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2024-01-17 Economic Development Commission MinutesCITY OF EDMONDS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING January 17, 2024 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Nicole Hughes, Chair Kevin Harris, Vice Chair Darrol Haug Jay Hoag Matt Cox Kevin Smith Allan Townsend Nick Perrault via Zoom COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Kate Nolan — Student Representative Natalie Seitz - unexcused LIAISONS PRESENT: Chris Eck, Councilmember, ex-officio LIAISONS ABSENT: Vacant — Planning Board, ex-officio David Preston, Port Commissioner, ex-officio Ryan Crowther, Chamber, ex-officio GUESTS: Roger Pence STAFF PRESENT: Todd Tatum, Director CS/ED Megan Luttrell, Program Coordinator CS/ED Economic Development Commission meeting called to order by Nicole Hughes at 6:04 p.m. Call to Order and Land Acknowledgement 1. Roll Call and Recognition of Approved Absences: Kate is absent due to finals. Natalie's absence is unexcused. David Preston is absent due to a conflicting event. 2. Approval of Agenda: Kevin Smith moves to approve the agenda; Jay seconds; motion passes. 3. Approval of December 20, 2023, Meeting Summary: Matt moves to approve the meeting summary; Darrol seconds; motion passes. 4. Audience Comments: Roger Pence, the former Planning Board liaison points out that the position is vacant. Due to the Comp Plan Update and the Landmark Project, there is a lot of work that is overlapping between the Board and Commission. He will reach out to the Chair of the Planning Board to request a board member be assigned to the EDC. Welcome to Councilmember Eck. S. Presentation and Discussion: Components of Economic Development: Todd has prepared a presentation (see attached) to share with the Commission regarding different topics in Economic Development to add some context for future discussions. A robust discussion follows the presentation. Todd explains that bringing small groups of Council together to discuss at the local level but also connecting more with the Economic Alliance of Snohomish County would be worthwhile steps. Nicole suggests reorienting the EDC's work regularly to address the priorities that evolve in the City. Todd points out how the EDC is effective in bridging the gap between the community and government. Darrol adds the Commission's job is bringing jobs into the City and revenue for the City. We need to identify the type of businesses we want in the City. Kevin H. suggests that it's the interconnectivity of businesses and employees. If employees of businesses in Edmonds can't afford to live here, they won't necessarily stay and spend money here. He questions, how does the City Meeting Summary Economic Development Commission January 17, 2024 Page 1 prioritize the information that was presented in the slides? Todd loops back to Darrol's comments on the Five Corners Study, they both agree the challenge lands on the implementation of the information gleaned during studies like this. There is a missing piece of how to bring ideas to fruition. The City needs to build the tools to make this happen. Councilmember Eck adds the attractiveness of our neighborhoods is an interesting piece. What types of business could be brought to Hwy 99 to improve it? Bring businesses into Edmonds so you don't have to leave to get what you need. Improvements to infrastructure and walkability would need to be made. What type of research could we do to better understand what businesses are looking for in different areas of Edmonds. Matt asks how this Commission can support staff and fill the gaps? Darrol suggests evaluating what tools we have, i.e., other organizations such as the Port of Edmonds, other city partnerships, art organizations, etc. Nicole summarizes; one of the big missing pieces is the implementation arm; she suggests ideas are, -Ad that should show up in the Comp Plan. She asks the group to review the presentation and bring priorities back to the next meeting. She asks the Comp Plan group to discuss the implementation piece. 6. City Update: a. Landmark 99 Project: Not a lot to report. The Request for Proposals (RFP) will be going out soon. Once the RFP closes, there will be a selection committee, the selection will likely need to be approved by the Council. That will be the first touch point with the development community. At this point, the developer would have a say in the project, moving forward. A memorandum of agreement on due diligence would then be developed and would spell out the developer vs. the City roles. This could happen as early as March or April. Beyond this, touchpoints are a bit more unknown. The timeline for responses to the RFP will be due in mid -March, which will allow for 6-8 weeks to develop responses. b. Comprehensive Plan Project: Nicole shares that the group has not met since the last meeting. They plan to get together in the next couple of weeks. Open houses start in March. Discuss Plan to Deliver Council Update: Nicole would like the group to start thinking about the presentation to the Council. Any recommendations, accomplishments, etc. to present. She asks the group to name one thing that comes to mind. The group responds 'round-robin':Highlight what has been done, what's still leverageable, or what is forward thinking. Collaboration opportunities with Boards & Commissions, or other organizations. Councilmember Eck will do her best to get the Commission in front of Council when the Commission has something to share, public comment is always an option as well. c. Accomplishments and Work: i. Lake Ballinger field trip and engaging with the community. ii. Participation in the budget retreat iii. Comp plan work iv. Collaboration with Planning Board v. Revenue building, growing by increasing tax base and attracting business vi. Landmark proposal work and participation in Mayor's Advisory Committee vii. Cultural awareness program — we haven't accomplished them but perhaps this is in an area where they can have impact. viii. Edmonds biz booster ix. Guidance on when to connect with Council x. Chart what the next couple years look like Meeting Summary Economic Development Commission January 17, 2024 Page 2 Council President Olson sent an email asking if we would rethink the timing of when liaisons need to be at meetings. She asked if EDC would discuss whether it's necessary to be every meeting. Give it some thought for a future discussion. d. Commission Structure: Bring ideas to next meeting. Nicole & Kevin H. have served as the Chair & Co -Chair since April 2020. Next meeting bring nominations for new leadership. 7. Liaison Updates: a. City Council (Chris Eck): She was sworn in at the end of November. Budget has been approved but it is still being worked on. Comp Plan & Landmark are hot topics. Glad to be here. b. Port of Edmonds (David Preston): Absent. c. Chamber of Commerce (Ryan Crowther): Absent. 8. Roundtable Discussion: Megan, will miss the meeting next month. Kevin Smith looking forward to 2024. Matt shares that ECA is reviving the Kidstock event on January 27th. Allan just moved downtown and has been enjoying the walkability. Darrol, thanks to Councilmember Eck for coming, a new vinyl record store is opening, they buy vinyl! Nicole, thank you to Councilmember Eck. Kevin H. thank you Councilmember Eck, great holiday season! Nick, welcome to Councilmember Eck. 9. Adjourn: 8:10 p.m. Next meeting: February 21, 2024, 6 PM location Hybrid — Brackett Room & Zoom Meeting Summary Economic Development Commission January 17, 2024 Page 3 Economic Development Overview oi/v/za Todd Tatum, Director Community/Culture/Economic Development Functions • Real Estate Development and Reuse • Destination Marketing and Development • Business Attraction and Retention Business Attraction - lessons learned • BA requires a lot of financial and time investment that does not always result in a "win." Its "patient money." • BA is not solely based on marketing, but on the competitive and comparative advantages of the community. • BA marketing materials are less relevant than the community's ability to respond to location inquiries. OF E DMo�O r Components of Marketing and Attraction 1. Know the product 2. Know the market 3. Know the process 4. Reach the market 5. Improve the product OF E DMo�O r Role of the Economic Development Practitioner • Work with local constituents and educate them on the importance of economic development marketing attraction • Market the community internally as a great place to live and do business • Establish a positive image and attitude amongst businesses, political, and community leaders and unite them to collectively contribute to required investments in the community in order to make it attractive to clients • Build a positive relationship between the public and private sectors of EDM r Understanding Your Product Community Inventory • State and regional approach • External and internal data collection • Demographics • Business climate - local governments play a critical role in creating an investment -friendly environment • Attitudes towards growth • Public -private cooperation • Government responsiveness • Economic dev resources and project management experience • Government regulations, fees, zoning patterns, and permits and permitting time of EDM Understanding Your Product Community Inventory • Economic structure • Labor market/workforce • Transportation • Infrastructure • Cost of doing business • Quality of life • Financial capital availability OF E DMo�O r Real Estate Development Process • Business -oriented approaches • Place -oriented approaches* • Focus on the community's physical resources • Seek to improve roads and utilities • Develop employment centers • Include broad and specific efforts to revitalize areas and reuse specific sites • Resident -oriented approaches The Basic Real Estate Development Process • Phase 1: Predevelopment (business plan) • Phase 2: Market, financial, and political feasibility • The market study provides a basis for identifying business development opportunities and forming realistic development plans (what products are appropriate for this market?) • The purpose of political feasibility is to determine if the public sector will approve a viable project in a reasonable amount of time (time is money) • Phase 3: Site and engineering analysis • Phase 4: Financing • Phase 5: Contractor negotiations and public approvals • Phase 6: Construction • Phase 7: Marketing • Phase 8: Building occupancy and management of EDM The Need for Participation in Development • Type I: Projects for which there exists neither current market support, nor the likelihood of adequate market support to justify their costs in the foreseeable future — e.g. low-income housing projects • Type II: Project for which current market support is inadequate to justify development, but for which there exists some reasonable probability that if the property is developed, it will generate revenue to repay its total costs, or a portion of those costs — e.g. distressed grocery stores, or strip malls • Type III: Project for which the public sector controls the property parcel or development right that is uniquely valuable to the developer — e.g. downtown convention center of EDM Characteristics of Typical EDO-Sponsored Development by Land Use Type II Uses Industrial Urban or rural industrial park Office Mixed -use development, business park Retail Mixed -use development, distressed area grocery store or other service retail, mall or strip center retrofit Residential Market rate and low-income multifamily housing, mixed -use development Hotel Convention center hotels Perceptions of Location Types in Light of Covid-19 Large urban areas (city with population more than 1 million) 26% Neither more or less attractive as a business location 48% Less attractive as a business location 26% More attractive as business location Mid -tier urban area (city with population less than 1 million) 32% Neither more or less attractive as a business location 18% Less attractive as a business location 50% More attractive as a business location *IEDC data of EDP �'�� � oho Availability of skilled workers 46% 01 Competitive labor costs 38% Available sites/buildings 32% Business -friendly government 27% Strong quality of I ife 2 3 % Efficient transportation systems (highway, air, rail, port) 19% Competitive incentives 1 18% Leading Sources of Information Dialogue with industry peers 48% 46% 55% 50% 61% 54% 56% 71% 68% Business travel 37% 42% 37% 27% 42% 45% 47% 45% 52% Articles in newspapers and 32% 34% 44% 46% 53% 45% 62% 61% 60% magazines (print and online) Meetings with economic 30% 33% 31% 28% 32% 33% 21% 27% 24% development organizations Internet/websites 26% 27% 22% 20% 28% 22% 9% 9% — Rankings/surveys 25% 21% 24% 36% 22% 17% 23% 31% 34% Word of mouth 17% 22% 21% 19% 19% 16% 29% 21% 24% Social media 16% 11% 2% 0% — — — — — Personal travel 15% 17% 13% 9% 14% 13% 14% 8% 21% TV/radio newscasts/shows 13% 6% 9% 14% 7% 5% 140/, 7% 4% Advertising 10% 9% 4% 3% — — — Other 7% 8% 12% 13% 10% 140,'. 140/ 8% 15% Direct mail 4% 2% 2% 0% 2% 2% 2% 3% 1% *IEDC data Most Effective Marketing Techniques 69% Internet/website D 58% Planned visits to corporate executives 54% Hosting special events 054% Media relations/publicity 0 48% E-newsletters/e-marketing* ENNL� 46% Social media *IEDC data of EDM Most Useful Features of an EDO's Website 56% Incentive information IWO 41% Demographic information Apo 39% Major employer list 4& 38% Searchable database of available buildings and sites 0 35% Workforce statistics 35% Comparisons to competitor locations we 33% Quality of life information of EDM *IEDC data Key Takeaways Access to talent continues to steer the decision -making process. Online and digital media resources continue to grow in importance. Credible third -parties influence location decisions. Relationship building is still critical. OF EDP r *IEDC data Top Tips for Branding • Root it in research • Define your target audiences • Do an honest SWOT analysis • Articulate your value proposition and key messages • Embrace your geography • Be authentic with your brand voice and imagery • Activate your brand • Communicate consistently to your target audiences *IEDC data Discussion