As of July 1, Anson County government no longer funds an economic development department, nor its director, Mary Beck.

The Board of Commissioners cannot release many details about the decision, but the commissioners did meet in closed session on July 7 with Anson Economic Development Corporation chair Chuck Horne.

Commission Chair Anna Baucom acknowledged that the closed meeting was in regards to economic development, but said she could not elaborate.

“We’re regrouping to change the way we do economic development,” she said. “It is a changing process.”

She said that the previous budget year “was an awful year” and economic development was one of the things that could no longer be funded by the county. It had been funded in years past, but the AEDC recently lamented that representatives from county government did not attend its meetings nor the annual economic development summit that was held in March.

The county has also been without a manager since Lawrence Gatewood resigned on Dec. 31, 2014. “It is kind of startling how many jobs a county manager has,” Baucom said. “We need to re-advertise and move forward with that.”

Baucom added that she hopes the county can announce its plans for economic development soon, but that she cannot speak publicly about it just yet.

By Abby Cavenaugh

acavenaugh@civitasmedia.com

Editor Abby Cavenaugh may be reached at 704-694-2161, ext. 2301 or on Twitter @TheAnsonRecord.