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Montgomery County Council President Nancy M. Floreen is proposing a new economic development authority in the county, but says the role and scope of the panel are undetermined.

Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park said the idea she presented Monday was intended to help grow jobs and get the county's economy back on track — her top priority in 2010.

The business community, council staff and others are being asked to present ideas for the development authority, and Floreen said she had few specifics and was open to suggestions.

She said she envisions a "high-level private-public body," similar to those she says have spurred economic development in Virginia's Prince William and Fairfax counties.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said Tuesday that Floreen's proposal is worth further study, but that the idea is not new and has been explored in the past.

Local businesses do have opportunities to be involved in government decisions already, but often their recommendations are not acted upon, Leggett said.

And, he added, the county already has a strong economic development framework.

Of particular concern to Floreen is data from the state's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation that show 14,000 fewer Montgomery County residents were employed in October than one year ago.

In October 2008, 495,111 county residents were employed, while in October 2009, 481,000 county residents had jobs.

Still, the county's unemployment rate in October was 5.4 percent, an improvement from June, when the rate hit 5.7 percent.

Steven A. Silverman, director of the county's Department of Economic Development, said he looked forward to working with Floreen on ideas for an economic development authority.

"The concept is not a new concept," he said. "The question is, is it going to get the job done for Montgomery County?"

Officials considered creating an economic development authority more than a decade ago, Silverman said.

"There's no magic model out there that one could copy and say this is the only way to move job creation forward," he said.

One model cited by Floreen is in Fairfax County, where an economic development authority was created by state legislation in 1964. That independent body is funded by the county — $6.7 million in fiscal 2010 —and promotes the county as a business location, said Gerald Gordon, president of the authority.

"It's a matter of figuring out what they need, and what Fairfax County offers them that would make them more successful," he said.

Before the recession, Gordon said, the authority had a hand in generating as many as 13,000 jobs annually. Since the start of the economic recession, the authority has helped create up to 6,000 jobs each year.

The authority reports to the Economic Development Authority Commission, a seven-member board from the business community, he said.

"We think like a business, act like a business and talk to businesses about business decisions," Gordon said.

Floreen also cited a model in Prince William County, which operates differently from the Fairfax County authority.

Prince William County has an Economic Development Council, which serves as an advisory panel to the county's Department of Economic Development, said spokesman Jason Grant.

The 14-member council comprises business leaders from companies that provide "high-wage" jobs in the county.

"That council helps shape our strategic plan," Grant said of the council, which formed in 1997.

The council has no authority to broker deals with county businesses.

Floreen said she was flexible in forming an economic development authority in Montgomery County.

"Nothing else works unless we have a vibrant, dynamic economy, and right now we don't," she said. "My people need jobs, plain and simple."