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2 <br /> 1 move away to adjacent counties. Pursuit of this objective should remain a <br /> 2 priority for the Town and County in the coming year. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 ♦ Small business loans to Town businesses— Orange County's Small Business <br /> 5 Loan fund is a resource available to eligible small businesses located within the <br /> 6 County and its municipalities. Several Chapel Hill companies have utilized this <br /> 7 unique County funded resource, to include the Chapel Hill-based firm <br /> 8 "ServiceMaster by Santosha", which is a commercial cleaning business. In <br /> 9 addition, the County has pending loans with two (2) other Chapel Hill firms, and <br /> 10 one of these loans, to an information technology services provider, was <br /> 11 disbursed in the last two weeks. <br /> 12 <br /> 13 ♦ Joint promotion of tourism and the arts — The Chapel Hill/Orange County <br /> 14 Visitors Bureau (CHOCVB), located at 501 W. Franklin Street, represents a <br /> 15 very positive, productive and longstanding good partnership between the <br /> 16 County and Town. Led by Laurie Paolicelli, this office and staff are a part of the <br /> 17 Orange County Economic Development Department. The attached CHOCVB <br /> 18 document outlines the encouraging economic impact this joint Town/County <br /> 19 agency contributed to the local economy during 2011. <br /> 20 <br /> 21 ♦ Ongoing communication - both formal and informal — Economic <br /> 22 Development staffs from the Town and the County have made regular <br /> 23 communication a priority to ensure that each office is working with current <br /> 24 information when potential business investment prospects make inquiries. Staff <br /> 25 members from both departments participate in regular partner meetings that <br /> 26 include Economic Development professionals from affiliated organizations (to <br /> 27 include the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors <br /> 28 Bureau), as well as hosting one-on-one meetings during each month with Town <br /> 29 and County staff participating. <br /> 30 <br /> 31 ♦ New project collaboration —Although the County and Town may receive new <br /> 32 project opportunities from independent sources, such prospects are routinely <br /> 33 shared among the economic development professionals from the County and <br /> 34 Town in order to best meet the specific needs of the potential client. Such <br /> 35 shared information includes a joint review of potential real estate locations, <br /> 36 financing options, regulatory assistance, and other levels of cooperation to <br /> 37 promote collaboration among staff, and ultimately, the recruitment of new <br /> 38 business. <br /> 39 <br /> 40 ♦ Existing business collaboration — As with the joint effort to work <br /> 41 collaboratively to seek new businesses, the Town and the County have also had <br /> 42 the opportunity to work together to respond to the expansion and retention <br /> 43 needs of existing businesses in a variety of ways, from assistance in finding a <br /> 44 larger facility space to providing regulatory guidance. One current example <br /> 45 involves the County and Town meeting with a local software related firm that <br /> 46 has excellent growth potential to create additional high-tech employment in the <br /> 47 Town. <br /> 48 <br /> 49 ♦ Transition support — The County's Economic Development staff can provide <br /> 50 support, as requested by the Town, during upcoming economic development <br />