WARREN, Ohio – The board of directors overseeing the newly formed Warren-Howland-Warren Joint Economic Development District met for the first time Thursday afternoon.
During the meeting, which lasted about 45 minutes, the four board members named before the meeting tended largely to housekeeping tasks, including the naming of the board’s fifth member.
Nic Coggins, assistant director/director of economic development for the Trumbull County Planning commission, was elected as the fifth member of the JEDD board by members Darlene St. George, former Howland Township trustee and administrator; Nick Chretien, planning and regional development manager for the Western Reserve Port Authority; Michael Keys, Warren community development director; and Trey Simpson, recently hired as plant manager for the $800 million Kimberly-Clark plant being constructed that spurred the creation of the district.
“It’s a real good opportunity,” Coggins, who will serve as the district’s chairman, said following the meeting. “We have this generational investment from this company that we haven’t seen in decades in the Valley.”
The JEDD was formed this summer by the city of Warren and Howland and Warren townships. It will collect a 2% income tax from workers in the district and levy a 2% tax on the profits of businesses within the district to fund infrastructure improvements. The three political jurisdictions also will receive a share of the tax collections as reimbursements for services they are providing within the JEDD.
The board members also named St. George as vice-chairwoman of the JEDD board and Simpson as secretary and adopted bylaws. Other items they approved include an agreement with the city of Warren for income tax administration, collection and enforcement, as well as a resolution to reimburse Howland for certain expenses related to the operation of the JEDD.
Items they deferred action on include setting a regular meeting schedule and hiring legal counsel.
Keys abstained on all of the votes. Following the meeting, he said the resolution by Warren City Council appointing him to the JEDD board does not take effect until Sept 24, nearly a week from Thursday’s meeting,
“We’re just playing it safe rather than having somebody challenge anything,” he said.
Coggins said he expects to have a meeting within the next month, and meetings likely would take place on a quarterly basis after that.
“This was a collaboration between three communities that’s going to put together an economic plan to improve infrastructure, not only for this company, but for companies in the area and for companies to be attracted here. So I’m excited to be able to work on that,” he said.
Keys recalled that when he started in economic development 25 years ago, communities didn’t collaborate like they do today.
“This is something that shows that if we all work together, we can accomplish stuff,” he said. “We would never have done this without cooperation of a number of different political entities.”