The Economic Development Authority is surveying businesses to determine a list of priority projects to focus on in the coming months.

The EDA and Office of Community Development were taken by surprise in May when the town not only agreed to fund a warrant article meant to hire a project coordinator, but increased the amount on the floor from $45,000 to $70,000, said Peter Throop, Peterborough’s community development director.

“We weren’t really prepared for that kind of an increase, and we want to make sure we are spending those dollars wisely,” said Throop.

So far, he added, the office has yet to touch the funds, but has not been idle either, consulting with community development experts, including the director of the N.H. Division on Economic Development and the Economic Development Team from the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension on how best to make use of it while moving forward with other projects under volunteer sub-committees of the EDA.

The main takeaway, said Throop, is that the town should hire experts to oversee individual projects rather than hiring a single coordinator.

“When you hire a generalist, there’s a fairly long lead time to get them up to speed,” said Throop. “The EDA has already spent that time getting to that point and getting their hands around the potential issues. They can do a lot of that general coordination.”

It was also suggested that the Office of Community Development focus on the following:

Retaining current businesses by identifying and eliminating obstacles

Improving infrastructure based on needs

Bolstering the workforce pool

Throop said he is working on several things within the current budget. Three committees have been created, a Marketing Committee, Broadband Committee and Strategic Planning Committee.

The Marketing Committee has created a website for the EDA at www.PeterboroughWorks.com, which highlights Peterborough’s attractions both as a place to live and establish or grow a business, and has also created a brochure to complement the website.

The Broadband Committee has conducted a survey of connectivity both in town and in neighboring communities and also talked to business owners about how they use the internet. During upcoming negotiations with Comcast, the town will likely open discussions about extending broadband access to as many as 100 additional houses in Peterborough, said Throop.

The Office of Community Development has also hired an intern, part of whose duties extend to supporting EDA initiatives through creating a database of existing businesses in Peterborough, analysis of broadband geographic data, and a housing inventory, all of which will be used in future projects, said Throop.

Throop added that the EDA will be identifying priority projects as they complete surveys with local business, and will start to hire contractors with the funds raised at Town Meeting, but added that there is no cut off date to do so – the funds do not expire at the end of the year.