Private economic development group hopes to create jobs, attract business

Take a group of business leaders and start-up experts, add a shared secretarial staff and low-cost office space, and what do you get? A place where entrepreneurs can grow their business dreams.

This is part of the vision Maricopa Councilman Marvin Brown and others hope to bring to fruition with the creation of the Maricopa Economic Development Alliance. MEDA is a private, non-profit organization established in 2009 to work as a non-attached limb of the city to help in attracting business and bring jobs to Maricopa.

“This is a group that can help us get over the economic hump,” Brown said.

MEDA is comprised of Brown, Keith Kirkman, chief executive officer at Orbitel Communications; Cecilia Estrada-Ashe, market president at Great Western Bank; Bill Stacy, general manager at Electrical District No. 3; Trevor Hill, chief executive officer of Global Water Resources; Jim Rives, president of the Executive Leadership Institute, and Kevin Evans, Maricopa city manager.

“This is a group with strong Maricopa connections who understand the business climate,” said Danielle Casey, Maricopa’s director of economic development. Casey said the members of the group were selected because of their connections with economic development.

The idea of forming the partnership was the brainchild of former economic consultant Ioanna Morfessis. “She had this idea for several years; we took it to council, and they told us to move forward with it,” Casey said.

The city provided the legal fees to develop MEDA’s articles of incorporation, and council recently approved $50,000 in funding each of the next two years to help get the organization off the ground.

“This is a true public/private partnership that will help to ensure the long term viability of the city of Maricopa,” Kirkman said.

In addition to the funds the group is receiving from the city, its members are working hard to raise money that can be used to provide incentives and other perks to help lure business to the city. “We have raised $25,000 thus far, and the ultimate goal is to be financially independent of the city,” Brown said.

“I was one of the people who were highly critical of the city spending money on consultants and not seeing any results,” Brown said. “I will feel the same way if we don’t see results with this venture.”

Brown said some of ways the group can work to attract development to the city include meeting with potential businesses, marketing the city, providing incentives to help companies relocate, lead generation and construction of an incubator. MEDA can speak brother-to-brother, sister-to-sister, or brother-to-sister to make a case for businesses to locate to Maricopa, Brown said

Casey said the group can also accept land donations and repurpose them.

While there are few Arizona cities embracing these types of organizations, they are popular in the Midwest and on the east coast. Two of the better known organizations are Detroit Renaissance, a group formed by Henry Ford II, which led to the construction of multiple high-rise structures in downtown Detroit, and Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, which was created in 1959 by state and local governments, nearby universities and local business interests.

Currently, the MEDA board is in the process of looking for a firm to help with the completion of a strategic plan, which will act as an umbrella document for both the city and the organization. “This will be an all-inclusive document that will identify what types of business the group will target, goals and other items,” Casey said.

During the creation of this plan there will be several public meetings to elicit comment on what members of the community would like to see Maricopa become. “Any city would love to have a group like this,” Brown said.

For more information about MEDA, visit MaricopaEDA.com.

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