ELIZABETHTOWN — Elected board members representing Elizabethtown and Bladen County met in closed session for the purpose of economic development Friday morning and afternoon.
The meeting of one hour, 45 minutes included eight of nine members from the county commission and six of seven from the Town Council of Elizabethtown. County Manager Greg Martin said no action was taken by either board; both boards exited closed session and adjourned out of the public’s view.
Three events have hastily happened in Bladen County over a 10-day period related to economic development, and another takes place Monday. It is not known if they are linked.
On the evening of Oct. 23, Bladen Community College announced a job fair would happen six days later at the college. It was to be for an unnamed business considering hiring more than 100 people. The technical skill sets listed were help desk and service desk; network engineers; systems engineers; cyber security; software development; and software quality assurance.
A release said the academic minimum was a high school diploma or general equivalency, and said it would be “nice to have solid computer skills and curiosity for information technology.” A release sent out by the county’s economic development office a day later further added those living in Elizabethtown and Whiteville were encouraged to consider attending the event at the college.
The job fair was held Tuesday, and Friday’s meeting of the commissioners and council also included several others, among them the college president, Dr. Amanda Lee.
Present from the county commissioners was Chairman Charles Ray Peterson, David Gooden, Arthur Bullock, Ashley Trivette, Michael Cogdell, Russell Priest and Daniel Dowless. Dr. Ophelia Munn-Goins did not attend.
Present from the Elizabethtown council were Mayor Sylvia Campbell, Rufus Lloyd, Paula Greene, Dicky Glenn, Herman Lewis and Ricky Leinwand. Howell Clark did not attend. The council’s lawyer, Goldston Womble, attended; he’s also the mayor of White Lake.
Both boards have regular meetings scheduled on Monday, and on each agenda is a closed session related to economic development.