VWAEDC elects at-large board members

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A new city-county economic development organization is now pretty much operational with the election of three at-large board members on Monday evening.

Members of the Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation elected Carol Miller, Clint Myers, and Troy Miller as the at-large members of the nine-member Van Wert Area Economic Development Corporation. Carol Miller received the most votes (367), while Myers was the second highest vote getter (318), and Troy Miller garnered the third highest vote total (293). Others running for the at-large positions were Troy Hoffman (164 votes), David Kirchenbauer (80 votes), and Jane Lianez (12 votes).

Van Wert County Elections Director Linda Stutz and Deputy Director Brenda Weaver tabulated the election results, which included 525 ballots.

Those elected as at-large members come from public and private sectors of the county. Carol Miller, an Ohio City resident, is also that village’s mayor. Myers, a Van Wert resident and a former employee of Starr Commonwealth, is Camp Clay/Aqua Park director for the local YMCA, while Troy Miller, also a Van Wert resident, is in management at Braun Industries.

In addition to the three at-large board members, the other six members of the VWAEDC board, three appointed by the city and three by the county, include the following: Van Wert Mayor Jerry Mazur, Nicholas “Sticky” Rammel of KAM Manufacturing, Van Wert High School Principal Bob Priest, County Commissioner Todd Wolfrum, James “Rabbit” Bonifas from The Kenn-Feld Group, and Stuart Wyatt of Ag Credit’s Van Wert branch.

Meanwhile, the organization’s board is not yet formally functional, since Van Wert City Council has yet to confirm the mayor’s appointment of Priest and Rammel.

The first meeting of the nine-member economic development group is scheduled for Thursday, July 7, with at least four public meetings planned annually. The agenda at the July meeting will include developing an organizational structure, while the group’s future goals include developing a job description — and eventually hiring — a new countywide economic development director.

Those who voted, either by absentee ballot or during Monday’s in-person voting held in the First Federal Lecture Hall of the Niswonger Performing Arts Center of Northwest Ohio, paid $1 to become a member of the VWAEDC. Membership is still open in the group and those interested in membership can fill out a brief registration form at either the Van Wert mayor’s office in the Municipal Building, 515 E. Main St., or at the Van Wert County Board of Commissioners’ office in the County Annex, 114 E. Main St., Suite 200.