The Daily Citizen, Dalton, GA

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February 6, 2010

Accountability is key to economic growth

With the unemployment rate for the Metro Dalton area well above 12 percent, any hint that an employer is looking at adding jobs is welcomed news.

So it was Thursday night at a meeting of the Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority when an official for Looptex Mills said the company plans to buy an existing building in Whitfield County and expand it by up to 200,000 to 250,000 square feet.

He said that Looptex plans to bring some of its operations outside of Whitfield County into the expanded building and that as many as 120 to 125 new jobs could be created locally as a result.

But the hope of new jobs from this project is still just hope right now, and the announcement also shows how tricky economic development can be.

To make this plan work, Looptex has gotten a commitment from the JDA to issue up to $5 million in bonds to help the company acquire and expand the building.

JDA chairman Chuck Dobbins said Looptex would be responsible for the repayment of the bonds and that the governments of Whitfield County and Dalton would not be liable. But it would allow the company to get a lower interest rate potentially on the bonds.

“The next step will be for the company to continue their investigation into the property and determine their financing, seek the proper bond financing. Then they will come back to the authority for a formal memorandum of understanding and an actual bond issuance,” he said.

As we all know, however, any number of things can happen between now and then. Looptex may end up not purchasing the building. Or it may purchase the building, but face business conditions that could force it to either scale back its hiring plans or allow it to increase them.

What is true of this deal, as is true of most economic development deals these days, is that public money is involved.

And when public money is involved, we urge everyone involved to remember that we all have a stake in what happens.

As such, the best course of action is to keep the public informed about what is going on.

We wish Looptex well in bringing its plan to fruition and we believe that the JDA is acting in the best interests of the public.

Just remember that openness is the right course of action when any company looks to use the taxpayer to help them out.

The Daily Citizen

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