STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC …_david_-_ppt.pdf · 2019-01-07 · • Pre-planning often is what makes or breaks a strategic planning process • Must pull together

Arizona Basic Economic Development Course

STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR

COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT

Presented to: The 2019 Arizona

Basic Economic Development Course

David Roderique

City of Buckeye

David B.


Any activity that creates, generates or

increases economic activity in a

region/community; often measured by

increases in the number of jobs, local tax

revenues, new capital investment, and

construction activity.

What is Economic Development?


“Real” Economic Development

Increasing area’s standard of living by:

• Creating jobs with higher wages than the area’s average

• Creating tax revenues greater than cost of providing governmental services

• Supporting projects which will enhance, not detract from, the overall quality of life


The Strategic Planning Process

“The process by which a community

envisions its future and develops

the necessary procedures and

operations to achieve that future”

Source: Dr. David Kolzow “Strategic Planning for Economic Development”, 1988, IEDC.



Why Do Strategic Planning?

• Limited resources

• Helps target opportunities with greatest likelihood of success

• Understand strengths and weaknesses

• Helps to prioritize desires/improvements

• Brings together key stakeholders

• Promotes better understanding and communication

• Provides metrics to measure success


Five Key Elements of a

Strategic Planning Process

1. Initiating/organizing the process

2. Data collection and analysis

3. Formulating the plan

4. Implementation

5. Evaluating the process


1. Initiate and

Organize Process


I

2. Data

Collection &

Analysis

4.Implementation (Responsibilities

& Resources)

5. Evaluation (Performance

Measures)

3. Formulate

Goals, Strategies

and Actions

Ongoing

Process


Phase 1: Initiation/Organization

Key questions to think about before you start:

• Why do you want to do this?

• What do you hope to accomplish?

• Who are you serving with this plan?

• When should it be done?

• How is it best accomplished?


Focus on “How”

Internal -- do it yourself

• Better control of process

• Typically much less expensive

• Can be quicker if you have time to do it

External -- hire a consultant

• Time savings for your organization

• Greater experience and knowledge

• Independent, unbiased view of situation

• Often have greater credibility to community


Strategic Planning Details

• Cost: Widely varies (particularly on

whether or not you do it yourself or hire

someone), but typically can run anywhere

from $15,000 – $250,000

• Time: Depends on complexity of the

project, but typically anywhere from 3-12

months, with 6-9 months typical timeframe


Who are the Key Stakeholders?

• Economic Development Agency

• Public Sector (City, County, State)▪ Elected officials

▪ Key staff (planning, building, finance)

▪ Schools and Universities

• Private Sector▪ Business Organizations (Chamber, unions)

▪ Banks, Utilities, Major Businesses

▪ Developers, Realtors, Landowners

• Area Stakeholders/Residents/Naysayers


Strategic Plan Stakeholder Hierarchy

1. Champion -- runs process

2. Exec. Committee – approvals,

establish policies, raise funds

3. Committee - Key Stakeholders

4. Subcommittees – focus on

specific issues

5. Community

1-2

5-20

20-100

50-200

100-1,000’s


Key Takeaways of this Phase

• Pre-planning often is what makes or breaks a strategic planning process

• Must pull together a committed team with broad community representation, and must actively involve them in order to establish a true sense of ownership

• Building community consensus often takes time, but is imperative for the process to be successful.


Phase 2: Data Collection/Analysis

• Why?

▪ Ground the vision in reality

▪ Possibilities with greatest likelihood of success

▪ Take an honest look at itself

• Key Components

▪ Data collection – both facts and SWOT

▪ Issues identification – local perceptions

▪ Analysis of all the collected information


Key Considerations

• Internal vs. External forces

▪ Internal: those factors you can control

▪ External: those factors outside of your control

• Current vs. Future

• Facts vs. Perceptions

• Important to be honest and realistic


Data Collection

• Need to collect a variety of relevant and current data about the community

• Useful to have comparative data about your region and key competitors

• Focus on data that potential prospects are going to want in their own evaluations of the area

• Critical to keep data updated


Typical Data Requirements

• Demographic and socio-economic info.

• Access to markets / transportation

• Access to resources

• Labor force (education, skills, availability)

• Land, facilities, infrastructure, utilities

• Access to capital / financing capacity

• Governmental impacts (taxes, regulations)

• Quality of life

• E.D. program – resources, incentives, etc.


SWOT Analysis

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Focus on current situation (static)

• What are the current assets and liabilities?

• What today makes us unique or puts us at a disadvantage compared to other places?

Opportunities and Threats

• Focus is on the future trends (dynamic)

• What are changes that we know will occur?

• Look at future scenarios and determine how they will impact the area positively/negatively


Perceptions

• What does the community see as the key economic issues – now and in the future?

(unemployment, low wages, lack of future opportunities, need to diversify economy, etc.)

• Community perceptions may not necessarily match with the facts, but nevertheless are a factor that needs to be considered.

• Often surveys are used – leadership, business, and residents

• Issues should be prioritized


Analysis

• Once you have collected all of the data, the next step is to analyze it to look for issues, trends, opportunities, problems, etc.

• Comparison to other areas is very useful to “see where you stand” in particular categories to determine your selling points

• Focus on key strengths and weaknesses, and then try to match those to the needs of particular industry sectors


Target Market Analysis

There are many different types of analysis

and models which can be used:

• Economic base analysis

• Location quotients

• Shift-share analysis

• Input output analysis

• Cluster analysis

The bottom line is to focus on target markets



The purpose of target market analysis is to

try to match your area with strategies and

industry sectors that need the strengths you

offer, while avoiding those sectors that rely

on key things your area is weak in. It can

be done more generally for your area to

help provide a guide for prospecting, or you

can do a very detailed analysis designed to

go after specific targets.


Target Market Analysis: Examples

Likely Prospects:

1. General: Your community has an underused airport, centrally located in the country, with many large, vacant warehouse buildings adjacent – what should you focus on?

2. Specific: Your region has a growing population of about 19,000 people with no major home improvement stores. You find that home improvement stores usually look for a trade area of about 20,000 -- so which retailers would it make sense to target?


Target Market Analysis: Examples

Unlikely Prospects:

1. Your community has limited water supplies and

high electricity costs compared to other areas,

so you don’t want to target industries that

require lots of water and power, such as data

centers or semiconductor manufacturing.

2. While your area has all the locational attributes

desired by book publishers, you probably don’t

want to go after publishing since that is a

rapidly declining market segment.



While you can do this work yourself, especially if you are doing a cursory level of analysis, most places will either hire a specialized site selection consultant, or purchase existing data sources that help to provide this information.

• Difficult to know needs of every industry

• It is also critical to look at what is happening within desired industry sectors, i.e. growing/shrinking?

• One drawback is that this information has short shelf life, so once done you have to move fast, esp. for fast moving industries like technology.



• In this phase more is often better, and

timely data is critical

• Need not only facts, but also perceptions

• Look to the future – not just the current

• Target market analysis can help you start

to focus on the most likely opportunities

and prospects


Phase 3: Plan Formulation

• Once the second phase is complete, you will have a significant amount of info:

▪ Community facts and data

▪ SWOT analysis

▪ Issues identification and prioritization

▪ Target Market data

• The next step is to take that data and use it to formulate your new strategic plan


Strategic Plan Hierarchy

1. Vision – the “big picture”

2. Goals – Specific statement of what the community wants to be (aspirations)

3. Objectives – Specific performance targets to achieve the goals

4. Strategies – Specific programs and actions needed to meet goals/objectives

5. Workplan – Most specific – who, what, when, etc. (implementation stage)


Example of Hierarchy

Vision: “A growing and diversified economic base”

Goal #3: “Provide the local E.D. organization with resources needed to carry out strategic plan”

Objective #3a: “Within the next year, the Board will raise $1 mil. in public and private sector funding”

Strategies: 3a1: “Develop fundraising materials”, 3a2: “Organization will make a formal request to City for funding”, 3a3: “Meet w/ local businesses”

Workplan: “Jan will develop a fundraising brochure by September of this year”

Note: a detailed workplan is typically not part of the Strategic Plan, but rather a separate annual workplan


How do you formulate a plan?

• Using all the information that has been gathered (facts, SWOT analysis, issues and perceptions, target market analysis), start to formulate the strategic plan top down

• Often done by subcommittees or small groups

• Take a look at the plans for similar places

• Individual responses are combined in an iterative process, with prioritization and consensus-building being the key goals

• Typically will go through several drafts, and will need to seek community input throughout


Formulating the Plan

• Ultimate goal is to create a series of specific strategic actions that will help the community achieve its vision and goals

• It needs to take into account:▪ Community’s vision, goals, and objectives

▪ Amount and type of resources available

▪ Creating maximum positive impact

▪ Local leadership’s level of commitment

▪ Typically will have both realistic and stretch goals


Create a Holistic E.D. Plan

While many communities tend to focus

their E.D. plans only on new business

attraction, a good strategic plan should

also consider other components that are

just as critical to a complete economic

development effort. These can work

holistically to create positive economic and

quality of life success for a community.


25 Strategies to Consider “Building Communities: 25 Strategies to Advance America”

1. Business Recruitment

2. Business Retention and Expansion

3. Business Cultivation

4. Entrepreneurial Development

5. Energy Development

6. Environmental Restoration

7. Transportation Distribution Center

8. Telecommunications Businesses

9. Value Added Agriculture

10. Value Added Forest Products

11. Value Added Fisheries

12. Value Added Mining


25 Strategies (cont.)

13. Destination Tourism

14. Cultural Tourism

15. Local/Regional Tourism

16. Pass Through Visitor Services

17. Downtown Development

18. Education Development

19. Health Care

20. Bedroom Community

21. Infrastructure Development

22. Attracting Retirees

23. Attracting “Lone Eagles”

24. Attracting Government Jobs

25. Attracting Government Funding

by Brian Cole, 2010, www.buildingcommunities.us



• Using your collected data develop a plan

which a hierarchical structure from broad to

detailed – start with your overall vision, and

work to create goals, objectives, strategies

• This is an iterative process, and will require

significant time and community input both to

develop and to prioritize the plan

• It should be holistic and look at a variety of

potential economic activities


Phase 4: Implementation

Once the strategic plan is developed the

next step in the process is to develop an

“actionable” implementation strategy.

It is important to transfer the desired

outcomes into a series of specific action

steps that can help the community realize

its vision.


Strategic Actions

Implementation phase needs to include:

• Organizational responsibilities

• Time schedule

• Funding requirements

• Desired impacts

• Monitoring and evaluation process


Organizational Responsibilities

• Many options for who will carry out plan:

▪ Public (City E.D. department)

▪ Private (Chamber of Commerce)

▪ Public/Private Partnerships

▪ Regional agencies

▪ Multiple agencies

• No “best answer” – depends on many factors, such as the community’s needs, resource availability, leadership, etc.


Specific Work Program

• Translate the strategic actions into specific workplan (usually 1-2 yrs), which includes:

▪ Specific tasks to accomplish

▪ Prioritization of work effort

▪ Timeframe

▪ Staffing responsibility

▪ Resource requirements

▪ Performance measures


Implementation

• Implementation is a community effort –you can’t just develop a strategic plan and then expect the E.D. organization to do everything and be successful

• Often, there are infrastructure needs, community services, etc. required

• This is a team effort

• It also typically will take many years – so make sure you manage expectations



• Once the strategic plan is developed the next step is to implement it

• Figure out who will do it, what resources are needed, what the priorities are, and how you will measure success

• Implementation is a community-wide team effort which can take a long time, but if you have engaged the community throughout the process it will be easier


Phase 5: Monitor/Evaluate

• Final phase is the ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring is tracking of performance, while evaluation compares outcomes towards goals

• These often are measured in 2 ways:▪ Direct Performance – those things in your

control (did you accomplish specific tasks?)

▪ Indirect Results – out of your control (did those actions result in the desired outcomes?)


Managing Expectations

• Need to be realistic in terms of timing of

the economic development effort

• E.D. tends to be a long term process –

rarely will you have immediate success,

and most often the plan will evolve

• It is important upfront to try to manage

expectations; let stakeholders know that it

will take time to achieve desired results


Evaluation

• Evaluation needs to be honest and fair

• It is not meant to be a “blame game”

• It’s a critical tool to help the community understand what has happened, what it can reasonably expect to achieve, and what changes need to be made

• Communication is critical

• Don’t try to do infrequently – regular communication is better


Economic “Dashboard”

• Newer technique which tries to measure and benchmark economic performance on a relative basis to region/competitors

• Can use a variety of metrics, not only economic, but also demographic and social factors, to help gauge success

• By comparing yourself to similar cities or regions, you can better see how you are fairing with your program.


Continuous Change

• As a result of monitoring and evaluating the strategic plan, there will likely be the need to make ongoing changes

• Why? Changes in priorities, changes in resource levels, evaluation of success/ failure, changing community desires, changes in local/national trends

• The strategic planning process should be one of continuous evaluation and adjustment – it is a dynamic process.


1. REInitiate and

Organize Process


I

2. Data

Collection &

Analysis

4.Implementation (Responsibilities

& Resources)

5. Evaluation (Performance

Measures)

3. Formulate

Goals, Strategies

and Actions

Ongoing

Process


Revising Your Plan

• Therefore, every few years you may need

to go back and redo this process

• You don’t necessarily need to scrap the

entire thing and start over, but rather do

an abbreviated version that takes into

account changes that have occurred

• Keep your plan current, relevant, and use

it as a key tool for your organization


Common Problems

• Failure to involve broad representation of

leadership and the general public

• Too much time spent on visioning, and not

enough time spent on plan/implementation

• Strategies that don’t address real problem

• Failure to assign implementation actions

• Failure to monitor/evaluate progress

• Lack of commitment – plan “sits on a shelf”



• Your strategic plan will be a constantly

evolving “work in progress”

• Honestly evaluate the progress made,

with knowledge that this will take time,

and that many factors you can’t control

• Benchmark not only against yourself

and your goals, but also against a your

competitive set, to evaluate progress


Summary

Strategic planning is the critical first step

in the development of an effective

economic development program. This

ongoing process enables a community to

most efficiently and effectively focus its

resources to create desired outcomes.

Sample Plans

• City of Phoenix: https://www.phoenix.gov/econdevsite/Documents/072436.pdf

• Downtown Phoenix: https://www.phoenix.gov/econdevsite/Documents/104204.pdf

• Greater Phoenix Economic Council:

• http://www.gpec.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/FY2016-2019-

Strategic-Plan-extra-small.pdf

• Town of Queen Creek: http://queencreek.org/home/showdocument?id=20923

https://www.phoenix.gov/econdevsite/Documents/072436.pdf

https://www.phoenix.gov/econdevsite/Documents/104204.pdf

http://www.gpec.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/FY2016-2019-Strategic-Plan-extra-small.pdf

http://queencreek.org/home/showdocument?id=20923

Contact Information

David Roderique

City of Buckeye

Economic Development Director

623/349-6971

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]