Practical Strategies to Attract Economic Development Nancy Lee

1. Practical Strategies to Attract Economic Development Nancy Lee Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy Northeastern University Metropolitan Area Planning Council Natick, MA October 26, 2010

2. Fundamental Proposition Cities and towns have the ability to create their own destiny, but they can benefit from having sophisticated partners who can help them develop tools and information to compete successfully.

3. Deal Makers Deal Breakers Self-Assessment Municipal Action

4. Deal Breaker #1 Municipal leaders often lack up-to-date information about location needs of industry and the recruitment efforts of competing locations, especially in a rapidly changing global economy Deal Maker/Action Steps Economic Development Self-Assessment Tool (EDSAT) Helps municipalities clarify economic development goals and identify strengths and weaknesses relative to other locations Provides access to the best thinking of private sector site location specialists The Dukakis Center and the NLC are available to provide on-going economic development training

5. Deal Breaker #2 • Business decision makers have well-defined “cognitive maps” - perceptions or expectations of a municipality’s attributes and opportunities • Deal Maker/Action Steps • EDSAT assists municipal officials in • Combining resources to better market their communities and respond to inquires from firms, developers, and location specialists • Making their websites more informative for businesses so that they can make rational decisions about locations

6. Deal Breaker #3 • Site specific deficiencies can add excessive costs to doing business in particular cities • Deal Maker/Action Steps • Encourage the enactment of urban overlay zoning districts where there can be flexible use, expedited permitting, focused public safety efforts, and amenity packages essential to creating competitive advantages

7. Deal Breaker #4 • State and local review processes can add excessive costs to doing business in older industrial cities • Deal Maker/Action Steps • Identify development ready sites and pre-permit for industrial and commercial uses and market them • Create a permit system that allows for a single presentation of a development proposal to all review boards • Empower someone in the administration to oversee the development process and respond aggressively and proactively to the needs of firms expressing interest

8. Deal Breaker #5 • Traditional tax abatements, tax credits, and subsidies are often strategic deal closers, but are not sufficient to attract high value business investment if previous deal breakers are not overcome • Deal Maker/Action Steps • Use the Tax Increment Financing program to create revenue streams for critical infrastructure needs • Site state and municipal facilities in urban locations to stimulate creation of amenities and other attractions to spur private sector commercial and industrial investment

9. NAIOP/CoreNet Survey Categories • Permitting Processes • Labor: Skills and Costs • Development and Operating Costs • Business Environment • Transportation and Access to Markets • Quality of Life/Social Environment

10. Which location factors received the highest scores? • On-site parking • Rental rates • Availability of appropriate labor • Timeliness of approvals and appeals • When asked independent of the survey, NAIOP and CoreNet respondents identified factors consistent with the survey

11. Which location factors received the lowest scores? • Municipal minimum wage law • Access to rail • Strong trade unions

12. The Self-Assessment Tool (EDSAT ) • The self-assessment tool includes sections on: • Access to Customers/Markets • Concentration of Businesses and Services • Cost of Land (Implicit/Explicit) • Labor • Municipal Process • Quality of Life (Community) • Quality of Life (Site Amenities) • Business Incentives • Tax Rates • Access to Information

13. Customized EDSAT Reports • In a typical report you will find: • A summary of your responses to the self-assessment questionnaire • Color coded benchmarks against all municipalities that have participated in the self assessment • Dukakis Center staff analysis of your responses and a prioritized list of deal breakers to help you think about these issues in a concrete, actionable way • A ranking system noting which location factors are most important, somewhat important, and less important to attracting investment

14. How EDSAT Results are Being Used Chelsea - used as a roadmap to benchmark the city’s economic development policy Holyoke - participated in 2006 and considering retaking it to see how they compare now Ludlow - incorporated EDSAT into its master planning process, which is currently underway Salem - collaborated with the community stakeholders and saw it as a good vehicle to work across city departments Rhode Island - 8 communities participated individually and the Dukakis Center is providing an integrated, regional assessment

15. EDSAT Testimonials What folks are saying

16. "This is a great roadmap for the essentials for bench-marking our city's economic development policy."Jay Ash, City Manager, Chelsea, MA "It [taking the self-assessment] was a good learning experience for the employees in this town. We plan to hire a consultant [to help with development for the town], so the results from the self assessment will be good baseline data to share with the consultant."Anthony Fields, Planning Director, Burlington, MA "We have a new administration coming in, so it will be really helpful to be able to take all of this information we've rounded up for the self-assessment and hand it over to them."Steven Magoon, Chief Administrative Officer, Gloucester, MA “I’m using this as a guidebook for re-tooling our development process.” Mayor Charles Ryan, Springfield, MA

17. We hope that your community will participate in the EDSAT program Thank you Barry Bluestone Nancy Lee Heather Seligman Daniel Spiess

18. 617-373-7870 www.economicdevelopment.neu.edu

19. Expedited Permitting Specialized Industrial Cluster Focus Transit Connections Mixed Use Development Urban Overlay District Priority Infrastructure Housing High Performing Schools Public Safety Operations Leveraged Public/Private Investment Strategic Workforce Investment

20. Lead Actors • State Governments • Municipal Gov’ts • Regional Agencies • Business • Vocational/Technical Schools, Community Colleges, Universities • Municipal Leaders need to be the CEOs of economic development

21. Survey ResultsMean Scores for All Factors (1 = Very Important; 4= Less Important) * Question asked in NAIOP survey only. **Question asked in CoreNet survey only.

22. The Framework for the Tool • Municipal officials and staff working together answer over 250 questions in 10 categories • The results of the Self-Assessment Tool are secure and provided only to the local officials. Each community can choose to share the results at their own discretion • The results provide an ability to ascertain a community’s economic development strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

23. “The Partnership has provided me with the knowledge and assistance I need to understand and respond to the rapidly changing economic environment and to be an effective leader for economic development in my city."James Mitchell, Council Member, Charlotte, NC and 1st Vice President, National League of Cities "I'm using this as a guidebook for re-tooling our development process."Mayor Charles Ryan, Springfield, MA "We want the mayor to use this data [from the self-assessment] as a selling tool to get firms to come to our town....I think there's real value in being able to hand this information to a firm that might be interested in our town. It's been a great exercise for Norwood and we're just beginning to explore what changes we can make a result."Steve Costello, Town Planner, Norwood, MA

24. Sample Question 1 What is the average time (in weeks) from application to completion of the review process for the following: Building permit? 0-4 5-8 9-12 13-24 25-36 36+

25. Sample Result 1

26. Sample Question 2 What is the prevailing average hourly wage rate for mid-level clerical workers? $6.50 or less $6.51-$7.50 $7.51-$12.50 $12.51-$20 $20+

27. Sample Result 2

28. Sample Question 3 What percentage of available sites for general office space have on-site parking? 0% 1-25% 26-49% 50-74% 75%+

29. Sample Result 3