The economic development position is a joke. It started with Ron Selph appointing Dan Brown who had no concept of economic development other than some TIF background.
The kid who left recently (don't remember his name because he did nothing) and now this part time minister/part time city official had no concept of business. I sat at meetings conducted by the previous kid. He was a babe in the woods and scared of his shadow.
Companies now days use the net to determine demographics, traffic counts, salary and home averages, etc... Once they are interested in a community they contact the mayor who gets the attorney involved.
This is now and always will be a waste of money in a town our size. The mayor is and should be capable of handling these duties.
We need full time, fair paying jobs not small timers like pool halls and mom and pop shops. Those things won't come as a result of local government action. When the steel industry recovers and the choking restrictions of other industry is lifted, you may see a resurrection. Until then, we have to hang on and hope.