Commissioners: Two Economic Development Adminstrators Better than One Director

The Carroll County Board of Commissioners will leave the economic development director position vacant and hire two administrators instead.

Jonathan Weetman will be the administrator of operations and small business development and will administer the daily operations of the Department of Economic Development and coordinate the Carroll Business Path, which is a collaborative initiative to help small businesses utilize available resources. Weetman is an attorney with a background in business law and consulting, according to a news release.

John (Jack) Lyburn, Jr. will be the administrator of strategic accounts and outreach and will administer the business retention and outreach efforts for the Department of Economic Development. Lyburn is a former director of economic development for Carroll County and has experience in real estate, development and consulting, according to a news release.

Commissioner Doug Howard said that the commissioners have been productive in economic development in spite of not having an economic development director for seven months. The previous director of economic development left the county in July.

Howard said that the county's economic development successes include the expansion of Knorr Brake Company, the expanion of the Liberty Exchange Complex, hosting three economic development summits and a Gateway tax credit coming to fruition.

"We hope the message has been heard loud and clear that we take this seriously," Howard said. "It's important for this board to send the message loud and clear that Carroll County is the right place, right time for business."

Commissioner Richard Rothschild said that the board received dozens of resumes for the economic development director position but it was difficult to find one person that had the necessary expertise.

"Two heads are better than one. Economic development is a very complex discipline which requires multiple fields of experience," Rothschild said. "If you look at the challenges facing Carroll County today ... finding one person with the full gamut of expertise was going to be nearly impossible."

At a press conference to announce the new hires, Commissioner Robin Frazier told the administrators that economic development is important to the health of Carroll County.

"We need some real economic development, not government-funded development using taxpayer dollars," Frazier said.