Washington County Mayor's focus is on workforce education, industrial development and balanced budget
Washington County Mayor Dan Eldridge entered public service in what he considers an exciting time to be involved in local government.
If local governments want to offer more than just basic services, if they want to help their communities succeed by improving the quality of life through job growth, better schools and opportunities for the next generation, they must be willing to address today's challenges head-on, realistically and creatively. They also need clear goals that coincide with their communities' challenges and opportunities alike.
Mayor Eldridge, in office for nearly a year, has taken such an approach. Some primary goals already being focused on are: improving access to education and job training in order to enhance the quality and competitiveness of our workforce; increasing the amount of industrial and business park land we have available to market to prospective employers; encouraging our existing employers to invest more in Washington County; and making our local government more efficient, so we can keep property taxes low, which is attractive to residents and businesses.
Washington County's economic indicators are better than much of the state and nation — its March unemployment rate of 7.8 percent was Tennessee's fourth lowest — but Eldridge said many of Washington County's challenges mirror those facing most communities: not enough jobs, particularly higher-wage ones; a looming gap between the skills needed for jobs of the future and the people possessing those skills; and stagnant growth, meaning less resources to put toward meeting those challenges.
"That is why we have to approach local government differently, in order to not just survive, but begin to grow out of the current economic environment," Eldridge said. The county has several important projects underway that will help meet the administration's goals.
One of the most visible is the effort to bring Northeast State Community College to the Downtown Centre in Johnson City. Eldridge has had to apply his business and negotiating skills to a process involving multiple agencies and governments at the local and state level to help make it happen, and he's also learned a lesson or two about the political process as a result.
"I'm happy to say that effort is nearing completion, and area students could begin taking classes there in 2012," Eldridge said.
Northeast State Community College will benefit all of Washington County with improved education opportunities for our young people as well as workforce training and development. Eldridge believes the catalyst for revitalization in downtown Johnson City this is expected to be, is just a bonus. This initiative and others also showcase the new level of cooperation between local governments, with officials from both Johnson City and Jonesborough playing integral roles in the Northeast State deal.
Another important goal Eldridge has set is to balance Washington County's budget without a tax increase. He is leading an effort by the county's budget committee to combine spending cuts with debt restructuring to balance revenue and expenditures.
"With the economic uncertainty we continue to face, maintaining a conservative fiscal approach to the budget is essential. Flat revenue projections for the foreseeable future mean that county spending must be held to a sustainable level," Eldridge said. "We are fortunate to not be in the condition of many local governments, where layoffs have occurred and services have been cut, but changes will be necessary to prevent those sort of circumstances from impacting Washington County, and they won't all be easy."
Another important goal that Eldridge said will be an integral element of future growth opportunities for the county is development of land for business and industrial parks. With the various economic development entities now being consolidated under the Washington County Economic Development Council, we are prepared to compete for business and industry opportunities like never before. Having suitable, available sites for the Economic Development Council team to offer prospects is crucial to recruitment efforts.
Negotiations are ongoing to expand the county's industrial park in Telford, where further investment by existing employers and the resulting job growth over the past two years continue to prove that Washington County is an attractive place to do business. Additionally, Eldridge has been eyeing other property that could be assembled so the county can begin the long process of land development and infrastructure improvements that precedes the actual arrival of new employers.
Dan Eldridge grew up in Jonesborough, graduated from David Crockett High School in 1978, and earned a bachelor's degree in construction technology at East Tennessee State University before entering the telecommunications industry. In 1990, Eldridge started a company that became a national leader in wireless communications infrastructure, before selling it and leading several residential and commercial development projects in Washington County. He is married to Tammy Eldridge and they are the parents of daughters Meredith, 19, and Abigail, 15, and son Collin, 13.