Ed Daley, City Manager of Winchester, and Former Mayor Domuschiev
The City to City partnership between the Municipality of Karlovo, Bulgaria, and Winchester, Virginia, was established in 2002 with a focus on tourism and economic development. The City of Winchester, located in the Shenandoah Valley, has well-established tourism and leisure programs, two of the focus areas identified by Karlovo. Through this partnership, the Municipality of Karlovo hoped to diversify and revitalize its economy and create a doorway to the Central Balkans National Park.
A large munitions factory, employing over 4,000 area residents, anchors the economy of Karlovo. The factory appears to be very viable and is in the process of re-tooling to meet the needs of NATO, of which Bulgaria is a new member. Despite a major employer in the Municipality, Karlovo still has an official unemployment rate of 17%. The need for additional jobs is great, and Karlovo’s greatest hope is that it can better leverage its beautiful location in the ‘Valley of Roses’ and encourage the fledgling eco-tourism industry.
Karlovo worked with US counterparts in Winchester to create a Development Plan for the “Besh Bunar” Park Area, the doorway to the Central Balkans National Park. This project was intended to stimulate local economic development through increased tourism, attract private investment, and provide citizens with a recreational and leisure facility. Based on the draft concept plan, which incorporated citizen input, a conceptual design for the park was developed for implementation commencing in summer 2004. The Karlovo municipal leadership has also successfully solicited funds from other resources, which will enable the Municipality to turn the area into an attractive and economically viable site.
In August 2003 the partners initiated a project for the development and marketing of a private industrial park on the territory of “Agrotechnica” with the aim of attracting investment and establishing jobs. The Municipality developed the infrastructure and the partners created and disseminated a marketing brochure for the industrial zone in order to advertise it to foreign companies wishing to invest in Karlovo. Three lots in the park have been sold, and the first 50 new jobs will be created in 2004. Another 150 new jobs are expected in 2005, and 200 new jobs in each subsequent year. Information about the park facilities and available plots is available on the Local Economic Development Consortium website, www.invest.bg.
Other critical issues, including the need to stabilize and temporarily cap the existing landfill, manage municipal properties, and maintain streets were addressed. The Municipality of Karlovo acquired national funds and is re-depositing the two cells of the old landfill, which directly leads to improvements in safety and minimizes the contamination in the surrounding area. In addition, Karlovo also introduced a separate collection of recyclable materials as a pilot program to comply with new requirements and gradually meet the European Union standards. The Municipality undertook a public education campaign to inform citizens about recycling, a fairly new concept in Bulgaria. A contract was signed between the Municipality and private company for purchasing the recyclable materials, which is an additional source of revenue for the Municipal budget, and a grant was obtained from national funds for the Source Separation Program. Program expansion includes the introduction of source separation in three more towns of the Municipality in the near future.
The Bulgaria Best Practices Symposium was held in Varna, Bulgaria in June 2004. Karlovo presented their achievements to over 100 colleagues and guests and the Municipality received the ‘Best Project’ award for its Source Separation program.