AGENDA DATE: 12/2/2015
TITLE:
Title
Development of the County’s Economic Development Strategic Plan
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Report on status and planned approach for creation of an Economic Development Strategic Plan
ITEM TYPE: Regular Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Foley, Walker, Davis, Kamptner, Graham, Cilimberg, McClintic
PRESENTER (S): Faith McClintic
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Thomas C. Foley
BACKGROUND: When the Economic Development Office was created and funded by the Board of Supervisors in October 2014 (See Attachment B, October 8, 2014 Executive Summary), the Board outlined the areas on which the Department would primarily focus as the County’s Economic Development program was established. Specifically, the Board defined the priority program components as follows:
Existing Business Retention and Expansion: 50%
New Business Start-Ups: 25%
Workforce Development: 10%
Real Estate Development/Redevelopment: 10%
Business Attraction: 5%
Since joining the County in April 2015, much of the Director’s time has been devoted to an active recruitment project that commenced in 2014, including initial research on some of the County’s key economic indicators. Fortunately, a significant portion of that project work can be incorporated into the development of the Economic Development Strategic Plan (outlined in Attachment A) over the next several months.
STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal 4 - Economic Prosperity: Foster an environment that stimulates diversified job creation, capital investments, and tax revenues that support community goals
Goal 2 - Critical Infrastructure: Prioritize, plan and invest in critical infrastructure that responds to past and future changes and improves the capacity to serve community needs
DISCUSSION: The development of the strategic plan for economic development will be based on a comprehensive, best practices approach (Attachment A) that seeks to, first, develop a “portrait” of Albemarle County that is then compared to other Virginia localities with whom Albemarle typically competes for economic development opportunities. This approach is heavily data-driven and includes the evaluation of a number of critical factors on which site location decisions are made, including decisions to expand existing facilities or to relocate operations to another area; however, subjective factors derived from customer experiences and key stakeholders will also be considered.
As with any guiding document, the Economic Development Strategic Plan will serve as a “roadmap” for defining ways the County can arrive at its goals of economic prosperity and employment diversification, consistent with the overall Comprehensive Plan and in consideration of other relevant County policies and programs. The Plan will identify ways in which the County can strengthen its business tax base and employment opportunities through consideration of new programs, potential revisions to policies and regulations, and/or through other means. Furthermore, by establishing key goals, objectives, strategies, and associated metrics, County leaders can better define their priorities, as well as monitor the effectiveness and success of economic development initiatives. Likewise, measurable goals and objectives will help to assess where program modifications or enhancements to strategies are needed, particularly in light of continual market changes.
The methodology used in the formulation of the Economic Development Strategic Plan (Attachment A) will include objective and subjective evaluation, with data analysis being used to determine the current “starting point” for the County. The more subjective assessment will rely heavily on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis that will include extensive input from stakeholders through interviews, focus groups and public input meetings and will also include a thorough vetting of community and stakeholder input through a staff team consisting of community development and economic development staff. The objective analysis will incorporate a thorough review of all properties currently available for development or redevelopment in the County’s Development Areas; thus, engineering assistance will likely be required to provide technical evaluation of current infrastructure availability and capacity within the County, as well as the viability of potential sites in light of development costs and environmental constraints. Both of these efforts will result in a set of findings that will be reviewed with the Board of Supervisors for consideration and direction prior to the actual development of the plan.
BUDGET IMPACT: Staff estimates that up to $5,000 in contractual services will be needed to assist with the Comparative Analysis component of the Work Plan, along with approximately $20,000 in professional services for technical, engineering assistance in completing the Infrastructure Inventory and Site Assessments. Funding is available in the Reserve for Contingencies to cover this estimated $25,000 expenditure. After the approval of Appropriation #2016041 and #2016048, which are being presented to the Board for its consideration on December 2 as part of the FY 16 Appropriations Executive Summary, the FY16 Reserve for Contingencies balance will be $130,603.00, of which $50,000 has been reserved for a potential FY16 primary election. If the Board approves the approach for the development of the County’s Economic Development Strategic Plan as set forth in Attachment A, staff recommends that the Board approve an appropriation for $25,000 to be used for the professional services needed to complete the Economic Development Strategic Plan.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board: 1) approve the attached comprehensive approach needed to develop an Economic Development Strategic Plan for the County (Attachment A); and 2) adopt the attached Resolution (Attachment E) to approve Appropriation #2016049 (Attachment D) to appropriate $25,000 to be used for the professional services needed to complete the County’s Economic Development Strategic Plan
ATTACHMENTS:
A - Developing an Economic Development Strategy: A Comprehensive, Best Practices Approach
B - October 8, 2014 Executive Summary regarding the Establishment of the Economic Development Office
C - Economic Development Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan
D - Appropriation #2016049
E - Resolution