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ATTACHMENT E Business Assistance & Housing – project description GENERAL BACKGROUND The goal of the Business Assistance & Housing project is to strengthen the economic viability for local businesses, downtown properties, and housing developments. Targeted financial assistance is critically needed given the effect of the economic downturn on businesses and employment. City actions could help support investments that would result in additional employment opportunities. Currently, businesses and property owners need assistance with specific building upgrades to improve the look and feel of downtown. As the region’s largest employment center, investment in a healthy downtown supports employment opportunities for the entire community. In addition to business assistance, housing is essential to the vitality and the character of the downtown core. People who live downtown, particularly homeowners and long-term renters, become stakeholders for the health of downtown. The Downtown Plan encourages additional housing units and acknowledges that market conditions and the higher cost of building housing downtown may require public sector financial participation. JOBS/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IMPACT ImpactsDescriptionTotal Temporary Construction Jobs based on cost of construction project, business purchases 301 Related Jobsrelated to construction, and employee purchases 472 Permanent JobsJobs based on filling current vacancies in key areas 150 ResidentsAdditional people living downtown Contribute to a positive perception of the downtown by making downtown more attractive for visitors and employees; Allow Indirect Economic Impacts opportunities for more residents in the downtown area contributing to the sense of community and investment in the area. 1 Temporary Construction Related Jobs: Two housing projects will result in approximately 174 temporary construction jobs, 71 of which would be from new money in the economy. Building improvements of $2 million will result in 20 temporary construction jobs that are estimated to last one year. Both types of projects, housing construction and building improvements, will also result in 67 indirect jobs driven by business purchases related to these projects. The business assistance and housing projects will also contribute to the creation of 40 induced jobs based on employee purchases. 1 Temporary construction jobs were calculated based on the estimated costs of construction. Staff applied the U.S. Department of Energy standard: for every $92,000 invested in a project one temporary construction job will be created. Staff also provided the estimated construction costs to the Oregon Employment Department to calculate the number of temporary construction jobs that would be created by “new” money flowing into the local economy.