Seven months after announcing plans to establish a new Department of Economic Development within Lackawanna County government, Commissioners Jim Wansacz and Corey O'Brien are still trying to turn the concept into reality.
The majority commissioners say it is mostly a matter of finding the right people to shepherd the initiative at salaries the county can afford.
"It is difficult to be competitive," Mr. O'Brien said. "One of the issues we have run into is people who have significant expertise in this sector want three figures - and it's not like they want $100,000; they want $150,000 or more.
"It's tough when you're talking about the numbers we're talking about to attract the top professionals."
Mr. Wansacz and Mr. O'Brien held a news conference in late January to announce the creation of three three-member department - a director and two deputies - that would focus on private-sector job creation and retention in fulfillment of a key pledge the commissioners made during the 2011 election campaign.
The new positions were to be funded with about $335,000 in savings the commissioners carved out of the 2012 budget, mostly by eliminating other vacant positions. The commissioners said at the time they hoped to have the jobs filled and the department up and running within 60 days.
"Unfortunately, there were some other things that kind of took up a lot of our time," Mr. Wansacz said, citing specifically the intense negotiations that led to the baseball deal with SWB Yankees LLC in April.
Mr. Wansacz said the administration has talked to a number of professionals "about what it will take to set up the office," including some with a possible interest in joining the county. But he acknowledged it has been a tough sell.
"You have to remember what we are looking for," Mr. Wansacz said. "We can't afford what the private sector pays."
Mr. O'Brien said the county's recruitment efforts have not been helped by the less-than-flattering publicity that Northeast Pennsylvania has received over the last year or so, including the city of Scranton's well-documented financial problems.
"Those issues have caused some pause among some candidates," he said.
The commissioners said they are moving forward with a number of projects and programs that the new department will oversee even as they work on filling the positions. Those include the county's wireless infrastructure initiative and a retail incubator program in partnership with the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Wansacz said he is optimistic the administration will at least have the director's post filled by the end of the year.
"We are looking for the candidate who sees this as a challenge and wants to come in and help grow this area," he said.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com