The Caroline County Planning Commission approved the final draft of the comprehensive plan economic development chapter on Wednesday, endorsing edits that expand workforce initiatives, clarify new agriculture‑rooted industries, and add implementation benchmarks to track progress over the next decade.

Planning staff said the revised chapter emphasizes stronger partnerships between students and local businesses, particularly through apprenticeships and internships, and adds descriptive context for "new industries rooted in agriculture," which the draft identifies to include agritourism and cannabis‑related activity. "I brought this to you all in September and there were some recommendations. I have outlined that in the summary in my staff report," Planning staff member Leslie Grunyan said when presenting the chapter.

The staff presentation noted the chapter will serve as a 10‑year policy guide and that staff intentionally avoided naming specific programs that may change over time; instead the chapter adds a commitment to assign departmental responsibilities and benchmarks for future review. "This is 1 of several items that will be included in a list that will assign the departmental responsibilities and will also establish some benchmarks for progress review over the next 10 years," staff told the commission.

Commissioners approved the chapter as a final draft to move forward in the overall comprehensive plan update process. Staff said the chapter will next be circulated to other county departments, the public, the county commissioners, and the Maryland Department of Planning for review; any comments will be returned to the commission as part of the full comprehensive plan review package.

The vote to accept the economic development chapter as the final draft was taken by voice vote; staff said further changes can still be made later in the comprehensive plan review process following department and public comments.