1) The community has a pro-business attitude — starting at the top. If top officials in local government like councilors and selectors support new businesses, chances are good that others within the community will be supportive as well.
2) The community lets it be known that it is “open for businesses” by having someone — usually an economic development director — in place to act as a liaison between businesses and community officials to streamline the development process.
3) The community is proactive about offering tax increment financing packages (TIFs) or other tax breaks to attract businesses. As tax breaks are becoming a common tactic to lure companies, cities and states that do not make an effort to offer them up front run the risk of seeming standoffish to new business.
4) The community has a skilled work force — or if not, the community will willingly form partnerships with businesses and local community colleges in training programs to meet a company’s specific needs.
5) The community has sound infrastructure in place. If it is not completely up to par, companies should not hesitate to ask city officials how willing they are to make upgrades happen sooner rather than later. Often the promise of new jobs may be just the thing to make it a top priority.
6) The community has municipal services — such as water, sewer, electrical ,and high-speed Internet — that are up to par and affordable, as well as fire and police departments that are reliable and possess state-of-the-art equipment. Business-friendly municipalities will be quick to impress upon prospects that they have the capability to handle such things as fires, road maintenance, etc., and are willing to make the necessary investments to keep it that way.
7) The community has a good school system and recreational opportunities, and makes an effort to invest in their local arts organizations. Business-friendly communities realize that in order for a company to be successful, it needs to find a location where current and future workers will want to work, live, and raise their families.
8) The community has officials who are aware of the importance of good public relations and are willing to go out of their way to spread the good word on behalf of new businesses coming to town.
9) The community operates with a realization that time is money for business owners, and its officials are willing to cut through red tape by assisting on things like the pre-permitting of development sites.
10) The community has resources and people to do the legwork and help companies find the best land or building available, or to work with them to ensure a new facility can be built to meet their needs.
Read the entire article at Area Development Online http://www.areadevelopment.com/viewpoint/apr07/tenSigns.shtml
Traits Jacksonville seems to possess:
ReplyDelete1. The community has a pro-business attitude — starting at the top.
2) The community is “open for businesses” and has an economic development director
6) The community has the needed municipal services
Traits Jacksonville seems to possess, but does not always exhibit in an appropriate fashion:
3) The community is proactive about offering tax increment financing packages (TIFs) or other tax breaks to attract businesses. COMMENT: Though there has been a willingness to provide financial assistance for new businesses, there have been a number of failures in this area.
5) The community has sound infrastructure in place. COMMENT: The Better Jacksonville Plan seems to have helped here.
7) The community has a good school system and recreational opportunities, and invests in their local arts organizations. COMMENT: The school system seems to be improving, but it cannot achieve the desired outcomes without outside support mechanisms for students. Most students need additional support from the home or community to succeed.
8) The community has officials who are aware of the importance of good public relations and are willing to spread the word. COMMENT: Though many of the city leaders have been good representatives, some city leaders have behaved in a fashion that would lead outsiders to believe Jacksonville is backward and uneducated.
Traits Jacksonville does not seem to possess:
4) The community has a skilled work force — or is willing to educate the workforce to meet a company’s specific needs. COMMENT: Jacksonville has many skilled workers, but not enough to be enticing to business leaders.
Questionable Traits
9) The community realizes time is money for business owners, and its officials are willing to cut red tape and pre-permitting. COMMENT: Yes, time is money, but is it always good to cut the red-tape and permitting. In many cases, these things exist for legitimate reasons.
10) The community has resources and people to do the legwork. COMMENT: I am not sure this is a trait that Jacksonville possesses.
COMMENTS: Maybe efforts are needed to ensure that the city exhibits all of these traits in an appropriate and consistent fashion. If not, identify the ones that will pay the greatest dividends and make sure they are addressed.