NAEDC courts new business, launches "perpetual meeting"

At 5 o'clock this evening, the Nevada Area Economic Development Commission will open a perpetual virtual meeting. The virtual meeting will take place on NAEDC's new web site, www.naedc.com, and will allow anyone interested in local economic development to keep up to date. "The Web site is pretty well up and running," Jeff Tweten, NAEDC chairman, said at Wednesday's quarterly NAEDC board meeting. "It's fantastic," Steve Highlander, the Web site designer, told the NAEDC board. Tweten said that he called the Missouri Press Association about compliance with the state's open meeting law and said that Jean Maneke, the press association's legal consultant, told him that no one has ever done this before, so this may become a test case. However, the virtual meeting will take place on a discussion board on the Web site and everything posted on the board will be viewable by anyone with a computer and Internet access. Only registered NAEDC board members will be able to post messages on the board, but anyone can follow the ongoing discussion. "This makes it comply with the Sunshine Law," Highlander told the board. There is also a second discussion board that anyone can register to use. "This will get the most input from the most people," Tweten said. This will allow anyone, anywhere to participate in Nevada's economic development, Tweten told the board. In addition to the discussion board, the Web site has links to a wide variety of local information of interest of someone considering locating a business in the Nevada area. When it's fully operational, visitors to the site will be able to search through listings from local real estate agents of available commercial property as well as executive homes. They will also be able to look at the available business incentives, such as the Enterprise Zone, and information resources like the recently commissioned retail study and the workforce development studies completed about a year ago. There is also a store where Vernon County products, such as Bushwhacker Days T-shirts can be purchased. In other business: Sam Foursha, NAEDC director, told the board that an aircraft maintenance company is interested in locating a facility here if they get a contract with the U.S. Air Force that is worth $300 million over 10 years. The company would be doing structural maintenance on aircraft components and would require aluminum and titanium welders as well as other skilled workers. The are also interested in subcontracting with local machine shops. "This will provide spillover work for local businesses," he said. Foursha said that they are currently one of the top 10 companies pursuing this contract and one of their references has been contacted four times for more information. "If we get this it will probably be the largest manufacturing company to locate in Missouri in several years," Foursha said. The contract is expected to be awarded in July or August. In addition to this company, Foursha said that an auto accessory manufacturer has already purchased the OrthoFlex building and is currently setting up production. The company will manufacture extensions for pickup trucks and will initially employ 30-50 workers.