City wants home-grown jobs
BYLINE: Don Ruane
Incentives touted over more for bridges BY don ruane druane@news-press.com
Mike Jackson's City Hall office is windowless and but that doesn't stop him from looking beyond the present when he's working at his desk. "We're looking for what is right over the horizon in our growth, for what's coming," said Jackson, a former broadcast journalist and ad agency owner from Chicago. He carries the weight of the city council's decision to make economic development its top strategic priority for 2007.
He's looking for innovative new businesses, notably in technology or life science fields, willing to relocate and take advantage of the city's workforce. He's also looking in real time to develop a program to shepherd major projects quickly through permit reviews. His game plan could cost $605,000. But if it works, fewer residents will have to battle bridge traffic each day commuting to and from jobs in Fort Myers. Better jobs and better pay will be available in Cape Coral. There will be more businesses to share the tax burden as well as more opportunities for shopping and services. "What's better?" Jackson asks. "Spending money on bridges or spending money on a couple of office parks?"
Technology and life science companies could be "rainmakers" or big producers for the city, Jackson said. The city has $35,000 set aside for consultants to develop leads for life-science businesses. Another $25,000 is set aside to develop contacts at various universities who will help identify and recruit bright entrepreneurs who might turn their research into jobs and profits in Cape Coral. "The idea is to go after leading edge companies with room to grow," Jackson said.
"Being self-sufficient when it comes to employment," Mayor Eric Feichthaler said, is one of the goals. He wants to see higher paying jobs and professional jobs; maybe a Fortune 500 headquarters. Such jobs have been slow to come to Cape Coral, but changes such as the annexation of the 4-square-mile Zemel property open doors for office parks, Feichthaler said.
But convincing the public of the benefits of economic development may be harder. The term is difficult to define and results come slowly, Jackson said. "The No. 1 challenge is there is no uniformity about what economic development is," Jackson said. "There are no instant results in business of any kind."
"What is the definition of economic development," asked resident Louise Mariani, as she power-walked around Jaycee Park. There are plenty of jobs in construction and the city needs teachers to fill new schools, Mariani said. "I'd love to see them buy The Golf Club," Mariani said. "I don't know if we're headed in the right direction."
Resident Bob Lanzo had other ideas about economic development. "We need a mall. We're tired of going over to the Bell Tower. It seems like everything we need to do we go to Fort Myers," Lanzo said. The city has land on its northside that could be used for the headquarters of a large corporation, Lanzo said. But he said he doesn't want big industry in Cape Coral.
To get the results he wants, Jackson's plan starts with two studies -- one to paint a detailed picture of the workforce characteristics and one to determine the industries best suited to thrive in Cape Coral. Jackson has $75,000 to complete the studies. About 75,000 of the city's 160,000 residents are employed. The target industry study will identify industries with the best growth potential for the city. Once the studies are done the city can recruit companies that might expand in three to five years, Jackson said. A business recruitment specialist will be hired to pursue the targets. The position's pay range is $40,158 to $63,523. "Every city has unique businesses it can go after," Jackson said. "You can't just say ooh, ooh we're a pretty town. You need all these other bricks."
Incentives and possibly venture capital networks will be used to attract businesses. The city has $35,000 to develop an incentives program and $15,000 to tap venture capitalists for leads.
Venture capitalists pool money to finance new or expanding businesses in return for a share of the profits. Obstacles could be transportation issues, lack of available space or utilities-related. Incentives can reward performance, such as a financial reward for creating a certain amount of jobs. But incentives also include "clawbacks," which let Cape Coral recover costs if a company doesn't meet its obligations, Jackson said. The city, for example, has a lien on the property of a developer who agreed to build three warehouses if the city extended water and sewer lines.
Existing business need help, too, Feichthaler said. Jackson hopes to develop a program to expedite permitting for large projects. The plan is for the city to hire a consultant to help the developer. The developer will pay the cost of the project manager if the deadline is met. The city will pay if it's not. There is $250,000 set aside for this program.
"We applaud anything he can do to help," said Patti Schnell, executive director of the Cape Coral Construction Industry Association. With the city it's identified 98 things to improve and is working through the list. "Permit forms are online. We can process a lot of things by e-mail," Schnell said. Commercial projects are coming into the city in spite of the need for more improvements,Schnell said.
business profile:
¸ Number of businesses: About 8,000 (66 percent home-based) ¸ Office space: 2.5 million square feet ¸ Retail space: 5.9 million square feet ¸ Industrial space: 3.1 million square feet ¸ Median household income: $54,100 ¸ Median age: 45.2 years ¸ Largest employers Lee County school district: 3,628 City of Cape Coral: 1,702 Cape Coral Hospital: 1,524 Publix: 922 Wal-Mart: 287 ¸ Workforce: About 75,000 people ¸ Unemployment rate: 2.3 percent