News

Creating economic opportunities in Newport

By GLYNIS HART
reporter@eagletimes
NEWPORT – Cody Morrison, the new economic development director in Newport, grew up on a dairy farm in the North Country and earned a degree in finance at Franklin Pierce University.

“I got my beginning in the public sector as an intern with the Executive Council,” said Morrision. He also worked with the Community Development Finance Authority, which gave him a good background in working on projects all across the state.

Three months ago, he came to Newport as its first economic development director. The Economic Development Council, which includes town officials, businessmen and the superintendent of schools, decided to start searching for an economic development director last summer. It’s not the smallest town in the state to hire such a position; the other small one is Jaffrey.

“The areas we’re looking at for economic development include recruiting a younger workforce,” said Morrison. “We’re trying to diversify the economy and increase our economic base, and make it an attractive place to move to.”

Morrison is looking for grant support to explore having a regional childcare center, which would benefit local employers and attract young families.

“Childcare is a barrier for a lot of younger families,” he said. “It’s something to think about, if you’re a dual-income household and you have a child, then one of you may have to stop working.”

Half of Morrison’s job is devoted to economic development such as business expansion and recruiting new businesses, marketing the town, and half is developing the School to Work program with the SAU.

“The School to Work program is a workplace education program that gives students opportunities to learn critical soft skills,” said Morrison. “Then we’ll coordinate an internship in the community. This program gives students who are not on a direct path to the trades or college an opportunity to build their resume, so they’re just as well prepared for the next step in their lives as their peers.”

Another area where Morrison is getting to work is seeking grant opportunities for basic infrastructure improvements. “As a town we’re looking to build capacity,” he said. “It’s beneficial for businesses that want to move in.”

All of it depends on networking, building relationships, and connecting the business community, schools, and municipal officials. Morrison’s job is funded by six different entities: ECON (Economic Council of Newport), the Town of Newport, the school district, Roymal, LaValley’s and The Sunshine Initiative. “It’s an example of a very well-functioning community partnership.

“We have an ever-changing business economy,” said Morrison. “The biggest strategy we have is developing local and regional partnerships, working with civic groups and trade organizations that are really the basis for our economy.”

Morrison is planning a job fair May 10, that will be at the Towle School. He’s hoping the venue will open the event to the community, to people who wouldn’t necessarily attend a job fair held inside the high school.

“The primary beneficiaries could be the underemployed,” he said. “They could find a new opportunity or a new training program or make a contact.”

He’d also like to work on bringing more municipal services, and developing the arts, historical and cultural assets of Newport. “That is something Newport has, a very supportive and enthusiastic community for arts and history,” he said.

“There’s no one initiative that will solve every problem. We might not see the results for many years of things we are doing this year,” he said. “This is a great time to get involved—there’s a lot going on regionally and economically.”

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