At the Kitsap regional Economic Development Council’s (KREDC) annual meeting, held on March 18, at the Clearwater Casino, about 200 local business leaders were told that the county does a good job of retaining local businesses and helping them grow, but still has serious work to do in attracting new businesses here.
KREDC Executive Director David Porter noted that an annual study the organization does revealed that nearly 7,000 new local jobs were created in 2003. The bad news is that the Navy created more than half of them — not the private sector.
A presentation by KREDC Business Retention Manager Kathy Cocus showed that the county lost out on landing companies that could have brought nearly 4,000 new jobs here because of inadequate building availability and/or land zoned to suit their needs.
This isn’t exactly a new revelation to business leaders. The scarce amount of suitable, properly zoned land, coupled with the time it takes for a company to either get it rezoned or just get a building permit to construct a facility, ha
s long been a sore point between the business community and the county. Two-year time frames are not at all unusual. Meanwhile, the City of Tacoma guarantees a commercial building permit in eight weeks — or it’s free.
Porter explained to the audience that most companies — and especially software manufacturers, a clean industry the county has targeted as desirable, only have product lifecycles of about 18 months. For them to relocate and construct a new facility here, it needs it to be under construction in about 120 days. Two years to wait for a building permit — and longer if land has to be rezoned — is simply unacceptable for them.
Porter than asked the audience to participate in a brainstorming exercise that identified marketing and business recruitment, transportation infrastructure improvements, and creating a strategic vision as areas in which the KREDC should focus its efforts.
Porter said the group will concentrate on those areas and on preparing a half-dozen, medium-sized speculative building sites to attract potential new employers. He noted that the already zoned raw sites like the South Kitsap Industrial Area, Northwest Corporate Campus, and Olhava could help in this effort.
Porter also stated he is intending to make two weeklong recruiting trips to California, hoping to convince technology companies there to take a look at relocating in the West Sound area. He cited the county’s highly educated work force as a primary factor that could motivate California companies to look north.
He also recapped the KREDC’s fund-raising efforts to help support the marketing push. He explained that the idea behind asking local businesses and public agencies to make a three-year financial commitment is so the agency can focus on its primary mission instead of spending significant time on fund-raising.
County Commissioner Chris Endresen addressed the audience at this point and told them why the county pledged an additional $50,000 to the KREDC in a challenge grant. In addition to its regular contribution of $72,000, the county will match contributions from the private sector on a dollar-for-dollar basis, up to $50,000 a year.
Endresen was followed by Kitsap Bank President Jim Carmichael, who announced the bank has made a three-year commitment to donate $50,000 to the council’s marketing effort. Both Endresen and Carmichael publicly challenged other businesses and public agencies to follow their lead.
“It’s important that the EDC can concentrate on their mission, rather on raising money,” Endresen said. “And that’s one of the reasons why the county has been supportive of their organization over the years, and why we are continuing to give them our support.”
In other business, Porter added the KREDC’s effort to woo International Speedway Corp., the developer interested in building a $150 million NASCAR-sanctioned racetrack somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, to Kitsap County, is still very much alive. “We’re on the short list,” he said, but he wouldn’t say much more.
The business was followed by an awards presentation in which Bremerton Mayor Cary Bozeman was presented with the KREDC’s Economic Development Champion Award for his work leading the downtown Bremerton revitalization effort.
Port of Bremerton Commissioner Bill Mahan was also honored with the
Lifetime Achievement Award for his 30 years of service — including 20 years as a county commissioner — in helping local businesses grow.
Ironically the pair exchanged verbal blows in the newspaper last year over Mahan’s proposal for the Port to develop a golf course at Olympic View Industrial Park. The two appear to have buried the hatchet since then.
Incoming KREDC Chairman Dwight Sutton closed the meeting with a funny story that sent participants on their way with a smile on their face. Sutton replaces Pete Crane whose term has been completed, but will remain on the KREDC board.
