Agenda - Council - 10/22/2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PREFACE In these uncertain economic times, it is more important than ever for cities to develop and utilize sound economic development procedures and practices to address an ever more complex and changing marketplace. This handbook has been prepared as a guide to assist local economic development leaders to utilize their limited resources in the best practical manner. Furthermore, this handbook seeks to ascertain methods in which one can better set up one's EDA to make it more efficient and effective in utilizing scarce resources. The key to successful economic development is communication with local businesses to learn of their needs and concerns, and to determine how to best use the community's resources to address those concerns. Throughout my career in various economic development roles, I have seen, firsthand, just how vital development tools such as EDAs, Housing and Redevelopment Authorities, and Port Authorities can be to a community in building a vibrant business climate and in generating significant employment opportunities. Early in my career at the Region Nine Development Commission, I would have given anything to have a document such as this to utilize! As a Business Finance Specialist with the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development (now MN DEED) I was able to see directly just how important EDAs are to local communities and how they could be utilized to great effect by cities in Southern Minnesota. In addition, the ability to utilize EDA powers significantly benefited economic development through my tenure as Community Development Director in the City of Roseville and as City Administrator for Oakdale. In both communities, I found the use of an EDA (or similar authorities) to be an invaluable tool in many development and redevelopment projects. I would like to offer special thanks to a number of individuals for their hard work and dedication in updating this handbook. I would especially like to thank Mary Ippel from Briggs and Morgan for her experience and for her extensive help preparing this handbook. I would also like to thank the City of Oakdale staff including Assistant to the Administrator Dave Schaps, for coordinating the update of this handbook and compiling the information, and Intern Devin Swanberg for conducting the background research. In addition, my thanks to the Minnesota Economic Development Foundation for funding this project, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development for its review and subsequent publication of the handbook, and the Economic Development Association of Minnesota for its review of the handbook. We hope this guide will help you in your own economic development endeavors. Now go out there and create jobs and develop that tax base! Sincerely, Craig A. Waldron, City Administrator, ICMA-CM City of Oakdale