It’s what happens when you win the lottery, or sell your sewer system: all those relatives, neighbors and folks you bumped into during your life suddenly surface with their hands out.

And every one of them will have a sob story; reminds us of Tab Hunter’s “intro” lyrics:

“There must be ninety-nine ways – of losin’ the blues …”

At Monday night’s council meeting, an entourage from the Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC) showed up for agenda item II, 8, a … ostensibly to present information “regarding Columbia Targeted Economic Development Implementation Plan.” There were statements of support for executive director Janice Nikoloff’s comments about collaboration, etc.

Mostly, though, the message from the presentation seemed to be one of “we need financial support.” One CEDC member opined that several of the CEDC leadership have “invested their own money” in the guise of economic development for the borough.

Have they? The information from the CEDC’s Website shows the contributors to the CEDC and the leadership. The Website is unclear about whether the sponsorship levels are annual contributions or whether money was pledged for a specific year.

• CEDC – 2011

• CEDC – 2012

• CEDC – 2013

The not-for-profit economic development organization that accepted plaudits for the project on Linden Street have not had success as that since.

So, how does Columbia’s economic development entity compare with others? Have a look:

Ephrata Economic Development Corporation in Ephrata, Pennsylvania (PA)

Columbia Economic Development Corporation in Columbia, Pennsylvania (PA)

A question of the moment: should Columbia Borough contribute to the CEDC?

Ephrata evidently takes a different approach according to this extract from the July 14, 2014 Council Meeting agenda:

Oh, yeah … here’s Tab –