The Marion County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution Nov. 5 to rename the Community Services department to the Marion County Community and Economic Development department and to retitle the department position from community services director to community and economic development director.

Kelly Luis, the current Community Services director, told the board the suggested name better reflects the department’s evolving work, including economic development programs, grant administration, revitalization projects, the county fair and animal services. Luis said the county’s new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is under development and changing the department name now will allow the county to update systems once for financial and HR consistency.

Luis described several department programs and recent results: the CDBG and HOME programs (federally funded through HUD) have supported the purchase of 13 homes, rehabilitation of 35 homes, with another six projects in process and a total allocation of about $5,800,000 to community programs and projects; the economic development program leverages state lottery proceeds and county funds to support business retention and expansion; and the Marion County dog shelter shows a return-to-owner rate in the 50–55% range compared with a national average of about 18% for open-intake shelters, plus 267 active volunteers and 62 foster homes.

A commissioner moved to approve the resolution and another seconded; the board voted 'aye' and the motion passed. Commissioners encouraged staff to present more on the dog shelter’s work and to coordinate with regional partners on economic development forums and workforce topics.