06/23/1982 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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" . Mr. Clay said that this was his firm's eighth year in business. He agreed on e the need for those working with economic development to maintain a positive att itude. He said it was important for members of the pUblic to provide positive comments and constructive criticism to those within government who are working on economic diversification efforts. Mr. Clay said that the council needed to recognize the urgency of the current condition of the wood products industry. He said that many struggling firms will not endure long enough to derive benefit from such long-term programs as those contained in the Small Business Assistance portion of the City's Six-Point Economic Diversification Program. He noted that $260,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds had been set aside for investment in small businesses, but that individual businesses were excluded from applying for the funds under the original Requests for Proposals. Mr. Clay then discussed the proposed three-phase business assistance program and said that the first phase, which called for providing subsidized interest rates or short-term borrowing, was not the right approach to providing the assistance needed. He said he recognized that it was politically expedient to provide a number of smaller loans, but he felt that numerous small loans would have little long-term impact. Mr. Clay said that he had talked with representatives of the Community Development Committee, the City Council, and local banks and that he had found no indication that the proposed three-phase program will contribute to the goal of economic diversification or development. He said that he had asked his banker, David M. Gazeley of Centennial Bank, to review all the materials involved in development of the proposed program. Mr. Clay submitted a copy of a letter written by Mr. Gazeley evaluating the program, to be entered into the record, and read excerpts from the letter. Mr. Clay noted that City e staff had been very cooperative in providing him with the materials needed for this review. In the letter, Mr. Gazeley stated that he was "not convinced that providing short-term credit assistance through interest rate subsidies is in the best interest of either the program's goals, the City of Eugene, or the potential user of the funding." Mr. Gazeley recommended instead short- to medium-term business development loans. Mr. Clay said that, based on the advice he had sought, he would encourage the council to use the CDBG funds for a program with longer-term impact and to use the four basic goals adopted for the CDBG-funded program in evaluating the entire business assistance program. Mr. Clay said that he had additional questions on the program and indicated that he would submit those in writing for consideration by the council. Esther Loy, 2683 Elinor Street, said she is the President of the League of Women Voters of Central Lane County. She thanked the council for holding this hearing and the earlier round table discussion. She said that the League had recently concluded a four-year study of growth in the metropolitan area and had adopted a position on economic growth. She said that the League supported economic diversification efforts IIcoordinated on a county-wide basis; continued enforcement of environmental standards, continued systematic land use planning. . . and efforts both to help existing industry and to attract new business.1I She sai d that League felt that government should be involved in economic diversification, along with the private sector. She said that the League hoped for clarification on the question of whether there is are adequate amounts of various types of industrial land. Ms. Loy said that the League supported continued efforts to e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Special Meeting June 23, 1982 Page 2