What Should be in the City’s New Economic Development Plan?

March 16, 2015 8:35 am

The city council will be briefed on it tonight, and have a chance to ask questions and give input.

I struggle to see what the current goals and metrics have to to with the public input meetings they held last year. I’ve been to 3 or 4 subcommittee meetings on this and am not clear what the public input had to do with the current plans and thinking. At the last meeting I attended they were reviewing this document, and just when they got to the part I was most interested in, I had to leave . . . and I had no one to pick up my recorder for me . . . so I don’t know what they revised, but I suspect we will find out tonight.

Anyhoo . . . this is the current (clearly draft), or most current I can find outline of what our new plans goals and metrics will be (note there are notes in there and its not complete):

Connect Madison Economic Strategy DRAFT: Goals & Metrics 3/2/15

1. CONNECT Madison businesses with talent, capital, facilities, ideas, and new markets to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in all sectors.
a. Create 10 new health-IT firms with 50+ employees in next five years
b. Increase the City’s minority contracting for public works projects to #%
c. Lead Wisconsin in the percentage change of total number of small businesses (fewer than 50 employees) between 2015 and 2020.

2. CONNECT Madison residents to their City government by ma king Madison a model of civic innovation
a. create an office of civic innovation by 2018
b. starting in 2016, support the implementation of 4 new apps per year to improve city services
c. Develop a multi-platform 3-1-1 system and digital comment box
d. Have all city web functions accessible by mobile device
e. I think we need something re increasing WI FI access. Look at attached MMSD numbers. Not as good as Mark said. I filtered for Elementary schools where the greatest student poverty exists.

3. CONNECT the region’s robust food system to our economy and em brace food’s role as a platform for community based entrepreneurship and wealth-building
a. achieve 10-10-100, i.e. within 10 years, 10% of Madison’s food will come from within 100 miles.
b. implement the public market by 2017

4. CONNECT Madison’s large bicycle industry cluster, identity as a bike-friendly city, and appeal as a destination for bicycle-based recreation and tourism to become the bicycling epicenter of North America
a. reach 20% mode share by 2020
b. host # additional major bike events in the city
c. increase tourism spending driven by bicycle events/tourism by #% d. Increase Bike Industry LQ by 10% by 2020
e. Did you leave out Platinum Bike for a reason?

5. CONNECT Madison with an efficient and technology-enabled multi-modal transportation system.
a. achieve key recommendations of the City’s Transportation Master Plan
b. make Madison a 45 minutes or less commute city
c. connect all of the city’s employment areas with 24 hour/day transit service

6. CONNECT Madison ‘s prosperity, jobs, and economic opportunities to people and communities that are disadvantaged, disenfranchised, and disconnected from the growth of the local economy.
a. Reduce ~~African American~~ ethnic? unemployment rate to be lower than the national African American unemployment rate by 2018
b. Reduce the percentage of Madison residents who spend more than 30% of the household income on housing by #%
See the chart below regarding upward mobility. We do have data for Madison
c. We have unemployment, should we have income? Folks can be in minimum wage or underemployed

7. CONNECT Madison’s economic, cultural, entertainment, and environmental assets to increase the City’s appeal as a destination
a. See #% growth in creative industry businesses per year
b. Increase the total tourism spending in Madison to $#
c. Increase ticket sales to performing arts events

8. CONNECT Madison ‘s real estate development opportunities with unmet market demand to create jobs and grow our tax base
a. Land bank $# value of prope1ty by
b. Create $# tax base value within existing and new TIFs

9. CONNECT Madison to the broader region and support collaborative and regional approaches to economic development
a. Land bank $# value of prope1ty by
b. Create $# tax base value within existing and new TIFs

10. CONNECT Madison revitalize targeted areas of the City and improve the stability of perimeter neighborhoods. a. Redevelop at least 1 out-dated shopping center per year I think this is ambitious
b.