COUNTY BRIEFS

League hosting schools discussion

The League of Women Voters of Mason County is hosting a panel discussion on the governance role of school directors at noon Tuesday at Olympic College Shelton library, located at 937 Alpine Way.

Representatives from the Washington State School Directors Association and Washington Association of School Administrators will be joined by six school directors and superintendents from across Washington.

This civics education program is designed to increase the understanding of the roles and responsibilities of school directors and superintendents. The public is invited to attend either in person or via Zoom. The Zoom link can be found on the league’s website, http://www.lwvmasoncounty.org, or by contacting the LWVMC at [email protected].

IGNITE Mason economic coalition announced

Economic development leaders across Mason County have formed a coalition of more than two dozen local public and private sector partners to pursue federal economic revitalization money, according to a news release from the Mason County Economic Development Council.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has launched the Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program competition. Communities will be eligible to submit funding plans as part of this new five-year federal program authored by Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, and championed by U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., aims to revitalize economic activity in distressed communities, the release stated.

In addition to the Mason County EDC, the coalition includes Mason County, the City of Shelton, Port of Shelton, Mason County Public Utility Districts 1 and 3, Belfair Water District 1, the school districts of North Mason, Shelton, and Mary M. Knight, Olympic College, Olympic Health and Recovery Services, and several private sector organizations.

The coalition named this initiative IGNITE Mason. The acronym stands for Initiate Growth, Networking, Innovation, and Technology in the Economy. To learn more about economic development efforts, go to http://www.choosemason.com.