Practical Strategies to Attract
Economic Development
Nancy Lee
Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy
Northeastern University
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Natick, MA
October 26, 2010
Fundamental Proposition
Cities and towns have the ability to create
their own destiny, but they can benefit from
having sophisticated partners who can help
them develop tools and information to
compete successfully.
Deal Breakers
Self-Assessment
Municipal Action
Deal Makers
Deal Breaker #1
Municipal leaders often lack up-to-date information about
location needs of industry and the recruitment efforts of
competing locations, especially in a rapidly changing
global economy
Deal Maker/Action Steps
Economic Development Self-Assessment Tool (EDSAT)
• Helps municipalities clarify economic development goals and
identify strengths and weaknesses relative to other locations
• Provides access to the best thinking of private sector site location
specialists
• The Dukakis Center and the NLC are available to provide on-going
economic development training
Deal Breaker #2
Business decision makers have well-defined “cognitive
maps” - perceptions or expectations of a municipality’s
attributes and opportunities
Deal Maker/Action Steps
EDSAT assists municipal officials in
• Combining resources to better market their communities and
respond to inquires from firms, developers, and location
specialists
• Making their websites more informative for businesses so that
they can make rational decisions about locations
Deal Breaker #3
Site specific deficiencies can add excessive costs to doing
business in particular cities
Deal Maker/Action Steps
Encourage the enactment of urban overlay zoning
districts where there can be flexible use, expedited
permitting, focused public safety efforts, and amenity
packages essential to creating competitive advantages
Deal Breaker #4
State and local review processes can add excessive costs
to doing business in older industrial cities
Deal Maker/Action Steps
Identify development ready sites and pre-permit for
industrial and commercial uses and market them
Create a permit system that allows for a single
presentation of a development proposal to all review
boards
Empower someone in the administration to oversee the
development process and respond aggressively and
proactively to the needs of firms expressing interest
Deal Breaker #5
Traditional tax abatements, tax credits, and subsidies are
often strategic deal closers, but are not sufficient to
attract high value business investment if previous deal
breakers are not overcome
Deal Maker/Action Steps
Use the Tax Increment Financing program to create
revenue streams for critical infrastructure needs
Site state and municipal facilities in urban locations to
stimulate creation of amenities and other attractions to
spur private sector commercial and industrial investment
NAIOP/CoreNet Survey Categories
Permitting Processes
Labor: Skills and Costs
Development and Operating Costs
Business Environment
Transportation and Access to Markets
Quality of Life/Social Environment
Which location factors received
the highest scores?
On-site parking
Rental rates
Availability of appropriate labor
Timeliness of approvals and appeals
When asked independent of the survey,
NAIOP and CoreNet respondents identified
factors consistent with the survey
Which location factors received
the lowest scores?
Municipal minimum wage law
Access to rail
Strong trade unions
The Self-Assessment Tool (EDSAT )
The self-assessment tool includes sections on:
1. Access to Customers/Markets
2. Concentration of Businesses and Services
3. Cost of Land (Implicit/Explicit)
4. Labor
5. Municipal Process
6. Quality of Life (Community)
7. Quality of Life (Site Amenities)
8. Business Incentives
9. Tax Rates
10. Access to Information
Customized EDSAT Reports
In a typical report you will find:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
A summary of your responses to the self-assessment
questionnaire
Color coded benchmarks against all municipalities that
have participated in the self assessment
Dukakis Center staff analysis of your responses and a
prioritized list of deal breakers to help you think about
these issues in a concrete, actionable way
A ranking system noting which location factors are most
important, somewhat important, and less important to
attracting investment
How EDSAT Results are Being Used
• Chelsea - used as a roadmap to benchmark the city’s
economic development policy
• Holyoke - participated in 2006 and considering retaking it to
see how they compare now
• Ludlow - incorporated EDSAT into its master planning
process, which is currently underway
• Salem - collaborated with the community stakeholders and
saw it as a good vehicle to work across city departments
• Rhode Island - 8 communities participated individually and
the Dukakis Center is providing an integrated, regional
assessment
EDSAT Testimonials
What folks are saying
"This is a great roadmap for the essentials for bench-marking our city's economic
development policy."
Jay Ash, City Manager, Chelsea, MA
"It [taking the self-assessment] was a good learning experience for the
employees in this town. We plan to hire a consultant [to help with development
for the town], so the results from the self assessment will be good baseline data
to share with the consultant."
Anthony Fields, Planning Director, Burlington, MA
"We have a new administration coming in, so it will be really helpful to be able to
take all of this information we've rounded up for the self-assessment and hand it
over to them."
Steven Magoon, Chief Administrative Officer, Gloucester, MA
“I’m using this as a guidebook for re-tooling our development process.”
Mayor Charles Ryan, Springfield, MA
We hope that your community will participate
in the EDSAT program
Thank you
Barry Bluestone
Nancy Lee
Heather Seligman
Daniel Spiess
617-373-7870
www.economicdevelopment.neu.edu
Expedited Permitting
Specialized Industrial Cluster Focus
Mixed Use Development
High Performing
Schools
Transit Connections
Priority Infrastructure
Urban Overlay
District
Public Safety Operations
Housing
Leveraged
Public/Private
Investment
Strategic Workforce Investment
Lead Actors
State Governments
Municipal Gov’ts
Regional Agencies
Business
Vocational/Technical Schools, Community
Colleges, Universities
Municipal Leaders need to be the CEOs of
economic development
Survey Results
Mean Scores for All Factors (1 = Very Important; 4= Less Important)
Factor
Mean
Factor
Mean
Onsite parking for employees
1.51
Municipal rep. as good place to live
2.03
Rental rates
1.55
Municipal rep. for economic dev.
2.03
Zoning by right
2.09
Availability of appropriate labor
1.57
Proximity to restaurants / shops
2.10
Access to airports / major highways*
1.63*
Public transportation
2.15
Timeliness of approvals / appeals
1.70
Cost of housing for employees
2.15
Quality / capacity of infrastructure
1.75
Complementary business svcs**
2.16
Competitive labor costs
1.78
Critical mass of similar firms
2.20
Traffic congestion
1.79
Access to airports**
2.21
Property taxes
1.83
Quality of local schools
2.21
State tax / financial incentives**
1.83**
Awareness of brownfields
2.24
Crime rate in the area
1.84
Permitting ombudsman
2.32
Fast track / concurrent permitting
1.84
Access to major highways**
1.85**
Awareness of strong neighborhood
orgs
2.37
Local tax / financial incentives
1.87
Customized workforce training
2.49
Land costs
1.87
Availability of
sports/cultural/recreational opps
2.62
Predictability / clarity of permitting
1.88
Proximity to research/universities
2.66
Undesirable abutting land use
1.89
Informative municipal website
2.75
Physical attractiveness of area
1.95
Strong trade unions
2.82
State tax rates**
1.96
Access to railroads**
2.84
Municipal rep. as good place to work
1.97
Municipal minimum wage law
3.00
* Question asked in NAIOP survey only. **Question asked in CoreNet survey only.
The Framework for the Tool
• Municipal officials and staff working together answer over
250 questions in 10 categories
• The results of the Self-Assessment Tool are secure and
provided only to the local officials. Each community can
choose to share the results at their own discretion
• The results provide an ability to ascertain a community’s
economic development strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats
“The Partnership has provided me with the knowledge and assistance I need to
understand and respond to the rapidly changing economic environment and to
be an effective leader for economic development in my city."
James Mitchell, Council Member, Charlotte, NC and 1st Vice President, National
League of Cities
"I'm using this as a guidebook for re-tooling our development process."
Mayor Charles Ryan, Springfield, MA
"We want the mayor to use this data [from the self-assessment] as a selling tool
to get firms to come to our town....I think there's real value in being able to
hand this information to a firm that might be interested in our town. It's been a
great exercise for Norwood and we're just beginning to explore what changes
we can make a result."
Steve Costello, Town Planner, Norwood, MA
Sample Question 1
What is the average time (in weeks) from
application to completion of the review process
for the following: Building permit?
0-4
5-8
9-12
13-24
25-36
36+
Sample Result 1
Sample Question 2
What is the prevailing average hourly wage rate
for mid-level clerical workers?
$6.50 or less
$6.51-$7.50
$7.51-$12.50
 $12.51-$20
$20+
Sample Result 2
Sample Question 3
What percentage of available sites for general
office space have on-site parking?
0%
1-25%
26-49%
50-74%
75%+
Sample Result 3