TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Jason Yarborough, ICMA-CM, Interim City Manager
TITLE: Presentation on the Economic Development Market and Feasibility Study.
Recommended Action
Presentation on the Economic Development Market and Feasibility Study.
Background Information
Historically, the City of North Port has written several Economic Development Strategic Plans, which have had at their core, the desire to diversify, increase, and expand business and add higher-paying jobs for its citizens. A successful Strategic Plan would have netted the following outcome:
Increased revenues to the City, thereby shifting some of the tax burden from homeowners to its businesses and industry, bringing a prolonged and sustainable quality-of-life.
Previous Strategic Plans, while excellent in and of themselves, lacked a necessary component: a completed Market Feasibility Study which tests viability of a Plan before creating the strategy around it.
Most recently, Commission approved a $50,000 budget item for an Economic Development Market Feasibility Study on May 12, 2020. The following provides the Consultant Search and Scope of Work for the Economic Development Market Feasibility Study:
The Consultant will provide an economically sound and defensible, data-driven Market Feasibility Study for review by North Port's Economic Development Division, its leadership, and elected officials. The Study will address the diversification and expansion of North Port's commercial and industrial base while increasing the number and quality of jobs in the City, particularly couched against the current- and post-COVID-19 business environment.
The Study will identify targeted industries that benefit from the City's unique attributes and assets, both natural and man-made, and fit criteria in North Port's Comprehensive Plan and within our land availability and workforce capability.
Strategic Plan
Support a vibrant and diversified economy to crea...
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