The Paducah Area Community Reuse Organization has reduced its representation to its initial five counties after the board voted Wednesday to eliminate four counties considered secondary or tertiary.
The Department of Energy formed the organization to mitigate the loss of jobs after the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant closed with 10 million dollars in funding. Chairperson Gayle Kaler says PACRO was initially located in Mayfield and most of the money was spent when it moved to Paducah. Kaler says the new changes won’t affect the communities of eliminated counties.
“By no means did we do this to cut out any counties. All the counties in this region can still benefit from the economic development and from the job creations of PACRO. We have never said we would not issue a loan to anyone,” says Kaler.
Kaler says the vote to remove Calloway, Carlisle, Hickman and Fulton counties made the organization leaner and able to create more jobs. She says there was a fair representation from each county when making the decision. Representatives from other counties were unavailable for comment. The five counties remaining are McCracken, Ballard, Marshall, Graves, and Massac in Illinois.
