Economic Development Strategy

Transcription

1 City of Geneva Economic Development Strategy Draft for Review and Comment August 2011 Prepared By: P.O. Box 3367 Saratoga Springs, NY

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3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary... 3 Strategies... 3 Launching the Effort... 6 Methods... 7 Introduction... 9 Economic Development Strategy Recommendations for Existing Strategic Imperatives, Economic Development Vision, & Action Plan. 12 Targeted Industry Sectors Downtown Strategies Strategies for Specific Commercial & Industrial Space Lakefront Strategies Education & Workforce Development Strategies Neighborhoods & Housing Strategies Entrepreneurship Development & Support Strategies Administration & Organization Strategies Targeted Industries: Industry Cluster & Sector Analysis Industry Clusters Industry Sectors (2 Digit NAICS) Industry Sectors (4 Digit NAICS) Occupations Retail Market Analysis City Trade Area Regional Trade Area Competitive Analysis Demographic & Economic Overview Visitation & Tourism Competitive Analysis Commercial & Industrial Competitive Analysis Business & Industrial Space Economic Impacts of Development Scenarios Expansion of the Technology Park Mixed Use Redevelopment in Downtown Expansion of Arts & Cultural Resources Public Investment Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 1

4 Appendix A: List of Sources & References Appendix B: Individuals Interviewed Appendix C: What is An Economic Impact Analysis? Appendix D: Business Incentives Appendix E: Commercial & Industrial Space Appendix F: Existing Economic Development Plan Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 2

5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In today s economic climate, it is imperative that communities take a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to economic development. Simply focusing efforts on an individual industry sector or cluster will not lead to a healthy economy able to withstand regional, national, and global fluctuations. Matters such as neighborhoods, housing, environment, cultural resources, business mix, quality of life, visitor attractions, entrepreneurship, education, and workforce are just some of the factors that influence an area s economic vitality and sustainability. Successful economic development strategies connect the dots between traditional economic development forces and the social, cultural, and physical characteristics of an area. Understanding these connections leads to actions that improve all aspects of an economy together as a whole, not as individual parts. Through this approach, the City of Geneva can build a strong and sustainable economic future. Strategies Geneva s Economic Development Strategy is a framework for action designed to produce positive economic results while being judicious with limited City and community resources by focusing on partnerships and collaboration. It proposes a series of data supported recommendations for inclusion in the City s current Economic Development Vision and Action plan. The Economic Development Strategy presents a number of recommendations in eleven functional, interrelated areas. However, the following recommendations should be considered the highest priority. Recommendations for Existing Strategic Imperatives, Economic Development Vision, & Action Plan Initiate a process as an immediate follow up to this report to be led by the Economic Development Advisory Committee to integrate the key components indentified in this report that are lacking from the City s current Economic Development Vision and Action Plan. Clearly define stakeholders and partners and what their roles will be for planning, implementing, monitoring, and communication. Using findings from the analysis contained in this report plus other recent reports, finalize priorities for action including actions to support three major initiatives: - Mixed Use Redevelopment in Downtown - Expansion of the Tech Farm - Expansion of Arts and Cultural Resources Targeted Industry Sectors The following industry sectors should be targeted for support and attraction: - Agriculture & Food Related Industries This industry sector is strong locally and regionally. - Manufacturing Focus should be on including regional and local niches as well as technology intensive companies in theses niches, including: Food Related Manufacturing, Furniture and Related Industries, Glass & Ceramics, Chemicals & Chemical Based Products, and Advanced Materials. - Arts, Entertainment, Cultural, Recreation, Visitation and Tourism, Food Services, & Accommodations The City s current tourism focus should be expanded to include all Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 3

6 components of this industry sector to support visitation and spending by residents, workers, and visitors within and external to the region. - Business & Financial Services This industry shows strength and occupational growth potential for Geneva, Ontario County, and the Rochester MSA. Additionally, as an officeutilizing industry, it fits well with Geneva s downtown initiatives. - Health Care/Life Sciences This industry should also be included as a target as it is one of the strongest industries in Geneva and throughout the region with significant growth potential. Industry clusters and sectors are not local; they rely on regional and global knowledge, networks, supply and demand chains, and workforce. As such, they are best supported regionally. Work in partnership with Ontario County Economic Development, the Finger Lakes Workforce Investment Board, and Greater Rochester Enterprise. Furthermore, look to Ontario County Economic Development to continue to lead these efforts regionally. Put an emphasis on workforce development, these efforts will cut across all industries and create long term resiliency. Initiate a business visitation program to better understand and address current business needs on a regular, systematic basis. Tourism Industry Strategies Attract visitors through enhanced amenities, increased events, and year round programming including recreation, lakefront related activities, and arts and culture attractions. Improve, enhance, and coordinate the use of the web and social media. Increase communication of local offerings to Hobart William and Smith students, faculty, and staff. Arts, Entertainment, Culture, Recreation, Visitation and Tourism, Food Services, and Accommodations Market Geneva s attractions, events, and amenities on regional websites by developing a comprehensive list of these assets and providing this information to regional website managers such as I love New York. Develop a brand. Continue aesthetic improvements, such as signage and landscaping. Downtown Strategies The GBID should take the lead on employing traditional revitalization efforts to attract new businesses into the downtown. Connect local businesses with the college community. Create uniform signage and banners designed to guide pedestrians between the lakefront and local businesses. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 4

7 Strategies for Specific Commercial & Industrial Space Align targeting strategies with targeted industry sectors. Establish a fund for on going marketing to targeted business prospects. Emphasis should be placed on web based resources including: websites, social media, and visibility on site selection sites. Embark on a greater collaborative effort between local and regional economic development stakeholders to market the City s commercial and industrial properties more effectively. Lakefront Strategies Significantly increase the number of events held in the open space along the lakefront. Make minor improvements to the site to make it more formal and attractive for event organizers. In conjunction with minor improvements to the lakefront, the City and its partners need to focus on both adding locally sponsored events to the schedule as well as marketing the site to regional event organizers. Education & Workforce Development Strategies Include the following goal from the Geneva City School District Strategic Plan (adopted August 30, 2010) into the City s economic development plan and indicate that the City is committed to supporting the school district with the following initiative: Middle School and High School Strategic Initiative: The district will initiate a comprehensive systematic process aimed at significant improvements in the graduation rate of Geneva High School students. Conduct regular meetings with employers to identify what types of training are needed for their employees and what types of new skills are required for work in their industries. Support the Geneva 20/20 Initiative efforts to introduce and mentor Geneva s youth about local occupational opportunities. Neighborhoods & Housing Strategies Integrate the strategies and recommendations of the Neighborhood Identity and Pride Initiatives and the Residential Involvement Initiative (outlined in the Neighborhoods Report) into the Economic Development Vision and Action Plan. Specifically concerning recommendations that Geneva residents need to be proponents of their own neighborhoods and the City itself. City neighborhoods should have signs identifying neighborhood boundaries as well as wayfinding signs for visitors. Entrepreneurship Development & Support Strategies Recruit and seed local entrepreneurs to start a Geneva entrepreneur s forum or network. Support further development of the Tech Farm and market to agriculture related entrepreneurs. Administration & Organization Strategies Focus on implementation as opposed to analysis. Reassess and reassign roles and responsibilities among stakeholders and partners to achieve a more collaborative approach. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 5

8 Launching the Effort A vision and plan is only as valuable as the capacity and ability of individuals and organizations to followthrough and implement the strategies. Each stakeholder must understand what s at stake, the path forward, and the role that he or she plays. Several key components are lacking or missing from the City s Economic Development Vision and Action Plan. Additionally, this study has provided several strategies and actions that need to be incorporated into the City s Plan. In order to continue the City s economic development momentum and prevent this report from sitting on the shelf, the City needs to initiate a process led by the Economic Development Advisory Committee to address the key components of the plan that needed to be added and/or articulated. The resulting work product should be presented to City Council for adoption. There also needs to be a paradigm shift in how the local economic development community operates. There are currently too many consumers of economic development and not enough initiators. The City s current Economic Development Vision and Action Plan contains too many instances where the City is identified as taking the lead for an activity in which a different entity might have more expertise and be better suited to be the lead. Additionally, there is a lot of overlap in roles and responsibilities among organizations involved in economic and business development within the City while leadership and coordination is perceived to be lacking regarding the community s ability to bring projects to fruition. Roles need to be reassessed and reassigned among stakeholders and partners. This will result in a more collaborative networked approach with more accountability distributed among the various stakeholders. The City needs to explore an organizational and resource allocation restructuring of those entities directly involved in economic development including the City Economic Department, Industrial Development Agency, Geneva Business Improvement District, Geneva Growth, and the Geneva Chamber of Commerce. This effort will only be successful if approached with an open mind with all ideas heard and considered from total organizational and resource restructuring to sharing of staff and facilities, to better coordination of boards. Ultimately, the City s role in economic development should be to: Be a liaison between those responsible for City services and existing businesses, interested investors, and developers. Communicate internally and externally what the City and its economic development partners are doing to support economic and business development. Partner and collaborate for local and regional economic development while letting others lead and provide the services for which they are best positioned. Continue to apply for and administer grants that require the City to lead. Further development, monitoring, and assessment of the Economic Development Vision and Action Plan should be headed by the Economic Development Advisory Board. The message here and throughout this strategy is simple; it is time to get started. It is time for the economic development community in Geneva to be bold, step away from planning, and begin the implementation process. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 6

9 Methods Development of the strategy consisted of three central components, a thorough resource assessment that included a review of the City s existing Economic Development Vision and Action Plan as well as other relevant plans and studies conducted in Geneva; an economic data analysis; and a series of inperson and telephone interviews with local and regional economic development stakeholders. As part of its process for guiding budget decisions, the Geneva City Council adopted several Strategic Imperatives, many of which relate directly to economic development within the City. Additionally, in March 2010, the Economic Development Committee of the City Council held an Envision Geneva summit, which resulted in the development of an Economic Development Vision and Action Plan for the City (see Appendix F). The first step in this study was to review each of these documents and identify their strengths and weaknesses. The analysis found that while these documents are missing some key components, all of the City s current initiatives are in line with findings of the industry data analysis. In addition, the City of Geneva has invested a lot of effort toward studies and planning of various assets, including its downtown, lakefront, neighborhoods, retail sector, transportation corridors, etc. A review of these documents provided context for past planning efforts and public input. Many of the recommendations made from these past efforts have been incorporated into the overall strategies. Interviews with local and regional stakeholders provided first hand perspective on the local business climate, economic development programs, government services, employment needs, site selection factors, and other characteristics about Geneva s economy. Those interviewed included business owners in a number of industries, real estate professionals, education professionals, and local and regional economic development officials. A complete list of the individuals that provided their input for this project is provided in Appendix B. While many different opinions and suggestions were offered during these interviews, one theme that resounded over and over from the business community was that the City needs action on a significant economic development project. Data provided by EMSI (Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc.) and ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) was analyzed to expand on information gathered during past planning efforts and compare the City s current economic development and planning initiatives to past, current, and projected economic conditions. The data analysis involved an analysis of: Industry Clusters & Sectors The industry and occupation analysis identifies recent and projected trends within industry clusters, sectors, and occupations. Industry trends in the City of Geneva were compared to trends of Ontario County and the Rochester MSA. By evaluating and comparing industry trends of local and regional geographies, the performance of local industries can be evaluated within the regional context. For example, some of the largest and fastest growing industries (measured by number of jobs) both in Geneva and regionally include the Business & Financial Services, Health Care & Social Assistance, and Manufacturing industries. Additionally, the Accommodations & Food Services industry was identified as growing in strength. Taken together, this analysis provides information to support targeted industry strategies within the City s economic development plan. Retail Market The retail market analysis identified recent trends within the retail and food services sector to provide information to support, modify, or reject the City s existing strategies, particularly related to downtown, as well as provide additional strategies. Two trade areas were studied for this analysis. A trade area defined by City limits was analyzed to assess if the consumer needs of City residents are being met by Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 7

10 the existing business mix. Secondly, a regional trade area was identified with the help of local business owners to assess the consumer demands of the regional market. This analysis identified that both the City and Regional Trade Area market show a high, unmet demand within the Drinking Places & Food Services sector as well as show strong interest in outdoor recreational activities. Competitiveness The Competitive Analysis is essentially an assessment of how Geneva stacks up against its largest regional competitors for industrial development and tourism attraction. Geneva s competitiveness with regards to visitation and tourism was assessed by comparing its tourism industry to that of the City of Canandaigua, Village of Skaneateles, and Village of Watkins Glen. In general, this analysis concluded that Geneva benefits from a diverse economy and the tourism industry is not one of its largest sectors. With its existing mix of amenities and accommodations, and its large residential market, Geneva has the basic framework to grow its tourism industry and revitalize its downtown but more need to be done regarding marking the City as a tourist destination. The second components of the competitiveness analysis included an assessment of Geneva s commercial and industrial competitiveness by looking at indicators such as workforce availability and skill level, local tax rates, entrepreneur and innovation activity, and available industrial space. Comparative geographies for this analysis included the City of Ithaca, City of Batavia, City of Auburn, and City of Canandaigua. Most of the indicators evaluated for the commercial and industrial competitiveness analysis show Geneva lagging behind the other Cities. Two of the biggest issues facing the City are its weak workforce and high tax rates compared to its competitors. Economic Impacts of Potential Projects To help the City and stakeholders set priorities and make decisions, a brief economic impact analysis of three hypothetical projects was conducted. The three projects included an expansion of the Technology Park, a mixed use redevelopment downtown, and an expansion of arts and cultural resources via improvements to the lakefront and at the Smith Opera House. In general, this analysis reinforces that any of these projects would have a positive economic benefit to the community; however, it is likely that public investment of time and funds will be required. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 8

11 Introduction There is no question that Geneva has a number of economic assets, including a region known for high quality natural resources and agriculture (including lakes and wineries); a strong history of manufacturing and current leading manufacturing companies including Guardian, Zotos, and CCN International; Hobart William Smith; a major health care system and employer, Finger Lakes Health; the oldest tourism region in the U.S.; Cornell University's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and the TechFarm; and the Smith Opera House and other historical properties. These are all well known leading assets/entities in their respective sectors. However, the City of Geneva is also a place where there are high downtown vacancy rates, limited housing options, and workforce constraints. This combination has made it difficult for Geneva to compete with other similarly sized cities in the region. Over the past few years, the City has invested a lot of effort in planning, which has resulted in more action items and recommendations than the City and the Geneva economic development community as a whole is capable of implementing. The Economic Development Strategy set forth in this report grew out of a desire by the community to further focus and prioritize these initiatives. The City appropriated funds to get the planning process underway and subsequently hired Camoin Associates of Saratoga Springs, which specializes in economic development strategic planning, to conduct analyses to assess Geneva s current economic development efforts and existing Economic Plan and Vision, and set forth strategies for future economic development efforts that are grounded in data. Camoin Associates set out through this study to provide data driven insight into a number of objectives or questions that were important to the City. These include: 1. Vision & Strategy Based on the research, does the information support the direction and targeted industries the City has established for growing its economy and building a commercial/industrial tax base? 2. Targeted Industries How competitive is the City as a location for businesses in the industry focus areas of manufacturing; technology sectors; agriculture and food related industries; and tourism, arts, and cultural heritage? What additional industries might the City consider targeting given its economic assets? What obstacles should be addressed to make the City more accommodating to private enterprise and real estate investment in the targeted industries? What other economic opportunities exist? 3. Market Analysis How well does the City compete as a commercial, industrial, and tourist location? What opportunities for industrial, commercial, and retail development exist? What market opportunities may exist for waterfront development? What are the key factors that will drive success? 4. Downtown Given current and projected market conditions, what role does the City's downtown play in its future economy and what issues must be addressed to create a vibrant 24/7 environment? 5. Economic Impact Of the types of economic development initiatives under consideration, what will be their impacts on jobs, spending, and revenues? 6. Advancing Economic Development Strategies and Projects What is the capacity of the City and its partners to execute the economic development vision and strategy? What is Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 9

12 needed to make 2 3 signature projects advance and take shape and what will be the public return on investment? The approach was designed to build on existing, rather than duplicate, the economic development and planning efforts already underway or accomplished by the City. These include an Economic Development Vision and Strategy, a neighborhood study, and downtown economic revitalization and waterfront redevelopment plans. Our approach consisted of examining past reports and efforts, conducting assessments of industry sectors/clusters, commercial markets and competitiveness, developing additional economic initiatives that address current barriers to existing imperatives, offering new opportunities for further supporting economic development, potential site specific real estate development/redevelopment initiatives, measuring the economic impact of future development scenarios and helping the City move from strategies to implementation. Our methodology for this work included reviewing past reports and documents to obtain grounding in the City and regional economy and well as an understanding of past and current initiatives, projects, and capacity. It also included conducting detailed interviews with stakeholders. These were conducted inperson as well as via telephone. We also conducted data analysis to assess economic conditions, targeted industry potential, downtown market potential, and competiveness of the City as a location for future investment. Following the Introduction, this report begins with the Economic Development Strategy, which consist of a series of findings and recommendations for the City and its economic development stakeholders on how to improve their current Economic Development Vision and Action Plan. Each recommendation is supported by results of the data analysis, interviews, and review of previous planning efforts. These efforts are documented in the four analyses that follow the Economic Development Strategy: Industry Cluster & Sector Analysis Retail Market Analysis Competitive Analysis Economic Impacts of Development Scenarios Each of these sections are presented with an introduction, describing the purpose of the analysis and geographies evaluated, followed by a detailed description of the data collection and analysis. Correlations between the findings of these analyses, information collected from interviews and discussions, and results from earlier studies are identified. Finally, it is important to stress that this is not meant to be the new Economic Development Vision and Action Plan for the City but rather provide suggested changes, strategies, and actions grounded in data for inclusion in the Vision and Plan and guidance on how to proceed with implementation. Updating the actual Economic Vision and Plan is a process, not a study, and will involve active, on going engagement and participation by the Economic Development community of Geneva. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 10

13 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY This Economic Development Strategy outlines recommendations for the City and its economic development stakeholders to pursue together. Recommended strategies are a blend of: Collaboration Emphasis on building and supporting functioning local and regional partnerships; Prioritization Identification of strategic investment in human and physical capital assets; Marketing Ensuring that the local, regional, and even global markets have access to information about the benefits of doing business, living in, and visiting Geneva; and Action Taking the next step, transforming ideas into reality. After the launch of this strategy, the planning process is not over. Hard work lies ahead as the recommendations herein are adopted into Geneva s Economic Development Vision and Action Plan and the recommendations are implemented. Success of this effort and the Action Plan relies on Geneva s ability to take bold actions and welcome change. Strategies are organized into the following sections: Recommendations for Existing Strategic Imperatives, Economic Development Vision, & Action Plan Targeted Industry Sectors Downtown Strategies Strategies for Specific Commercial & Industrial Space Lakefront Strategies Education & Workforce Strategies Neighborhoods & Housing Strategies Entrepreneurship Development & Support Strategies Administration & Organization Strategies Each section begins with a series of observations or Findings that describe existing economic conditions and identify significant issues facing the City. The Findings are followed by a number of Recommendations intended to mitigate issues described in the Findings. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 11

14 Recommendations for Existing Strategic Imperatives, Economic Development Vision, & Action Plan This section presents findings and recommendations specifically related to the strengths and weaknesses of the City of Geneva s Strategic Imperatives for economic development, and the Economic Development Vision and Action Plan. The Geneva City Council adopted several Strategic Imperatives as part of its process for guiding budget requests. Following adoption of Geneva s Strategic Imperatives by the City Council, the City s Economic Vision and Action Plan were developed in A list of all Strategic Imperatives adopted by the Council and the Economic Vision and Action Plan is contained in Appendix F. One imperative pertains directly to economic development: Private investment and job creation contribute to community success through diversification of the tax base and enhancement of quality of life for our residents. City Council will continue to make investments in well thought out economic development efforts that attract high-quality commercial activity. Our efforts will be focused on those investments that enhance our posture as a regional tourism center, a haven for small, independent businesses, and promote an industrial sector that provides high-skilled, high paying jobs, while respecting our sensitive watershed environment. Finding: This imperative is reasonable and fits with the Economic Development Vision and Action Plan (referenced below) and related plans particularly with its focus on private investment, job creation, quality of life, high quality commercial activity and jobs, while balanced with respecting the watershed environment. It is also encouraging that not only was such an imperative developed but that is was officially adopted by the Council, sending a tone of support to the economic development and business community. Together, this strategic imperative and the related Economic Development Vision and Action Plan provide a solid lens with which to examine future policies, priorities, and actions. In March of 2010, the City held an economic summit, termed Envision Geneva, which was organized by the Economic Development Committee of the City Council. It included representatives of nearly 20 partner agencies for economic development. The Economic Vision and Action Plan that resulted from that summit are contained in Appendix F. The resulting Economic Vision Statement is as follows: Private investment and job creation contribute to community success through diversification of the tax base and enhancement of quality of life for our residents. City Council will continue to make investments in well thought out economic development efforts that attract high-quality commercial activity. Finding: Geneva s Strategic Imperative and Economic Vision statement are consistent with the visions expressed by the community in Geneva s Vision for the 21st Century from City of Geneva Master Plan & Local Waterfront Revitalization Program: 1 Geneva should become a destination city considered to be a livable community with a high quality of life on a major Finger Lake. Specifically, Geneva should enhance and develop high quality neighborhoods, cultural enrichment, plentiful recreational opportunities, and an attractive environment. The City should be the destination of choice for economic opportunity that will, in turn, provide employment and a strong business climate, stabilize the tax base, and provide the basis for goods and services that further strengthen the quality of life. 1 City of Geneva Master Plan & Local Waterfront Revitalization Program. Saratoga Associates Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 12

15 Our findings and recommendations regarding the existing Geneva Economic Development Vision and Action plan are as follows: Finding: In general, everything in the Economic Development Vision and Action Plan is consistent with our analysis. The existing vision and actions including targeted sectors reasonably fit with the data analyzed for this report, as well as data collected by others for previous plans and studies related to economic development. Numerous reports, studies, and plans related to economic development have been completed for the City and its stakeholders/partners over the past fifteen years. Together, these efforts have provided significant opportunities for input, engagement, analysis, and planning. They provide excellent guidance for a comprehensive economic development strategy and its implementation. However, as further noted below, the numerous reports, studies and analyses has created a challenge in terms of providing focused guidance. Taken as a whole, these efforts have outstripped the ability of the community in terms of implementation capacity and resources. Finding: The action plan is missing key structural components that are needed to result in effective implementation, monitoring, and sustainability. Typical components of a strategic plan include: Guiding Principles These are high level statements designed to guide policy, ordinances, and activity, by the City and stakeholders. Vision Statements These are high level guides of what the City wants to achieve and/or become over the long term. They relate to guiding principles in that they are visions that will be realized if the guiding principles are adhered to. Goal Statements These are primary economic development goals to be achieved over the next few years and beyond. In general, they provide more detail for the vision statements. Multiple goals should be identified for each vision/principle and address specific subject areas such as: planning and development process, regional cooperation, targeted industries, infrastructure, and quality of place. Implementation Strategies These are specific tactics that will be undertaken to achieve goals. In addition to outlining the action being proposed, they should specify: - Assignments for primary responsibility and secondary responsibilities for implementation - Timeframe for starting and completing - Prioritized actions (given that resources are always limited) - Estimated costs including start up and annual operating - Estimated resources and specifically how they will be furnished and by whom - Identification of potential barriers to successful completion - How progress will be measured and evaluated As indicated above, the City already has guiding principles, and vision and goal statements that are reasonably consistent with our data analysis as well as the findings of past studies and plans. As part of its Economic Development Action Plan, the City also has identified action steps. However, key aspects of the action steps components are lacking or missing. Our assessment is as follows: Assignments for primary responsibility and secondary responsibilities for implementation Economic development transcends the actions of a particular City or government entity. Success requires participation and collaboration of numerous public and private stakeholders, each having a role Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 13

16 or niche in making a community a great place to live, work, and do business. Economic development plans must reflect this need for collaboration and identify specific roles and responsibilities for planning, implementation, and communication. Finding: The existing Geneva Economic Development Vision and Plan does identify which entity has primary responsibility for each action and the entities that have secondary responsibility. However, clarity on what the primary and secondary responsibilities are is not provided. Additionally, there are too many actions where the primary responsibility is placed on the City. This is further addressed below in this section of the report under Organizational Capacity. This has lead to a situation where the City lacks sufficient resources and staff to carry out all that is being assigned through the process of implementation. Additionally, it creates a passiveness by other stakeholders who wait for the City to get it done rather than initiating action. For many of the actions, there are other stakeholders that are better suited than the City to take a leadership role. Timeframe for starting and completing Finding: The existing Economic Development Vision and Plan provides no timeframes for starting, implementing, and completing actions. This acts to deter implementation and monitoring. Some timeframes are contained in the other plans from which they are derived; for example the Bergman report on lakefront and downtown development provides timeframes for each action it recommends. However, this timeframe is not carried into the City s Plan. Prioritized actions Finding: Prioritization in the existing Economic Development Vision and Action Plan is lacking, which makes resource allocation for implementation difficult. This is compounded by the number of previous plans, reports, and analyses completed for the City and its stakeholders/partners, which has resulted in an economic development plan that is likely beyond the community s capacity to provide resources for implementation. Prioritization should also be reflected in the City s annual budget and capital improvement plans as well as the budgets of the stakeholders responsible for specific actions. An example from the current plan where additional detail is warranted include the actions that state: Execute Payne Report and Execute Bergman Report. These reports are very detailed plans that contain numerous recommendations and actions. While they each contain some level of prioritization within them, further prioritization is warranted when considered among all of the economic development plan component areas. Estimated resources and specifically how they will be furnished and by whom Finding: The existing Economic Development Vision and Plan does not include cost and revenue estimates. This makes prioritization and inclusion in the City s budget and capital improvement plan difficult and non systematic. Identification of potential barriers to successful completion All actions have potential barriers that can prevent them from being started or implemented to their fullest potential. In economic development, typical barriers include lack of resources, political/community divisiveness, state or federal policy, lack of leadership, or lack of organizational capacity. Finding: The existing Economic Development Vision and Plan does not identify barriers to implementation of the actions. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 14

17 How progress will be measured and evaluated Economic development planning is a living process and requires continuous assessment, re adjustment, and monitoring in order to be effective and sustainable. Finding: The existing Economic Vision and Plan includes no process for measuring and monitoring progress and making adjustments. As such, it also includes no suggested measures for tracking outputs and outcomes. Recommendations: Initiate a process as an immediate follow up to this report to be led by the Economic Development Advisory Committee to address these key components that are lacking. The findings in this report can serve as a guide for the development of specific components and language to include in the Action Plan. The resulting work product should then be presented to the City Council for formal adoption. Additionally, the existing Economic Development Vision and Plan has identified several low hanging fruit, or actions that do not require significant time and resources. These should be further identified and placed on the front burner for implementation. More clearly define who the stakeholders are and what their roles and responsibilities will be for planning, implementation, monitoring, and communications. Since the stakeholder entities have their own leadership, and in many cases their own boards, getting their buy in and commitment may involve presentations and formal approval from their respective decision makers. Because the economic development plan requires collaboration with many stakeholders to become a reality, maintaining regular channels for communications, networking, and information sharing is important and should be implemented as part of the process. Additional recommendations regarding the stakeholders that are directly involved in economic development in Geneva are further presented below in this section of the report under Organizational Capacity. Provide a timeframe for each action that specifies expected dates for commencement and completion. This will help with resource allocation and prioritization. In cases where the recommendations are carried over from reports, any timeframes outlined in the reports should also be carried over to the Economic Development Vision and Action Plan. Along with indicating timeframes, the Economic Development Vision and Action Plan should identify short term and annual priorities, which are then considered in the City s annual budget and capital improvement plans. Setting priorities will require an understanding of the estimated costs and revenues for the action to be implemented. As part of the plan, major actions should each include an estimated cost (within a reasonable range and including start up and annual operating costs) and identify potential revenue sources including : city (tax and non tax), state, federal, private investments, and other sources. Following the development of estimated costs, the Economic Development Vision and Plan should be used by the City to guide budgeting decisions. For each action, major barriers to effective implementation should be specified and tracked. Include a statement in the plan indicating that Geneva is committed to accountability for the plan and will work with stakeholders to monitor the progress of its economic plan and activities, making strategic changes as warranted, and communicating progress to the Council, stakeholders, businesses, and public. Additionally, a process for ongoing measurement and Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 15

18 evaluation should be spelled out including who will be involved in the process, how outputs and outcomes will be measured, how often this will be done, and how results will be communicated. Targeted Industry Sectors Identifying and targeting sectors for investment opportunities can be an effective part of a local economic development strategy if this effort is based on sound data analysis and completed collaboratively with regional and state partners. Finding: The City currently targets: Tourism City Council will support investment of resources and undertake policy decisions in efforts that will bolster our position as a regional tourism center. This includes attraction and retention of: Cultural Attractions Wine Centered Development Retail and Restaurant Recruitment Manufacturing and Related Ventures City Council will support investment and undertake policy decisions in efforts that will contribute to the development of a strong manufacturing sector. This includes recruitment and retention of: Agriculture and Food Related Industries Furniture and Related Industries Technology Based Firms Recommendations: Based on the data analysis, these targets should be expanded: Expand the Tourism definition to include Arts, Entertainment, Culture, Recreation, Visitor, Food Services, and Accommodations. Keep manufacturing but clarify that it is more likely to be smaller scale niche and technology intensive manufacturing in which future opportunities will arise. 2 Recruitment and retention efforts need to be combined with current strengths of specific region wide clusters, industries, and subsectors. In addition to continually scanning ahead to new niche and technology intensive manufacturing that may not be current strengths of the local economy, the following industries are strong in Geneva currently, and should be targeted for support by the City and attraction regionally: Agriculture and Food Related Industries Furniture and Related Industries Technology Based Firms Glass & Ceramics Chemicals & Chemical Based Products Advanced Materials Include Business and Financial Services as a target. This sector shows strength at the 2 digit NAICS code level for all geographies as well as growth potential. The only industry that is ranked 2 Niche These manufacturing entities in Geneva will likely be part of larger global supply and production chains. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 16

19 among the top five for projected growth in all three geographies is the Other Financial Investment Activities industry. Industry development in this sector fits with Geneva s rural service center and downtown strategies. Include Health Care/Life Sciences as a target. This industry sector is made up of the Biomedical/Biotechnical cluster and the Health Care and Social Assistance industry sector, which show strengths at both the regional and City level. They also fit with the rural service center strength of Geneva and show occupation growth potential. Therefore, based on the findings above, Geneva s targeted industries should be as follows: Agriculture and Food Related Industries Manufacturing including regional and local niches, technology intensive and areas of current strength including: Food Related Manufacturing, Furniture and Related Industries, Glass & Ceramics, Chemicals & Chemical Based Products, and Advanced Materials Arts, Entertainment, Cultural, Recreation, Visitation and Tourism, Food Services, and Accommodations Business and Financial Services Health Care/Life Sciences While we recommend targeting these industries for expansions and new investment, we believe strongly that Geneva needs to support its existing businesses regardless of whether they are in one of these sectors strengths. Finding: There is alignment among the City, Region, and State with regard to targeted industries: The Genesee Finger Lakes Economic Development District Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 3 identifies the targeted cluster and competency industries for the Genesee Finger Lakes Region as: Information and Communication Technology; Optics and Imaging; Biotech and Life Sciences; and Agribusiness and Food. The 2010 Update of the Ontario County, NY Technology Led Economic Development Strategy 4 indicates that the targeted industries for the region are in the areas of: Technology related companies associated with the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park Photonics and infomatics companies associated with the Center for Excellence Producer services associated with the support and growth of technology led industries such as biotechnology and photonics Existing mature manufacturing industries in Ontario County Quality of life related industries including certain kinds of health care, hospitality, and particular retail industries 3 Genesee Finger Lakes Economic Development District Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council Update of the Ontario County, NY Technology Led Economic Development Strategy, Office for Economic Development/Industrial Development, Fairweather Consulting. July Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 17

20 Regarding state cluster targets NYS Department of Labor: Division of Research and Statistics 5 identifies the top five largest clusters and associated sub clusters in New York State as: Front Office and Producer Services: business services, environmental services, headquarters, organizations Financial Services: bank holding companies, banking & credit, funds & trusts, insurance, securities, commodities, & investments Travel & Tourism: accommodations, culture, recreation and amusements, food service, passenger transportation, travel retail Communications, Software & Media Services: broadcasting & telecommunications, motion pictures and sound recording industries, printing, and publishing Distribution: air freight, logistics management, multimodal freight, trucking, warehousing, water and retail freight, wholesale Finding: For the targeted industry sectors, the City and region have key assets that already exist and will be important selling points for attracting further private investment, be it expansion of existing businesses or new businesses. These assets have been identified in previous studies and strength, weakness, opportunity, threat (SWOT) analyses conducted for the City and region and were reiterated in the data analysis and during interviews that were conducted for this study. As summarized in the Introduction of this report, these assets include: a region known for high quality natural resources and agriculture (including lakes and wineries); a strong history of manufacturing and current leading manufacturing companies including Guardian, Zotos, and CCN International; Hobart William Smith; a major health care system and employer, Finger Lakes Health; the oldest tourism region in the U.S.; Cornell University's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and the TechFarm; and the Smith Opera House and other historical properties. These are all well known leading assets/entities in their respective sectors. Finding: Targeted strategies. 6 The current plan suggests the following specific actions for manufacturing and related ventures. Our recommendations regarding these actions are indicated in parentheses. Identify Opportunities to "Harvest Locally" i.e. Biz 2 Biz Opportunities. (Keep as an action) Investigate Existing and Potential Clusters (Achieved through this report) Develop Sustainability and Growth Plan for Economic Development Assets (Unclear and should be removed) Identify Opportunities to "Recruit Successful People" to the Region (Keep as an action but should also include other workforce development strategies. This action is unlikely to have an impact on its own.) Recommendations: The following actions should be added to the City s targeted strategies: For all of the actions in the current plan, the City of Geneva is identified as having primary responsibility. We believe that clusters and sectors are not local and can best be supported regionally. The City should work in partnership and closely with Ontario County Economic 5 Industry Clusters in New York s Economy: A Statewide and Regional Analysis, NYS Department of Labor: Division of Research and Statistics Recommendations on the Tourism Industry are provided separately in the following section. Collaboration, Prioritization, Marketing & Action Page 18