The April announcement of Hyundai choosing Hope Hull as the site of its newest plant has had both Greenville and Butler County officials working toward recruiting suppliers to the area.

On Monday, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Norman recommended another project to the Greenville City Council that he and

other county agencies have been working on to help entice more businesses to locate in the Camellia City.

&uot;I represent this body on the Butler County Industrial Development Association (BCIDA) board, which recently made a decision to request that the Butler County Commission for Economic Development (BCCED) consider hiring a professional marketing firm to help with a revolving plan to market the City of Greenville, Butler County, the industrial process, and future citizens,&uot; said Norman. &uot;The idea is to put us out there to let people know that we are an open community.

&uot;The BCCED has hired a firm out of Mobile to help us with the marketing plan, and once they got to that stage in the process where they decide who is going to help us and how much money we need to allocate before the next budgeting process, they recommended that the project be turned over to the Chamber of Commerce,&uot; he said.

In determining the allocation of funds, Norman said that the City of Greenville has been asked to contribute $25,000 of a $75,000 budget for the initial phase of the plan which will include the creation of an up-to-date web site, a survey of citizens and an identity package that will include a logo for advertising. The plan also includes the hiring of a South Korean native who will help determine more things that officials of the area need to know to be more informed about doing business with Koreans.

Norman added that the firm also has contacts with Korean newspapers that will help give coverage of the area and the efforts that are being made in this area to bring in businesses related to Hyundai.

&uot;This is a good opportunity to put a tool in place that we will have from now on. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to help promote ourselves now but can be used in the future. So, my recommendation is that we approve the $25,000 appropriation,&uot; said Norman.

&uot;We have a window of opportunity here because of the April 1 announcement and we have been working around the clock to do everything we could to put things together to bring suppliers here. This was Steve’s brainstorm and we started to talk about what we need to do. We know what kind of city we have here and we need to get that word out,&uot; said Mayor Dexter McLendon. &uot;It also gives us an opportunity to look at our strengths and weaknesses. Todd Strange of the ADO has told us that we need to have a first-class web site and this will be the first thing we do.&uot;

Norman said the Greenville Chamber of Commerce was chosen as the body to implement the plan because it is their responsibility to market the city. At this point, he said, they have been chosen as the body that will allocate the funds and they have already appointed a committee to oversee the project.

The council accepted the recommendation and approved the request.

The council also approved a request to make a commitment of $5,000 for the Butler County World War II Memorial to be placed at the Greenville-Butler County Library. The monument will be dedicated to the men and women of Butler County who gave their lives for their country in WWII, and will have their names inscribed on the memorial.

In other news, the council also: authorized an application for the 2002 – 2003 D.A.R.E. Law Enforcement Partnership grant and authorized Roth, McHugh and Associates to prepare the application for a fee of $250; authorized an application for the D.A.R.E. High Risk Youth Discretionary Grant through the Governor’s Office of Drug Abuse and authorize Roth, McHugh and Associates to prepare the application for a fee of $2,750; approved a resolution for the Senior Aides Project/Host Agency Agreement with SCADC if there is no additional cost.