11-7-13 fdl county board chair says board vote rejecting merc loan sends wrong message

The Fond du Lac County Board chairman says he is concerned that a county board vote this week rejecting a proposed loan for Mercury Marine sends the wrong message to other business and industry that may be looking to expand.   The board voted 17-7 in favor of the $10 million loan for

Merc, two votes shy of the number necessary for passage.   "Other units of government, other places in Wisconsin, other states, believe me they are out there, they are being proactive," County Board chairman Marty Farrell told WFDL news.  "...and when prospective employers looking either to expand here or to relocate here look at this vote...this could be costly in terms of future investment or reinvestment."   Farrell says he’s not sure those who voted against understand the need for local governments to be proactive in this day and age in the area of economic development.  "This is an extremely competitive field out there.  If a local unit of government is not willing to do something that is actually pretty much cost-free from the county's viewpoint to aid a significant expansion and to have it happen sooner rather than later when we're still struggling with high unemployment,  I just think there's an inadequate appreciation for the need for local governments to be proactive,"  Farrell said.    Farrell says the board had taken a non-binding straw vote at a closed door meeting the week before and only two supervisors had voted against it then.