The Broward County Office of Economic Development (OED) was directed by the County Administrator to coordinate the preparation of a Broward County Economic Stimulus Plan in the wake of a declared economic recession and consistent with similar plans being developed by other governmental agencies throughout the country. The purpose of the Plan is to help facilitate efforts, both internally and externally, that deal with mitigating the effects of the economic downturn on Broward’s residents, businesses, and visitors.
In addition to internal efforts, the Office of Economic Development has joined in a partnership with the Broward Alliance to engage the business community and local municipalities in plans to facilitate their involvement in the overall economic recovery plan for Broward County. This will result in the coordination of public efforts and activities with private sector efforts to ensure that all segments of the local economy are informed and have the opportunity to participate in sustaining a viable economic base.
The approach to developing the County’s economic stimulus plan is to look for opportunities to stimulate job growth and investment in Broward County. In taking this basic approach, the staff is mindful that policy and program recommendations may affect County operations, and therefore consultation with County Department and Division directors before making final recommendations to the County Administrator will be incorporated into the protocol.
Secondly, coordination with the current efforts of the Broward County Office of Public and Governmental Relations is being done to ensure that the County’s plans are congruent with federal legislative direction, especially economic stimulus legislation proposed by the U.S. President and enacted by Congress.
Third, a current examination of the state of Broward County’s economy will include a look at unemployment data, jobs availability by sectors of the economy, planned capital investment, and a broad scan of the outputs of local governments and companies that will result in positive economic impact. The County’s Planning Division and the Workforce Development Board will be consulted for data and information for this phase of plan development.
Research work performed by OED staff will occur during development of the economic stimulus plan. This research will serve as the foundation of the Plan and draw from independent knowledge of economists, experts on business and economic recovery, and “best practices” currently being implemented by other local governments around the country.
The Broward Alliance facilitated the input of stakeholders into the County’s Plan. However, the Plan is not intended to advance any particular stakeholder’s interest or agenda. Rather, the staff will seek stakeholder input to serve as starting points for future partnerships, projects, and programs to help promote a strong local economy and to help sustain the economic vitality of the South Florida region. In that regard, it is expected that some items will be near-term and others more long-term in nature.
For the County Plan, the research, public engagement, and plan preparation work is expected to be completed by June 30, 2009. There may initiatives undertaken in conjunction with the Broward Alliance that may continue for an extended period. The agreed upon strategy for the OED’s joint efforts with the Broward Alliance include the following:
- Complete a business climate survey to assist in development of possible stimulus programs.
- Propose consideration of policy modifications/recommendations to support extending job growth or other incentives/inducements.
- Bring key community partners together in a group discussion to consider what the needs are and what has been done previously to address economic recovery.
- Host a South Florida Regional meeting with leadership of the Select Committee on the Economy (State of Florida Stimulus Plan). This Select Committee was created by Senate President Jeff Atwater and chaired by Senator Don Gaetz.
- Design a template for both public and private sector ideas on projects or programs which could be accelerated, including estimated timeframes for projects and new development activity planned or pending.
- Coordinate media/press messaging and marketing of countywide efforts to be established weekly.
As for the internal recommendations of Broward County, before moving forward with any policy recommendation, the County Administrator, through the OED, will convene all appropriate parties to consider potential impacts as well as unintended consequences of the proposed Plan. The sole purpose of that meeting will be to carefully consider potential consequences and to better understand the ramifications of possible outcomes.
As a final step in the planning effort, the OED will draft a resolution for the Board to accept the Local Economic Stimulus Plan for Broward County as presented by the County Administrator. This will authorize implementation of the recommendations.
Next steps for the Office of Economic Development in coordination of internal economic stimulus plan development include an inter-agency coordination contacts, further investigation of “best practices,” and a joint implementation strategy meeting with the Broward Alliance for the parallel work, and preparing a draft outline the County’s Economic Stimulus Plan.
Flow Chart Process (PDF, 253KB) (Text version below)
Norman Taylor, Director OED
James Tarlton, President, BA
Mason Jackson, President, Workforce Florida
The Broward Alliance
Communicates with OED and other partners via conference calls
Prepares and dissiminates surveys to businesses, municipalities and developers
Collects and imports data into databases and shares information with Councils and CEOs
Analyzes data to prepare private sector strategy
Sends compilation of private sector strategy to OED
Office of Economic Development
Initiates communications with BA & WF. Prepares and dissiminates survey to BC agencies
Collects data, imports to database and communicates data with BC administration
Prioritize 180 days or less projects ready for implementation
Assess and resolves opportunities and impediments in initiating projects
Receives results from BA and Workforce One
Prepares and submits agenda, resultion and plans with addenda to Broward County
Workforce One
Communicates with OED, BA and other Workforce partners
Collects white papers, strategies and policies through Workforce Development and Florida
Prioritizes importance of initiatives
Sends compilation of data to OED
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