LGC Ahwanee presentation - March 2012

City Approaches to Economic
Development – the Ventura Way
Local Government
Commission
Building Livable
Communities: 21st
Annual Ahwahnee
Conference for Local
Elected Officials
March 18, 2012
•  Organizational Culture
•  Business Partnerships
•  Business Sector Strategies
–  Green
–  High-tech
–  Creative/Cultural
–  “General Business”
•  Couple “surprises”
•  Ahwahnee Economic Development
Principles…they are so very true
It’s all in the attitude
•  What does it mean to be “business
friendly?”
•  Changing the Ventura reputation
•  Internal cultural shift – across all City
departments
Organizational Culture
• Common Purpose
• Clearly stated expectations for customer service – Disney
Institute’s Organizational Excellence (Quality Standards)
• Track all who touch businesses – annual fire inspections,
waste water, etc.
• Define relationships across the organization – broadly
define who is in the business of supporting businesses
• Clearly articulated protocols for hand-offs
Land Use Planning as
Economic Development
•  Clear zoning codes – formbased codes – prescriptive
(do this and we’ll hand you
your approval) – does this
work?
•  Planning process –
predictable, reliable, clear
•  All parties on board – staff,
applicant, community and
decision-makers
Shameless Planner Plug…..
Post-Redevelopment Strategies
•  Replace “single-formula” of RDA with
multiple formulas driven from the bottomup
–  Property Based Improvement Districts
–  General / Special Taxes
–  Fees
–  Community Facilities Districts
–  Assessment Districts
–  Infrastructure Financing Districts
–  CDBG funding as leverage
•  Focus on community assets as a starting
point for Economic Development Strategy
Business Partnerships
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Chamber of Commerce
Visitors and Convention Bureau (VCB)
Downtown Ventura Partners (DVP)
Economic Development Collaborative –
Ventura County (EDC-VC)
Prosperity Council – do more with less, with
more collaboration/less redundancy
Partnerships: Chamber of
Commerce
• Partnering to outreach to
businesses
• State of the City/Education
• Local Policy Development
• Engaged in Planning for
economic development
• High-Tech Incubator
• Chamber as City Hall
tenant?
Partnerships: VCB
Ventura
County
Lodging
Association
(VCLA)
• Tourism
• Trade shows
• Image/Brand
• Marketing
Transform tourism marketing to business marketing
Partnerships: DVP (PBID)
Safe and
Clean
Activate public
places
Business
outreach
Partnership: EDC-VC
Economic Development Collaborative – Ventura County
Business Assistance Loans (BAP)
• Code compliance ($10-25k)
• Micro-loans (CDBG)
• Commercial Rehab ($10-50k)
• Small Business Loans ($10-50k)
• 48 businesses, 78 loans, 145 jobs $2.4 million invested
retained, 160 jobs created, 1 job
per $16k invested
EDC-VC
•  Business Enhancement Program (BEP)
–  Free and confidential assistance for
businesses
–  One on one counseling
–  Technical assistance
–  Agency referral
–  Turn-around assistance
–  Start ups/ Entrepreneurs
–  30 consultants
–  200+ businesses served/year
Retail is still important
Shop Local Campaign
Business to Business
Purchases
Yes, people still need
vehicles
Focus Area 1
Cultural/Creative
FILM411
Ventura Film
Commission
Creative
Economy
Specialist
Event driven
economic
development
Music is where it’s at…
Music Festival
Music Week
Summer Concert
Series
“Ventura County has the 4th
highest concentration of music
industry businesses (after
Nashville, LA and NYC) in the
United States!”
The Arts
• Partnership with PLACE
• LEED Certified
• 54 Affordable Live/Work
Artists spaces
• 15 permanent supportive
housing units
Working Artists Ventura
(WAV)
• Catalyst for arts
community and downtown
development
Projects Linking Arts, Community and the Environment
High Tech Jobs
Ventura Ventures Technology Center – V2TC
• Invested $3.5m into DFJ Frontiers Venture
Capital Fund
• Invested $400k in space design (10,000 sq.ft.) to
house high-tech starts ups
High Tech Jobs
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Academic partnerships
14 Companies
56 Total jobs
1 New Company starting this month
Medical District
Two new inpatient
hospitals
VCMC
CMH
Backfill
opportunities
$350m
investment in
Midtown
General Business
• Mayors Manufacturers
Breakfast
• Chamber forming
manufacturers Group
• Strengthen what we have
• Personal Touch works
• Commercial PACE
Grow Your Business…Live
Your Life – Quality of Life is
important
Safe and Clean Public Places
• Partnership
• City/County
• Non-profit service
providers
• Business/Community
• Focus on key areas
Anti-Panhandling Campaign
Debris Hotline
Activating public places
Police Resources
Coordination with all stakeholders
Poverty Reduction (example)
River Haven
Only permitted self
governing selfgoverning camp in
Ventura County
Connecting the Dots
Asset Driven Action
•  Downtown
•  Harbor
•  Agriculture
•  Beach
•  Fairgrounds
•  Outdoor recreation
•  High Value Jobs
The Ahwahnee Principles for
Economic Development
THANK YOU
DRIVE SAFELY
Jeffrey Lambert, AICP
Community Development Director
City of Ventura