 "In these difficult economic times, the preservation and growth of
our community's economic base is of primary importance," Snyder
said. "Our economic base provides jobs for our families. It helps
attract new businesses. And it also provides tax revenues for
essential city services. We must do all we can to fortify it and
expand it."He outlined three steps he said are necessary for
Lincoln to energize its economic development efforts:
-
Convene an
economic development summit to lay out an economic blueprint for
the city.
-
Be strategic in
attracting new economic opportunities and growing our own jobs.
-
Take a team approach to implementing
growth strategies.
The economic development summit would bring together a wide cross
section of governmental entities, private-sector concerns and
interested citizens from across Lincoln to freely discuss and
discover the best and most effective ways for the city to expand its
economy. The one-day session would be a focused and facilitated
effort designed to get input from all parties and produce consensus
for an economic direction for the city.
According to Snyder, one of the results of the summit will be
strategic direction for the attraction of new businesses. "We can't
just sit back and wait for whatever comes economically," he said.
"We have to have a strategy for the type of businesses and
opportunities we want to attract to our community."
He suggested three business attraction strategies the city could
pursue: a gap strategy, a complementary strategy and a listening
strategy. The gap strategy would involve identifying economic gaps
(areas where people and businesses spend the greatest percentage of
their dollars outside the Lincoln area) and filling them. The
complementary strategy would involve the attraction of businesses
and industries that are related to or natural fits with those that
are already succeeding in and around Lincoln. The listening strategy
simply involves asking the people of Lincoln what opportunities they
would like to see come to their community. "We can learn a lot by
simply asking and listening," Snyder said.
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 He said the city also needs to be strategic in growing its own
jobs: "By supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs and people
wanting to start their own business, we can move their dreams into
reality and change the economic fortunes of Lincoln." Snyder
suggested that this entrepreneurial support should include the
development of a business incubator in Lincoln; reviews of zoning,
permit and code regulations; and creation of a program designed to
ignite entrepreneurial interests in our high school students.
"The city cannot enact meaningful and successful economic
strategies by itself. It has to work together with others as a team,
both externally and internally," Snyder said. He called for the city
to have a vibrant and strong public-private effort when it comes to
growing Lincoln's economic base. He also called for the creation of
a new standing committee of the Lincoln City Council, the Economic
Opportunity Committee. That committee would provide leadership on
economic development strategies and be empowered by the council to
act as the city's "first responder" and "rapid response team" to
development inquiries that need immediate dialogue and feedback.
For more information Snyder pointed to his "Energize Economic
Development" platform paper, also released today. Snyder promised to
outline further details on his other two issues ("Elevate Community
Pride" and "Engage the Future") in the coming weeks.
(See platform paper below.)
[Text from file received from
Keith Snyder, candidate for mayor of Lincoln]
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|
 I. Convene an Economic Development Summit to lay out an
economic blueprint for the City.
The City needs to convene an Economic Development Summit, a
focused, facilitated one-day session to share perspectives and
dreams, to identify ways to attack growth collaboratively, and to
identify steps to grow economic opportunities in Lincoln. The Summit
would involve all units of government in Lincoln (city, county,
school districts, etc.), business groups and leaders, community
organizations, professional associations, service clubs, interested
citizens, and others.
By bringing everyone together we can layout a blueprint for how
we need to address the economic development of Lincoln. The Summit
could become an annual event that could tackle new issues that come
up each year. In that way it could generate a continuing flow of new
ideas and proposals.
II. Be strategic in attracting new economic opportunities and
growing our own jobs.
New economic opportunities –
Lincoln can't just sit back and wait for whatever comes
economically. It needs to have a strategy for the type of businesses
and opportunities it wants to attract to our community. That
strategy needs to fit where the city is now and where it wants to
go. The strategy also needs to be built on the resources that are
available here in Lincoln. Just such a strategy should be one of the
results of the Economic Development Summit.
In terms of business attraction strategies there are at least
three the City could pursue. First, we could identify economic gaps
(those goods and services sectors where the greatest percentage of
our spending takes place outside the Lincoln area) and work to fill
those. It would be a strong message to prospective businesses if we
could say, "The community spends this much money outside of Lincoln
on your goods and services. Why don't you come to this market and
meet those needs yourself?"
Second, we could work to attract businesses that would complement
those already succeeding in the area. Successful businesses that are
already here have partners up and down their streams of commerce.
Maybe it is a supplier. Maybe it is a shipper. Maybe it is a
customer. Whatever the relationship, the businesses that are already
here can and should be our building blocks for future growth.
Third, we could simply listen to our citizens and work to attract
those businesses that they desire. I've lived in Lincoln for almost
50 years and I don't remember being asked by anyone from the City or
any business group what businesses or industries I'd like to see my
hometown pursue. We could learn a lot by asking and
listening.
Growing our own jobs: Entrepreneurism –
Dr. Ernesto Sirolli, the founder, chair, and CEO of the Sirolli
Institute, has stated the following:
"Right now in your community, at this very moment, there
is someone who is dreaming about doing something to improve
his/her lot. If we could learn how to help that person to
transform the dream into meaningful work, we would be
halfway to changing the economic fortunes of the entire
community."
One dream changed into reality can change Lincoln's economic
fortunes.
The City needs to coordinate resources and proactively support
the entrepreneurial dreams of local citizens who want to start their
won businesses. The City needs to support the business incubator
proposals being developed by the Economic Development Partnership.
An incubator can provide start-up businesses with an array of
targeted resources and services. With the right nurturing and
support, incubators can produce successful firms that will leave the
program financially viable and freestanding.
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top of second column in this section] |
 The Council's new Economic Opportunity Committee (described
below) can assist entrepreneurs by surveying zoning, permitting, and
building code regulations to identify regulations that could serve
as impediments to start-up businesses. The Committee could then
recommend changes that would balance the intent of the original
requirement with the flexibility needed for growing a business.
Lincoln would also benefit from a program to ignite the
entrepreneurial fire within some of our best and brightest high
school students. Lincoln's greatest export is its kids. We train and
educate them for at least 13 years (grades K-12) only to see them
leave in search of bigger and better things. The city of Enid,
Oklahoma has developed a program that is designed to show the best
students in their community that they don't need to leave the area
to have the career of their dreams. The program is called "ROOTs,"
short for Recognizing the Opportunities Of Tomorrow. It is a two-day
program for the best high school juniors in the community and is run
entirely by volunteers. The students spend time with business
leaders and learn in greater detail about the opportunities
available in Enid. A Lincoln ROOTs program could focus on
entrepreneurial opportunities that exist right here at home. The
millennial generation has been called the most entrepreneurial in
history. If we can excite that generation about the possibilities
Lincoln has to offer, the impact to this community could be great.
III. Take a team approach to implementing growth strategies.
The City cannot enact meaningful and successful economic
strategies by itself. It has to work together with others as a team,
both externally and internally.
The City needs to act in concert with the Economic Development
Partnership, the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce, Main
Street, and other organizations dedicated to advancing Lincoln
economically. Lincoln needs a vibrant and strong public/private
effort when it comes to growing our economic base. It has been
suggested in this race that the City should drop its participation
in the Development Partnership. That would be shortsighted. The cost
in lost opportunities would exceed any dollars saved many times
over. In difficult times businesses may not be expanding, but they
are watching and planning. It is when times are hard that
prospective markets such as Lincoln can get their feet in the door
to start to build relationships. When the economy turns around, we
want to be inside the office already having conversations, not on
the outside looking in.
Internally, the Lincoln City Council needs to have a standing
committee focused on Economic Opportunity. The purpose of this
Committee will be twofold: 1) provide leadership on economic
development strategies, and 2) be the owner and accountable entity
for the City's economic opportunities efforts. The Committee should
also be empowered by the Council to act as the City's "first
responder" and "rapid response team" to inquiries that need
immediate dialogue and feedback. Some opportunities will not wait
for agendas or the next regularly scheduled meeting. Some matters
may obviously need the involvement of the full Council, but on
matters where Lincoln needs to be prepared to act quickly, this
Committee can be charged with that responsibility.
If we develop a good blueprint at an Economic Development Summit,
can be strategic about attracting new business and growing our own
opportunities, and act as a solid, cohesive team, we will Energize
Economic Development and move Lincoln forward.
[Text copied from file received from Keith
Snyder, candidate for mayor of Lincoln]
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