Middlesex EDA chairman resigns

Says supervisors failing to face economic development issues

by Larry Chowning –

Chairman of the Middlesex County Economic Development Authority (EDA), Gordon White, of Deltaville, resigned last week, citing failure of the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) to “support meaningful economic development in the county.”

“The county has been working on a comprehensive plan based on predictions that the county faces population growth and needs to severely control development when actually the population of the county is shrinking and the tax base is not growing fast enough to support demands of a modern society,” he wrote in an email.

White was appointed to the EDA in 2009 by then Pinetop District representative Fred Crittenden. White became EDA chairman in 2014. Current Supervisors Chairman Lud

Kimbrough said White served the county on the EDA for 13 years and “we are tremendously grateful for his dedication and service.

“During the past six months the authority has worked diligently to develop a strategic plan that will expand the role of the EDA and contribute significantly to economic growth in Middlesex County, and this plan is now ready for presentation and approval by the MCBS,” said Kimbrough.

White and other EDA officials, however, have been disgruntled since Middlesex supervisors nixed plans to place a Tractor Supply store at the old Rappahannock Central Elementary (RCE) School site at Cooks Corner and because the board appears to be moving towards a social media platform to promote tourism as a major directional plan to encourage economic development…