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February 26, 2010 <br />Joint Elected Officials Meeting <br />City of Springfield <br />City of Eugene <br />Lane County <br /> <br />Page 2 of 13 <br /> <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz referred to Attachment A in the agenda packet, a draft document that came out of the <br />Regional Prosperity Summit. The administrators would ask the elected officials to approve this draft <br />document so the JEO Economic Development Task Force and staff could move forward and begin <br />implementation. <br /> <br />Commissioner Dwyer asked if there was something related to the item removed that was illustrated in <br />the report in Attachment A. <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz said there was one item that he would discuss later that might have some relevance. He <br />would point it out when he came to that part of the discussion. <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz said a Regional Prosperity Summit was held in Eugene last November which was well <br />attended. A lot of input was received from that summit. He reviewed the Goal from the summit “By <br />2020, create 20,000 net new jobs in the chosen economic opportunity areas; reduce the local <br />unemployment rate to, or below, the state average; and increase the average wage to, or above, the <br />state average.” The economic development subcommittee formed of elected officials came up with <br />basic principles on which to base economic prosperity: Healthy Living; Smart Growth; Be Prepared; <br />Local Independence; and Regional Identity. He discussed those principles briefly. <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz referred to the Economic Development Strategies from the PowerPoint: (1) Growing Local <br />Opportunities; (2) Creative Economy, including partnerships with the University of Oregon and Lane <br />Community College; (3) Talent for Tomorrow; (4) Basic Needs of Business, such as infrastructure; (5) <br />Live the Good Life, and (6) Key Industries. He further discussed how the region could continue to <br />support the development of sectors that had built a strong economic foundation for our community and <br />at the same time develop our innovative culture to support the emerging opportunities within our local <br />economy. Those were the overall strategies the elected officials had seen before. More detail was <br />within the document. <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz discussed some of the things that came out of the summit which were included in <br />Attachment 1, pages 7 - 9. One of the themes was networking, such as creating a Birth to Three <br />network for businesses just starting up and providing mentorships and support. Another common <br />theme was to create a business assistance center to provide resources for businesses wanting to locate, <br />expand, or receive support. <br /> <br />Mr. Ruiz said one of the things talked about a lot was insuring we had a talented work force. To do <br />this, it was important to improve the basic and applied skills of young people in the region as they <br />prepared to enter the workforce. This effort must begin with school readiness for kindergarten, ensure <br />high school graduation, include vocational/technical training, internships and mentorships, and <br />provide paths to higher education. <br /> <br />Another focus was to create a regional economic identity, capitalizing on assets that would identify the <br />region as a significant economic center. <br /> <br />New investment coming to the region would be an important complement to the growth of local <br />business in providing for the region’s future economic health. This could include developing and <br /> <br />