Jury 'crunching numbers' on economic development proposals posted Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 @ 1:27 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  The Concordia Parish Police Jury's Finance Committee will study proposals in the weeks ahead on whether it can financially support local and regional efforts for economic development. Originally discussed last spring, the proposals were prepared by the Concordia Economic and Industrial Development District (CEIDD) and the Miss-Lou Regional Steering Committee. Heather Malone, CEIDD's executive director, said $15,000 is being sought annually from the Police Jury over a three-year period to support the steering committee's economic plan, which includes hiring a marketing firm to "brand" the region and develop a name, log and website. The funding will also include advertising, developing publications, mission trips and attendance at conferences geared to specific markets. In a separate funding request, CEIDD is seeking $25,000 from the Jury and the parish's four towns. This funding would be used, Malone said, to operate the local office and exclusively promote Concordia. Jury President Melvin Ferrington said that while he thought the plans "would benefit the parish, money is tight everywhere right now. Before we can commit, we have to make sure that we can pay the parish's bills. For us to do this, we're going to have to cut something." Finance Committee Chairman Randy Temple said the Jury would "leave the door open" for funding and will soon begin working on its 2013 budget. "All we can do is crunch numbers," he said. "I'd hate to dip into our reserves any more than we have, but in 30 to 45 days we'll have a better idea of what we're looking at in our next budget." Malone said the local investment by public bodies and the business community would be a way to aggressively seek new industry and enhance the economy even though times are hard financially for many at this time. She said it would also set up a public/private funding base that would join government and business in economic development. For the full story, subscribe to the The Concordia Sentinel's NEW E-Edition!