09/11/1991 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e local firms and asked councilors to continue informing the BATe am of local businesses which might benefit from its assistance. Mr. Gleason underscored the importance of economic development programs in successful job creation. He said that it would be very difficult to privatize BATeam services because of the types of technical expertise. that is involved, particularly in areas such as interpreting the City Code. Mr. Green observed that there are few business start-ups in the Bethel area and asked for statistical information about where new business start-ups are concentrated in the community and why. Responding to a question from Mr. Green, Mr. Beyer said that BATeam loans are only available to those companies that would not normally be able to receive commercial bank loans. The BATeam's Loan Advisory Committee is willing to work with loan applicants who have been rejected by banks to help them re- structure their applications to make them acceptable. He emphasized that the BATeam leverages its loan funds. Mr. Gleason added that the BATeam works closely with the Lane Community College (LCC) job training center in referral efforts to ensure unemployed city residents are hired. Mr. MacDonald said that given that most successful assistance in the communi- ty occurs with local business start-up and expansion, rather than large tran- sient corporations, the BATe am should continue its strategy focusing on local business assistance. Given those economic realities, the City should ask the Metro Partnership to begin concentrating its efforts in the same manner. e Mr. Boles pointed out that Business Development Fund (BDF) loans should con- tinue to be self-supporting. He added that job creation costs seem to be approximately one half to one quarter of what they are in other urban pro- grams. Mr. Boles noted that some job creation figures are being counted both by the BATeam and the Metro Partnership, while the performance success for securing small businesses lies with the BATeam. The City should discuss where the responsibility for job creation should lie. Ms. Bascom said that she spoke with a representative from the LCC Small Busi- ness Development Center who said that the BATeam and the Metro Partnership did not duplicate services. Mr. Farkas commented that one function of the Metro Partnership is to keep Eugene and Springfield from competing against each other for locating companies in the area. Mr. Gleason said that another function of the Metro Partnership is to process requests for information from businesses about locating in Eugene. He is confident that the Metro Partner- ship and its staff has been effective in bringing jobs to Eugene. Mr. Nicholson said that he is skeptical about job creation statistics and pointed out that it is difficult to know whether these economic development programs are instrumental in bringing jobs to Eugene. Given the finite re- sources, the City needs to decide whether this is the most efficient use of public dollars. - - e --------- MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 11, 1991 Page 8 ----------