Economic Development items:

Econ Devl – Strategic Plan metrics:

Econ Devl – Strategic Plan progress:

• Action 6.1.2 – Retail market analysis:  Funding for this report was approved at the December 18^th City Council meeting.   Staff has already reached out to ECONorthwest for a detailed scope of work and a project timeline and should be receiving these items any day.  Scope of work will be on the agenda for the next EDAB meeting – there will be a few items on the scope that the Board will likely want to weigh in on before starting the project.
• Action 1.1.4 – Access to childcare facilities:  In December, Development Services reached out to economic development staff about a new mixed use residential building being built on some C-3 zoned land on Highway 211.  The builder has about 10K SF of commercial space to fill and asked City staff for assistance.  After several conversations with him, I stressed that what Sandy really needs right now is childcare businesses, and I would be happy to help him find a tenant.  I have now put him in touch with 2 childcare operators – one local operator looked at the space but has different goals for expansion right now, but the second operator (referred by Clackamas ESD and has locations in multiple cities around the Portland metropolitan area) seemed very interested in the space.  The property owner and the childcare operator are now in discussions.
• Action 2.2.1 – Assess SandyNet as a resource in business and talent attraction: Staff will be looking to take the first step towards fulfilling this action by starting the redesign of the SandyNet landing page during mid-January.  The redesign will help staff identify the number of hits we receive requesting residential service versus requesting business service, which is one of the metrics the EDSP suggests tracking.  It will also give the page an updated look and feel.
  

Econ Devl – Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, reports, etc.):

• 23-001 FAC Sandbar BBQ façade project:  The primary goal of this project has now been achieved – the new ADA parking has been completed and approved by City staff.  Staff has submitted a payment request on behalf of the applicant for 50% of the contractual reimbursement amount as a partial payment.  Once the striping of the rest of the lot and the street tree installation are complete, the applicant will receive the remainder of the reimbursement amount.  Standing by for now.
  
• 21-010FAC Tollgate Inn Covered Structure:  This project currently has an approved building permit waiting to be picked up by the contractor.  UPDATE: The contractor received an official Notice to Proceed on January 3, 2024.
  
• Anna Zell building vacancy:  The vacant space in Anna Zell’s commercial building on the corner of Pleasant and Beers has now been filled.  A brand new business providing paramedical tattooing services (a.k.a. post-surgery or reconstructive tattooing) is moving into the space in mid-January.
  
• New business – Blue Door Rustics:  This new business, located on Proctor Boulevard in one of the suites next door to Golden Key, is the creation of Denise White (a former teacher at Kelso Elementary School) and her son Hunter.  The store is a classic retail brick and mortar specializing in repurposed furniture, home goods, seasonal décor and gifts – a similar concept to Ox & Marley, the former vintage home décor store from a few years ago. The store has been doing very well since it opened, and all the comments Ms. White has received from the Sandy community have been glowingly positive.  Denise also mentioned to me that she absolutely loved participating in the Stocking Stroll this year, as the event was not only loads of fun, but very useful to introduce her store to local residents and help her build her clientele.

Econ Devl – Downtown Events:

• Shortest Day Parkway 2023:  This event was held on the evening of December 21^st in Meinig Park and was meant to be a winter version of the Shortest Day Parkway we hold every year in June.  The event promoted healthy living and safe transportation by asking participants to visit different stations around the park, each staffed by a different department, in order to receive a stamp (and some free stuff) from that department on their event passport.  Full passports could then be entered in a drawing at the end of the event. The event also included the Alpenrose Dairyville display (a replica of a western frontier town) from years past, as well as the splendor of a Meinig Park full of lit holiday displays for the first time.
  
• 2023 Stocking Stroll:  This new annual event took place on December 15^th throughout downtown Sandy, with kids (and a few adults as well) stopping by more than 30 participating businesses, non-profits and government agencies to stuff their stockings with treats.  This business awareness event, like the Trick or Treat Trail, does an immense service for the local economy simply by showing our citizens that there are retail stores in downtown Sandy that they may not be aware of.  Also, we heard from a number of participants that came downtown for the event and decided to go out to dinner at a local restaurant or ended up making a purchase from one of the participating businesses as well.
  
  The Sandy Library counted over 500 participants for the inaugural event, and 100% of the public comments we received at City Hall about the event were immensely positive.  Kudos to John Wallace for organizing everything, and Economic Development is very much looking forward to seeing what we can do with the event next year.

Econ Devl – Economic Development Advisory Board:

The final EDAB meeting of the year was held on Wednesday, December 6^th.  At this meeting, Chair Pietzold informed the board that for the 3 open seats on the Board, there will be one returning member (Brache), and two brand new members: Planning Commissioner Darren Wegener and business owner Aryn Ferguson.  It was also mentioned during our roundtable discussion that Boring Brewing is celebrating it’s 5 year anniversary during the new year, Wippersnappers is celebrating their 8^th year in business and both businesses are doing very well.  The board was also updated by staff on the current status of the water and sewer systems, the moratorium and the current status of funding for the retail market report.

Following these updates was a presentation to the board by Nicole Underwood of ECONorthwest on the current status of the EOA and a request for input from board members.  The notes listed below show highlights of the discussion:

• Buildable lands update: Wipper – What is “Village Commercial”? Defined by Smallwood, Pietzold as essentially mixed use zoning designation located primarily in residential neighborhoods; brief history of the designation.
• Commuting trends: Work from home is challenging when looking at commuting trends; this data is not yet being accurately captured for those that work some hours from home and some hours from an office à Our data capture methods will improve over time
• EOA shows a forecast need for 63 acres of industrial land and 91 acres of office & retail combined, for a total of 154 acres of land needed for economic growth à This equals a 9 acre deficit of industrial land and a moderate surplus of 52 acres of commercial land
• Wipper: What other infrastructure concerns do we have other than wastewater? Underwood – nothing specific, but this would include streets and roads, water, etc.
• Brache: Sees commercial as high wage instead of industrial due to IT, professional services, etc. à Underwood: most commercial jobs are restaurant, retail, grocery, but this is a fair point à Also, manufacturing is singled out for high wage industrial jobs in the ec dev strategic plan because they typically do not require a college degree
• Pietzold: Did the city council take anything specific away from this presentation when they heard it last week? à Mayton: There was some disagreement with how the data was collected from some Council members, but I found it to be fairly accurate à Smallwood: This is 2019 data, and the world has changed significantly since then. The data is what it is.
• General discussion about work from home à This is a difficult problem to tackle; we need to get better at capturing this data à Work from home may shrink in the future but it isn’t going away à Initially WFH created a boost in productivity, but this waned over time
• General housing discussion à Mayton: Trying to attract higher wage jobs so larger homes, but current wages are low so folks on lower end of economic scale can’t afford the rent here à  How do you build affordable housing for working class workers when wages can’t go up fast enough to keep up with housing prices
  

Econ Devl – Conferences/training:

• Clackamas County Tourism/TDC: County-wide Resident Tourism Sentiment Survey Results:  This presentation on December 13^th shared the results of the Resident Sentiment Survey the County completed recently.  This survey studied resident attitudes about tourism and what benefits/detriments tourism causes for the local communities here in Clackamas County.  Tourism is generally viewed as a slight net positive by locals, but they are also concerned about some of the side effects of this industry, particularly rising cost of living vs. low wage industry jobs, a general lack of workforce housing and the cumulative effects of housing being used for short term rentals in the area and how STRs are damaging local communities.