Economic Development, besides safety, the battle cry for everything we do in the City of Madison. Its one of the most important thing we can do for the city, right? So, the Economic Development Plan for 2010 probably has some really effective, measurable things that we’re going to do to create x number of jobs, right? Check it out!
RECOMMENDATION # 1 – CUSTOMER SERVICE
Zoning Code Modernization – Complete re-write of the City’s Zoning Code.
Deliverables: Although not housed within the Economic Development Division, the Zoning Code re-write will have a significant impact on business development within the City. This was a priority outlined within the 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan, and received the most support among possible 2010 projects/programs when circulated to members of the EDC and Common Council. The deliverable for the Economic Development Division will be review and suggestions regarding Zoning Code text and mapping decisions that will likely be made in 2010.
[Yawn. This project is probably half done, won’t create any jobs and really won’t impact the current economic situation. For this to be the project with the most support just shows who whacked the priorities are. Don’t get me wrong, its important and I support it, but for it to be a major economic development initiative in these times is kinda silly.]
Road Construction Information/Assistance – Continued partnership between the Office of Business Resources, City Engineering, Chamber Small Business Advisory Council, and Central Business Improvement District to use the Road Construction Survival Guide and Road Works website developed in 2009 to outreach to and help prepare business owners who will be impacted by road construction in 2010. Toward the end of 2010, similar efforts will begin for 2011 projects.
Deliverables: As with 2009, Office of Business Resources staff will provide City Engineering with mailing lists of businesses impacted by road Construction projects. OBR staff will attend regularly held business meetings for major projects and interface with impacted businesses as appropriate. Toward the later part of 2010, OBR staff will work with City Engineering on planning and notification of major 2011 projects.
[Again, yawn. This is a project that was initiated and completed and now its just part of their job. It shouldn’t take that much time and I find it odd for it to be listed as one of their major work plan ideas. I guess I was hoping to see new initiatives in this area.]
RECOMMENDATION # 2 – QUALITY JOB CREATION/RETENTION/EXPANSION
Business Requests/Prospects – City staff receives numerous unsolicited requests on a weekly basis from businesses, site selectors, developers, the Department of Commerce, etc. for businesses interested in expanding within Madison or re-locating to Madison. Economic Development Division staff serve as lead on these prospects by providing information about available space, demographic information, and financial assistance.
Deliverables: Staff will continue to respond to inquiries as they are received. Staff will develop a process for tracking and reporting on the work completed through these efforts to the Common Council.
[Again, yawn. They’re going to do their jobs. And hey, here’s a novel idea, be able to track what they do. Any non-profit in this town wouldn’t get funded if they couldn’t do that.]
Small Business Assistance
Description: As outlined in the 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan, continue/strengthen outreach/cooperation with organizations that provide small business planning assistance.
Deliverables: Staff will continue to respond to inquiries received from existing and prospective small business owners, and will continue to forward these individuals to appropriate resources throughout the community. Staff will prepare a process for tracking and reporting to the City Council on the number of small businesses receiving support from City staff.
[Ditto.]
Economic Development Impacts of Projects/Policies – Greater utilization of the Economic Development Committee for review/input of projects and policies from an economic development standpoint.
Deliverables: Director will work with the Mayor’s Office, Council leadership, and EDC Chair on identifying if and when EDC input on projects and policies is warranted, and follow-up accordingly.
[This one makes me laugh. In the past when we tried to refer things to them, Alder Brandon and others said they were too busy . . . I see they have changed their minds. I think its a good thing, as long as there’s no mission creep. But, it also seems like a no brainer and something that shouldn’t take that much effort, in essence, they’re going to do their jobs]
RECOMMENDATION # 3 – PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
City Real Estate Transactions – Continued investment in City infrastructure (roads, facilities, etc.) will require the ongoing support of staff to complete necessary real estate transactions.
Deliverables: Real estate transactions (purchase agreements, leases, easement agreements, etc.).
[Again, they’ll do thier jobs, the same thing they’ve been doing for years, nothing new here.]
Physical Development Projects – Description: Continued implementation of physical development projects. Each project will have different set of specific deliverables and a different schedule depending on the project. The project name and “lead staff” are noted as follows. The amount of staff resources devoted to projects noted with an asterisk (*) will be dependent upon further action of the Mayor and Common Council with regard to the 2010 Budget.
– Allied Drive (Office of Real Estate Services, Office of Economic Revitalization)
– BioAg Gateway marketing, Advisory Board, BioLink, and Owners Association (Director, Office of Business Resources)
– Burr Oaks (Office of Real Estate Services, Office of Economic Revitalization)
– Capitol Gateway consultant contract (Director, Office of Business Resources)
– Center for Industry and Commerce and Interstate Commerce Park (Office of Real Estate Services)
– * Central Library (Office of Real Estate Services) 4
– * Central Park (Office of Real Estate Services)
– * Edgewater Hotel (Director, Office of Real Estate Services)
– Garver Feed Mill (Office of Real Estate Services)
– Lake Point (Office of Real Estate Services, Office of Economic Revitalization)
– * Madison Municipal Building Hotel and Government East Parking (Director, Office of Real Estate Services)
– * Royster Clark (Director, Office of Real Estate Services)
– Truax (Office of Real Estate Services, Office of Economic Revitalization)
– Truman Olson (Office of Business Resources, Office of Real Estate Services, Office of Economic Revitalization)
– Union Corners (Director, Office of Real Estate Services)
– Villager (Office of Real Estate Services, Office of Economic Revitalization)
[This list is kind of meaningless to me, its a laundry list of things they are already working on or should be. I don’t see anything that inspires me and I wish there were deliverables listed here. The EDC talked about trying to measure jobs created, which would be helpful. Again, any non-profit in town that didn’t have outcomes attached to a list like this would probably be de-funded.]
Street Vending and Sidewalk Café Program – Maintenance, and expansion, of Street Vending and Sidewalk Café programs.
Deliverables: Management of programs.
[This is just getting sad, its like they just listed what they do to justify their existance, and there is no strategy or innovation or new initiatives. In these economic times, I guess I expected more.]
RECOMMENDATION # 4 – ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT
Brownfield Remediation (BREWD)
Deliverables: Revision to BREWD guidelines (assuming not completed in 2009), and dialogue with representatives of potential projects. Report as necessary to the State Department of Commerce.
[Here they are listing something that might be done by 2010? Again, how about something new?]
Capital Revolving Fund
Deliverables: Underwriting of new projects and maintenance of existing loans.
[Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.]
Business Energy Efficiency Grant Program (stimulus funds)
Deliverables: Working with the Community Development Division, promote and select firms to receive Business Energy Efficiency Grants.
[Whew! Something new! Wow!]
Façade Improvement Grants
Deliverables: Underwriting and maintenance of grants.
[Back to yawn.]
Home Ownership and Rehabilitation Programs
Deliverables: Underwriting and maintenance of programs.
[Now I know this is just a laundry list of things they currently do. Why aren’t the deliverables listing the number of homes assisted being purchased or rehabbed? Why aren’t geographic targets listed? Why is it that CDBG can do this but its not done here. It’s very disappointing. And I have to say, sloppy. And even more sad, they could have used this document to at least show how much work they do, but reading this, you’d never know what impact they actually have.]
Bond Financing
Deliverables: Work with the CDA to issue tax-exempt revenue and redevelopment bonds for new projects.
[I’d really like to see what their priorities are here, what types of projects are they trying to support. How many jobs are they targeting. Are these projects that would happen without the assistance, or will the assistance help create additional jobs? This seems totally random and unfocused. With the little resources they have, it seems they should be clearly listing their priorities and focusing on the projects that have the biggest impact.]
Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
Deliverables: Underwriting of new TIF projects, maintenance of existing TIF districts and loans, and creation of new TIF districts. In addition, the City TIF policy will be revisited with regard to options for supporting business development in the absence of an identifiable financial gap. Also, in the context of the economic development emphasis of the recently adopted TIF Policy, staff will continue to review opportunities where the use of TIF could leverage additional private investment.
[This is elimination of the “but for” test for TIF. A major mistake in my estimation. See all the Danisco discussions and the comment above. If they’re going to eliminate it, then what are they trying to accomplish? Will they create additional jobs? Prevent someone from leaving town? What’s the goal? I’d really like to see what the outcomes for this are expected to be. Especially since they are just playing with city tax dollars]
Federal, State, Foundation Funding Guide – A more proactive review/promotion of federal, state, and foundation funding options available to the City or directly to businesses for economic development activities.
Deliverables: In light of new direct and indirect funding opportunities made through Federal Stimulus programs, presentation to the Common Council of financial resources that become apparent throughout the year.
[It’s so hard to believe they didn’t do this years ago.]
Commercial Real Estate Database
Description: Collaboration with the local commercial brokerage community, allied economic development partners, and THRIVE to enhance the type and accessibility of information about available commercial real estate.
Deliverables: A robust commercial database to augment or replace the current LOIS system.
[Funny, they know how to do this database, but can’t seem to set one up to track their contacts.]
Economic Dashboard – Description: Maintenance of an economic “dashboard” to gauge the state of the Madison economy during the current economic recession.
Deliverables: Periodic updates to the Economic Dashboard.
[I’m all for facts!]
Continued Partnership with the CDA for Economic Development Projects – Per the 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan, further explore ways in which the Community Development Authority (CDA) can continue to promote economic development within the community.
Deliverables: Dependant upon specific projects.
[Does CDA have any capacity to do anything else?]
RECOMMENDATION # 5 – PUBLIC/PRIVATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM
Evangelism of Business Resources and Vision – In partnership with other economic development and business organizations, continue to share the resources available in Madison with employers who are looking elsewhere for possible expansion/location, and the vision of a great business sector throughout the entire community.
Deliverables: Continued evangelism.
[Evangelism? Do they mean marketing? Or outreach? Or what? Just showing up to meetings of business organizations? The deliverables are not clear. Could you imagine a non-profit getting funding for evangelism?]
Further utilization and partnership with allied business and economic development organizations – Promote further utilization and partnership with the City’s allied business and economic development organizations, including: Chamber, CVB, THRIVE, MAGNET, BID, DMI, Smart Growth Greater Madison, Dane County, UW, MATC, Urban League, MMSD, business incubation facilities, Central BID, neighborhood business associations, neighborhood planning councils, etc.
Deliverables: Continued partnership building.
[Again, the deliverable is unclear. If they do the two things above, what will happen as a result? It sounds like a good thing, but it also sounds like they could just say “continue to develop the old boys network”. I wish they’d indicate what the City gets from these better relationships.]
Communication/Collaboration/Attitude – Work with existing business organizations (region/City/district) to participate in implementation of the work plan objectives, develop and communicate an overall regional/city competitiveness vision, and develop/evangelize with internal/external markets the “why” and necessity of the vision, strategy, and action plans.
Deliverables: Continued partnership building.
[Second verse, same as the first.]
RECOMMENDATION # 6 – ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES
To implement the aforementioned projects and programs, at a minimum the following
two staff additions are recommended. – First, it is recommended that the new CDA Redevelopment Manager position be filled as of January 1st of next year. Although the primary impetus for the CDA Redevelopment Manager position is the Truax project, this individual will likely have the skills necessary to assist with some of the other CDA Physical Development projects noted previously in this Work Plan. This, in turn, would further free-up time of the Office of Real Estate Services staff to focus on other, non-CDA, physical development projects. Second, it is recommended that the Street Vending Monitor position be filled as of January 1st of next year. The Street Vending and Sidewalk Café programs have been historically managed by a full time Street Vending Coordinator and a part-time Street Vending Monitor. The Street Vending and Sidewalk Café programs have both grown in size over the past decade. Street Vending and Sidewalk Café activity occurs from morning until late into the night, especially on weekends. The programs require both office time (applications, staffing to the VOC) and time within the field addressing
vending problems and insuring compliance with rules and regulations. The schedule and need for both office and field time make it challenging for a single person to manage all aspects of the programs.
[Are these changes, or simply filling vacant positions?]
ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL PROJECTS/PROGRAMS RECEIVING SUPPORT
The following is a list of other efforts that received significant support through the ranking exercise recently completed by the Economic Development Committee and Common Council, along with general input from Economic Development Division staff. Projects and programs are listed in no particular order.
Given the staffing constraints noted above, the Economic Development Division is
unable to devote significant attention to these projects next year. These are;
however, very important projects/efforts that deserve further attention by the
Economic Development Division. The allocation of additional staff to the Division would make one or more of these projects possible.
Streamlining Process
This effort would include a closer look at the City’s current development review process in concert with the new ELAM permitting software and proposed Development Services Center to see if further efforts can be made to streamline approval processes within the City of Madison.
Job Creation – Physical Development Connection
On a more formalized level, consider the strategic connection between physical development projects within the City of Madison and their ability to provide space for quality job creation. [The EDC moved this to the section about physical development, which made sense. How could they say they didn’t have time to work on job creation?]
Monitoring/Benchmarking Customer Service
As outlined in the 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan, this recommendation calls for a formalized approach to gather and measure customer feedback (such as through a Baldrige or similar process). Additional financial resources would be needed to retain a consultant, purchase software, etc. for this effort.
Proactive retention/expansion
As outlined in the 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan, this project would include the purchase of retention/expansion software to manage a proactive effort on the part of City staff and other economic development partners to reach-out to businesses in a proactive manner to determine their future retention/expansion needs.
Product Beta-testing in Appropriate Clusters (such as “Green Industries”)
Businesses often require beta-testing of new products with potential customers. Madison is already recognized as a “green community,” taking a lead in new efforts for sustainability. There may be opportunities to reach-out to companies in the growing “green” business cluster to complete their beta-testing here. Especially in cases where firms are not already familiar with Madison, this could be an effective way to introduce them to Madison, with the goal of accommodating their future expansions here. [It’s too bad this didn’t make the cut.]
“Green” Workforce and Business “Homesteading”
Given its central location, available transit, mixed-use neighborhoods, etc. living or locating a business within the City of Madison provides individuals with a greater opportunity to live or run their businesses in a more sustainable manner than most other locations within the region. As a way to retain/attract a quality workforce within the community and employers who consciously wish to be more “green,” promoting the concept of “green” workforce and business “homesteading” could be further explored. [Again, too bad this didn’t make the cut, seems like it would create some jobs for the community.]
“Madison” Branding Campaign
Develop a campaign for branding Madison as a preferred/competitive location for business.
Promotion of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)
In partnership with neighborhood business districts, promote the use of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) to enhance and capture opportunities within those corridors. [Given the support fro this, I’m surprised it didn’t make the list.]
Community Tours
Meet/tour other Wisconsin/Midwest communities to learn more about their economic development approaches in an effort to gain additional ideas for Madison. This could also include tours of businesses within Madison. [Good to see the junkets didn’t make the cut.]
City Partnerships
Similar to the “Sister Cities” concept, develop relationships with U.S. cities in other regions of the Country for the purpose of generating leads of businesses looking for Midwest locations. [Again, good to see the junkets didn’t make the cut.]
ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL PROJECTS/PROGRAMS “NOT” RECEIVING SUPPORT
The following projects/programs were included on the recent ranking exercise completed by members of the Economic Development Committee and Common Council. These projects/programs did not receive a significant priority ranking from respondents at this time. They are included as a point of reference for the preparation of future work plans.
Small Business Conference
If the City wishes to host a fourth bi-annual small business conference in 2011, planning will need to begin during the second half of 2010. [This one of the few mentions of small businesses.]
Workforce Development
Continue the work of the Workforce Development Sub-Committee of the EDC to further explore the role the City should play relative to workforce development throughout the community. This may include the hosting of a workforce summit. [Wow. I guess I don’t know what else to say.]
Business Creation/Talent Portal
Major economic recessions, such as the one we are currently facing, result in a significant number of highly skilled unemployed/underemployed individuals along with opportunities for new business development. The City could foster the connection of individuals with opportunities through the development of an online business creation/talent portal.
Common Council – Business Relations
Arrange additional opportunities for Alders to tour and meet with employers within their Districts. [Good to see the lobbying efforts were catapulted.]
Business Incubator Study
As outlined in the 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan, study the demand/appropriateness of additional business incubators within the City of Madison. The concept of a “green business” incubator and free incubator space could be included. This item would likely require additional resources to hire a consultant.
Business Appreciation
Additional events/activities and awards in recognition and appreciation of businesses located within the City. This could be in partnership with community organizations directly supported by the business sector.
Benefit/Cost Model
As recommended in the 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan, develop and utilize a benefit/cost model to measure the fiscal impact of key development projects and to align TIF and other City economic development tools with the benefit received. This would likely require additional financial resources to purchase the necessary software.[Doesn’t this sound like a good idea? I guess they can’t support it when they are more interested in playing poker with tax payer dollars and eliminating the “but for” test for TIF.]
[So, tell me this, after all these pretty words, what will change in the city? How will we be better off as a result of these efforts? How many jobs will it create? What difference will all this make?]
