We were disappointed to learn recently that the Fulton County Center for Regional Growth and two of its subsidiaries, the Crossroads Incubator Corp. and the Fulton County Economic Development Corp., were among 75 nonprofit state authorities that did not file their budgets with the state Authorities Budget Office.
Local officials have long maintained the Crossroads Incubator Corp. and the Fulton County Economic Development Corp. are private entities that don’t have to comply with the state Authorities office – something that both this newspaper and the state very much disagree with – but the Center for Regional Growth last year voluntarily declared themselves a public entity subject to the ABO’s regulations.
CRG Chairman Dustin Swanger has said the organization is “catching up” with the regulations and will file an annual report within six months.
We hope he’s right, because a greater degree of transparency is necessary for Fulton County’s economic development efforts if the county is ever to develop the positive self image our leaders claim to support.
