From the Director - State of the Cities: Economic Development Report

In recent years, the Association has successfully pursued a number of legislative strategies designed to help cities create a favorable economic development environment. Basically, we’ve sought additional funding tools to enable cities to partner with the private sector to foster economic development.

In advancing that philosophy, the Association will issue its next State of the Cities report, Strong Cities, Strong State – Economic Development in Washington Cities and Towns, in mid-February. Copies of the Executive Summary have been sent to each elected city and town official in Washington. This report is based on the findings from surveys submitted by cities within which almost three-quarters of the state’s incorporated population lives.

This study is intended to highlight city economic development successes and identify existing barriers cities encounter in their economic development efforts.

The objective was also to define those legislative recommendations that, if enacted, could assist cities and towns to "grow" their local economies. Among the key recommendations are:

• Increase local economic development financing options
• Allocate additional state funds to assist in addressing local infrastructure needs
• Provide additional state economic development technical assistance to cities and towns
• Allow greater flexibility in the use of existing fiscal resources
• Fund state regulatory mandates, and ensure that state policies don’t become an impediment to economic development
• Address the need for more housing through technical assistance, incentives and local tools

As previously indicated, the State of the Cities reports are intended to assist the AWC Legislative Committee in crafting the Association’s legislative agenda. These recommendations are based on a concerted research effort relying on the assistance of our members. I want to express my sincere appreciation to those city officials who went the extra mile and completed our economic development survey.

For further information regarding this report, please contact Alicia Seegers Martinelli, AWC’s Research Coordinator.

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