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C_ 1 STRA TEGY 5 <br />84 <br />Section 8: Summary of Findings and Recommendations <br />Given the variety of market characteristics associated with the Town of Chapel Hill, the <br />Research Triangle, regional, national and international arenas etc. it is clear that there is <br />significant, but not overwhelming, potential for future office development as a <br />component of the local economic development environment. The ability of the Town to <br />capture its fair share of this market hinges on key business /political principles that will <br />influence the presence, sustainability and future vitality of the office community. These <br />principles can be roughly categorized and described as follows: Policy, Positioning and <br />Promotion. <br />8.1 Policy <br />Increasingly, economic development and its associated spin -offs: capital investment, <br />construction, FTE jobs, wages and salaries, tax revenue and other beneficial fiscal <br />impacts, are tied to policies that are enacted, implemented and enforced by government <br />bodies. An array of federal, state and local government entities influence economic <br />conditions. So too does the free market and associated decisions by corporations, small <br />businesses, individuals, and both large and small trends affecting countries, regions, cities <br />and towns. For the Town of Chapel Hill to reach its full potential in cultivating and <br />capturing office demand as a component of a fiscal policy that recognizes the need for <br />revenue, it must make the conscious decision to pursue this segment of <br />business /economic activity. This decision (if made) should then manifest itself in the <br />implementation of recommendations referenced or implied throughout this analysis, <br />including but not limited to consideration of the following: <br />• Review the development approvals process and overall business environment <br />with a close eye on the opportunities and constraints as delineated in this and <br />other studies. <br />• Consider the economic and fiscal implications of sustaining the office <br />community that currently exists, and those associated with planned projects as <br />well as those which may come to fill the opportunity gap that the consultant <br />believes can be created. <br />• Act through resolution and other means to embed decisions and policies that will <br />foster growth in this sector in the foreseeable future, and over the timeframe <br />associated with the forecasts included in this analysis (5 -10 years). <br />41 <br />