Mar 12, 2020 2 min read

Canonsburg council discussed plans Monday to look into hiring an economic development coordinator, following last month’s economic development workshop.

“We’re just gathering a job description and meeting with different people to see if there’s a market for it,” Councilman Eric Chandler said.

He said the steering committee – which includes Chandler, councilmen Rich Russo and RT Bell and Mayor Dave Rhome – will sit down with the borough manager Denise Lesnock to see if enough funds are available to create a full-time position.

“It would be funded as any other borough cost through the general fund as a position,” Russo said. “I don’t think it’s required to wait for budget season if we vote on it and if there’s no one that would object to doing it outside the budget. I don’t think this is a big enough item that would raise taxes.”

Chandler said the committee wants to pursue this position following input it received from the workshop, during which several officials from across the county suggested the borough should have a faster and more streamlined way for business owners and developers to invest in Canonsburg.

During that workshop, Jeff Kotula, Washington County Chamber of Commerce president, suggested the borough establish one point of contact for new businesses coming into town.

Russo said while there were other alternatives like a Main Street program, the committee “landed on this one primarily because the infrastructure is just not in place” and it would have been time-consuming had they tried to establish a nonborough entity.

“It would become a long and tedious process,” Russo said. “I think it’s a very important step that we’re taking.”

Since the workshop last month, Chandler said, the committee has “been researching what this position would look like,” and now officials will develop a job description.

“If we have the funds, we’ll move forward or maybe start a part-time position,” he said. “The goal is to move forward with redevelopment.”