MONROE, N.C. — The sudden withdrawal of Union County from the Monroe Union County Economic Development Commission (MUDEC) this month complicates the community’s business recruiting efforts, observers say.
The move follows the county commissioners’ withdrawal from the Union County Chamber in June 2023 after criticism about their lack of sewer infrastructure planning and the departure in August of Chris Platé, a Monroe employee who led MUDEC for more than 25 years.
The 4-1 vote triggers a withdrawal process of at least two years unless Monroe agrees to earlier termination. The county will pay its share of MUDEC’s budget, about $500,000 a year, while launching an in-house economic development department under the county manager for about $258,000 a year.
County Manager Brian Matthews urged the move, saying that Monroe and the county have different development goals.
“Monroe’s focus is Monroe, and it should be Monroe,” he said. “We want to see more out in the unincorporated (area) and other municipalities.”
The relationship started in the mid-1990s when the county began contributing to Monroe’s economic development efforts in order to share the service. The joint commission was organized in 2022.
Matthews asked county commissioners to initiate the withdrawal; ask Monroe to agree to early termination; tell the EDC to vacate its space in the Progress Building on Airport Road; establish an in-house economic development department with a director, assistant director and business manager; and appropriate money to launch the initiative.
Commissioner Melissa Merrill led the motion to adopt the plan. She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Observers say relationships between city and county officials have been strained over issues such as the BARN project that aims to help local farmers find markets for produce, as well as personal tensions over perceived slights such as Merrill’s conflict with city officials at the J.D. Vance rally last month, but the sides almost always agree on incentive grants to recruit businesses, a main focus of the EDC.
“I don’t like how there’s egos in politics that are driving decisions that should be based for the good of the people,” said Jonathan Thomas, a former Union County Planning Board chair who ran unsuccessfully for commissioner in 2022. Commissioners disbanded the planning board and board of adjustments to create a single land use board in the spring of 2023.
Matthews said he has contacted Monroe City Manager Mark Watson to move the discussion forward. Monroe and Union County each appoint eight voting members to the 24-member Monroe/Union Economic Development Advisory Board, which includes eight nonvoting government, education and business leaders.
“I think the next step is for the EDC board members to talk about this transition and how does that work,” Matthews said. One possibility is that Monroe could contract with the county’s department to provide services, a reversal of the arrangement from the 1990s until two years ago.
“The relationship with Monroe isn’t that we don’t want to work with them,” Matthews said. “They could be a funding partner, and we continue to provide that service to them just like we want to expand that service for other municipalities. They’re going to have to decide whether they want to have a separate department, or contract with us.”
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