JEDO Approves Funding for Downtown Topeka Plaza, NOTO Parking

By Sherman Smith

The Joint Economic Development Organization on Wednesday cleared the way for completion of a public plaza in downtown Topeka, granting more than a million dollars to the project and sparking debate on how countywide sales tax funds are distributed.                                                                                                

In a 4-3 vote, JEDO members approved recommendations made by a panel of community volunteers to award $2 million in economic development money to four projects out of 16 applicants.

One of those projects will invest $644,000 in the NOTO Arts District, assisting in efforts to add parking and establish Redbud Park.

Mayor Michelle De La Isla rebuffed criticism over pouring the bulk of available quality of place funding into jewels in the heart of the city, saying feedback from the community makes it clear residents want to make the city more attractive.

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Bristol Virginia Council Receives Update on Visioning Process

By David McGee, Bristol Herald Courier

BRISTOL, Va. - City leaders received an update on the new Bristol 2040 visioning process unveiled last month by the Bristol Chamber of Commerce.

Alex Pearlstein, vice president of projects for Market Street Services, the Atlanta-based consulting firm managing the project, described the group’s initial steps in developing a long-term vision for both the Twin City and its adjoining counties of Sullivan in Tennessee and Washington in Virginia.

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Bristol-focused economic initiative launches

By Leif Greiss | Bristol Herald Courier

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Bristol Chamber of Commerce announced an initiative Monday to create a 25-year vision and action plan for the economic and community development of the Twin City.

The Bristol Chamber of Commerce and the Bristol2040 Steering Committee will embark on an eight-month process to create a long-term blueprint for what Bristol and surrounding Sullivan County, Tennessee, and Washington County, Virginia, can and should look a quarter of a century from now. The effort will be in consultation with Market Street Services, an Atlanta-based firm specializing in community and economic development.

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County kicks off community strategic planning effort

Special to The Gazette

How does Halifax County become a more prosperous, successful and vibrant place to live and work? Citizens are invited to help answer that question as Halifax County kicks off a community strategic planning effort today.

Public, private and non-profit leaders in Halifax County have come together to develop a community strategic plan that will provide a roadmap to help the county address challenges, increase prosperity and improve quality of life for current and future residents. The plan will address the full range of competitive factors that influence a community’s attractiveness, including talent, education and training resources, infrastructure, business climate and quality of life and place.

To read the entire article click here or email Alexia Eanes.

BVEDC looks to consulting firm to help with regional development

By Briana Nipper

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation is partnering with an Atlanta-based consulting firm to help focus its regional development efforts.

BVEDC announced its partnership with Market Street Services during the 2018 Brazos Valley Business Forum held Thursday at the newly opened Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center.

BVEDC unveiled a roughly eight month plan to create an economic development strategy.

The plan, which began in August, is split into five phases...

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The Mystery of Amazon HQ2 Has Finalists Seeing Clues Everywhere

By Karen Weise

Over Labor Day weekend, a club promoter who goes by the name Purple posted a photo on Instagram from the LIV nightclub in Miami. In front of a wall graffitied with names and a single “Life Is Beautiful” sticker, Purple’s arm was casually draped over the shoulders of Jeff Bezos, the Amazon chief executive, whose pants matched the host’s name.

“It’s not every day you get to hang with the richest guy in the world,” Purple wrote on Instagram. “What a pleasure.”

But when The Miami Herald covered the celebrity spotting, its cares turned toward the practical: “Could this be good news for Miami’s HQ2 bid?”

Friday marks one year since Amazon announced its search for a second headquarters, a project called HQ2, which the company says will bring $5 billion in investment and 50,000 high-paying jobs to the area it chooses. With no city crowned yet, news outlets, politicians and communities around the country are left reading between the Instagram lines.

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WF Chamber of Commerce implementing community strategic plan

By Alex Achten, Reporter

WICHITA FALLS, Tx (RNN Texoma) -

After over a year developing a community strategic plan, the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce is now implementing it in hopes of growing the city's talent pool.

Consultant Market Street Services was hired to help develop the strategy and identified seven areas to focus on.

"At some point, if we don't do something to address these issues, the city will begin to shrink," C.E.O. of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, Henry Florsheim said.

The areas include improving the city's talent partnerships, aging schools, an economic development program, a thriving Sheppard Air Force Base, an entrepreneurial maker hub, a revitalized downtown, and a bicycle-friendly community.

Now the Chamber is developing action teams for each of those areas to make them happen...

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Power of ‘and’: Wichita Falls economic plan enters implementation stage

By Claire Kowalick

Last summer, a cross-section of representatives began a process to allow the city of Wichita Falls to grow and thrive.

One year later, that group is set to begin the fifth, and final phase of a comprehensive economic strategy plan.

Steering committee chairman and Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Henry Florsheim said the Chamber has a contractual relationship with the city’s 4A board for economic development in the city.

“Over the past three years, we really started to look at strategy. Who are we really targeting? What are the big issues?” Florsheim said.

When the Chamber started looking at what their targets were, they recognized the task was larger than the Chamber, or any one entity could complete on their own...

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Robots a mixed bag, says speaker at national chamber event

By Perry Beeman

The talk was about robots, artificial intelligence and the like. “In the long term, this will be positive, but it will be very different than where we are now,” Holladay, Market Street founder and CEO, said in an interview...

Mac Holladay of Atlanta-based Market Street Services, in town for the national convention of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, talked to the Business Record about the pros and cons of automation — one of the topics covered at this week’s sessions...

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Market Street executive: Wichita, region ahead of others on economic development

By Bryan Horwath 

The vice president of a consulting firm hired by the Greater Wichita Partnership likes to say that economic development plans need to be updated often in order for communities to stay up with their competition.

"Typically, we're talking about five-year strategies in terms of funding cycle and planning horizon," says Alex Pearlstein of Atlanta-based Market Street Services. "Because economies and communities change so much now, you kind of have to take a look every year at what you've done."

Pearlstein is in town this week to begin work to help move along economic development plans for the 10-county region that surrounds Wichita.

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WF Chamber reveals new strategic plan at Falls Future Forum

By Alex Achten, Reporter

The Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce laid out a new strategic plan to improve a handful of areas Thursday at the Falls Future Forum.

Nine months ago the Chamber hired Market Street Services, not the grocery store, to come in and do an economic study of Wichita Falls that they could use as a blueprint going forward. That has now been revealed and the Chamber is excited about the future.

"The younger generation is watching," C.E.O. of Dexter Learning in downtown Wichita Falls, Michael Olaya said. "And we're looking to see that the city is going to invest in the future of this city."

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Forum offers preview of city economic plan

By Claire Kowalick, Times Record News

The future of Wichita Falls hinges on how the public votes on seven propositions a month from now.

A luncheon forum April 19 will unveil an economic strategy for the city’s growth and how the bond propositions bolster that plan.

Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce CEO/President Henry Florsheim said an economic plan that a resident-led steering committee has been working on since last August fortuitously coincides with the city’s May bond election.

In June 2017, the city contracted with Market Street Services Inc. for a comprehensive economic development strategy.

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GWP looks to Atlanta firm to help with regional development

By Bryan Horwath – Reporter, Wichita Business Journal

As the community’s appetite for growth becomes more and more obvious, the Greater Wichita Partnership is hoping for some clarity on what the area needs to move forward.

Last month, the publicly-supported regional economic development organization asked for and received $45,000 in additional funding from Sedgwick County to go toward the hiring of a firm to help it focus in on a long-term development plan. The partnership is also getting $45,000 from the city of Wichita.

Not all county commissioners thought giving additional taxpayer money to the partnership was a good move (Commissioner Richard Ranzau opposed the idea), but the additional funding was approved.

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‘We are almost there’: Speaker describes fundraising success for Topeka’s Momentum 2022

By Tim Hrenchir, The Topeka Capital-Journal

Momentum 2022′s ongoing capital campaign has raised $6.18 million of its $6.3 million goal in private donations from local investors.

Kayla Bitler, Momentum 2022 strategic coordinator for Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce and GO Topeka, said Thursday she expects the campaign to exceed its goal.

“We are almost there,” she told Downtown Topeka Rotary Club members at a luncheon in the Kansas Expocentre’s Maner Conference Centre. “We have over $1 million in pending investments and we also have about another 100 names that we have added to the list of individuals to approach for funding.”

She acknowledged it’s “kind of hard” to describe Momentum 2022 in a nutshell. It’s definition is a “holistic economic development strategy for Topeka and Shawnee County.” 

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Building a sustainable work force - Community assessment reveals troubling areas

By Joy Hampton

Norman is slowly losing its young adult working population, a recent study found.

“The city of Norman is growing and growing faster than many peer communities,” said Matt Tarleton, vice president and principal at Market Street Services. The company recently completed a community assessment to identify Norman’s strengths and weaknesses.

“You all have a very young work force, which is a good thing. But in the last five years, the core working age population is declining,” Tarleton said. A 2016 survey of 300 University of Oklahoma students found that only three percent indicated they would definitely stay in Norman after graduating, while 46 percent indicated that they definitely would not live in Norman after graduation...

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Viewpoint: One thing that can go horribly wrong for Amazon's HQ2 search

By J. Mac Holladay - Founder and CEO, Market Street Services, Atlanta

There has never been a public competition like the one going on for what is called the Amazon HQ2. Unlike most national location searches, even of large projects or headquarters moves, this one has become a national phenomenon. Cities and regions across the country have submitted “proposals” that run from bizarre to very creative. Included in many of them are massive incentives of all descriptions including large amounts of cash. As an economic development professional who has participated in many large projects as both a state economic development director and a local Chamber executive, let me offer perhaps a different view of what is happening. 

Amazon had record revenues in 2017 of $136 billion up 27% from a year ago. The firm’s net profit was $2.4 billion. $80 billion of its sales were in the United States. The company is holding $31 billion IN CASH with over $10 billion overseas. Amazon, unlike Apple, has not moved any funds back to this country...

To read the full article click https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/02/26/viewpoint-one-thing-that-can-go-horribly-wrong-for.html. If it has been removed, please email Alexia Eanes for a copy of the entire article.

Chamber: Past 12 months mark significant successes

By Richard Carter, For the Times Record News

“We are very happy where we have come over the past several years,” said Henry Florsheim, president of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Indeed, 2017 was a year of success, he said, and also a great year for setting up successes.

“We also have a lot of planning going on, and you really can’t do anything big, quickly,” Florsheim said.

The past year was good for economic development efforts...

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Spartanburg County leaders mark first anniversary of community’s 5-year vision plan

By Trevor Anderson

After one year, a unified vision for Spartanburg’s future economic and cultural prosperity is progressing.

Community leaders gathered Tuesday, Feb. 13, at the University of South Carolina Upstate to receive an update on the county’s five-year development strategy, aptly named OneSpartanburg.

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New NASA Mission coming to Norman

Submitted Content

Dr. Berrien Moore III from the University of Oklahoma will be at the Sooner Centurion Economic Summit to detail the new NASA Earth Venture Mission, GeoCarb.

In addition to Dr. Moore, the summit will feature economic development experts from Market Street Services as they reveal research on Norman and how it is competing for jobs and investment. Market Street will also be revealing next steps and expectations for Norman's economic development strategic plan.

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Tulsa gears up for the future

By Ben Goldstein

Tulsa’s Future, the multiphase, regional economic development plan for the Tulsa, Oklahoma region, was designed to infuse the area with investment dollars, create jobs in targeted industries and develop a skilled workforce to attract new businesses.

“In the early 2000s, there wasn’t a lot of money allotted to economic development, and the chamber and our partners wanted to change that,” said Brien Thorstenberg, senior vice president of economic development at the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “We developed the first iteration of Tulsa’s Future, with an original goal of adding more than 10,000 jobs with an average wage above $45,000.”

The plan thus far consists of three five-year phases...

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City strategic plan seeing significant advancement

By Claire Kowalick, Times Record News

As part of a lengthy planning workshop over the next two days, the Wichita Falls City Council received a report on progress of their strategic plan. The genesis of this plan, City Manager Darron Leiker said, was about a year ago when council and staff developed seven overarching goals and 24 objectives for the city.

Assistant City Manager Paul Menzies said the city has accomplished a great deal in the past year with the objectives being advanced and 23 of them seeking significant advancement.

Developing a plan, Menzies explained, is important because it identifies what the city wants to achieve, then they can work on how to achieve it. Creating the strategic plan can guide future city policy and influence decisions when...

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Editorial: Strengthening Topeka’s ‘entrepreneurial ecosystem’

By The Capital-Journal Editorial Board

In the Holistic Economic Development Strategy released by Market Street earlier this year, the first subheading under the section “Grow a Diverse Economy” urges our community to “Enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem.” This ecosystem is defined as the “individuals, organizations, institutions, and programs that support startup activity and small business growth” — core elements of any healthy economy.

Top Tank is a creative way to demonstrate that Topeka is willing to support entrepreneurship in the city. It’s a local contest modeled on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” which gives participants an opportunity to pitch their business ideas to investors...

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