1.Economic Development Opportunities For Housing and Redevelopment Authorities Pamela Shupp, AICP, CEcD Vice President Greater Reading Economic Partnership

2. What is Economic Development? 3. Greater Reading Economic Partnership Mission: To attract, retain, and grow business by promoting, fostering, and coordinating economic development in Berks County. 4. GREP is an Accredited Organization 5. AEDO designation is a clear indicator that an organization is committed to: Ongoing training and education Strategic planning Cooperation and coordination with other community partners and organizations 6. The world of community and economic development is changing rapidly. It is not enough to only know and be comfortable with your own alphabet soup. 7. Your alphabet soup needs to expand to include acronyms like: FDI, OIBD, WIB, CRIZ, FTZ, BFTP, IRC, KOZ, KIZ, WedNet, and of course CY2. 8. As resources diminish, we have to be creative about how we sustain staff, operations, and still have money to accomplish our missions and do projects. 9. Example of our reprioritization of strategy and the need for partners Real estate development and company location decisions used to be about location, location, location It is now primarily about workforce, workforce, workforce. 10. In business retention interviews with 100+ Greater Reading companies: 47% identified the lack of necessary skill sets 26% identified the lack of technical skills as their hiring challenges 11. We worked with our education, workforce and business partners to create a marketing campaign called Careers in Two Years. 12. Careers in 2 Years 13. We worked collaboratively with: Reading Area Community College Career and Technology schools: Berks Career and Technology Center Reading Muhlenberg Career and Technology Center Business community Who are the partners? 14. Identify: Who are your partners? When should I engage my partners? How can I connect with them? How does my organization become an active economic development player? 15. Identifying partners Meet with your EDO or ALO Use social media to expand contacts Expand communication with the community and your stakeholders 16. You need to have as many relationships and contacts as possible. CAUTION! Social media did not take the place of relationship building. 17. Facebook.com/GreaterReadingEconomicPartnership Company Page: Greater Reading Economic Partnership @GreaterReading Visit GreaterReading.com blog.greaterreading.comGreater Reading blog 18. Communication and Public Support One-on-one quarterly meetings with County Commissionerswe tell them what we are seeing (and not seeing) in terms of activity. Quarterly Steering Committee meeting made up of peer agencies & organizations BF, MRC, IDA County Planning Commission WIB Higher Education Council, Chamber Keep lines of communication open with all our partner agencies. 19. Coordination & Cooperation of Community Partners Ride to Prosperity 20. We also partner statewide: 21. As an individual and as an organization, you need to have an ongoing commitment to professional development and training. Positioning you and your organization for success as an economic development partner 22. Professional development, training, and networking opportunities. www.peda.org 23. Upcoming workshops and webinars Best Practices in Effectively Utilizing Economic Impact Analyses When Small Colleges Connect, Big Things Happen! Redeveloping Blighted Properties: Financing Solutions Workforce Development: Best Practices in Partnerships 24. Pittsburgh October 21 23, 2013 #PEDAFALL13 www.peda.org 2013 PEDA Fall Conference 25. John Smith Any Street, Any Town, PA jsmith@xxxxxxx.com Contact Information Pamela J. Shupp, AICP, CEcD Vice President Pennsylvania Economic Development Association Vice President Greater Reading Economic Partnership 201 Penn Street, Suite 502 Reading, PA 19601 (610)376.4237 Pamela@GreaterReading.com linkedin.com/in/pamelashupp/