What exactly is economic development?  And what does it take to do it well?

These are the kinds of questions that Urbanophile Aaron Renn dives into with NP's Kevin Hively and Interface Studio's Scott Page  in a recent podcast.  This is the second of two podcasts, the first of which focused on talent. 

Kevin and Scott provide insights on the best ways to understand your local economy as well as key factors for economic growth, particularly in the downtown and innovation district context.   Here's a hint...it's a lot more about evangelists and patron saints than it is about real estate.

Take a listen.

​Talent is the primary criteria for economic development these days.  So what can cities do to attract, grow and retain it? And what are the up and coming cities that have a shot at being the next hot place people want to be?

Take a listen to Urbanophile Aaron Renn's interview with NP's Kevin Hively and Interface Studio's Scott Page to find out.  Using the Amazon HQ2 decision as a launch point, they offer up insights on how we can better understand the potential for talent in a place and what economic developers and planning professionals actually can do to influence the growth of talent in a city.

NP is pleased to announce a variety of news this month:

Comprehensive Planning in Greenville, SC
NP is part of the Planning NEXT led team for the update of Greenville, SC’s Comprehensive Plan. GVL2040 will be a two-year effort aimed at updating the city’s 2009 comprehensive plan. The city, located near the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, is one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Greenville is a highly rated city on a number of best places to live, best places to visit rankings.  It has numerous assets including a thriving food and cultural scene, the innovative Clemson University International Car Research Center, and a pedestrian friendly, picturesque downtown often held as a national model for other cities. NP will be responsible for the economic development strategy elements of the plan.
 
UGA Supported Athens Innovation District Launched
A year ago Ninigret Partners wrapped up the Athens Innovation Initiative project that provided Athens Clarke County GA with a roadmap to gain greater economic benefits from its growing creative and entrepreneurial community.  One of the immediate outcomes was the announcement of the Athens Creative Development Campus.  Part of our work for Athens pointed out the growing research base and entrepreneurial energy at the University of Georgia. 

Another key outcome of our work was the President of UGA appointing an internal task force to look at a UGA driven Innovation District to build on our findings.  The Innovation District Task Force recently delivered its final report to the President, which outlines a strategic vision and corresponding action steps to create a campus hub that sits adjacent to the downtown to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, creativity and industry collaboration.  Last week the University of Georgia’s President Jere W. Morehead assigned a launch team to oversee the initial stages of the Athens Innovation District.  

Envision Athens Wins Outstanding Planning Award
Just this month the Georgia Chapter of the American Planning Association awarded Envision Athens with the Outstanding Planning Process Award—recognizing the quality and completeness of the overall planning process. As part of the Envision Athens process, NP provided a detailed economic assessment including a focus on economic infrastructure and workforce availability.  Here is link to earlier reporting on our work for Envision Athens.

​NP Welcomes Its Newest Team Member
NP welcomes Keelia Kentor to the NP team.  Keelia brings with her experience in transportation planning, city planning, and campus master planning.  She will up our game for physical planning and has already been instrumental in research related to transportation corridor and housing studies this past summer. And the best part – we are also less graphically challenged thanks to her design abilities!  For more info about Keelia check out our About Us page.

NP has worked in a number of older industrial cities across the country.  Many of these are struggling to rebuild their downtown core due to fundamental a chicken or egg dilemma: “I need amenities like retail and restaurants to get people downtown but without people already downtown how do I get restaurants and retail”? 

NP advises our clients to take small, impactful interim steps to prove a market exists.  For instance, recently NP worked on a restaurant incubator program for Brockton, MA.  During the course of the study it became clear that the concept required too much capital for a market that wasn’t quite ready to fully believe in the downtown as a destination.  So, we suggested an interim strategy around a low cost, pop up idea on an empty site. 

​And what do you know – Prova! Brockton happens.  The best part – Prova literally translates to “proof”.  We love the crowd funding aspect to show community support, the low cost approach to design to reduce the risk of failure and activating an empty lot in a strategic location.  We can’t wait til it opens. 

Tuscaloosa AL is a city of approximately 100,000 located about an hour west of Birmingham.  It is the home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and a major Mercedes Benz assembly facility which employs approximately 4,000 people.  It has many of the attributes of a typical college town as well as signs of a community going through an important transitional moment in its history. 

NP is part of the Planning Next team that is helping shape Tuscaloosa over the next 20 years through a series of planning actions.   NP is working on the economic and housing components of the work.  The housing affordability plan is focused on the broad topic of affordability not only for low income citizens but also city’s manufacturing employees and young families being drawn to the area.  A number of factors drive housing in Tuscaloosa ranging from university impacts such student housing and alumni game day housing to the lack of reinvestment in a number of key neighborhoods.  Moreover, the city still has “scar tissue” from the 2011 tornado. 

NP is looking forward to working on this plan and these issues. 

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take” – Wayne Gretzky

Innovation Districts are the current rage in urban regeneration and economic development. How a particular community develops its own innovation sector varies based on that community’s existing industry strengths, talent pipeline and available economic infrastructure.  Many hope to become the next Silicon Valley but few realize the building blocks that need to be put in place and the length of time it takes to really get to scale to impact the trajectory of a local economy.  Frankly, some of these efforts are economic development “me-tooism” with little hope of creating momentum.  However, others are based on real opportunities that keep taking steps down an evolutionary path.  Two of NP’s recent clients have taken great strides towards growing their innovation capacity – Newport, RI and New Haven, CT.  

Creating a Hub
Newport RI, the city by the sea, has long been known for its elegant mansions, sailing history and its US Navy presence going back to colonial times. Its beautiful coastal setting, walkability, and ample cultural, outdoor, and social opportunities make it a lifestyle destination community.  Newport and Middletown (its closest “suburb”) have always had elements of the creative economy because of their lifestyle advantages.  And the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) has always supported a series of software and engineering support companies to advance its mission. 

​Recently, there has been substantial effort to build on Newport’s nascent creative and tech community.  One of the missing pieces was a physical hub that could serve multiple functions for the creative and tech communities.  This April, Newport RI leaders gathered to break ground on the redevelopment of the former Sheffield School, which is being re-purposed as a business incubator and co-workspace in Newport, RI.  The 34,000 square foot building will be focused on supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses working in the defense, maritime and technology industries – industries that are active in Newport but need additional support to gain scale. 

NP worked with the Newport County Chamber of Commerce, who will be serving as program manager, to develop the service model for the Hub as well as reorient the Chamber’s programs to better serve the growing entrepreneurial sector of the Newport economy.  Additionally, Kevin Hively of NP served on the board of the Economic Development Foundation of RI – the nonprofit development entity hired by the city to re-purpose the Sheffield School into the InnovateNewport Hub. 

Making a City an “Innovation Place” Requires Many Complementary Efforts
In some cases, like in Newport, a physical hub is required to serve as an organizing force and provide visual evidence of activity.   In other communities, it's more about weaving together a patchwork of activities under a single framework. New Haven, CT has an active, growing creative and innovation economy but more needed to be done to encourage growth, connection, livability, and opportunities for ALL of its citizens. 

In 2016, CTNext initiated a challenge grant program called “Innovation Places”.  In response, New Haven's  Elm City Innovation Collaborative (ECIC) put together a strategic plan that called for actions in four key areas:  

• A Connected City:  Creating stronger relationships within the city's innovation ecosystem;
• A Growing City:  Creating flexible spaces for entrepreneurs;
• The Help You Need:  Developing talent in key sectors; and 
• The Livable City:  Making the city more accessible and elevating its brand.

Since being selected as an Innovation Place by CTNext in 2017, the Collaborative has been taking great strides to implement its Strategic Plan. Recent progress includes:

• MakeHaven moved its makerspace and its expanded facilities;
• The State House, a new multi-purpose space, launched its web presence, signed a lease and began construction.
• The Collaboratory, an entrepreneurship development program, completed its first Entrepreneurship Stories event series and workshop series.
• Ives Squared, a new innovation space at the public library, launched construction and completed Community Needs Assessment Workshops.
• Concepts for Adaptive Learning trained a cohort of 70 parents who are now prepared to aid their children in use of technology as part of their education, developing job skills in the process.

One of the great aspects of the New Haven approach to building an Innovation Place is how it includes aspects to help the broad community engage in the innovation activity.  It’s truly a community focused effort.  

“There are stars in the southern sky, southward as you go…”
– Seven Bridges Road, the Eagles
 
It’s been a never-ending winter here in New England but - being the intrepid and wise souls that we are - the team has been spending much of its time in warmer climates.  This marks a major geographic expansion for NP, expanding into both the Southeast and Texas, in addition to our recent work in the Midwest and Great Plains. Immersing ourselves in these places has enhanced our perspective on who is doing what, what works, and why.  
 
Comprehensive Planning in Montgomery, Alabama:  
 Montgomery (pop 200k) wears many hats - birthplace of the modern civil rights movement, state capital, home to corporations like Hyundai Motor, and the host community for Maxwell Air Force Base – home of the USAF Air University.  One thing strikes you when you drive around Montgomery - the city’s history is palpable. It lives in every building and on every tree-lined street.
 
NP is excited to be part of planningNEXT led team for Envision Montgomery 2040, the City’s first comprehensive planning process in more than 50 years. NP will be responsible for the land use and economic components of the plan. 
 
Entrepreneur & Retail Development in Downtown Macon, Georgia: 
 
Macon (pop 153k) is the urban center for Mid Georgia. It possesses a musical tradition rooted in soul and southern rock and as you walk through the city, you can hear the echoes of musicians; past and present.  Downtown Macon is undergoing a rebirth thanks to the efforts of a number of organizations guided by the Macon Action Plan.
 
NP is working on the next stage of development with a specific focus on a retail enhancement strategy for the downtown. The project is with Macon-Bibb Unified Government, Newtown Macon and is funded by the Knight Foundation.  Using our proprietary approach to retail experience analysis, NP will marry different data sets, interviews, and immersion in the community to identify actions that build upon the work already underway in creating a vibrant destination.
 
Innovation & TOD in Richardson, Texas: 
 
Richardson (pop 100k) is one of the original Dallas-Fort Worth MetroPlex suburbs. Its population is one of the most diverse in north Texas. Because of this diversity it is home to a wide range of authentic ethnic restaurants. On the innovation front, Richardson is best known for its high-tech Telecom Corridor – once the epicenter of the telecom broadband revolution. The city remains a major innovation center with an extensive corporate R&D, cybersecurity & online UX/UI presence and the University of Texas at Dallas– a fast growing, Tier 1 research university.  Most importantly, the UTD football team remains undefeated!  
 
NP is part of an Interface Studio led team that is developing a Transit Oriented Development and Innovation District Plan for a 1,200-acre parcel in this city, centered on the Collins – Arapaho DART Station. NP is providing the innovation activity, economic and real estate analysis for the study. 

One of the hallmarks of NP’s work is blending a vision that captures the imagination with enough practicality to move it toward implementation.  As part of our approach NP spends a lot of time thinking about how something might get implemented and by whom before turning it into a recommendation.  Three cities where NP recently worked are making progress moving from plans to actions:
​
New Innovation Space for Athens GA:  The Athens-Clarke County government in partnership with Athens Hospitality Holdings Group signed a letter of agreement to create the Athens Creative Development Campus. According to the County's press release,  "The proposal is the result of a study provided by Ninigret Partners through a partnership between Georgia Power and the Unified Government.  Key findings from the study noted the growth of the University of Georgia as a major research institution; a need for flexible, bio-ready space; an active digital tech industry; and a vibrant creative consumer product industry that builds on the culture and vibe of Athens." 

The campus will be a mixed-use development including office, business incubation, co-work space and hotel.  The purpose of the space is to "serve as a destination for business travelers, makers, and entrepreneurs by creating a space that will encourage collaboration opportunities across a wide variety of interests." 

21st Century Mobility Solution Coming to Grand Rapids MI:  The City of Grand Rapids, MI recently proposed a bike sharing program that will put 800 bikes at 100 stations downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods over the next five years.  The program is estimated to cost $3 million and aims to be largely self-sustaining through user fees and sponsorships.  The bike share program is a direct result of the City's GR Forward Downtown and River Action Plan, which called for a 21st century mobility strategy as one of 6 core goals.  NP provided the economic analysis to the GR Forward Plan and prepared the business plan with Sam Schwartz Engineering for the bike share program.

City Commission Adoption Makes Downtown Plan the Official Policy in Fargo ND:  The City of Fargo, ND also made progress on its downtown master plan. Downtown Fargo InFocus calls for a series of actions in seven strategic areas including how to grow as a business center and thrive as a regional destination.  The City Commission adopted the plan in December 2017.  NP provided economic and development analysis with a focus on retail and entrepreneurial development strategies.  

Things are happening in Springfield, MA.  For the past several years the City and its partners have been charting a course for the downtown's future, which has led to increased investment and interest in the city. 

Recent progress includes the opening of two restaurants, a new yoga studio and construction is slated to start soon on 60 new apartments.  Just last week the DevelopSpringfield announced its second round of Lease It Local, a program aimed at attracting entrepreneurs to the city through a package of incentives.  (Check out NP's 2017 post for more info on the program.)

NP led or supported planning and implementation support for the city's downtown including the Worthington Street Corridor Study, an Investment Prospectus, and Dining District Implementation Plan.  Much of this work was completed through MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative. ​