City: Economic director briefs council

CEDS, enterprise zone, SCORE and business incubator progress

[July 25, 2008]  On an evening with a full agenda still before the Lincoln City Council, Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership executive director Joel Smiley was given five minutes to speak. Smiley had a lot to talk about: CEDS, enterprise zone, SCORE, a potential development and the coming business incubator. So he spoke fast.

Five-year course of action

A five-year economic development strategic plan has been completed, Smiley said.

That plan was unfolded to local officials and business leaders at a gathering on June 25.

It includes current projects and future developments and is designed to be fund-driven, anticipating funding from a variety of sources for the various stages. Some of the funds might be acquired through a comprehensive economic development strategy.

CEDS

Smiley explained that the longtime goal to develop a Lincoln/Logan County Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy could find completion soon. He and Atlanta Mayor Bill Martin have met with Peoria officials on several occasions to discuss what the Peoria region is doing and if Logan County could become a part of their CEDS.

A meeting has been set up in Peoria on Aug. 7 that local officials are being encouraged to attend. This meeting is the next step in the process that could lead to Lincoln and Logan County joining four other counties in the Peoria regional CEDS, Smiley said.

He postulated and answered:

Why would Logan County want to become part of a region-based economic agency with four other counties?

• It attracts federal funding.

• It aids in intergovernmental agreements.

• It provides opportunities for studies and other opportunities to share resources.

• It overcomes separation from other core areas, becoming part of a regional effort.

Piggybacking into a regional CEDS would also save time and cost over creating an individualized CEDS. Most of the work would be accomplished through the time and efforts put forth by Smiley and Martin.

If all goes well, Smiley said, a formal agreement could be ready as soon as September.

Enterprise zone

Lincoln and Logan County recently passed an enterprise zone for the Monsanto Co., with an extension that reaches outside the county. Smiley recalled that Monsanto approached Lincoln and Logan County with the request. He said that other cities have done the same for businesses that are from outside their enterprise zone territory.

He also said that we could expect more of these requests. "In the future you can expect other projects to come forth," he said. "We want to make sure that we're setting the pace, and we're setting the guidelines." Smiley said that over the next 30-60 days he would be drafting what he thought would be an appropriate level for guidelines. He would then run it past enterprise zone administrator Phil Mahler before bringing it to the city and to the county for discussion.

This would decide in advance:

• The level of funding.

• Fees.

• The kind of projects that should trigger enterprise zone extension outside of Logan County.

SCORE

SCORE harnesses the knowledge of retired professionals from the fields of business, accounting, marketing, banking, engineering, law or other related fields that would help local business owners.

Currently we receive some assistance from Springfield, Smiley said. "We want to have a SCORE office open here in Lincoln, at least on a part-time basis," he said. A couple or three volunteers would be needed to get that going.

Officials asked to attend meeting on future development

An infrastructure, planning and site development meeting has been set for Aug. 6. A utility company has plans that could affect future development in Logan County.

Business incubator

The newest process of growing a business from the ground up is about to be tried in Logan County.

There have been two successful meetings discussing the development of a business incubator in Lincoln, Smiley said. It looks as though there will be one in another community that has expressed interest as well, he said.

Our goal is to have a functional incubator up and running in the second quarter of 2009, he concluded.

(--End presentation remarks)

Five minutes was up.

Smiley departed promising continued updates as projects progress.

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Related information

• Google either "comprehensive economic development strategy" or "CEDS" and you will find numerous examples that show how it is working in other areas.

• SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business"