Thank you to the citizens, staff and other council members for the opportunity to serve our community and make a difference.

One of the areas which has developed over the past two years is Economic Development. The City of University Place, like many other small cities and towns throughout Puget Sound and Washington State, has been hit hard by the slowing economy nationally and regionally as well as the impact of the initiatives passed in Washington state.

Beginning in 2003, the city council, staff and citizens began looking at alternative funding sources. The result of these discussions was a commitment to use a multidimensional approach with an emphasis on economic development as the cornerstone of our financial resource growth here in the city. This means we could replace lost revenues by growing our tax base and without increasing tax rates.

We started with the formation of our Economic Development Committee, followed by the establishment of our Economic Development Office. The Economic Development Committee put together a strategic action plan which complements the city's comprehensive plan. It was clear from the beginning that economic development within the city would need to be as an adjunct to the regional and statewide economic development taking place. We cannot develop in a vacuum – i.e. the proposed golf course on the Chambers Creek Properties. It was decided that the catalyst for our economic development strategy was the development of the City of University Place Town Center.

You might wonder – what does the Economic Development Office do? It does the following:

• Implements the economic development strategic action plan.
• Prepares, maintains and implements the city's comprehensive plan to ensure consistency with the growth management act, including long-range planning and amendments to the development regulations, codes and special projects required through GMA, as well as other federal mandates.
• Finally, it works to enhance the city's business environment by working with businesses and commercial property owners to encourage business development and facilitate commercial redevelopment.

One of the cornerstones of our economic development plan is communication and outreach. This communication and outreach includes the following:

• A comprehensive business development plan focusing on the expansion and retention of our current local businesses.
• The UP Business Solution Initiative which partners community resources with local businesses to provide one-on-one business coaching, financing, marketing, site-selection and other direct technical assistance.
• The Home-Based Business Forum, which is a monthly networking and training forum designed to support home-based businesses in the areas of business development.
• The Partner UP program which is a quarterly social networking event for local businesses.
• Talking UP, a quarterly newsletter put out by the Economic Development Office.