Spring 2010 Newsletter
Business and Economic Development Accomplishments in 2009
Economic Landscape Phase III-
The Clackamas County Economic Landscape study is based on the economic output of the county. Findings will identify economic output, location characteristics of key industry clusters, and compare fiscal and economic benefits of strategic employment areas.
Once the Economic Landscape is finished and approved, it will lay a foundation for a better understanding of Clackamas County, what its businesses do, where these businesses are located, and Clackamas County businesses are doing well.
The Economic Landscape is not meant to determine or reflect the future but rather to give a snapshot of the county's current status. Once this current status is understood, the next phases of the project will include an in-depth projection of where the county is heading.
Stay tuned for the release of the Economic Landscape or call Gary Barth for more information at 503.742.4299.
Economic Development Commission approves new plan
Business and Economic Development staff and the Economic Development Commission (EDC) developed and adopted an updated Economic Development Plan. For Clackamas County the next five to 10 years. It contains a longer-term vision for the county's cities, unincorporated areas, businesses, communities and political leaders. The plan helps decision-makers to chart a steady and successful course, to weather changing economic conditions and continuously improve, diversify and grow the local economy. Strategies will remain constant but the emphasis may shift, based on the economic climate and opportunities to come.
The plan focuses on a five-pronged strategy to maximize success:
- Business Retention and Growth: Helping existing local businesses to thrive whether they are small or large, located in urban or rural communities.
- Business Recruitment: Attracting strategic industry clusters and firms that have the strongest potential to thrive here, invest and create well paying jobs.
- Infrastructure: Advocating for funding for additional infrastructure capacity and maintenance, while developing short- and long-term supply and improving quality. Critical infrastructure includes transportation, water and sewer, among others.
- Workforce and Education: Ensuring that there are available, skilled workers to meet the growing and changing needs of Clackamas County employers.
- Regional Collaboration: Leveraging efforts and resources in marketing, recruitment and in addressing economic development challenges together. Collaboration will occur at the local level with cities and communities as well as with regional, state and federal partners.
View the Economic Development Plan.
Main Street 2009
The Clackamas County Main Street program helped establish Main Street communities throughout Clackamas County in 2009. As a result, 13 communities and/or commercial districts are committed to downtown revitalization.
A great deal of time was spent conducting outreach and educating community leaders on the significance of downtown and on how to utilize the Main Street Approach® as an economic development tool. Communities received assistance with completing business surveys, retail market analyses and Level 1 historic property inventories. The county hosted a multitude of trainings, including the annual Oregon Main Street conference, and partnered with the state to provide performing and transforming level communities with a resource team assessment.
The Main Street program has drawn community leaders together in the revitalization effort for early successes; Sandy Main Street entertained children with a successful “Trick-or-Treat Trail” this past Halloween, while downtown Oregon City saw 14 new businesses open in 2009.
The Main Street program will continue to progress in 2010 with plans for continued trainings, networking, business assistance, and the kickoff of the Energy Efficiency on Main Street program.
Energy Efficiency on Main Street
In 2010, utility bills will be dropping in downtowns across the county with the help of the Clackamas County Main Street (CCMS) program. CCMS is currently working with the Clackamas County Office of Sustainability and Energy Trust of Oregon to pilot their new Energy Efficiency on Main Street program.
Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO) is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Oregonians benefit from saving energy and tapping renewable resources. Businesses will receive free energy audits through the organization.
“Through our outreach with the business community, we heard time and time again that downtown businesses are struggling to stay afloat; and with costs constantly rising, they were having difficulty just paying their utilities,” says Jamie Johnk, Clackamas County Main Street Coordinator. “That’s when we concluded that the best way to assist our county’s Main Street businesses is to create a program which will help their bottom line by decreasing their utility bills.”
The Clackamas County Energy Efficiency on Main Street Program provides free energy audits, resource information, and grant consideration to commercial businesses in Main Street districts. The detailed energy audits of Main Street buildings help business and property owners make informed decisions and invest in cost-saving energy efficiency strategies. The program also helps identify incentives and financial resources for making the recommended changes. Based on the final audit report, the Clackamas County Energy Efficiency on Main Street program will be offering mini grants of up to $500 for small energy efficiency upgrades or matching grants of up to $5,000 for larger projects.
Many building upgrades will return their investment in just 3-5 years or less. In spreading energy efficiency practices to small businesses, Clackamas County is continuing its vision as a model for applications of sustainable living.
Jobs Grow Here
Jobs Grow Here is a region-wide business retention and expansion program. Piloted in 2009, it is a partnership of public and private sector businesses and economic development leaders providing a systematic means of surfacing and addressing issues that impede company’s growth as well as identifying trends within and across all industry sectors. Business and Economic Development partner with Greenlight Greater Portland in this effort. For more information, contact Cindy Hagen at 503-742-4328.
Two Client Success Stories
OECO expanded their operation in Milwaukie to include the Pacific Scientific Electro Kinetics Division (PS/EKD) formerly located in Carpinteria, California. PS/EKD is a leading manufacturer of highly specialized alternator and generator systems and associated electronics and has supplied hardware for military and commercial programs. The expansion has the potential of adding 100 new employees to the Milwaukie facility.
Oregon Iron Works (OIW) is in the process of expanding their facility in the Clackamas Industrial Area to make room for the first modern streetcar built in the United States in 60 years. The streetcar project is projected to create 50 to 100 jobs for OIW.
Key Performance Indicators
SIZ and REDD program
Clackamas County is exploring the potential and interest in creating a Strategic Investment Zone (SIZ) and Rural Renewable Energy Development Zone (RRED). These programs are valuable business recruitment tools to attract new businesses, create jobs and increase investment in Clackamas County.
Strategic Investment Zones are designed to attract large capital intensive traded sector businesses. The program creates a “pre-established” zone that standardizes the discretionary Strategic Investment Program (SIP) process in place today, providing for consistent criteria and a streamlined approval process. This provides greater certainty to new or existing companies. Highlights include:
- 15-year property tax abatements on facilities and equipment to any “traded-sector” business. Examples: production, manufacturing, high tech, and energy generation among others.
- Applies to large capital investments ($25 million minimum in rural areas and $100 million in the Metro UGB).
- Requires a community service fee paid by the company equal to 25% of the tax savings per year to local public service providers to offset community impacts. The community service fee is capped at an annual maximum of $2 million in urban areas or $500,000 in rural areas.
- Additional local requirements can also be required and outlined in the SIZ.
- Once established, the SIZ boundary cannot change. However, additional zones can be added and operational changes can be made by amending intergovernmental agreements and applying for approval to the Oregon Business Development Department.
City partners considering partnering with the county in the proposed urban zone include Wilsonville, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, and portions of Happy Valley, and Oregon City. Communities interested in the rural strategic investment zone include Sandy, Estacada, Molalla, Canby and portions of Oregon City and Happy Valley.
The RRED program provides a three- to five-year property tax incentive to attract private sector alternative energy production investment. Over the past few years there has been an emerging industry and federal and state policy interest in the development of alternative energy generation facilities. Having energy independence, controlling escalating energy costs and expanding energy options had driven the creation of incentives and tools to support this development. Given a strong interest in sustainability and alternative energy initiatives, Clackamas County and city representatives from Molalla, Estacada, Canby and Sandy are exploring the creation of a RRED zone in rural Clackamas County outside Metro’s urban growth boundary. The program is relatively new to Oregon and there are currently nine counties participating.
The RRED program:
- Offers 3- to 5-year property tax exemptions on buildings and equipment (not land).
- Encourages investments that harness wind, geothermal, solar, biomass, ocean waves or other unconventional forms of energy in Oregon.
- Requires companies to create or increase employment by 10% and pay 150% of minimum wage (3 year program) or 150% of the county average wage (5-year program)
- Eligible zone projects must meet business firm and property qualifications for the energy zone exemption and must involve the generation of electricity from a "renewable energy resource" or the manufacture, storage or distribution of biodiesel, ethanol or similar fuels made from applicable inputs.
For more information, contact Renate Mengelberg at 503-742-4327 or renatem@co.clackamas.or.us
Leverage External Funding Sources-
Indirect Regional Grant funds leveraged
Mt. Hood Economic Alliance (MHEA) is a partnership between Clackamas, Hood River and Wasco counties that administers the Regional Investment and Rural Investment Programs which foster and promote economic development. During 2009, Clackamas County companies were awarded $205,500. Priority for MHEA is the creation and retention of jobs. Priority is given to those business development projects that create or retain better than average wage jobs in the agriculture, light manufacturing, recreation equipment, and technology or tourism industries. MHEA, as a source of "gap" financing, is also looking for projects that leverage other sources of business development capital. For more information, visit the web site at www.mthoodea.org or call 503-742-4328.
| Estacada Chrome/Hydraulics | $ 2,000 |
| Fearless Brewing Company | $45,000 |
| HardChrome | $75,000 |
| Sandy AM/PM | $50,000 |
| Superior Glass Works | $30,000 |
| Estacada Industrial Park Sign | $ 3,500 |
Direct Grant funds leveraged
Direct Brownfield federal grants
- $200,000 in EPA Brownfield funding for Hazardous Materials Site Assessment for contaminated industrial and large commercial property.
- The county applied for a $1 million grant to EPA for a region-wide Brownfield grant for assessments on sites that have petroleum and hazardous substance contamination. – will know if the request is successful this spring.
Direct Main Street Program Grants-
| Clackamas County General Fund Allotment | $50,000 |
| Mt. Hood Economic Alliance grant | $20,000 |
| UDSA-RBEG grant | $12,000 |
| Oregon Main Street allotment | $25,000 |
Learn more about the federal facilities zone bonds, created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - www.clackamas.us/docs/business/20100209c.pdf
Commissioner's Corner
Successes and Challenges – and Looking Ahead
We are excited to be invited to contribute to the quarterly Business and Community Services newsletter. As we often say, Clackamas County is a wonderful place to live, work and play – and our Business and Community Services department is the foundation for all of those activities.
Last year we took a multitude of challenges head-on. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allowed stimulus money to be dispersed throughout the nation to create and sustain jobs. After aggressively pursuing these funds, we are please to be able to say that to date, Clackamas County has been allocated over $19 million in stimulus funds for transportation, energy efficiency, public safety, and human services projects. These funds have not all been received yet, but when they are, the County expects to create or save at least 200 jobs.
We have also been working closely with ODOT to design the project that will be constructed with the $100 million dollars allocated in the Oregon Legislature Jobs and Transportation Act and the additional $30 million of federal and state funds already in place for the Sunrise System project. We are optimistic that we will find a design that balances the mobility needs with the accessibility needs in the area and are waiting for ODOT to finish the traffic and design refinements. We expect to have a workable design agreed to by ODOT and the County by the end of February. Public process, including various other stakeholders, will occur in March.
Similar to many local businesses and households, over the past year, Clackamas County needed to find ways to work with less money. One area where we were able to create a win-win situation was through the implementation of the 4-day work week. This new schedule of opening 4 days a week for longer hours was found to save the County over $456,000 a year, reduced our carbon footprint and has been well-received by our employees.
By having a five member Board of Commissioners we have been able to participate more fully at the national, state, regional and local levels. You may have seen one of us at a CPO meeting, rotary or local city council meeting. We have been working hard to get out in to the community and listen to the various citizen issues and concerns.
The Board of County Commissioners will be finalizing our 2010 Goals very soon. These goals will be guided by key principles which include: using resources wisely; employment and strengthening the economy; public safety; and fostering a culture of trust, communication and diversity within the county organization. We look forward to sharing more about these goals in the upcoming months.
Board of County Commissioners
