Timothy (Tim) Gagen
Town Manager
Breckenridge, Colorado
img@townofbreckenridge.com

 

 

When I arrived in Commerce City, Colorado, in the 1990s as the new manager, the city had a strong industrial base, but it also had a negative image due to heavy industry and the stigma of being adjacent to one of the most polluted federal chemical weapons facility in the country—the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.

The Arsenal Superfund site pollution had gotten into the groundwater table, and negative impacts resulted in a large disparity between jobs and available housing, where less than one-third of the employment base resided in the city and no new housing had been built for years.

During the next six years, a master plan was created that was keyed to a cleanup plan for the Arsenal, partnerships with developers to start building new homes, and efforts by heavy industry to reduce pollution and negative impacts.

Now, 14 years later, most of that vision and plan has been implemented. The Arsenal is a national wildlife refuge, and the city has experienced a resurgence of new housing and commercial development.

Matt Mueller
City Manager
Little Elm, Texas
mmueller@littleelm.org

I once worked in a community where an economic development failure of the past left the city responsible for several hundred thousands of dollars in debt and the loss of support for using incentives for recruitment.

About a year after I was hired, we were notified of an emerging business that would bring a new industry to the state and a unique draw to the community. When city representatives met with the owner, we explained that although we didn’t have financial incentives to offer, our community would provide the best fit for the endeavor and our development process would be a streamlined, personalized experience.

The business ultimately chose us and publicly acknowledged before the council that the relationship they built with city staff was the reason they chose our community over others. The business is now flourishing and contributes greatly to the city.

Maryann Ustick, ICMA-CM
City Manager
Gallup, New Mexico
manager@ci.gallup.nm.us

In a previous position, I worked for a city that needed commercial redevelopment to complement residential revitalization that was going well.

Residents had partnered with the city to attract residential investment but were frustrated that a 40-acre blighted area remained. They had tried for 20 years to attract a grocery store as an anchor tenant to create jobs.

A developer was willing to bring in a grocery store and construct a new shopping center but wanted the city to assemble the property. This involved relocating numerous long-standing small businesses. A team of city staff worked with the businesses, helping with permits and making their relocations more pleasant.

It took some two years, research on property ownership, and contacts all over the country to work through the issues and challenges.

The lesson learned is that economic development is everyone’s job. Focusing the entire staff and using their resources and talents made an economic development dream come true.

Erik Tungate, ICMA-CM
City Manager
Oak Park, Michigan
                 etungate@ci.oak-park.mi.us

In early 2006, I met with the CEO of a health care IT company based in New Jersey. He was looking for prime locations to expand company operations in the United States. More specifically, he and his team were targeting urban locations that provided the quality of life and amenities that attract creative-minded employees.

After touring properties in New York and Chicago, he agreed to view a high-rise property near Campus Martius Park in the heart of downtown Detroit. Upon reaching one of the upper floors, he was stunned at the amazing views and heavy foot traffic on the street below.

Despite the headlines regarding the city’s demise, he was almost immediately sold on the location noting the city’s untapped potential. A few years later, he became a leader in a monumental effort to rejuvenate the city’s core area, seeing something many corporate leaders before him had missed.