Jobless rate may qualify Wood County for federal funds

5/7/2010

BOWLING GREEN - Wood County's unusually high unemployment rate has made it eligible to apply for federal funding through the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration.

Yesterday, Wood County Commissioners approved a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy prepared by Poggemeyer Design Group that's required before filing an application with the agency. County Administrator Andrew Kalmar said to qualify, the unemployment rate had to be at least 1 percent more than the federal rate, which is 9.7 percent.

"We never did it before because we were never eligible," he said. "We're basically working with a window of opportunity. At this point we don't think Wood County's [unemployment] rate will remain at 12.1 percent."