Wellington County announced on March 29 it has hired Jana Reichert to work on its economic development file.
Reichert is the economic development officer for the Wellington Waterloo Community Futures Development Corporation. She has been working with the county since it began to take an interest in economic development over a year ago.
Warden Chris White announced her appointment after a closed session at county council. She will report to chief administrative officer Scott Wilson.
“It was time to bring her in-house,” White said in making the announcement.
He was asked in an interview on Monday why the job had not been posted or the hiring approved by county council. He explained that Reichert’s appointment was discussed in a closed session at the administration, finance, and personnel committee and because it was considering an identifiable individual, there was no mention of that discussion in the committee’s minutes.
White said council approved the appointment in its closed session and he announced it immediately afterwards. He added the position was not posted “because of the nature of the job.”
Reichert has been travelling to lower tier municipal councils with county department heads as part of the county’s introduction to those municipalities. In each of those she has presented an overview of the economic picture of those municipalities, from demographics to strengths and weaknesses.
“It wasn’t necessarily one of the jobs that required posting,” White said. “Since we were formalizing economic development [by making it a full committee with its own budget] we felt it best to bring her in-house.”
Reichert is set to begin her position immediately. She said in an interview on Tuesday she has been with Community Futures for over 2.5 years and she is hoping to use all the community contacts that she made there to help her in promoting economic development in Wellington County.
“I very much look forward to building those relationships with the municipalities,” she said. Reichert said being in Guelph means being in a central location to provide service to the county and she looks forward to using resources like the county web site to keep investors and potential investors informed about what the county can offer.
“I’m excited for this opportunity and I am looking forward to welcoming new businesses and see how they fit in,” she said.
