>Jeffrey Alderton
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Mon Mar 28, 2011, 08:00 AM EDT
OAKLAND — Garrett County is pursuing economic development on several fronts, including investing in the county’s high school graduates by offering them two-year scholarships to attend Garrett College.
For the past several years, Garrett County has offered to pay full tuition for students who are completing their final year of high school.
Whether pursuing education in the academic field or technical training, the county will pay tuition for two full years at Garrett College. The funds are paid through the Garrett County Scholarship Program.
At a cost of several hundred thousand dollars annually, the county foots the bill not only for its high school seniors enrolling in Garrett College, but also for graduates of GED programs.
“We think the best thing we can do is prepare young people for a career,” said Jim Hinebaugh, director of Garrett County Economic Development. “We have also expanded the program from academic training to vocational and technical training.”
According to Decision Data Resources, Demographic Details Comparison Report of October 2010, the median household income (middle of the income range) in Garrett County was $44,908 and the average household income was $58,997. Per-capita income was recorded at $26,449, according to the report that showed a total of 12,969 households in Garrett County.
By comparison, the average in the nine-county region that includes Allegany, Garrett, Bedford, Fayette, Somerset, Grant, Mineral, Preston and Tucker counties with a total of 181,772 households was $37,612 for median household income, $49,335 average household income and per-capita income of $21,133.
Labor force statistics from the same report showed unemployment in September at 6.9 percent in Garrett County with the average in the nine-county region at 9.1 percent. There were 16,369 people in the labor force that month in the county with 1,125 unemployed. The county’s unemployment rate stood at 8.3 percent in December.
The county will receive $1.9 million in business utility taxes from Constellation Energy’s 28 wind turbines on Backbone Mountain and 20 wind turbines operated there by Synergics. The revenue will reduce to $850,000 per year after a 22-year depreciation schedule.
Also, Garrett County is awaiting legislative developments that may allow drilling in the vast natural gas-bearing Marcellus shale rock formation. Geologists have estimated resources of 128,000 acres of viable natural gas in all of Garrett County.
If approved through legislation and regulatory procedures, the Marcellus shale industry will bring royalties and leasing revenue to landowners and subsequent severance and income tax revenue to the county. Businesses in Garrett County will benefit by providing ancillary services to the industry such as excavation work, food service, worker housing, supplies, road building materials, fuel, etc.
Drilling for natural gas in Marcellus shale is already under way in nearby Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com
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