Item 3: Regional Economic Development Plan

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City Manager’s Office City of Eugene 700 Pearl Street M Eugene, Oregon 97401 EMORANDUM (541) 682-5010 (541) 682-5414 FAX www.eugene-or.gov Date: June 10, 2010 To: Joint Elected Officials From: Jon Ruiz, City of Eugene Manager Gino Grimaldi, City of Springfield Manager Jeff Spartz, Lane County Administrator REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Progress Update Subject: Since March 2009, the Joint Elected Officials (JEO) have had several discussions and taken action on the current state of the regional economy. On February 26, 2010 the JEO approved a regional economic development plan. (See Attachment A for the Building Our Next Economy – Regional Prosperity Economic Development Plan.) This memo provides an update on work currently underway to support the six strategies outlined in the plan. The work represents a significant partnership of many of the region’s institutions and organizations to move forward with well-developed and newly emerging actions. BACKGROUND In March 2009, the JEO first expressed an interest in holding a Regional Economic Summit to coordinate a collaborative response to the economic situation and formed a sub-committee (ED Task Force) for this purpose. In June 2009, the JEO approved a framework for developing a regional economic development plan to better position our regional economy to take advantage of economic opportunities that align with our area’s assets and values. A Technical Advisory Group (TAG) composed of key stakeholders in our regional economy drafted a recommended list of strategies and tactics to encourage regional economic development. At the September meeting, the JEO approved the recommended draft list and asked that it be reviewed at the economic summit organized by the ED Task Force. The strategies were reviewed and discussed at a Regional Prosperity Summit on November 19, 2009. With over 300 participants, the Summit provided broad community input on where our region needs to go and offered insights into the initiatives that government leaders should advance. Following the summit, the JEO approved a regional economic plan at the February 26, 2010 meeting. The plan includes five principals, six strategies, and seven critical initiatives. The six strategies are listed below with their more formal name in parentheses. 1. Business Expansion and Retention (Growing Local Opportunities) 2. Entrepreneurial Infrastructure (Creative Economy) 3. Workforce Development (Talent for Tomorrow) 4. Land and Physical Infrastructure (Basic Needs of Business) 5. Economic Identity (Quality of Life) 6. Targeted Industries (Key Industries)