Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on the proposed comprehensive plan for Greenbrier County. The county planning commission will conduct a public hearing on the document at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the courthouse in Lewisburg. The ultimate decision on whether to adopt the plan is up to the county commission.



Greenbrier County’s proposed updated comprehensive plan is an ambitious document, outlining much more than the land use guidelines that comprise the bulk of its predecessors.

A major section of the plan focuses on economic development issues, ranging from business support services to infrastructure such as public water and sewer.

Written by M.H. Dorsitt, principal planner with Cambria Planning Group of Christiansburg, Va., the plan calls for the creation of a regional public service authority that would take the place of the eight related agencies now operating in the county.

“Eight separate authorities represents a duplicity of services, primarily in management, and, at times, competing interests,” the plan notes.

In 1991, the state Public Service Commission attempted to merge Greenbrier County’s public service districts, agencies that oversee sewer operations. That effort failed, however, largely because of objections raised by PSD No. 1 in the eastern part of the county. An unusually well-attended public hearing regarding the proposed consolidation was held at the Lewisburg firehouse that summer.

The acting executive director of the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corp. fears that any contemporary effort to push public service agencies into a marriage would likewise fall short.

“I was a loan/grant specialist for the federal government and I listened to that debate for years,” Richard Ellard said. “It’s a good idea for saving funds, but it just doesn’t work when multiple communities are involved. They’re going to bicker over who gets what.”

Ellard does support at least one of the economic development strategies touted in the plan — establishing a business incubator in the industrial park at Greenbrier Valley Airport in Maxwelton.

“There’s not room in the current building, but I would absolutely be interested in a small business incubator. It could be very beneficial,” he said. “There are a lot of people with good ideas but not a lot of money.”

According to the plan, there are only two small business incubators in the state: the Charleston Enterprise Center and the Center at West Virginia University in Morgantown.

“A centrally located incubator at the Greenbrier (Valley) Airport could, ideally, help develop small businesses not only in Greenbrier, but in Pocahontas and Monroe counties as well,” the plan notes.

Incubators are generally run by nonprofit organizations in partnership with local institutions of higher education.

A report issued by the Appalachian Regional Commission found that “Appalachian business incubators ... have proven successful at helping communities start and grow their own businesses.”

According to that report, over the years some 1,300 businesses and 24,500 new jobs have sprung from 85 incubators.

While it doesn’t have an incubator, the GVEDC encourages entrepreneurs to invest in the tri-county area (Greenbrier, Monroe and Pocahontas) through a revolving low-interest loan program.

“It all started with $300,000 in grant money we secured,” Ellard stated. “We charge (loan recipients) 1 to 2 percent over prime, and all of the loans are for less than $50,000.”

Among the loan recipients are a water business in Monroe County that now has a national contract with Kroger, a small factory in Greenbrier County that Ellard says has the potential to eventually employ up to 1,000 people and another small factory in Peterstown that has grown to employ 50 and has a contract with home improvement giant Lowe’s to supply manmade rock.

The proposed comprehensive plan is fairly critical of the GVEDC, even calling for the creation of a steering committee that would have the ultimate goal of forming a separate economic development authority just for Greenbrier County and its municipalities. That new authority would then establish the small business incubator, as well as offices devoted to public information and marketing.

The GVEDC was formally declared the economic development authority for the three counties via an act of the state Legislature.

To read the full plan, go to www.greenbriercounty.net and click on “Comprehensive Plan” in the menu on the left side of the home page.

Tuesday: Open government initiatives