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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 04/09/2019 - UPDATE ON REGIONAL ECONOMIC COLLABORATIONDATE: STAFF: April 9, 2019 Josh Birks, Economic Health Director WORK SESSION ITEM City Council SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION Update on Regional Economic Collaboration. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to update City Council on the Economic Health Office's (EHO) increased efforts to collaborate with regional economic partners. This update directly ties to the City's Strategic Plan, specifically Economic Health 3.1 - Facilitate government and local partners to form an effective regional economic health group. In addition, this effort ties directly to the Economic Health Strategic Plan, specifically in the Think Regionally theme that envisions a region that partners to address economic issues which extend beyond municipal boundaries. EHO staff will present material that was developed collaboratively and was shared with the councils of the City of Greeley, City of Loveland, and numerous others in the region. As a result, the presentation does not follow traditional City of Fort Collins brand guidelines. GENERAL DIRECTION SOUGHT AND SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED 1. Does the Council have any questions about the current regional economic collaboration? 2. Is Council comfortable with EHO staff continuing to engage with regional partners around this collaboration? BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION Starting in mid-2017, partners from a variety of regional economic development entities (Larimer County, Weld County, Upstate Colorado, City of Greeley, City of Loveland, Town of Windsor, City of Fort Collins, and numerous others) began to meet regularly to discuss current trends, issues, and concerns. Out of these discussions rose several common themes. At the end of 2017, these same partners decided to work together to complete a current state assessment. As a result, the regional partners identified a common objective that united all the varied efforts: to increase the economic resilience of our region, our counties, and our communities. The Economic Health Office engaged in these regional efforts based on clear guidance from the City’s 2016 and 2018 Strategic Plans: 2016 Economic Health 3.1 - Improve effectiveness of economic health initiatives through collaboration with regional partners. 2018 Economic Health 3.1 - Facilitate government and local partners to form an effective regional economic health group. Furthermore, the 2015 Economic Health Strategic Plan recognized a need for regional collaboration by including the theme, Think Regionally with a vision statement: “A region that partners to address issues which extend beyond municipal boundaries.” Regional Economic Development History and Context Larimer and Weld Counties have each had a long history of regional economic development efforts. Historically, the Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation (“NCEDC”) served as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit April 9, 2019 Page 2 corporation was formed in 2001 and dedicated to attracting and supporting primary employers in Larimer County. NCEDC was dissolved in 2015. Over the course of its history, NCEDC was successful in attracting and serving a broad range of primary employers in Larimer County with a mission to “advance economic vitality through strategic job growth.” Currently, Upstate Colorado (“Upstate”), a public/private non-profit economic development corporation, provides services to all of Weld County. Upstate focuses on supporting primary employers in the retail, service and professional sectors, with a goal of helping to create and retain jobs in the County. One NoCo, a 501(c)(6) corporation governed by prominent business executives in Northern Colorado, was established in 2014 with the goal of attracting and stimulating relevant economic opportunity and job growth for the region. Since formation, One NoCo has created a website to market the region and provide a landing page for those interested in the region, conducted two site selector familiarization tours, and attended numerous conferences. At the end of 2018, Andy Montgomery stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of the corporation. With no staff, the Board has been meeting for the past several months to determine their next steps. In January, the three area chambers (Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, Loveland Chamber, and Greeley Chamber) began partnering with One NoCo with an objective to “proactively brand and market the region” and “reinforce why companies should stay and expand in Northern Colorado.” – Scott Ehrlich, current One NoCo Chair Regional economic development professionals met with One NoCo on January 9, 2019 to brief them on the current state of collaboration in the region. The One NoCo board had been previously unaware of the current level of activity and expressed enthusiasm for the work of the regional economic development partners. The future role of One NoCo remains unclear at this time; however, the system being developed through regional collaboration is agnostic regarding the number and type of participants. Instead, the system will focus on expectations of partners and ensuring coordination across the two counties. Why Regional Economic Collaboration? Leadership within the County has been unclear since the dissolution of NCEDC. Many of the functions performed by NCEDC were absorbed by the area municipalities, specifically lead fulfillment. As One NoCo focused its efforts outward, regional economic development professionals redoubled efforts on business retention and expansion, coordination and alignment of data, and commitment to collaboration – as codified in a regional Code of Ethics (Attachment 1). This has led to several new outcomes: 1. Emerging collaboration between the Larimer and Weld County Workforce Boards and Workforce Centers. 2. Key messaging about the region reviewed by all participating entities (over 30 individual municipalities, both counties, and several public/private partnerships). 3. Coordination of data leading to a re-evaluation of regional industry clusters. 4. Collaboration on retention efforts related to existing businesses throughout the region, which has led to reduced competition with incentives between communities to retain business in the region. The regional economic development partners are now working to develop a networked system of partners that can continue to work together to coordinate efforts, avoid duplication, and ensure role clarity. The system is intended to create an environment where a business can engage with any member in the network and get the support they need. This “no wrong door” approach represents a shift from the historic approach of “one front door” to the region represented by NCEDC, Upstate Colorado, and One NoCo. This approach is better aligned with the market and site selectors – who can now obtain a wealth of information on the internet about our region before ever contacting a single person. The partners are working to update the Code of Ethics, develop a Regional Economic Health Charter, and support with memorandum of understanding where appropriate to provide details to the system. The new approach addresses the reality of the current market and the evolution of economic development in the country. Now more than even ten years ago, the economy of Northern Colorado does not follow municipal boundaries: • Labor Force - On any given day in Larimer/Weld Counties nearly 90,000 workers travel the region to their job - this is almost equivalent to the population of Loveland. April 9, 2019 Page 3 • Housing Affordability - Many communities in Northern Colorado have seen significant increases in their average home prices. Finding affordable housing now requires workers to consider locations that are even more dispersed around the region. • Talent Development - The region contains two major universities and two community college systems. These institutions create a significant amount of labor capacity. • Transportation - All these conditions translate to increasing demand on the transportation and transit networks of the region. These conditions cannot be solved by a single entity, community, or county. They require collaboration and cooperation. As a result, our strategy on Economic Health needs to recognize this fact and react accordingly. How are Partners Collaborating? Throughout 2018, the partners evaluated the current state of regional economic activities and develop an objective of encouraging increased economic resilience. Economic resilience is characterized by conditions that allow businesses: (a) to form; (b) to grow/sustain; and (c) to revive. The partners believe that economic resilience in this form comes from the combination of: • Strength - Focus on existing business and industries to enable them to sustain, grow, and revive in our region; and • Diversity - Focus on innovation, emerging industry sectors, and talent diversity to ensure a range of employment opportunities and industries form, grow, and sustain in our region. In the end, economic resilience is the foundation for business success which leads to income growth and community wealth creation. These are the conditions of prosperity that support a strong community. Out of these efforts came four key messages about the Northern Colorado regional economy: 1. Our economy is driven by smart talent and innovative business minds. 2. Our robust talent development pipeline is producing the workers we need today and tomorrow. 3. Our unique strengths include demonstrated regional cooperation and mobile talent. 4. Our population, jobs, and industries are growing fast. To evaluate next steps, the partners completed a current state assessment focused on four key inputs to economic strength and diversity: • Target Industries - Focuses on existing sectors to ensure strength and identifies new sectors to encourage diversity. • Business Engagement - Gains understanding of business opportunities and constraints and provides industry insight. • Talent Development – Talent (or people) is the most essential input in the modern economy, therefore, must understand employer needs, understand and enhance regional labor capacity, and partner with educational institutions. • Data Driven - Data can both provide value to existing business and provide focus and direction to regional economic collaboration. Data drives the other three areas of focus. What are the Partners Doing Next? The partners are working to formalizing the system with a revised Code of Ethics, Partnership Charter, and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) where appropriate. In addition, the regional partners have identified several areas of strategic and tactical focus for 2019 and beyond. These areas include: • Target Industries - Revisit industries and use data to identify targets. • Talent Development - Enhance sector partnerships by adding other key sectors and enhance regional coordination. April 9, 2019 Page 4 • Business Engagement - Combine regional findings and use to adjust, refine, deliver services based on key insights. • Data Driven - Enhance regional coordination and enhance availability to private sector. Another major task of the partners has been sharing this update with others, including (unless otherwise noted these presentations have already occurred): • City of Greeley • City of Loveland • Larimer County • Weld County • South Weld County Partners • Airport Commission • Town of Windsor (end of April) • One NoCo ATTACHMENTS 1. Regional Code of Ethics (PDF) 2. PowerPoint (PDF) The Partnership CONFIDENTIALITY OF PROSPECTS In all instances members of the Partnership shall honor the confidentiality of individual prospects. Whenever possible, specific information on particular transactions shall be shared within the Northern Colorado partnership. In instances, where a prospect wishes to remain completely confidential with an individual community, the remaining members of the Partnership shall honor that confidentiality and shall in no way attempt to intervene in the relationship. The prospect will remain confidential until the prospect chooses to announce. MARKETING Members are strongly discouraged from advertising in local media outside of their own market area. CODE OF ETHICS INTRODUCTION The Partnership is committed to the economic development and growth of the northern Colorado region. The Partnership brings together the interests of a broad range of public, private, and not-for-profit groups to promote the northern Colorado area as a single economic entity. The collaboration of such a variety of groups and interests requires that certain standards of conduct must be developed and adhered to for the Partnership to meet its goal. This Code of Ethics represents the standards that each member of the Partnership supports and practices in its daily conduct of business. We, the members of the Partnership, set forth the following principles of behavior and standards of conduct to guide efforts in promoting the long-term economic health of northern Colorado community. We fully realize that no Code of Ethics is of value without an inherent level of trust in the integrity of one another and a commitment from each of us to conduct ourselves at the highest levels of professional conduct. The Partnership is founded on the respect and trust of its members. In that spirit, we set forth this Code of Ethics. PREAMBLE We are committed to the promotion of Northern Colorado as a desirable business location for new and expanding companies. When representing the Partnership, we shall endeavor to sell “Northern Colorado” first and our individual communities and projects second. We shall honor the confidentiality requested by both our fellow members of the Partnership and our prospects. Information shared with our fellow members in confidence shall remain in confidence. Transactions are to be driven by the client. In the event a company chooses to relocate from one community to another, every effort will be made to contact the affected community to let them know of the potential move. Violation of this commitment shall be viewed as the single most serious breach of our pledge to the Partnership. We are committed to the concept of competition for locations and expansions among our individual communities and projects, provided that the prospect has asked for specific proposals or has settled on a northern Colorado location. At no time shall any member of the Partnership solicit a fellow member’s prospects. We are committed to working together with the real estate community and are in no way in direct competition with them. Economic developers are a resource and facilitator in the site selection process. We are committed to sharing among our membership as much information as is necessary and prudent on any activity undertaken by or in the name of the Partnership. Our guiding principle shall be that “more information is better than less.” At no time shall any economic development organization member of the Partnership advertise or promote its respective area to companies within another member’s geographic area in a manner that is derogatory or insulting to the other geographic area. “Selling against another member of the Partnership or another Colorado community, or direct solicitation of intrastate relocations, is strongly discouraged. ATTACHMENT 2 We are committed to locating prospects in the Northern Colorado region. In the event that our local jurisdictions cannot meet the needs of a particular prospect we shall communicate with our fellow members in an effort to meet the company’s needs elsewhere in the northern Colorado area. Economic development organizations shall hold all site and building information provided by member real estate brokerage firms in the strictest confidence. Said information shall not be printed, copied, and shown in any manner to any entity other than prospects or their direct representatives. ATTACHMENT 1