Bio-Life Sciences tops the list of key areas of focus for the the City of Phoenix
The Phoenix City Council voted on Tuesday to adopt a new Economic Development Strategic Plan. The strategic plan will guide the work of the Community and Economic Development Department (CEDD) as it collaborates with businesses and the community to create new jobs and increase investment in Phoenix.
“This strategy serves as a launch point to guide Phoenix’s economic development, and with this plan, our city is poised to move from a tough recession to what inevitably will be a period of robust economic growth,” said Mayor Greg Stanton. “Now it’s time to put this plan into action and make it a reality.”
The adoption of the Economic Development Strategic Plan resulted from a comprehensive process that first worked to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the department and the business environment in the city. This involved evaluating drivers of business growth and job creation, as well as assessing comparable markets and best practices. Stakeholders in the business community were interviewed to learn about their assessment of the business climate.
Through this process, seven sectors were identified as having high potential to make a significant impact in Phoenix. Those seven sectors are:
- Bio-Life Sciences
- Advanced Business Services
- Manufacturing
- World Business, Trade and Foreign Direct Investment
- Sustainable Industries and Enterprises, including Clean Technology
- Higher Education
- Established and Emerging Enterprises (young firms that start small and have a high potential for growth)
These sectors are seen as the major drivers of growth in new jobs and capital investment in Phoenix. CEDD will be focusing on those critical seven sectors in order to support the growth of those industries in Phoenix.
Once the key sectors were identified, the process then sought to identify the next steps in attracting and retaining businesses in those high-growth industries. By aligning economic development initiatives around Phoenix’s core strengths, the department can increase the efficiency of their efforts.
One of the action items of the strategic plan is to increase outreach and relationship building with existing Phoenix businesses, especially focused around the seven sectors. Other action items include collaboration with external organizations to expand capacity, increasing the use of performance metrics, and investing in market intelligence, technology, staff development, and communications.
To that end, 10 key priorities were developed to specifically guide the work of the Community and Economic Development Department into the future. The 10 priorities are:
- Focus on core economic development programs in key industry sectors.
- Implement a California economic development strategy.
- Initiate planning and development of a second Phoenix biomedical campus.
- Open a Phoenix workforce business and training center.
- Leverage economic development tools to enhance competitiveness.
- Promote Phoenix for international business, trade and investment.
- Invest in market intelligence and technology to drive priorities and outcomes.
- Streamline city regulatory processes.
- Forge strong partnerships with community and businesthe City of Phoenix s organizations to enhance capacity and service delivery.
- Develop a marketing, outreach and communications plan.
“This strategic plan is extremely important as the city continues to focus on job creation and sustained economic growth,” said City Manager David Cavazos.
Moving forward, the city’s economic development team will continue to be focused on the creation of quality jobs for the community. The Economic Development Strategic Plan will provide a foundation for a sustainable and successful Phoenix economy in the 21st century.
SOURCE: The City of Phoenix (To visit the original site and access plan documents click here.