TITLE
The Mayor and City Council shall hear a presentation from IO.Inc on the City of Maricopa Economic Development Strategic Plan.
AGENDA ITEM DESCRIPTION
The Economic Development Department published a Request for Proposal (RFP) on June 13, 2016. The purpose for the RFP was to identify a qualified firm to develop an updated Economic Development Strategic Plan. The current Economic Development Strategic Plan was approved in June 2011 and had goals and metric to address the conditions of the market at that time. The City received eight (8) responses from firms based in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, and California. The evaluation Committee comprised of Denyse Airheart, Economic Development Director; Jennifer Brown, Assistant to the City of Maricopa; Sra Troyer, Executive Director for the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce; Dorothy Wolden, Economic Development Specialist; David Noble, Management Analyst; and Kathleen Shipman, Purchasing Manager. The evaluation committee selected for firms to present to the group: The Nathelson Dale Group, IO.Inc, Willdan, and ESI Corporation and evaluated each one. IO.Inc was selected as the preferred vendor having received the highest combined score over the two evaluation rounds.
IO.Inc was founded in 2004, as a visionary consulting practice specializing in growth strategies - envisioning, developing and recommending road maps to help organizations, communities, and companies grow. The scope of work included:
• Project setup and public input - stakeholder engagement
• Market Assessment -
o Economic Conditions Snapshot
o Business Locations Trends Analysis
o Survey Maricopa Assets
o Assessment of Future Impact of Development Projects,
o Targeted Economic Sectors
• Project Outcome -
o Align strategy to the principles of the Maricopa 2040 Vision Strategic Plan
o Articulate the guiding principles for the City’s Economic Development Strategy
o Deliver a clear implementation plan
• Deliverables
o A completed, proprietary economic development strategy and actionable, realistic, and attainable plan.
The final plan of action will be presented to Mayor and Council on April 18, 2017. This item will be presented by Economic Development Director Denyse Airheart and Ioanna Morfessis, Chief Strategist with IO.Inc.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Mayor and City Council receive the presentation on the City's Economic Development Strategic Plan and ask any applicable questions.