The Elmore County Economic Development Authority (ECEDA) acts as a catalyst for economic and industrial development across Elmore County by partnering with public and private stakeholders. Our mission is successful, in large part, because we are able to act as a bridge between private and governmental economic development actors. Because of our unique status and our receipt of governmental funding via statutory and constitutional authorities, we strive to provide information about our operations and projects to the public-at-large whenever possible.

For additional information about ECEDA’s policy on information requests, please click on a topic or question below.

General information that is intended for public use can be obtained from ECEDA by any means. This type of information would include our operating hours, physical address, mailing address, the names of our current Board of Directors, press releases, and similar information.

All other requests for information must be made in writing, must include contact information for the person making the request, and the purpose for which the information is sought.

Written requests for information may be submitted by the following methods:

• Email: eceda@elmoreeda.com
• Mail: Elmore County Economic Development Authority
  Attn: Exec. Dir. Barry Mask
  P.O. Box 117
  Wetumpka, Alabama 36092
• Fax: (334) 512-0632
• Web: Visit www.elmoreeda.com and click on "Contact Us" link

Due to ECEDA’s limited staff, it may take up to five business days for ECEDA to review requests for information and to provide the requested materials or to provide an explanation for why such information cannot be released. If a request for information will take longer than five business days for our staff to review and respond, the person requesting the information will be informed of this fact and the reason for any delay.

Having requests for information committed to writing makes sure that there is no misunderstanding as to the information being sought, it allows ECEDA’s limited staff to better keep track of requests for information, and it aids in the process of determining the overall scope of the request.

Our ability to provide information beyond general information that is intended for public use can be limited by several factors. First, economic and industrial development projects typically rely on demographic and statistical data that is obtained from consulting firms and “for profit” services that maintain proprietary databases permitting detailed analysis of cities and neighborhoods. This type of information must be purchased on a project-by-project basis or through paid subscriptions for access to such databases. Contractual provisions and intellectual property laws prevent our disclosing these types of information to the general public.

Other information possessed by ECEDA comes to us through our relationships with, and work for, our governmental and private economic and industrial development partners for use on a specific project or area of the county. Some information possessed by ECEDA is considered extremely sensitive or confidential because it would provide a competitive advantage to other states or economic development agencies outside of Elmore County, or might provide an economic or business advantage to a competitor of a business or industrial concern being recruited. These types of confidential information cannot be disclosed for legal reasons.

Some information requests seek information about our public and private partners which would best be addressed directly to such entities or individuals. Whenever it appears that requests for information involve third-party information received in confidence or as to which ECEDA is ill-suited to evaluate the propriety of release into the public domain, our policy is to refer such requests to the more appropriate entity or individual.

By allowing for up to five days to complete the review of a request for information, ECEDA’s policy conserves its limited staff resources and provides sufficient time for thorough review of responsive documents or materials to ensure that propriety, sensitive, or legally privileged/ confidential materials are not inadvertently disclosed. This process also permits ECEDA to coordinate with affected third-parties to determine if there are any legal or contractual issues that would be associated with the release of information obtained from such third-parties.

Although ECEDA does not fall within the scope of the Alabama Public Records Act, ECEDA staff attempt to utilize the Act as a framework for responding to requests for information. Consistent with the Act, ECEDA attempts to supply responsive information or documents to members of the public who request information about our organization and projects without charging a fee. In the event that a request for information includes a sizeable number of documents or would require a great deal of time to compile, a fee might be required. The charging of a reasonable fee for compiling and copying requested documents is consistent with the Alabama Public Records Act.

If a request appears to be one that would require the assessment of a fee, the requesting individual will be contacted and informed of an estimate of the approximate cost for the provision of such information. At that time, any person requesting information may elect to narrow their request if it appears that doing so would negate the necessity of a fee or reduce the amount to be incurred.

Where a fee is required, ECEDA charges .50 per page for copies and $15/hour for employee time expended in responding to a request, billed in 1/10 of an hour (6 minute) increments.