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FORIMMEDIATERELEASE

ThursdayJune16,2011

Contact:

EricFuller

ChairmanoftheBoardofDirectors

ColumbiaRiverEconomicDevelopmentCouncil

(360)7505595x11

CountywideEconomicDevelopmentStrategicPlanFinalDraftDeliveredParticipantsaskedtoreviewandreturntoadopt

Vancouver,WA

The

Board

of

Directors

of

the

Columbia

River

Economic

Development

Council

werepresentedthismorningwiththefinaldraftofthefirstcountywidecomprehensive

strategicplanforeconomicdevelopmentfromTIPStrategiesofAustin,TX.

AmeetingtocoordinateClarkCountyeconomicdevelopmenteffortswasheldinApril

of2010towhichrepresentativesofthecountymunicipalities,ports,otherjurisdictions,and

privateinvestorswereinvited.Thepurposeofthemeetingwastodiscusscountywide

economicdevelopmenteffortsandtheextenttowhichtheywouldbecoordinated. Outofthat

discussion

grew

an

initiative

under

the

direction

of

the

CREDC

to

create

a

comprehensive

countywideplanforeconomicdevelopmentandleadership.

TheExecutiveSummaryofthereportreleasedtodaysumsupthechallengesand

opportunitieswithinClarkCountyas...notuniform.Thecountyisgeographicallyand

culturallydiverse.Asaresult,therearedistincteconomicdevelopmentinterestsandpriorities

amongthecitiesandportsaswellasacrossthecounty.

Takingitsdirectionfromtheinitialmeetingoverayearago,thefinaldraftreleased

outlines

a

strategy

for

Clark

County

consisting

of

both

short

term

and

longer

term

initiatives.

Inthispostrecessioneconomicenvironmentthecountymustbandtogethertosetanew

chartforgrowth. Inthisplan,alleconomicdevelopmentplayershavearole,saysEricFuller,

ChairoftheCREDCBoardofDirectors. Clearlythereisasignificantamountofworkoutlinedin

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thisplan,butitistheroadmapthecountyneedstocreatetheeconomicvitalitythatwill

distinguishClarkCountyfromtherestoftheregionovertime.

Thefivegoalsoutlinedintheplanaddress(1) highereducationasakeyleveragepoint;

(2)informationtechnologyasakeyindustrysector,(3) internationalinvestmentsand

entrepreneurship,(4) enhancebusinessvitalitythroughtargetedrecruitment,expansion,and

entrepreneurshipefforts,and(5)theneedtodevelopthenecessaryinfrastructuretomatchthe

economicdevelopmentefforts.

Additionally,thedraftplansuggestsspecificmetricstoevaluatethesuccessoftheplan

overtimeandspecificallymovesawayfromsimplymeasuringtotaljobscreated.Going

throughtheprocess,thesteeringcommitteesawthatonlytrackingjobgrowthovertimewas

notstrategic,saidBarbaraBushell,ChairoftheSteeringCommitteeandimmediatepastchair

oftheCREDCBoard.Thenewmetricsintheplanincludeincreasedvalueofdevelopedland,

numberofbusinessesformedorattractedtotheregionintargetedsectorsaswellasthe

numberofadultsover25withassociates,undergraduateandpostgraduatedegrees. Along

withmoretraditionalmeasurementsofnumberofjobscreated,averageandhouseholdincome

wewillhavethemeanstomakeoureffortspurposeful,relevantandaremorelikelytocreate

vitalityandprosperityacrossthecounty,Bushellsaid.

The

Project

Steering

Committee,

which

consists

of

17

representatives

of

Clark

County,

fivecities,andthreeportsleadingtheeffortandworkingcloselywithTIPStrategies,hasasked

eachmemberoftheCREDCBoardofDirectorstogarnerfeedbackonthedraftoverthenext

severalmonthswiththeirrespectiveorganizations,bothpublicandprivate. AttheSeptember

22,2011meeting,theBoardwillbeaskedtoaccepttheplanandstarttheimplementation

steps. EricFulleroffered,WhenwemetwiththevariousinvestorsinAprilof2010,itwasclear

acomprehensiveeconomicdevelopmentplanwasnecessaryforthecounty. IthinkTIP

Strategies

has

delivered

exactly

what

we

need

and

we

look

forward

to

the

discussions

over

the

nextmonthspriortoitsadoption.

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TIPStrategies,Inc.(TIP)isaprivatelyheldAustinbasedbusinessandeconomicdevelopmentconsultingfirmcommittedtoprovidingqualitysolutionsforbothpublicandprivatesector

clients.

ColumbiaRiverEconomicDevelopmentCouncil(CREDC)isaproactive,resultsorientednonprofitassistingbusinesseswithrelocationandexpansioninClarkCounty.Withover130

investorsfromthepublicandprivatesector,theCREDCischargedwithpromotingjobcreation

andinvestmentwhilemaintainingthecounty'sexceptionalenvironmentandhighqualityoflife.

TheCREDCservesasa"onestopshop"specializinginsitelocationandacquisition,business

dataanddemographics,andprocessfacilitation.TheCREDCachievesitsgoalsthroughvisionary

thinkingandstrategicrelationships.Since1982,theCREDChascreatedover20,000jobsand$5

billionincapitalinvestment,representingover$1billioninannualwagesfortheregion.For

moreinformation,visitwww.credc.org.

http://www.credc.org/http://www.credc.org/