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Essex Hires Economic Development Consultant

First Selectman Norman Needleman has hired Susan Malan on a six-month contract as the town’s economic development consultant. It was a position he discussed during the months when the Board of Selectmen was developing a 2013-2014 fiscal year budget, and one he has mentioned since.

“We are moving forward on this position with a six-month trial, to see if it is valuable to have a point person for business and potential business. I think it will be. With this position, we will see,” Needleman said.

In August, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) approved the job description for the position. The Board of Selectmen is expected to approve the job description at its next meeting.

“We have a very detailed job description, which includes significant deliverables. So far, this seems to be working well. We want to make the process of dealing with the Town Hall more user friendly. The consultant position does that. The consultant acts as a facilitator,” Needleman said.

The job description says the position will “assist in the planning, organization, and coordination of activities for community and economic development of the town” and will “promote orderly growth of business and industrial resources.”

The scope of work lists duties that include maintaining an inventory of available parcels suitable for economic development, identifying available parcels to promote and market, identifying and recruiting appropriate businesses, and helping to coordinate strategies for business recruitment, among other duties. The job also includes working in cooperation with the EDC, the Board of Trade, the town planner, and town staff.

When the first selectman initially proposed the position to the EDC, the members favored the position, but some questioned the likely reporting structure—Needleman recommended the job report to the first selectman, not the commission. After discussion, the commission agreed. The commission will review the performance and continuation of the consultant position in conjunction with the Board of Selectmen in six months.

The consultant is paid a $1,000 stipend per month. The funds for this six-month trial period will come from the EDC’s budget. At the end of the past fiscal year, the EDC had just more than $4,000 in its budget that had not been spent. Needleman suggested those funds could be used for the consultant as well as $2,000 from the commission’s advertising budget in this fiscal year. The EDC agreed unanimously.

Malan, an Essex resident, is chair of the Sanitary Waste Commission and the Water Pollution Control Commission. She received praise from Needleman for sorting out, researching, and clarifying years of confusion over the contracts the town held, or did not hold, with the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority at the town’s transfer station.