CLAYTON 鈥 The 最新杏吧原创 Economic Development Partnership on Friday agreed to hire a consultant to compile a strategic plan evaluating its place within the region鈥檚 economic development landscape.
The Partnership board approved at a special meeting Friday a $115,000 contract with New York-based HR&A Advisors, Inc. It is the latest strategic planning effort by regional economic development organizations. At least four other reports have been released or are in process from both public and private entities amid a shift in the leadership of the region鈥檚 economic development infrastructure.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to start from scratch,鈥 said Janet Wilding, a vice president of major projects at the Partnership. 鈥淭his is more of a literature review of what鈥檚 out there, what strategies are out there, and it鈥檚 more targeted at our organization to understand where do we fit in, where do we add value, what is the best placement of our activities.鈥
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The Partnership, which spent much of the last two years rebuilding amid a political scandal that ensnared its former leader and sent former 最新杏吧原创 County Executive Steve Stenger to prison, tends to focus more on 最新杏吧原创 County, though 最新杏吧原创 has some representatives on its board.
The city鈥檚 economic development arm, the 最新杏吧原创 Development Corp., over the summer released its , which calls for reorienting its staff to a more place-based approach, focusing on neighborhood-by-neighborhood redevelopment. The longtime chief of the SLDC, Otis Williams, is also retiring this spring.
Meanwhile, the new Greater 最新杏吧原创 Inc., created by the recent merger of business groups Civic Progress and the 最新杏吧原创 Regional Chamber, is in the midst of gathering feedback on its new strategic plan that calls for a heavy focus on the urban core. More specific plans focused on downtown and the region鈥檚 geospatial workforce have also been released to guide the work of Greater 最新杏吧原创 and the SLDC in the last year.
The Partnership received 11 proposals for the contract and interviewed four, Wilding said. The request for proposals calls for a completion of the strategic plan this summer.
Partnership board member Dave Spence, who served on the selection committee that chose HR&A, said the committee was unanimous in its recommendation.
鈥淏eing stewards of taxpayers money, and trying to get a different twist on things, this was the right choice,鈥 Spence said.
