Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

CCIC Seeking Members

By JOHN MILLER

In an effort to help the Clark County Industrial Council grow, a membership drive is now underway.

Al Lynch, chairman of the drive, said volunteer groups are working to contact all businesses in the county to tell them about the work done by the CCIC and how their being members can help them.

By being a member of the CCIC, businesses and individuals can then voice their opinion on how the organization operates by casting their votes.

Lynch said there are 560 businesses in Clark County being contacted by the volunteers. In addition, mailouts have been sent to 13,000 homes in the county.

"The information going out," he said, "is to make people aware of the CCIC and hopefully become involved."

The goal is to attract 500 new members, but Lynch said the CCIC will take as many as want to join.

When the CCIC was formed in 1986, he said, the idea was to have a widespread grassroot organization to help determine the direction the county was going in concerning the attraction of business and industry. At the time, the unemployment rate was more than 10 percent.

Additionally, the membership fees were kept to a minimum ($10 for individuals and $25 for businesses annually) so anyone could join. "We want a diverse group," Lynch said, "with everybody having input."

The danger in having a small number of people doing everything, he continued, is becoming complacent. This is something the CCIC doesn't want to become.

Lynch said the more people who are involved means there are more people from different areas of the county with different backgrounds. This leads to a lot of ideas. "There's a lot of talent in this county to tap," he said.

In an effort to keep up with the members, the CCIC has designed and installed a program to keep up with the information required.

"We need the public to support this drive," he said, "if the CCIC is to be successful and bring in good high paying jobs to the county so out children can stay here, or come back.

"We have one of the best quality of lives in the nation. This is why so many people want to come back and live. But they need to be able to make a living to do it.

The membership drive will officially end Jan. 16, 1997, when the organization has its annual membership meeting and elects officers. However, interested parties can join at any time during the year.

Those interested in joining the CCIC can call 245-2245 to get an application or more information about the organization.