By Cliff Peale
Enquirer staff writer

LAWRENCEBURG - The architect of Northern Kentucky's 1990s development success is returning to Greater Cincinnati as president of the new Dearborn County Economic Development Initiative.

Jim West, who left Northern Kentucky in 1997 for his native Georgia, knows the parallels between Southeast Indiana now and Northern Kentucky a decade ago. He's counting on a new backing of more than three dozen local companies, plus the region's highway access, to herald the same success that brought names including Toyota Motor Corp. and Fidelity Investments to town.

Jim West, left, is the head of the new economic development group in Dearborn County. At right is Bill Ritzmann, United Community Bank president. (Enquirer photo/MEGGAN BOOKER)

"I don't want to write a check that I can't cash," West said Wednesday after a daylong drive from his home in Augusta, Ga. "But there are some similarities. A group of people decided, 'It's our turn. It's our time.' They're working together to try to make things happen."

That's the intent of Dearborn County businesses that have invested in the new partnership. Along with $100,000 a year from the city of Lawrenceburg and $75,000 from Dearborn County, they've pledged about $145,000 annually for three years.

The goal: Draw more companies to the county and help those here create more jobs.

"To this point, there have been fragmented and somewhat passive economic development efforts here," said Bill Ritzmann, president of United Community Bank and chairman of the development group. "The whole idea of this is to unify those groups."

It will be a challenge, since the county has few ready industrial sites with roads, sewers and utilities despite millions of dollars in tax revenue from nearby Argosy Casino.

But West and Ritzmann point to the region's advantages, most prominently a location only three interstate exits from the airport and less than half an hour drive from downtown Cincinnati.

Now 57, the folksy West has been gone from the president's role at the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce since June 2002, the casualty of a political fight there.

He said he welcomed the opportunity to return to Greater Cincinnati, where his sales pitch - and hundreds of open acres near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport - made his Tri-County Economic Development Corp. a powerhouse.

During his tenure at Tri-Ed, the agency helped create nearly 19,000 new jobs by recruiting nearly 160 companies. An aggressive state incentive package and local developers willing to spend money helped.

West said state incentives in Indiana are competitive but knows that attracting private capital is the key.

"I suspect we're going to have to encourage people to come in and make some investments, or do it ourselves, one or the other," he said.

"I think it can attract private investment," said John Maxwell, president of Maxwell Construction Co. and a member of the group that chose West. "I think our first look will be at the interstate exchanges. Certainly some office space would be appropriate."

While the pipeline has been slower for development groups in the recent sluggish economy, West seems confident it will rebound.

"In my career, I've seen three or four booms, and I think we'll see another one," he said.

Covington lawyer Bill Robinson, a member of the Tri-Ed board since it was started, said West's easygoing manner is perfect for a startup organization short on funds.

"He has a positive personality that's well-suited to starting an organization from scratch and building a team of people," Robinson said. "And not just in the good times. He has a track record when there are more speed bumps in the driveway."

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E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com