Minutes - 20091114 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Creativity and Talent Strategies and Place-Making Strategies • Orange County is already doing this well. (Arts and culture, social capital, quality-of-life amenities, attracting residents, downtown development, etc.) • Partnerships are important ways to stay strong in these areas. Themes that emerged from the discussion: 1 . Provide INFRASTRUCTURE: • Orange County is already a very attractive place for businesses and residents. But we lack the capacity to accommodate all the businesses that might be interested in locating here. Big need for more space for these businesses, need to improve the infrastructure for them. • Existing businesses also need physical infrastructure: office space, wet-lab space. Improving infrastructure will help us retain/support those businesses. • The great shoe-store analogy of 2009: Our county is like a shoe- store. It's not just about attracting the businesses into the county (into the shoe-store), we also have to be able to accommodate them when they get here (we have to have the shoes they want in the right size!) 2. Streamline the PERMITTING PROCESS: • Think of how to bring in businesses we do want, rather than using regulations to keep out businesses/industries we don't want. • Use advocates to aid businesses to understand the systems and requirements. 3. Adopt TARGETED STRATEGIES: • We need to know what kinds of businesses we want to attract/retain/grow. We need to know what size shoes those businesses need. Then we can shape our efforts strategically around that. Need to focus and be proactive, not just take whatever scraps come along. 4. Focus on RETAINING EXISTING BUSINESSES: • Existing businesses are a big resource; let's not throw all our money and time into recruiting new businesses when we have businesses right here already. • Underscore the value Orange County places on home-grown business. • Be responsive to local businesses' needs by tracking needs and providing supportive infrastructure, space, etc.