Economic development plans move forward

City officials, members of MEDA’s board of directors and a representative of TIP Strategies met with the public last night at Global Water headquarters to ask for guidance about the future economic development of Maricopa.

MEDA, short for Maricopa Economic Development Alliance, is a private, nonprofit group that works with the city to attract new businesses to Maricopa and assist the growth and success of businesses already here. TIP, which stands for Theory Into Practice, is an Austin, Tex.-based strategic planning firm hired by MEDA to create a 5-year economic development plan for the city of Maricopa.

“We picked TIP to lead this process because they have done the same thing successfully for other cities similar to Maricopa in size and issues faced,” said Jim Rives, president and CEO of MEDA.

The meeting on Thursday night was an opportunity for citizens to discuss economic development options with the experts and offer opinions about which options should be pursued.

Two groups agree
After introductory remarks by Rives and TIP project leader Alan Cox, attendees broke into two groups to consider four questions:

1. Which types of businesses should Maricopa focus on attracting?
2. Where should new businesses be located?
3. Should MEDA and the city put up speculative commercial buildings to attract new businesses?
4. Should MEDA focus more of its efforts on attracting new employers to town, helping small home-based businesses or assisting entrepreneurs looking to grow larger businesses here?

The two groups, one led by Rives, the other by city Economic Development Director Danielle Casey, reached similar conclusions.

Both groups chose healthcare as the type of business that would be most beneficial to bring to Maricopa, followed by manufacturing/warehouse businesses and call centers.

The interest in healthcare employers had a dual focus: residents said they thought a facility such as a hospital would provide good jobs; at the same time it would be a benefit to people living here and help attract new residents. One group thought new healthcare employers should be located along the John Wayne corridor. The other group thought the best place for a hospital would be the new city center area around the intersection of Bowlin Road and White and Parker Road. This is the area where the new city hall and Central Arizona College campus will be built. If Maricopa is built out as planned, the area will be the geographic center of the city.

Both groups thought manufacturing and warehouse facilities should be located in a proposed industrial park on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway where the Union Pacific railroad corridor could be leveraged for economic advantage.

Both groups also felt that the city and MEDA should consider building commercial and industrial shells to make moving to Maricopa more attractive and feasible for new businesses, but that great care should be taken not to over invest in unoccupied structures or get too far ahead of the development curve.

On the final question, Rives’ group came down strongly for the option of focusing efforts on attracting new businesses to town, while Casey’s group thought the focus should be more on helping small businesses and entrepreneur already in Maricopa.

Both Rives and TIP’s Cox made the point emphatically that citizen input is highly important to the planning process and will be a significant factor in the decisions that are made and the directions pursued.

Good mix, low turnout
After the meeting, Mayor Anthony Smith commended those who attended and commented on the diversity of those who showed up in terms of age, occupation and length of time in the city.

City Councilmember and MEDA board member Marvin Brown expressed disappointment that, considering the nature of the opportunity, more people did not come out for the meeting.

“People have to take ownership of their city,” Brown said, after noting the size of the group, which totaled about 25, including MEDA board members.

Those who would like to have their opinions about economic development considered can go to MEDA’s website and fill out an online survey that asks questions similar to those considered at last night’s meeting. That survey is here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/XH898Y2

Plan due in March
Cox said TIP staff members will compile citizen input along with other statistical and strategic information to present a preliminary set of economic development goals to the city in March.

“We will come up with four or five broad goals and each goal will be supported by three or four strategies,” Cox said. “Under each strategy there will be a number of actions and tasks with responsible parties listed” so that the way toward the goal is clear.

Cox said one such goal might be insuring that there are adequate, attractive, properly prepared sites in Maricopa where new businesses can launch or relocate.