New EDC director seeking ways to build on success stories

MOSES LAKE — Grant County Economic Development Council executive director Linda Martin has been sitting in the big seat a couple of months now.

She’s a seasoned veteran with a resume that reads like a who’s who economic development. Martin’s background also includes working with the Oglethorpe Power/Georgia EMCs, specializing in domestic and international clients, which resulted in 57 companies selecting plant locations, with more than 4,800 jobs. She was also director of marketing for a construction materials testing and environmental company in Atlanta. She was in the Industrial Division of Grubb & Ellis, and a member of the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors.

Even with all that experience, she can’t help but be impressed with Grant County and its vast potential for economic development.

“I’m serious, I think it’s extremely unique,” she said. “I’m really excited with the potential we have here. You can benefit the existing companies through the trade aspects, for example the Korean trip. Or you can benefit from foreign direct investment when you can attract SGL (Automotive Carbon Fibers) or Mitsubishi, for example. So you have that advantage if you can get new money coming in through trade and new capital investment through the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment). That’s the simple benefit for our communities.”

Martin outlined the four major strengths she and her staff will be addressing at a retreat in a couple of weeks: agribusiness, aviation and aerospace, data centers, and manufacturing.

“We have success stories in those four legs of the stool. The thing is, those four legs represent a diversity,” she explained. “If any one industry goes through peaks and valleys over time, there will be something else to balance it out with stability in other areas.”

The Economic Development Council will be looking at web development to emphasize what assets Grant and Adams counties have. One strength, she said, is the power rates and fiber availability, as well as foreign direct investment.

“We want to roll all of those things into a more efficient marketing plan,” Martin said. “We want to be adaptable to changing conditions to make sure we continue to be successful.”

The diversity is fascinating, she said, with data center operations like Yahoo!, Microsoft, Intuit, and Sabey. The Grant County International Airport offers unique opportunities. AeroTEC Moses Lake Flight Test Center is in the middle of a five-year deal. Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation is ready to begin its three-year flight tests on the MRJ twin-engine regional jet.

BMW/SGL’s carbon fiber line in Moses Lake added a second production line in 2013. The new production line was said to boost capacity to 3,000 tons a year, sufficient to supply the immediate need for BMW’s new electric “i” vehicles.

But the heart and soul of the county is agribusiness, Martin said.

“The agribusiness side of it is huge,” she said. “That’s a lot of what the trade opportunities that we have are. We have commodities, which leads to processing, which leads to distribution. It’s very, very valuable.”

One thing that Martin touched on is how does the local workforce factor into available jobs, both technical and agricultural. One of the first things she did was tour Big Bend Community College to see what preparations students had available to make their skills more valuable in the workplace.

“I was very impressed with the quality of the curriculum they have and how they make the course offerings they have segue into some of these local industries. That’s something we want to encourage and promote,” she said. “For example, the aviation program is providing certified drone operators. That’s the type of thing that segways into what our industry base is. You have the educational pipeline that can provide workers for the industries. That’s a very, very important connection because of the possibilities and increased potential.”

There are influences that interconnected with the surrounding counties that are leading to economic prosperity.

“The county as a whole has a lot of potential and success stories,” Martin said. “There are a lot of fundamentals that can be build upon so we can continue with this success.”