Albion council gets EDC update

By Matt Getts | KPC Media - The News Sun

Get young people internships here.

Just maybe, keep them here.

That was the message Noble County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Rick Sherck gave to the Albion Town Council during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday.

Sherck appeared before the council to provide an update on NCEDC activities and plans.

Sherck said he sat down earlier in the day Tuesday with Central Noble Schools Superintendent Troy Gaff to discuss collaborative efforts.

“School partnerships are big,” Sherck said. “We’re working really hard with the superintendents.”

One topic of conversation was getting summer jobs for the area’s young people.

“We’re trying to find internship opportunities for seniors and juniors in the summer,” Sherck told the council. “You may thrive there, and you may stay there.”

Keeping good workers at home is a big emphasis.

“Talent is the key in this market to everything,” Sherck said.

Councilman John Morr asked what the town of Albion could do specifically to help the community grow. Sherck said the creation of a trail between Albion and Chain O’ Lakes could help the town take advantage of the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the state park each year.

He added that adequate housing and quality of life issues were all big factors. He said the recent opening of the Pill Box Pharmacy in Northridge Village was big for the town.

In broad strokes, he encouraged the council and community leaders to create a vision for what Albion should be, then work toward that vision.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting:

• The council voted unanimously to accept Councilwoman Chris Magnuson’s suggestion that the town purchase a memorial brick for $100 for the veterans memorial in Kendallville in honor of all Albion veterans.
• Magnuson also asked the council if all five members would contributed $10 to purchase an American flag as part of the annual Albion Chamber of Commerce Stars and Stripes program. The Stars and Stripes program purchases flags which are displayed all summer long in the downtown area.
• After a discussion, Councilman Darold Smolinske said he would purchase the flag on behalf of the entire town council in the memory of retired postmaster and longtime town employee Robert H. Wilson, who died earlier this year.