Map of Gadsden County relative to Northwest Florida showcasing vast transportation assets

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1 GADSDEN COUNTY DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL 2015 PROGRAM OF WORK Map of Gadsden County relative to Northwest Florida showcasing vast transportation assets As the designated economic development organization by the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners, Gadsden County Development Council, Inc. (GCDC), a public-private 501c3 not-forprofit entity, is leading the county charge to renew and expand an economic development strategy to address the needs of business in an ever changing global marketplace. Specifically, the GCDC is engaging industry, education and government in the planning and implementation of cutting edge economic & community development policies and programs that will best address the retention, expansion and attraction of businesses resulting in an increase in the county tax base and overall community wealth through quality job creation and capital investment. Gadsden County s transportation infrastructure, geographical position in the southeastern United States, location between three expanding ports, and numerous workforce training and higher education assets are significant foundational assets upon which to design an effective economic development strategy. Inclusive of strong regional and state strategic partners, the GCDC is leveraging many currently underutilized resources, while simultaneously engaging a growing number of stakeholders in the design and funding of a comprehensive economic development strategy. According to the 2010 census, Gadsden County s population is 46,389 and the median household income is $35,593 according to the American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The Gadsden County median household income is 67% of the national median household income. Gadsden County has six municipalities (Havana, Midway, Quincy, Gretna, Greensboro and Chattahoochee) and the county boundaries include the state of Georgia to the north, the Apalachicola River to the west, the Ochlocknee River to the east and the Capital County of Florida (Leon) and rural Liberty County to the east and south. The majority of the county property qualifies for CDFI Fund s New Markets Tax Credit program severely distressed - primary status for CY due to 29.5% of the county population being below the poverty threshold Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 1

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3 Building Blocks of a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Facilitated Growth Small business development Infrastructure upgrades Leveraging higher education and healthcare International Trade Tourism/Recreation Business Retention & Expansion Buildings & Sites Inventory Industrial sites development Competitive Projects Retention of existing businesses Expansion of existing businesses Attraction of businesses The building blocks of GCDC s comprehensive economic development strategy include the three principles of facilitated growth through effective policy and programming; identifying, evaluating and winning competitive projects; and, creating a highly recognizable and sought after market/business climate such that existing companies choose to expand and new companies choose to start-up and locate in Gadsden County. Market Driven Growth Companies choosing markets based on good business climate and good marketing Business start-ups In October 2014 this three-pronged approach contributed to Gadsden County s competitive selection to the Department of Economic Opportunity Competitive Florida Partnership Program, a rural assetbased economic development initiative. Asset-based economic development is a bottom-up approach that focuses on developing and promoting existing local resources to strengthen the local economy. This approach focuses on a rural community s tangible and intangible assets combined with economic advantages and how these can be leveraged into sustainable economic growth and prosperity. Assets in a community may include but are not limited to: individuals and human capital; associations and voluntary networks; political advocates; historical and cultural resources; natural landscapes (including renewable and nonrenewable material resources); financial assets; the built environment including transportation networks, communications facilities, utilities, public facilitates and commercial buildings; institutions such as schools, hospitals and government agencies. DEO is working with the selected rural communities to identify and market these assets and facilitate promotional opportunities to bring economic development to their community. Gadsden County is also part of a twelve county two state Mega-Site effort in north Florida and south Alabama to attract a large manufacturer to a shovel-ready 2,240 acre industrial site in Campbellton, FL on Hwy 231 just south of the Alabama border and one county west of Gadsden County. A media campaign surrounding this effort was launched on October 3, 2014 with strong representation from the Gadsden County Board of County Commissioners and the GCDC. Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 3

4 Twelve County Two State coalition markets a 2,240 acre Mega-Site in Campbellton, FL. A project this size will establish a supplier network across the twelve counties creating 10,000 jobs and an $833M economic impact. The aforementioned GCDC economic development approach combined with the Competitive Florida Partnership and Mega-Manufacturing contribute to the following 2015 capacity building efforts with the overall goals of: - Implementing a multi-agency business retention & expansion program - Development of comprehensive workforce development strategy - Establishment of an Industrial Development Advisory Committee to strengthen existing industrial sites identification efforts and overall benchmarks of: - Increasing the County tax base through business expansion and attraction - Job creation and capital investment at wages that are 100% of the average annual wage in Gadsden County - Elevated and coordinated workforce training and workforce development resulting in an increase in the median household income by 2018 Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 4

5 Business retention and expansion program through collaboration with many small business resources (new function) 80% of new jobs come from existing business and industry, therefore a most important function of any balanced approach to economic development is an effective Business Retention & Expansion program. The GCDC will lead and implement such an effort with the total support and coordination of regional business support organizations including, but not limited to, Career Source Capital Region (workforce board), FL Small Business Development Center, Opportunity Florida (regional rural economic development organization), Tallahassee Community College Workforce Development Division, and Gadsden Technical Institute. By working together as a team, each organization meets or exceeds its business outreach/service provider goals as required for their organizational funding. AND businesses receive the services necessary to retain employees or expand their operations without having to search through the various providers to find the one with the tools to help their specific situation. 1. Retain BlaneCanada ( to provide the training on the Synchronist Business Information System (SBIS) and outreach process for collecting data in the areas of facilities (leased/owned), local ordinances, workforce (adequate, skilled, lack skills), management (stable vs changing), industry (growth/decline), suppliers, local public services, transportation/communications infrastructure. Measurable Outcome: BlaneCanada s tool and process is so widely used that they maintain a national database of results that allow a community to benchmark their outcomes to national norms to see if they are competitively serving existing business and in which areas do they need to focus to retain growing business and become more attractive to new businesses. Your existing businesses are your best referrals. 2. Secure a software license for the related database, data analytics and reporting tool which will help direct resources within each partner organization towards the needs of area businesses to strengthen both employers and job seekers, creating a better match between the two populations including the future workforce pipeline. Measurable Outcome: Provide multiple organizations a single tool which will align services for businesses that do not have the time to provide the same information to every organization for a separate tracking system. Quantifiable jobs retained, capital investment (square feet expanded or new equipment), and employees trained. 3. Use free employer information services such as FPL s PoweringFlorida.com as an initial list of employers throughout Gadsden County and work with partners to prioritize and distribute outreach by size of employer and industry sector to make sure coverage occurs in all types and sizes of businesses. Measurable Outcome: Funds saved by not having to purchase employer data sets. 4. Conduct employer visits over a prescribed period of time using the method outlined in Activity 1 followed by data entry into the SBIS. Measurable Outcome: Number of companies visited and number of completed reports entered into the database. 5. Analyze data and refine programs to better serve the needs of employers and to better prepare job seekers for the market. Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 5

6 Measurable Outcome: Number of solutions provided to each business. Dollars and time saved by coordinating agency services. Additionally, many businesses learn of b to b opportunities within the region they did not know existed which can bring contracts that were let out of the region back to circulate the dollars within the local economy. Businesses enjoy local relationships, increased quality of supplier products and shorter transit times for contracted parts. Development of comprehensive workforce development strategy (new function) Many good programs exist throughout the region to serve various workforce segments ranging from those individuals escaping generational poverty to persons with graduate degrees being trained in commercialization of university and federal labs research and entrepreneurialism. However, the labor force statistics used by site selection consultants are not competitive. The GCDC will assemble all education and workforce development stakeholders in to one workforce development council to crosstrain on programs, find synergies and create economies of scale in improving the skills of the current workforce, aligning those skills with the targeted sectors of the county and integrating K-12 to introduce students to current and future jobs and careers available in their community. 1. Assemble the following education and workforce development stakeholders in Gadsden County to serve on the GCDC Workforce Development Council: Career Source Capital Region TCC Workforce Development TCC FL Public Safety Institute Gadsden County Technical Institute Gadsden County Schools Panhandle Area Education Consortium Migrant Services Program and STEM Initiative Capital Area Community Action Agency Ruby Payne Program Shadetree Ministries/Gretna Talquin Electric FL Department of Education Division of Career & Adult Education Gadsden County Extension Office and UF/IFAS Center College Board (SAT) representative who is a resident of Gadsden County Measureable Outcomes: number of synergies discovered, coordination of populations served, number of success stories documented, number of adult worker skills improved, development of marketing collateral to augment the raw labor force data and bring to life the workforce development opportunities to prepare job seekers for manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and logistics positions, which reflect the growth sectors of the region. Establishment of an Industrial Development Advisory Committee (Expansion of existing function) - In 2014 the GCDC has leveraged the vast transportation assets of highways, rail, interstate and proximity to ports to evaluate potential industrial sites primarily along the counties four interchanges along Interstate 10. Stakeholder relationships have been built with CSX, Genesee & Wyoming (operator of Apalachicola Northern Railroad), Port of Port St. Joe, Florida Department of Transportation, Enterprise Florida, Department of Economic Opportunity, Florida s Great Northwest, Opportunity Florida, Apalachee Regional Planning Council, commercial real estate executives, industrial development companies, architectural and engineering firms, site selection consultants and Duke Energy s Select Sites Inventory program to evaluate options and position Gadsden County for successful business attraction in the targeted diversification sectors of warehousing, distribution, logistics and manufacturing. The GCDC has responded to multiple requests for proposals for competitive projects. Some remain active Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 6

7 but the largest job creation/capital investment opportunities resulted in elimination due to lack of shovel-ready sites with adequate infrastructure either at the site or engineered to the site. The establishment and staffing of an Industrial Development Advisory Committee will increase the competitiveness of the product (buildings & sites) and strengthen the proposals to prospective employers. 1. Assemble and staff an effective industrial development advisory committee of public and private expertise. Measurable Outcome: The number of invited public and private stakeholders who agree to serve on the advisory committee with their time, professional expertise and in-kind resources such as engineering design. Improvement in the number of prospect site visits as a result of submitting proposals to manufacturing, warehousing, distribution and logistics projects. 2. Continue the professional evaluation, identification, prioritization and certification of one or more industrial sites to position Gadsden County for successful business attraction. Measurable Outcome: Results of the Duke Energy Select Sites Inventory program due in January Engagement of CSX in the industrial layout of railroad siding to the highest ranked rail served properties. Number of private land owners who agree to option property to the GCDC for marketing and certification purposes. Engagement of professional site certification consultants to lead the site certification process. 3. Present regularly to the Florida Rural Economic Development Initiative, a state assembly of economic development liaisons from each Florida state agency (EFI, DEO, FDOT, FDEP, all permitting agencies) with the express intent of helping communities become more competitive in attracting new business and expanding existing business. Measurable Outcome: Identification of funding sources for the entitlements, infrastructure engineering design, environmental permits and wetlands delineation/mitigation activities that must occur to achieve site certification, which in turn increases the number of site visits for large scale capital investment and job creation projects. 4. Document available buildings and sites and input the information into the Enterprise Florida webbased Buildings and Sites database. Measurable Outcome: number of properties entered into the GCDC online buildings & sites database 5. Define and document known commercial/industrial business parks to include in a future website that showcases properly zoned buildings and properties, existing tenants and existing infrastructure available to prospective businesses. Measureable Outcome: Five(5) reports that include the real estate, tenant and infrastructure details necessary to populate a website designed to inform expanding companies and attract new businesses resulting in capital investment, expanded tax revenues and job creation. Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 7

8 Regional Collaboration In 2014 the GCDC made it a priority to solidify our regional partnerships and increase communication with strategic partners by placing GCDC members in board seats with partners such as Opportunity Florida (rural area of opportunity EDO), Florida s Great Northwest (16 county marketing EDO), Career Source Capital Region (the workforce board), and Enterprise Florida Stakeholder s Council. This resulted in an increase in business expansion and attraction leads. Beyond those mentioned, our members circle of influence extends to government, industry and education professional associations that serve as a natural marketing conduit for the competitive assets of Gadsden County. GCDC also implemented the use of a monthly newsletter to make members and partners aware of capacity building trainings throughout the region. Each organization enumerated in the proposed workforce development and business retention & expansion strategies serves a common economic base. The implementation of these programs will increase regionalization and the leverage of regional resources. Job seekers skills will improve and employers need for workers will increase; thereby, fulfilling the measurable outcome of job creation and capital investment. Investing in Manufacturing Communities How will these efforts attract manufacturing? GCDC s involvement in the twelve counties / two state mega-site initiative is the impetus to intensify efforts to identify and seek control of property near transportation assets such as the interstate and rail. Extensive marketing of the mega-site is underway. Should the mega-site attract a user, the supplier network will seek locations among the 12 partner counties. Those counties who are ready will attract suppliers. Manufacturers require sites that are available for sale or for lease at a known price, served or can be served by utilities at required capacities within a short timeframe, are properly zoned, have environmental permits in place with wetlands delineation and mitigation, if necessary. Most of the properties near Interstate 10 are privately held. Research is underway that will be communicate to the land owners and offer provisions for optioning attractive sectors of the land to the GCDC for marketing to potential manufacturers. The establishment of the Industrial Development Advisory Council will increase the competitiveness of the product (buildings & sites) and strengthen the proposals to prospective employers. How do these efforts foster innovation, job creation and export promotions? Industrial development is a huge undertaking. Gadsden County strategic partners from government, private and municipal utilities, workforce development, education, industry and professional services must connect in innovative ways to determine the most efficient and effective ways to position Gadsden County for the attraction of manufacturers. This program of work combines all of these efforts to align progress in each area: education and workforce training programs teach high-tech manufacturing skills; utility providers engineer solutions for extending services to the most desirable sites; industry shares trends in manufacturing through business retention and expansion outreach; commercial real estate, architects & engineering firms, site consultants and economic development organizations prepare the product for development. How do these efforts use public-private partnerships, including education? The GCDC is a public-private partnership as represented in the list of board members and strategic partners. Most of the organizations listed in the workforce development and business retention/expansion initiatives are also Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 8

9 structured as public-private partnerships. Tallahassee Community College Workforce Development Division owns and operates an Advanced Manufacturing Training Center that will support the workforce skills upgrades required by potential employers. This can be augmented by the Gadsden Technical Institute and the Panhandle Area Education Consortium s STEM program, while is geared to middle and high school students. How do these efforts lead to further development of an industrial ecosystem? The effort to define and market existing industrial parks is paramount in the survival of the existing industrial ecosystem in Gadsden County. Manufacturers want to locate in a cluster of other manufacturers. GCDC must market the manufacturing base and existing infrastructure while building new infrastructure to attract more manufacturers. These are long term sustainable jobs with good wages and good benefits. Growth of manufacturing jobs and related warehousing, distribution and logistics jobs will strengthen the retail and professional services markets. Gadsden County Development Council 2015 Program of Work 9