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Courtesy of I2C Technologies, LLC
Yes, Gretchen, There is a Santa
2008-12-21
Yes, Gretchen, there is a Santa Claus. You met him at the Chamber Open House for the past three years. He is kind, generous and warm-hearted. And he’s that way year-round. He’s the real deal, much as Marietta is the real deal for those who want to live and work in a place where people care about each other and care about their community.
Courtesy of Offenberger & White, Inc.
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A Week for Good News
2008-11-10 by Charlotte Keim
The Board of Directors of Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce wishes to express its appreciation to the Marietta City Council for the passage of Ordinance 128 to consolidate the city permitting process into the County Building Permit Office.
For a long time the Chamber has worked with various elected officials to build a better permitting system for the city. Earlier this year, a coalition of elected officials, government agencies, the Chamber and individual businesses undertook a comprehensive review of the current system, examined alternatives, and came to a consensus. Rather than a fragmented permitting process with some handled by the city and others by the county, Marietta will have one door to go through if you want to develop your property.
The consolidation approved at last week’s Marietta City Council meeting does that. It builds upon the expertise of the county and the city to provide a seamless and streamlined office – an open and welcoming “Front Door” to our community. We believe this consolidation will help control costs, yet provide a business-friendly approach for compliance with government regulations.
Thanks to Councilman Harley Noland for bringing this group together, for his vision and for his dedication to keeping the group and the effort on track. The Chamber is pleased that we were invited to be part of that process. For years we heard many stories from both local and out-of-town developers who were confused and frustrated. They didn’t know where to go and certainly didn’t understand why it took so long. Some of them gave up or never even started.
On behalf of our 500-plus members, we thank the members of Marietta City Council who voted to approve this change. We thank the Washington County Commissioners for partnering on this effort. This consolidation eliminates the duplication of effort and costs, brings the level of expertise and customer service needed to encourage development, and frees up a city office to work on the city infrastructure projects. It truly goes a long way to making Marietta more welcoming and “business-friendly.”
The Chamber long argued for a revamping for the permitting process to stimulate economic development so the approval of the proposal was certainly good news last Thursday evening.
More good news came Friday, when we participated in the ribbon-cutting of the Seven North Commerce Park. Like so many successful projects this one was a collaborative effort, a partnership of the public and private sector. We thank the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority and Triad Holdings for having a vision and then creating a shovel-ready commerce site in Washington County.
A large crowd gathered on the site on Route 7 North and celebrated this new development. Mike Jacoby, Executive Director of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority, worked long and hard to make this happen. He listened to the companies who were considering Washington County, he heard their need for a site that already had water, sewer, and road, electric and could be ready for occupation in a short period of time. Mike and the Port Authority Board found the land, worked with Kean Weaver and Triad Holdings to form a partnership and create the Seven North Commerce Park.
It’s still an empty field as the utilities are buried underground. There’s a very good new road into the park, so it isn’t too hard to visualize the buildings that will stand there and the parking lots that will be filled with cars.
Marietta and Washington County are closer now to being a mecca for business. Come January we will have a more streamlined process for getting your residential and commercial permits and for those looking to bring a business to our River valley, we now have to a commerce park waiting to be occupied.
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