Economic Development & Job Creation

Quality employment for all residents is critical in many ways. There must be a multi-faceted approach to succeed. First, we must ensure that our businesses are listened to and encouraged to grow and expand. The City utilizing the red-carpet committee will ensure that all businesses get the assistance they need during this process, whether it be permitting process or other challenges that they may be facing along the way. We must also be looking to recruit new businesses to the City. It is imperative that we increase our tax base rather than just increasing the burden on our taxpayers.

As a member of the business community, I also believe that it is critical to focus on workforce development. We need to provide a skilled and qualified workforce for new and existing businesses regardless of the type of business. One final piece to this puzzle is safe, affordable and quality housing. In order to attract a qualified workforce we must be able to provide quality housing. Lastly, I will create a business roundtable on a quarterly basis to ensure our business community is being heard and receiving the support that they need to continue to grow and flourish. I recognize that the needs of our Downtown businesses may be different from businesses from other areas of the City and we need to address them as well and not develop one size fits all solutions.