Photo by Michael Barnes

By Mason Callejas

The Maricopa City Council voted Tuesday to approve the use of a third-party economic development team in creating a new Economic Development Strategic Plan for $62,500.

The council awarded the contract to Worldwide Growth Enterprises Inc., which will assist the Economic Development Department with drafting a new strategic plan. Interim Economic Development Director Harold Stewart considers the city’s current strategic plan outdated and feels hiring an advisor will bring a bit of perspective to the new plan.

“It’s a big plus to use a consultant,” Stewart said. “When you self-choose your business target you need to be able to get outside your normal thinking.”

It isn’t unusual to seek help from an outside firm when creating an economic development strategy. The city’s current plan was designed in 2011 with the help of Austin, Texas, firm TIP Strategies.  Information about the cost of the 2011 advisement was not readily available, but Stewart believes the new contract to be a steal for what will be about a year’s worth of work.

“A lot of others [consultants] cost a lot more,” Stewart said. “They lowered their price at the last minute to help.”

He went on to describe the selection process and outline the requisites Worldwide Growth Enterprises met to be selected. To him, the hiring of a third-party to aid in developing a strategic plan is a practice that he has seen often over the years when working with economic development teams. Harold-Stewart-city-of-maricopa

“You need to maximize available resources,” Stewart said. “You could be expending resources for something that is not viable.”

Worldwide Growth Enterprises was considered not just on the price point but also due to its extensive private and public development experience, domestically and internationally.

The council had no discussion of the issue before unanimously approving the contract offer.

The regular session of the Maricopa City Council’s Tuesday Sept. 22 meeting also included a proclamation by Mayor Christian Price to a chamber packed with Maricopa High School students, teachers and administrators in honor of Homecoming week.

Former Arizona Rattler turned teacher Darryl Gooden spoke to the council as a representative of the nonprofit Keeping Teachers Teaching. After a brief presentation an agreement was made between the city and the non-profit wherein the city will act as fiscal agent for the organization when applying for and receiving grants from the Ak-Chin.

The council also approved appointments made by Mayor Price to fill vacancies on the Planning and Zoning commission and Board of Adjustments. Brian Joyce was appointed to the P and Z commission and Christopher Shoemaker was appointed to the board of adjustments.

And, to finish things off, there was a thorough examination of the city’s new webpage designed to explain in detail the city’s newly proposed General Plan update.