THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC AND SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT RECOMMENDS APPROVAL.
Motion A:
This item supports the Board of County Commissioners' Vision of “Ensuring Economic Opportunities for Broward’s Diverse Population”, Goal 1: “Attract and retain all types of business, especially high-wage industries that offer employee benefits, through partnerships with the Alliance, chambers of commerce, colleges and universities, CareerSource, and any other available avenues."
The Office of Economic and Small Business Development (OESBD) reviewed the Fiscal Year 2018 Alliance third quarter performance (Exhibit 1). The report has been summarized to highlight the Alliance’s primary objectives and accomplishments (Exhibit 1, page 3 of 8). OESBD staff provided a memorandum reviewing performance activity for the Alliance’s three departments: Business Development, Investor Relations and Business Intelligence (Exhibit 2):
1. The Alliance reports that goals for the number of domestic leads generated, number of value added new jobs, international capital investment, number of corporate visits, and retained jobs for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 were met or exceeded. Goals for international leads, domestic capital investment, and investor relations were not achieved.
2. The Alliance job creation annual goal is to help create 1,600 new, value-added jobs in Fiscal Year 2018, resulting in a goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 of 400. During the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Alliance facilitated the creation of 540 new, value-added jobs. This represents 135% of the goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 and 55% goal attainment year to date.
Alliance Response: While this number is under goal at this time, there are a number of projects in the pipeline that are currently being finalized and as they are announced, it is anticipated they will bring the Alliance in line with goal as the year progresses.
3. The Alliance job retention annual goal is to help retain 1,400 jobs for Fiscal Year 2018, resulting in a goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 of 350. During the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Alliance reported the retention of 390 jobs. This represents 111% of the goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 and 113% goal attainment year to date.
4. The Alliance annual goal for new domestic and international leads is to develop 320 (220 domestic and 100 international) leads, resulting in a goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 of 80 total leads (55 domestic and 25 international). During the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Alliance pursued a total of 80 total leads (56 domestic and 24 international). This represents 102% of the goal for domestic leads and 96% of the goal for international leads for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 and 99% goal attainment for total leads year to date.
Alliance Response: The Alliance anticipates meeting this objective for the year and will be continuing its outreach to site consultants and corporate real estate decision makers through personal contacts, trade shows and international missions.
5. The Alliance annual goal for domestic and international direct capital investment is $110,000,000 ($100,000,000 domestic and $10,000,000 international) for Fiscal Year 2018, resulting in a goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 of $27,500,000 ($25,000,000 domestic and $2,500,000 international). During the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Alliance reported $7,900,000 and $4,000,000 in domestic and international capital investment respectively. This represents 32% of the goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 domestic capital investment, and 160% of the goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 for international capital investment. To date, the Alliance has met 36% of goal attainment for total capital investment.
Alliance Response: While this number is under goal at this time, there are a number of projects in the pipeline that are currently being finalized and as they are announced, it is anticipated they will bring the Alliance in line with goal as the year progresses.
6. The Alliance annual goal related to business retention and expansion is to conduct 200 corporate visits to Broward companies for Fiscal Year 2018, resulting in a goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 of 50. During the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Alliance conducted 50 visits. This represents 100% of the goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 and 77% goal attainment year to date.
Alliance Response: Alliance staff is focusing on this important objective through proactive outreach to local companies, and has additional visits planned for the next quarter, but this objective may not be met with the increased follow-up from visits already conducted, as the priority is to service the companies we have already met with before conducting more visits.
7. The Alliance Investor Relations annual goal is to raise and collect $2,126,200 from investors and partners to support the Alliance for Fiscal Year 2018, resulting in a goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 of $531,550. During the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018, the Alliance raised a total of $487,414. This represents 92% of the goal for the 3rd quarter of Fiscal Year 2018 and 105% goal attainment year to date.
Business Intelligence Function
The Alliance indicated the following achievements for the Business Intelligence Administrative Objectives:
1. Develop and maintain a new template marketing presentation that clearly and factually states the business case for establishing or growing specific target industry niches of strength and opportunity for Broward County (i.e., Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul; Pharmaceutical Manufacturing; IT Software Design).
The template marketing presentation has been developed and the presentations for the target industry niche segments are updated on a continual basis.
2. Complete a database highlighting Broward County’s competencies (leading employers, average salary by selected occupation, education data, etc.) to attract target industry niche sectors and post online for access by Alliance partners and prospects.
The database was developed and posted online in December 2015. It is updated on a continual basis.
3. Report on target industries niche subsets in its prospects and leads reports to develop a baseline and subsequent measurements indicating success in growing the niche markets.
Of the total 80 prospects and leads in the 3rd quarter, 27 were in the target niche industries of Aviation Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul; International and Regional Headquarters; Pharmaceutical Manufacturing; Medical Equipment/Device Development and Manufacturing; Custom Computer Programming; and Software Publishers.
4. Develop and utilize an expanded internship program with area universities for undergraduates and MBA candidates to assist with research projects designed to help grow jobs in Broward County.
This program has been created and the Alliance is utilizing interns to assist with research projects.
5. Prepare ongoing annual and updated data that will be used in the Six Pillars strategic planning process to grow high paying jobs in Broward County and engage community leaders in enhancing Broward County’s business and economic climate.
Updated data is prepared on an ongoing basis. The Six Pillars annual report and implementation plan are posted to www.sixpillarsbroward.org.
Motion B:
OESBD received and reviewed the Alliance’s proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Business Plan (Exhibit 3). Proposed key market measures have been summarized for Fiscal Year 2019 (Exhibit 3, page 9). The Alliance proposes the following goals for Fiscal Year 2019: Number of New Value-Added Jobs: 1,200 (a decrease of 25% from Fiscal Year 2018 goal), New Capital Investment: $80 million ($75 million in Domestic and $5 million in International) (a decrease of 27% from Fiscal Year 2018 goal), Number of Jobs Retained: 1,300 (a decrease of 7% from Fiscal Year 2018 goal), Domestic Leads: 220, International Leads: 100 (no % change), Corporate Visits: 180 (a decrease of 10% from Fiscal Year 2018 goal), and Private Sector Dollars Investing in Economic Development: $2,304,200 (an increase of 4% over Fiscal Year 2018 goal).
The Alliance proposes that many goals from Fiscal Year 2018 be decreased for Fiscal Year 2019. The Alliance indicated that the State of Florida’s decline in job growth will affect the Alliance’s job growth. Additionally, the Alliance indicated that leads originating from Enterprise Florida, Inc. have dropped from 71 companies in 2015 to 19 companies in 2017, or a reduction of 73%. The Alliance illustrated other factors that could impact companies’ interest in relocating to Greater Fort Lauderdale, including the state legislature’s decision to eliminate $85 million of business relocation financial incentives by ending the Governor’s Quick Closing Action Fund, the anti-incentives conversation that has been occurring in Tallahassee for the last two years, the national discussion of trade wars, and the conversation among some local communities around stopping and slowing growth. As a result, the Alliance has decreased the following Fiscal Year 2019 Business Attraction and Retention Goals from Fiscal Year 2018:
- Number of Announced Projects
- Number of New Value-Added Jobs
- Direct Capital Investment
- Number of Corporate Visits
- Number of Retained Jobs
- Number of CareerSource Broward Partnerships
- Dollar Value of CareerSource Broward Partnerships
The Alliance has outlined the following strategies to mitigate challenges posed by changes to the State’s economy and economic development practices (Exhibit 4):
1. “The Alliance has purchased a new, highly sophisticated data mining product that will help us identify companies from across the country that have high revenue growth rates among other positive economic indicators, and are well capitalized to position those companies to expand. Using specialized algorithms in screening these positive indicators, we anticipate being able to identify those expanding companies that also have a high propensity to relocate to a more economically vibrant and talent rich geographic area. This new product will allow us to determine companies that we will reach out to on a proactive basis and help us determine where we need to direct advertising campaigns and personal outreach.
2. The Alliance Business Development team will plan to do two additional in-market trips to out of area locations. These areas will be where we know companies are in our targeted industries and are in a position to locate new operations to Broward County. We will also work to broaden our member engagement in meetings with these companies, inviting Alliance members and local aligned targeted industry opinion leaders to travel with us and help make introductions.
3. In order to ensure we have the employee talent that companies need in a full employment environment, we are focusing more on local employment drivers such as pathways from poverty to prosperity. This involves a collaborative effort with our workforce and training partners, along with government leaders, to provide training programs and supportive services in the distressed areas of Broward County where there continues to be high unemployment and high poverty levels. We are looking at systemic approaches to improving employment in our economically challenged zip code areas.
4. We are enhancing our marketing outreach to include a focus on branding Broward County as a talent hub, and continuing to promote and brand the TechGateway initiative and grow the Marine Research Hub consortium. We will be using in-market publications out of area, softening the entry into the two business markets where we plan to travel. We are also exploring a strategy of expanding our digital outreach to target geographic areas and millennial demographics in order to attract new talent to Broward County, providing the rich base of talent that companies are seeking. If the Board would consider helping us fund this outreach, we believe we will get a significant ROI from the outreach.
5. We have diligently worked to solidify our associations with companies that have expanded in Broward County to strive to ensure these companies continue to add high wage jobs in Broward County (i.e., AutoNation, Citrix, Kaplan and Magic Leap). We know the time it takes to attract a company is much more involved than working to keep a company. Our goal is to retain and attract new companies to maintain our positive growth momentum.
6. We will continue to expand our work beyond the traditional economic development model to focus on important issues that impact our competitiveness including affordable workforce housing, student talent development, workforce training, homelessness, and advocating before state and federal elected officials and agencies on the importance of expediting and fully funding the widening and deepening of Port Everglades.” |