Thursday, September 26, 1996

Department of Agriculture coming to assess Haskell's potential By LORETTA FULTON
Regional Editor

Monty Montgomery ate the worst watermelon he's ever tasted while on vacation in Las Vegas in June.

Because of that, a representative of the Texas Department of Agriculture is coming to Haskell to see what can be done about it.

That's how economic development works. Montgomery is the executive director of the Economic Development Corporation in Haskell. He and about 60 others attended an economic development workshop Wednesday in Abilene sponsored by the Texas Midwest Community Network.

Speakers from the Texas Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and other agencies briefed the group on economic development and other topics.

Montgomery couldn't understand why those buffets in Las Vegas couldn't serve some delicious seedless watermelon developed in Knox County instead of that bad stuff he ate while on vacation.
"Those are the types of questions that need to be asked to help our producers," Montgomery said.

He asked the right person. Norma Ritz, with the Department of Agriculture in Lubbock, is coming to Haskell to talk to Montgomery about those watermelons and other things.

"She's going to do an assessment," of Haskell's potential. "She's coming to help our producers diversify."

Ritz covers an area from Brownwood to El Paso to the Panhandle, and she wants to visit as many communities as possible in the area to help with economic issues related to agriculture - and to get a new car.

The state-owned car she drives has 85,000 miles on it. When she puts another 15,000, she can trade it, she said.

"So I am dying to go out to your communities," she said.

Karl Young, with the Texas Department of Commerce, told the group about ways to qualify for state programs such as Smart Jobs, which provides funding for job training, Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center and the Texas Leverage Fund.

That fund serves as an economic development bank that provides loans to towns with the half-cent economic development sales tax, including 27 in the Texas Midwest Community Network.

Communities can borrow the money to go ahead with projects "instead of having to wait for those tax dollars to trickle in month by month," Young said.

The network will hold its annual meeting on Oct. 16 at the Abilene Civic Center.