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11-PEDC quarterly report CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM BRIEFING SHEET Submittal Date: Originating Department: Presented By: Agenda Item No.: 04/11/2011 Council Date: PEDC Steve Gilbert 11. 04/25/2011 RECOMMENDED MOTION: Not an action item. POLICY ISSUE(S): Requirement of PEDC By-laws. BACKGROUND: Paris Economic Development Corporation's Quarterly Report. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: EXHIBITS: Agenda Request form and Report ACTION: BUDGET INFO: ❑ Financial Report ❑ Minute Order Expense $ ❑ Department Report ❑ Resolution Budgeted Amt. $ ® Presentation ❑ Ordinance YTD Actual $ ❑ Public Hearing ❑ Other Acct. Name Acct. Number FISCAL NOTES: REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY: ® Administration ® City Clerk ❑ Community Development ❑ EMS/IT ❑ Finance ❑ Fire ❑ Municipal Court ❑ Legal ❑ Library ❑ Police ❑ Eng./Public Works ❑ Utilities City of Paris Revised 2/04/08 45 REQUEST TO PLACE ITEM ON CITY COUNCIL AGENDA The City of Paris welcomes constructive input from interested citizens. Please complete this form if you wish to have an item placed on the agenda for a regular City Council meeting. The deadline for placing an item on the agenda is noon Monday the week prior to the regular meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month. In order for the City Council to fully understand your item, have productive discussion, and ensure efficient council meetings, it is important that you describe the item with as much detail as possible and include any supporting documentation so that it may be included in the Council's meeting packets. Please contact Janice Ellis at (903) 784-9248 if you have any questions. Name: Steve Gilbert, Executive Director / Paris Economic Development Corporation Mailing Address: 1125 Bonham Street, Paris, Texas 75460 Telephone Number: 903-785-6964 Fax Number: 903-784-2503 Email Address: shannongl)aristexas.com Description of Item: Paris Economic Development Corporation's Quarterly Report to City Council Are additional sheets or supporting materials attached? X Yes ❑ No I request that this item be placed on the agenda for the Monday, April 25, 2011 City Council meeting. Certification: I understand that the City Council retains the right to set the items for discussion at its meetings and further understand that my request will not be automatically placed on an agenda or may even be denied. I also understand that I may be requested to present additional information on my item, asked to consult with the appropriate City department, or take other action before equest is considered. I agree to attend the meeting at which my item may appear and ma resent n and/or answer questions. Signature: Date: City of Paris 46 Revised 10/23/07 Paris Economic Development Corp. Mid-year Review As of April Is', Paris Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) will be half way into its fiscal year. The following mid-year review is a two part, brief look at what the PEDC Board and staff have been working on for the past six months, as outlined in its 2010-11 Plan of Work. The full text of the PEDC Plan of Work is available at http://www_paristexasusa.com/node/216. As always your comments, feedback and suggestions are welcome at parisedckparistexas.com or www.facebook.com/paristexasusa. Business Attraction & Marketing PEDC has gone wet in its approach to attract new business to the area. With the abundance of water available for industry in Paris and Lamar County, PEDC staff has begun to actively promote this valuable natural resource to companies thirsty for it. With ads in two nationally distributed publications promoting both water and transportation assets, PEDC is hoping to catch the attention of businesses that are either closely related to our existing industry or who can potentially become suppliers to those industries. To maximize the effectiveness of its marketing efforts, PEDC has begun thorough research of a wide range of water-intensive industries with a goal of identifying a short list of prime targets for attraction to the area. The research process consists of reviewing a list of water-intensive industries in two specific geographic regions, as provided by the database service InfoUSA. Geographic regions of interest are the upper Midwest and California, targeted because of their historically high costs of doing business as compared with Paris, Lamar County and the State of Texas. PEDC receives qualified leads on a regular basis from the Governor's Office of Economic Development. These leads are reviewed to determine how Paris matches up with the minimum criteria specified by the company engaged in the site search. If minimum criteria are met, then a proposal package is prepared by PEDC staff and submitted for consideration. Project leads also come from site location consultants and from PEDC's direct marketing efforts. This year to date, PEDC is working on approximately 15 projects in response to our marketing and project lead generating efforts. We work every day to keep the project pipeline full. In cooperation with the Governor's office, through the website www.texassitesearch.com, PEDC markets many of the Paris and Lamar County area's available commercial properties. Using this online too, site selectors and expanding companies can search from a large database of properties across the state by searching for key property features or narrowing the search by geographic area. Any building or site posted on the PEDC website will be promoted on the State's property tool as well, providing double exposure. PEDC staff is adding value to the local real estate owner and broker community as well. PEDC recently assembled a thorough listing of retail and commercial buildings and land. This information has been, and will continue to be made available to the developer and investor community showing an interest in Paris, Texas. The information is organized by location, price, lot size, agent/broker, company, contact, distance to loop and miscellaneous notes. All locations are mapped and identified by a unique reference number. PEDC's goal is to make Paris more friendly for this who wish to invest and operate businesses in our community. 47 To reach a much broader audience, PEDC has significantly ramped up its presence on the Web. Our new website, www.paristexasusa.com, was launched in the Fall and has become a critical tool for promoting available properties, posting up-to-the minute PEDC news, and providing a vast amount of community data to site selectors and the public. PEDC also communicates via the social media outlets of Facebook (www.facebook.com/paristexasusa), Twitter (www.twitter.com/paristexasusa) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/paristexasusa). Be sure to "friend" or "follow" us so you can stay in the loop on all that is going on in economic development in Paris and Lamar County. Business Retention & Expansion Businesses understand it is easier to keep a customer than find a new one. PEDC's goal for business retention and expansion is building and strengthening relationships with our existing industries. We want to keep existing jobs and help companies grow in Paris. There are several activities that PEDC incorporates into its relationship-building efforts. First, PEDC supports and sponsors monthly Industrial Managers meetings with active participation by both board members and staff. Through these regular meetings, PEDC learns of new opportunities or challenges facing our local industries. Industrial Manager meetings allow the leaders of local industry to hear from each other what changes have taken place in their organization in recent months and what changes or opportunities may be on the horizon. By keeping abreast of factors impacting each other, existing industries are able to share knowledge, information and insight, and PEDC is able to offer support and advocacy to ensure the continued success of these businesses. Another important tool for relationship building is one-on-one meetings with the owners and managers of existing businesses. PEDC regularly makes on-site visits to companies where the PEDC staff is able to provide detailed information about services and resources we can offer, as well as provide information on political and legislative matters that may have an impact on the business. More importantly, PEDC listens to local companies to understand their needs, requirements and expectations. The information shared in these meetings is held in confidence. We encourage our business contacts to candidly express any problems, issues, jconcerns or needs for which PEDC may be able to offer assistance. By maintaining frequent contact with our industries, PEDC is often able to learn of needs and concerns early on and offer support that can help to not only retain the business in the community, but also to help it grow. Lastly, PEDC develops and nurtures relationships with existing businesses by sponsoring an industry appreciation week each year. This week allows PEDC staff and board members to meet not only leaders but also employees of some of our existing industry. We provide a light breakfast to a different business each day of the week. The week culminates with a celebration in appreciation of our business and industry where guests are able to have fun while networking among each other, and PEDC board, staff, community leaders and elected officials. Building and maintaining relationships and regular communication helps everybody stay on the same page. Red River Region Business Incubator (R3bi) & Support for Entrepreneurs Your business incubator - R3bi - is now a reality. We have four applicants for the incubator and two are already in residence at a temporary office. Pending completion of the finish out of the 48 facility in the Williamsburg Center at 1445 Clarksville, we plan to have the incubator open by the end of April and will have eight new businesses in operation by the end of the year. In addition to financial support from PJC, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and PEDC, we must raise additional sponsorships to meet the start up expenses and our operating cost for the remainder of 2011. We are on our way with significant contributions from each of our local banks and the businesses of Paris including the Paris Regional Medical Center, Campbell's, Oncor Energy, Paris Chevrolet, Harrison, Walker & Harper, J&L Asphalt, and Paris Packaging. The R3bi will become a significant contributor to Paris and Lamar County business success only with the support and sponsorship of our local business community and forward looking individuals concerned about the future of Lamar County and the region. You have the opportunity to be an important member of that group. The Red River Region Business Incubator has established a presence on the internet at www.r3bi.org. Maintain & Market "Site Ready" Industrial Park PEDC continues to identify and increase the amount of marketable land available in the City, County and the Northeast Industrial Park. Efforts have also been made to keep the park aesthetically appealing by clearing its frontage along 191" Street NW, shredding the property several times throughout the cutting season, and ensuring the proper function of the entrance sign and pond fountain. We are always prepared to show the property to prospects. While brochures and images of the park have been available online for quite sometime, this year PEDC added to its website a virtual tour of the existing available building in the park; the tour is narrated by board member Rick Poston. PEDC has developed a strong working relationship with the owner of the existing building and is daily working to find a suitable tenant or buyer for the 30,000 sq. ft. building and 6 acres of adjacent property. The City of Paris will soon consider approval of the Cox Field Airport 20-Year Master Plan. This document provides a blueprint for improving and developing one of our most valued assets - our airport. PEDC looks forward to working closely with the City on this effort. PEDC Reporting & Accountability The PEDC staff has implemented a new budgeting and financial reporting process this year. More than ever before, the PEDC Board and the public are aware of our community's economic development financial resources. Our commitment to accountability and transparency with taxpayer funds is priority number one. We are happy to review any aspect of PEDC's operations and plans on request. Our website is www.paristexasusa.com. Develop & Promote a Positive, Pro-Business Climate for Paris & Lamar County by Providing Leadership & Strategic Future Vision This portion of PEDC's Plan of Work is broad, and it is of great importance to PEDC's ability to attract new business to the area. Many activities have been, and continue to take place in pursuit of this goal. In late 2010 and early 2011 PEDC held two community strategic planning sessions. The first session was attended by PEDC board members, city council members and key city 49 staff. The second was attended by a broader audience of approximately 100 people representing a cross-section of community leaders from business, education, government, politics and non- profits. The result of these community-wide planning sessions was a list of seven critical priorities and accompanying strategies to address these priorities. The success of the strategic planning session will be determined by the level of buy-in and ownership of the plan at all levels of community, from leadership to citizenship. PEDC is committed to promoting this plan throughout the remainder of this fiscal year and beyond. It is definitely a complicated and messy work in progress to create a world-class community of which we are all proud. Another important step to achieving a positive, pro-business climate for our area is staying informed on major legislative issues impacting Paris and Lamar County. To this end, PEDC is actively involved in several transportation related organizations in an effort to keep the 4-lane Highway 24 project on the forefront of all influential radars. With participation in the Sulphur River Regional Mobility Authority and TEX-21, the 1-30 Corridor Coalition, PEDC is up to date on all transportation legislative matters. PEDC Board and staff has also been involved in helping to create the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce's legislative agenda for 2011. We will be attending Lamar County Day in Austin to participate in meetings with key legislators and to help share Paris' needs with state leaders. Communication with elected officials at all levels is necessary for our needs and concerns to be heard. PEDC regularly communicates with our elected officials personally or through formal written communication to ensure that no issue goes unheard. Finally, a pro-business climate demands an available, trained, work-ready workforce. PEDC has provided support for the formation of the Paris Young Professionals (YP) group and staff frequently participate in or provide support for YP events. PEDC has also been working closely with local ministers, Workforce Solutions NE Texas and Paris Junior College to open communication between people who need jobs and the employers who need dedicated, hard working employees. PEDC has supported two employment-related fairs that resulted in job seekers honing their job search skills and even submitting resumes for open positions. PEDC is working closely with Workforce Solutions NE Texas, the City of Paris, and the Diversity Taskforce on an exciting slate of events and activities to proactively address diversity and inclusion issues in a positive and lasting way. Stay tuned for these efforts in the coming weeks and months. While many and varied, the goals of the PEDC 2010-11 Plan of Work are each vital to the health and growth of Paris' and Lamar County's business and industry base. No two days are ever the same and priorities can change at a moment's notice, but you can be sure that the ultimate goal of the PEDC board and staff is to daily seek those things that position our City and County to be a place where businesses grow and thrive, making our area irresistible to others who haven't yet discovered their home in Paris, Lamar County, Texas. 50