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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Development Task Force Report, February 2005Economic Development Task Force Report February 2005* BACKGROUND Economic development at the local level can take on varying forms. To some, it is simply job creation, while to others it represents an ongoing effort to strengthen and grow a community's commercial tax base. Fortunately, in Lexington, there has been a conscious acknowledgement of the importance of economic development locally for the past several years. Nearly ten years ago, a grass roots effort led to the creation of the town's first economic development office and a town funded staff position entitled Economic Development Officer This approach quickly distinguished Lexington from numerous abutting towns that lacked such staff capacity within their town governmental structure. Furthermore, Lexington created and adopted an economic development element to the town's Comprehensive Plan, which serves to outline the community's sentiments and priorities regarding the commercial sector. However, the economic development effort in Lexington experienced a major setback two years ago when, due to budgetary constraints and a tax override failure, the economic development office was closed and the economic development officer terminated. Today, Lexington struggles to regain a local focus on this very important topic. DISCUSSION OF ISSUES & QUESTIONS Focus of Task Force: The current Lexington Vision 2020 process has enabled the formation of an economic development task force charged with the following tasks: develop goals; - propose specific actions; identify stakeholders; and - articulate measures of success. Following the 2020 Vision Convention in the fall of 2004, the economic development group launched into this effort and offered an array of fresh ideas regarding some future actions. Highlights of these include: reinstatement of the Economic Development Department within the town; use of a Business Overlay District as a tool to achieve certain goals; - establishment of a Business Development Commission, to streamline regulatory permitting and create a revenue stream that could facilitate physical improvements and built projects. The following people participated in discussions of the task force: Steve Turner, Mary Jo Bohart, Fernando Quezada, Jerome Smith, Narian Bhatia, Todd Cataldo, Ed Grant, Don Jansen, Steve Kaufman, Ryn Miake-Lye, Richard Canale, J Attanucci, Nancy Tintendo, M Barrett, Tom Harden, Pamela Hoffman, Richard Pagett, <lisbeth@rcn com>; <ses@spauldingco com> Economic Development Issues: The query, "Why is economic development important to Lexington?" still comes up in everyday conversation within the residential population. Thus, clarification of the long-term benefits of economic development must somehow be conveyed broadly if the topic is to foster and sustain support from year to year Not all residents seem interested in growing a strong commercial tax base in order to offset rising residential taxes. If this is so, then other key benefits to residents such as an enhanced lifestyle where daily needs can be obtained locally must somehow be explored and receive more emphasis. An economic development policy for the Town of Lexington would provide consistency in any town efforts to promote corporate office districts such as Hartwell Avenue, Hayden Avenue, Spring Street and others, along with retail areas in the center and elsewhere. There is also a perception that limited or no action has taken place in Lexington regarding economic development. This has caused some local observers to become doubtful that progress is possible. However, the task force observes that the Lexington Center Committee serves as an example of how barriers and impediments to progress can systematically be identified and tackled. Emergence of Early Goals: Several interesting goals have emerged that deserve further study Specifically, the task force feels the need to gather current feedback from businesses in different neighborhoods of Lexington, to get a sense of their strongest issues and concerns today Findings from this exercise could then be compared to the town's Economic Development element of the Comprehensive Plan, to see if there has been a shift in attitude over the past few years. Also, participation of the full range of stakeholders must be gained in order for the end product to be reality based. The challenge is to engage current and potential stakeholders which include not only Lexington residents who care about economic development, but also Lexington business owners, commercial property owners or developers, employees at corporations in Lexington, local regulators, local elected officials, and assorted community groups and organizations such as the Lexington Rotary, Lexington Lions Club, Knights of Columbus, Lexington Elks Club, Lexington Center Committee, Lexington Tourism Committee, Lexington Business Partnership, and many more. The task force is aware that it may not be possible to engage all such parties, but at least a representative sampling is truly needed for an effective and inclusive process to take place. CONCLUDING DETERMINATION An important challenge is to secure significant participation by key commercial stakeholders in Lexington. This will be required to provide the necessary credibility and a solid foundation to back up the ideas being generated. Some long-time participants in the town's economic development efforts feel as though the same thoughts and ideas just keep getting repeated. These folks are eager for tangible results. Others newer to the discussion seek confirmation that old ideas are still valid given the changing nature of Lexington as a town and its commercial sector specifically It is critical for local businesspersons and residents to commit the time necessary to guide the community through an extensive process involving: clarification of issues, identification and outreach to stakeholders, consensus building, and development of implementation measures. Another key element in keeping the topic of economic development moving forward would be regular participation and guidance by an appropriate town staff person, possibly from Planning, Community Development, or the Town Manager's office. Such staff support would provide the continuity and momentum needed to keep moving ahead. Although the work of the task force created in the fall of 2004 is over, the topic of economic development remains open. Economic development as a subject will require more time for proper, thorough outreach and important consensus building to take place. The end result will not only be a list of goals, actions, and measures of success to satisfy the desires of those who track matrices, but also help to guide the community toward visible, achievable results and ultimately a stronger commercial sector for Lexington. * The Economic Development Task Force identified some key issues but did not agree on specific proposals. This summary was prepared by a subset of the membership in order to document the work of the group.