It was 1970 when Jackson County first seriously thought about establishing a County Economic Development Commission. A mere 13 years later, the county legislature acted to create one. Unfortunately, the new commission met only off and on for the next 15 years before it finally went dormant. Without a single guide for those 28 years, development scattered across the county in the pattern of suburban sprawl.

Jackson County’s Master Plan of 1994 called for greater countywide efforts to coordinate with the cities of the county on economic development opportunities. The emphasis was on cooperation rather than competition. That plan is being updated now to make the Economic Development Commission even stronger. Committees are concentrating not only on economic development, but also on land use, infrastructure, technology, human resources and arts and culture. Jackson County is ready to use all these tools to become more responsive to cities, citizens and businesses alike.

One recommendation that has come out of the planning is to implement a new GIS—a geographic information system. On a macro scale, GIS will coordinate information among all county communities, all county departments, the state government, the federal government and Homeland Security. The information—about population, employment, infrastructure and more—will be linked to maps to help county officials pinpoint trouble spots and areas of opportunity. On a micro level, Jackson Countians will be able to use GIS to go online to pay their taxes, apply for permits, get information on road closings and access documents at the registrar’s office.
Dr. Ali Roohanirad, design chief/liaison engineer with the public works department, has already designed a GIS roadmap that will establish goals for the program, identify GIS users, discover their needs, determine the necessary level of GIS sophistication, perform a budget analysis, develop a plan to meet and prioritize needs and, ultimately, to put GIS into action.

If GIS delivers all it promises, it will result in a more efficient distribution of resources, financial and human. Any developer interested in a piece of land can tap into the system to find out what nearby traffic volumes are and the demographics of the surrounding population. Centralizing crime statistics and tying them to maps of the county will lead to better deployment of law enforcement personnel. Monitoring countywide road systems will mean taking care of small problems before they grow into larger, costlier ones. According to Roohanirad, it takes $10,000 per mile of taxpayer money to maintain roadways, while it takes $200,000 per mile to rebuild them. Then there’s the side benefit of safer transportation for all who pass through the county.

"Our goal is to improve daily business processes," Roohanirad says, "and to improve service to the taxpayer by providing information." The point is not just to provide more information, but to provide better information. The county is doing its research and talking to other counties, other cities to come up with the optimal geographic information system.

Through a new GIS and a revitalized EDC, Jackson County will be better able to control sprawl, support the development efforts of its cities and establish a stronger connection to its citizens.