The director is vested with duties, powers, and responsibilities involved in accomplishing the division's objectives outlined in this article within the appropriations provided by the General Assembly. The director may:
(1) advise and make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly on matters concerning the division's objectives;
(2) cooperate with the operating agencies of the State in the development of plans;
(3) have access to the records and studies of each state agency pertaining to the division's objectives;
(4) conduct studies on his own initiative pertaining to the division's objectives and others at the request of the Governor, the General Assembly, or state or local agencies;
(5) make special studies on area problems or specific subjects, establish local agencies, and furnish staff or financial aid;
(6) stimulate and encourage local, state, and federal governmental agencies with similar and related objectives and purposes and cooperate with local, regional, and federal planning and development programs;
(7) publish and distribute the division's findings through written reports, brochures, magazine and newspaper articles, and other appropriate forms and use the radio, periodicals, and other recognized forms of advertising, personal interviews, exhibits, and displays in order that governmental agencies, corporations, and individual citizens may become acquainted with the development program of the State;
(8) advertise the advantages of the State for industrial, agricultural, and commercial development by paid publicity;
(9) provide information to and make contact with private business enterprises and local, state, and federal governmental agencies to acquaint them with industrial, agricultural, and commercial opportunities in the State and encourage the establishment of new or the expansion of existing industries and enterprises;
(10) provide advice upon request by local, state, and federal agencies, private citizens, and business and commercial enterprises upon matters of economic development, industrial and business expansion, and agricultural activity upon which his knowledge, sources of information, and findings and decisions qualify him to speak;
(11) accept gifts, grants, funds, and property to accomplish the division's objectives, administer and disburse gifts, grants, and funds, and dispose of property to counties, municipalities, and local agencies performing a public service or function which may disburse the gifts, grants, and funds or make the property available to eligible participants in a program established to perform and implement the public service or function subject to the approval of the State Fiscal Accountability Authority.
HISTORY: 1993 Act No. 181, Section 244, eff July 1, 1993.