Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Chadwell leaves with long list of accomplishments

After five-and-a-half years as the executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Economic Development Office, Jon Chadwell is moving on.

He recently accepted a similar position in Newport and will be moving there. His final day in Prescott is March 31. A coffee was held in his honor by the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, Thursday, March 24, at the Bank of Prescott, where Chadwell was given a plaque thanking him for his service to the community.

He came to Prescott from Camden, where he had been the director of its Chamber and worked with the Camden economic development office.

I came to Prescott because I saw a lot of good opportunities and potential. Theres a lot of good people here, he said. The number one marketing resource of a community is its people.

During his time in Prescott much has been accomplished. However, he refuses to take all the credit, saying Mary Godwin, executive director of the Chamber, and Carol Newton, who also works at the Chamber, helped and deserve much of the credit.

Some of the things he worked on include helping get Rip Griffins (now TA) here; started the Leadership Nevada County program, which is now in its fifth year; worked to get the Depot Museum renovated and restored; got Prescott Rubber Inc., to locate in the industrial park; got the old armory filled; found a business for the old garment factory; got the downtown sidewalks redone; the street project half finished; and the rural water project almost completed. In addition, he worked to get a new fire station/parks department office on the east side of town.

Hes proud of the Leadership program, which trains residents to be leaders in the community. Almost 60 people have been trained to help the community, Chadwell said.

Other things Chadwell has helped accomplish include the two pocket parks downtown and getting money to pave the walking trail by the Nevada County Health Unit.

Hes also worked closely with Congressman Mike Ross on the overpass project, has been involved with the Chamber and Ila Upchurch organization and helped get the pallet mill at Potlatch demolished so the business can expand in the future, if it so chooses.

Chadwell has spearheaded the Industry Appreciation Golf Tournament, which has grown considerably, he said, worked to get Prescotts status as an ACE community renewed twice and started a web site for Prescott.

Through his efforts, the area has received an average of $1 million a year in grants.

The building in the industrial park was constructed with grant money. When its paid off, there will be about $200,000 available. This money, he said, will be used as a revolving loan fund, which can be used for future spec building or to help recruit other industries.

Chadwell also worked to get the home program started in Prescott and Nevada County. This program helps low income residents get their homes either renovated or rebuilt.

Ive also attended a lot of meetings, conferences and trade shows for the city and county, he said. Through the work of Mary, the mayor and county judge, the people at the state level think highly of Nevada County.

Ive had a lot of good times with the people here. Its been interesting, and encouraging to watch everyone pull together when they want something  like the street tax. It sends a good message about the community.

The down side, he said, was having a couple of big industries almost locate in Prescott, but decide on a different site at the last minute. You spend as much time on them as you do on the ones that locate here, he said.

I ve watched people in Leadership grow together and take positions in the community.

There also been humorous mistakes made because of the citys name. There was one guy who wanted to bring his mobile cappuccino business to town. He planned to set up on corners and sell doughnuts and cappuccino and wanted to know if it would go over in Prescott. He had 15 wagons. I thought he wanted to build the wagons here, until he said he wanted to set them up on the corners.

I told him we only had about 15 corners in town. He said Prescott looked bigger on the map and asked the difference. It was then the mistake was discovered as the man was planning on locating in Prescott, Arizona.

Chadwell said he will miss the area and the people of the region. You spend a lot of time with people on this job. Mary, Carol (Newton) and I had a lot of good times in the office. There were times, though, we had to laugh to keep from crying.

He said the potential is there for the city and county to move into the future. Most places dont have help like there is in Prescott and Nevada County.

Ross, he said, is an added bonus and has been a big ally for economic development, not only on the EDO board, but in Congress. He gives deeply.

Ive enjoyed being here, and wherever I go Prescott and Nevada County will have an ally. Ill do what I can to help.