{"id":8521,"date":"2014-04-19T15:41:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-19T19:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/?p=8521"},"modified":"2014-04-19T15:41:19","modified_gmt":"2014-04-19T19:41:19","slug":"the-free-money-had-nothing-to-do-with-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/19\/the-free-money-had-nothing-to-do-with-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The free money had nothing to do with it…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love economic development spin. Actually, I love to expose economic development spin and mock the hell out of it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s the press release from Danville’s Office of Economic Development…<\/p>\n

A Thai restaurant has started renovations to a building on North Main Street adjacent to the Historic North Theater in Danville. Results from a recent dining survey from the Office of Economic Development were instrumental in researching and recruiting this new business.
\nThe restaurant, Moon River Thai, expects to be operating within six weeks at 629 North Main Street. Parichat Mongkhonkham, owner, plans to be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with catering services for special events and business meetings, and eventually offer a breakfast menu.
\nMongkhonkham, who along with her sister, Palinda, has operated four award-winning Thai restaurants, will serve Thai food and partner with the Historic North Theater to create special events. Customers can expect to be entertained by Thai and jazz music, plus Hollywood soundtracks and standards. Patrons of the Historic North Theatre can enjoy dinner and drinks before the show, and live music and drinks after the show, plus drinks and appetizers at intermission.
\n\u201cWe see the growth of the North Theater area as an arts district with unlimited potential, and we would be foolish not to want to be a part of it,\u201d said Dan Doby, Mongkhonkham\u2019s business advisor.
\nMongkhonkham and Doby chose the name Moon River Thai to coincide with the \u201cHollywood\u201d theme of the Historic North Theatre and its bed and breakfast. Owners of both the restaurant and the Historic North Theatre are eager to open the doors to this new restaurant and invite customers to experience the venue.
\n\u201cWe feel that the addition of Moon River Thai will help spur development along North Main Hill,\u201d said Corrie Teague, project manager for the Office of Economic Development. \u201cThis restaurant, along with the incredible variety of events that take place at the Historic North Theatre, will draw citizens and visitors to this historic area of the city.\u201d
\nIn an effort to expand the dining options in Danville, the Office of Economic Development asked citizens to give their cuisine preferences in a survey. The results of the survey expressed a need for a Thai or Greek restaurant.
\n\u201cAs we work to bring more businesses to the River District and North Main Hill, we wanted to be sure we were catering to the desires of our citizens,\u201d said Teague. \u201cIn conjunction with data on Danville\u2019s current dining options, we were able to utilize these survey results to market to potential restaurateurs.\u201d
\n\u201cEvery single person — from inspectors, city employees, local citizens, to contractors — has been incredibly open and supportive,\u201d said Doby. \u201cWe have never seen such a tight-knit group of people, and they really mean it when they say they want you to be a part of their city.\u201d
\nThe location of a new restaurant on North Main Hill coincides with the establishment of a Tourism Zone designation. The new Tourism Zone covers the River District and crosses the Dan River to North Main all the way to W Thomas Street. The Office of Economic Development is in the process of developing an incentive program for this area. In the meantime, this project qualified for a $50,000 grant.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You’re allowed to laugh at the last-sentence mention of the $50,000 in free money that I’m sure had absolutely nothing to do with this decision.<\/p>\n

Vicky Morrison, the newest reporter at the Register & Bee, finds out it’s not exactly Magical Survey Results that caused this decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once the results were released, a local chiropractor, Maggie Ashworth, took the initiative to connect a restaurant she found in Burlington, N.C., to Danville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great story of folks that live in the community really being enthusiastic about the developments taking place,\u201d Teague said. After visiting a Burlington Thai restaurant owned by Mongkhonkham, Ashworth connected her to Councilman Lee Vogler. Vogler helped them reach out to the office of economic development.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maggie Ashworth & Lee Vogler should be working in Danville’s Economic Development office. Let’s see what they can do with the Berry Hill Mega Park now. Hell, let’s send them to China.<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, WSET’s hard-hitting news coverage swallowed the press release whole. No surprise there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love economic development spin. Actually, I love to expose economic development spin and mock the hell out of it.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,58,20,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-businesscentral","category-danville","category-newscentral","category-opinioncentral","odd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pwqFk-2dr","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8508,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/14\/the-dead-companies-are-spinning\/","url_meta":{"origin":8521,"position":0},"title":"The dead (companies) are spinning…","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"April 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, we finally got some information from the Danville's Economic Development office about the quite comatose GOK furniture company. I don't believe a damned word of it. Here's the press release... DANVILLE, Va. \u2013 GOK International Corp. will shift its product mix at its assembly plant and showroom in Ringgold\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BusinessCentral"","block_context":{"text":"BusinessCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/businesscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8549,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/04\/28\/whats-the-going-rate-for-an-economic-development-consultant\/","url_meta":{"origin":8521,"position":1},"title":"What’s the going rate for an “Economic Development Consultant”?","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"April 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"People love to know the salaries of City of Danville employees, so I decided to find out how much Economic Development Consultant Linwood Wright was being paid... Ex-mayor Linwood Wright is well known in the Danville Economic Development Office, but he's not an employee there. He works on a consultant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BusinessCentral"","block_context":{"text":"BusinessCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/businesscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8170,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/08\/lets-talk-about-the-grocery-store-petition-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":8521,"position":2},"title":"Let’s talk about the grocery store petition drive…","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"February 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I like good ideas that have a decent chance of working but this ain't one of 'em. \"Let's talk\" about it... Thursday, Danville's Economic Development office sent out this press release... The Office of Economic Development asks citizens of Danville, Pittsylvania County, and surrounding localities to sign a petition to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BusinessCentral"","block_context":{"text":"BusinessCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/businesscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8738,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/06\/03\/breaking-danville-hires-new-economic-development-director\/","url_meta":{"origin":8521,"position":3},"title":"BREAKING: Danville hires new Economic Development Director","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Telly Tucker will start his job on July 1st. Here's the official word from the City of Danville... Danville City Manager Joe King announced today that Telly D. Tucker of Williamsburg has been selected to fill the city\u2019s vacant economic development director position. Tucker is currently the assistant economic development\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Breaking News"","block_context":{"text":"Breaking News","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/newscentral\/breaking-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sclogo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/sclogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8869,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/06\/12\/happy-trails-mackenzie-osadchuk\/","url_meta":{"origin":8521,"position":4},"title":"Happy Trails, Mackenzie Osadchuk!","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"June 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Danville's Office of Economic Development is losing another employee. SouthsideCentral has learned that Mackenzie Osadchuk, the Marketing and Research Manager in the Danville Office of Economic Development is resigning to move back to South Dakota. According to the City, the responsibilities of her job are... ...to provide external and internal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "BusinessCentral"","block_context":{"text":"BusinessCentral","link":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/category\/businesscentral\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"sclogo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/sclogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8158,"url":"https:\/\/www.southsidecentral.com\/wordpress\/2014\/01\/23\/economic-develop-mentally-challenged\/","url_meta":{"origin":8521,"position":5},"title":"Economic Develop-Mentally Challenged","author":"SouthsideCentral","date":"January 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The day after Danville's Economic Development Summit, Danville's Economic Development director resigned. Oh, that's a good sign. After an unplanned SouthsideCentral hiatus, I'm not sure where to start... Day-long summit dives into good \u2014 and bad \u2014 facing Danville You know, it sounds like a good idea. 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