the county designates and was distracting the commissioners from other matters in its $58 million annual budget, Kinzer said. "We couldn't find a better alternative."
Asotin County has picked the association each year, Shinn said. "I don't think as a whole we are dissatisfied. The economic development landscape changes constantly and we need to be sure we're in tune with what is needed to be successful."
Kinzer, Shinn and Robanski acknowledge economic development is an uphill battle.
During the strategic planning process, the association's employees, for instance, identified a list of 19 needs they had to improve their performance such as more professional training and a pool of discretionary funds for urgent projects.
At the same time, the climate the employees work in is challenging, Kinzer said.
Whitman County's biggest product is soft white wheat that gets shipped out of the country as a commodity where it's made into noodles and crackers.
One possibility might be to do more of that processing in the United States, but the countries that buy the wheat have a "tremendous number of people who need jobs," Kinzer said.
Encouraging entrepreneurs to start their own businesses is harder than it sounds, considering that 80 percent fail in their first two years because they lack sufficient resources, Kinzer said.
"Our (association) employees are working fairly hard at what we're doing," Kinzer said. "We're just in a difficult economy."
---
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.