HomeMy WebLinkAboutSpecial Committee of the Whole February 25 20031 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
2 Special Committee Of The Whole
3
4 February 25, 2003
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6
7 The meeting was called to order at 11:10 a.m. by Council Chair Dan
8 McShane in the Council Committee Room, 311 Grand Avenue, Bellingham,
9 Washington.
10
11 Present: Absent:
12 Barbara Brenner None
13 Laurie Caskey-Schreiber
14 Sam Crawford
15 Seth Fleetwood
16 Sharon Roy
17 L. Ward Nelson
18
19 SPECIAL PRESENTATION
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21 1. THOMAS DORR, SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER DIRECTOR
22 FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, WILL PRESENT
23 INFORMATION ON SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN WHATCOM
24 COUNTY (AB2003-099)
25
26 Thomas Dorr, Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Director, stated
27 his office is part of Western Washington University's (WWU) College of Business and
28 Economics. He provided background on the center. They provide free confidential
29 small business consulting advice for Whatcom County business owners. They are
30 funded from several agencies. His center has been in the top ten SBDC centers in
31 the nation. They have seen over 2,500 small businesses in Whatcom County, which
32 is 33 percent of all businesses in Whatcom County. He focuses on helping
33 businesses write business plans, getting access to capital, doing market research,
34 working with personnel and sales, and choosing a location. They don't help non-
35 profit businesses, home -based businesses unless they are sophisticated, multi -level
36 marketing businesses, and startups unless the startup is referred by a bank. They
37 work with existing businesses. His job is to help shape the economic future of this
38 community one business at a time. Services to his clients are confidential. He
39 consults and counsels business owners. He provides the skills and expertise of
40 owning a business. They also reach out to rural and agricultural communities in
41 Whatcom County.
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43 One impediment has been their ability to meet the demand for services.
44 There has been a three-month wait to see him. The City of Bellingham funds one
45 position to focus on downtown -area businesses. The Port of Bellingham funds
46 another position for rural outreach. That position goes to outlying cities and areas
47 in Whatcom County to provide direct counseling services to those communities.
48 They are beginning to do outreach for the agricultural community. They are hoping
Committee of the Whole, 2/25/2003, Page 1
1 to become more expert in the agriculture industry. He also provides services to the
2 City of Sumas to act as their economic development department. He currently
3 works with 33 businesses in Sumas right now.
4
5 Caskey-Schreiber asked if he is selling Sumas as a location to potential new
6 businesses. Dorr stated requests come through the city hall at Sumas. When a
7 new company is interested in locating in Sumas, he is brought into the picture to
8 make sure they are welcome, that technical assistance is taken care of, and to get
9 them in touch with the necessary people to locate there.
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11 Caskey-Schreiber asked if they work with the Economic Development Council
12 (EDC). Dorr stated they do. The City of Sumas is in conflict with EDC right now,
13 and prefers to have the SBDC do its work.
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15 Caskey-Schreiber stated the EDC took full credit for bringing Cedar Prime to
16 Sumas. Dorr stated the EDC helped, he helped with the personnel issues,
17 WorkSource helped, Bellingham Technical College administered the testing program
18 and put the training program together, and he got them some state tax credits.
19 It's was a collaborative team effort.
20
21 McShane stated the Council is having a hard time understanding who is
22 doing what. Dorr stated that with the transition in leadership at the EDC, they now
23 have the best collaborative effort with the EDC that he's ever had. That's true for
24 the Chamber of Commerce as well. The Chamber of Commerce, EDC, SBDC,
25 Partnership for a Sustainable Economy, and Downtown Renaissance Network are
26 working closely to coordinate efforts. The Convention and Visitor's Bureau is
27 focused more on tourism, and is a secondary partner at the table. The EDC is
28 focused on industrial businesses. He works with all sectors. Sumas works with the
29 SBDC because they work in all areas.
30
31 The SBDC also administers the county's business retention and expansion
32 program. It is a national program that the State of Washington has adopted. It is
33 run through the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development
34 (CTED). The purpose of the program is to retain the existing businesses the
35 community has. His focus for this program is on retention and expansion. In doing
36 this, they listen to the businesses about the impediments of doing business in
37 Whatcom County, and they also provide technical assistance to achieve stability or
38 expansion. The program is oriented to manufacturers, which is a State
39 requirement. They've expanded that into telecommunications.
40
41 The SBDC has a business link roundtable program that brings ten to twelve
42 non -competing businesses together from a single sector to monthly meetings that
43 are professionally facilitated. There are two roundtables in construction and one
44 roundtable in each of the manufacturing, business -to -business services, and
45 business -to -consumer services sectors. This has been very successful in creating a
46 peer support system for the businesses. The SBDC is looking for funding in the
47 future to expand that program. The money for that program sunset last year.
48
Committee of the Whole, 2/25/2003, Page 2
1 Other services the SBDC provides include a strong relationship with the
2 Department of Vocational Rehabilitation to help people in North Puget Sound,
3 including people with disabilities, who want to remain in the workforce through self-
4 employment. Additionally, the SBDC hosts a Whatcom County business conference
5 annually in conjunction with the annual business expo.
6
7 They are about creating healthy companies in Whatcom County. Eighty
8 percent of the jobs in Whatcom County come from existing businesses here. Last
9 year, they helped save or create 366 jobs, counseled about 429 business, and
10 brought in almost $9 million in new investment.
11
12 Caskey-Schreiber asked if he aids anyone from outside of Whatcom County.
13 Dorr stated he helps Canadians who want to locate in Whatcom County. Two
14 percent of the client base is from San Juan or Skagit County people who want to
15 relocate here. He doesn't do any marketing of the SBDC. They can't keep up with
16 the demand they have currently. Fifty percent of the referrals come from banks, 45
17 percent comes from previous clients, and five percent comes from other
18 miscellaneous places. They have created a strong relationship with the City of
19 Bellingham Finance Department. After the events of September 11, 2001, they put
20 together a disaster loan program for business to help them get access to capital.
21
22 Fleetwood asked what makes this organization outstanding from others in
23 the nation. Dorr stated the first reason is their diverse funding sources, due to
24 educating the community about the value of their technical assistance services. A
25 second reason is strong collaboration with other economic development partners
26 because they are apolitical. A third reason is the strong support from the
27 university. The fourth reason is that they have an awesome team.
28
29 Fleetwood stated he took advantage of these services in his business, and it
30 was great.
31
32 Roy stated she always questioned the value of sending people out to spread
33 the word of Whatcom County, and spending money to send someone elsewhere.
34 She asked if that is an effective way of developing new business. She also asked if
35 they have any guidelines to evaluate the environmental and other impacts of
36 businesses they work with. Dorr stated economic development involves lots of
37 different issues, including policy, infrastructure, attraction and retention, and social
38 capital. Attraction, which is going out and bringing people to Whatcom County, is a
39 small part of it. They should provide resources for that, but should not focus only
40 on that. If not for the promotional aspects in Canada, they would not see the
41 interest from Canadian companies that they have.
42
43 Whatcom County doesn't have a lot of infrastructure foresight. There is
44 opportunity to promote that better. There are rail spurs and access to I-5. Those
45 are some of the reasons why a number of those businesses look in Sumas. They
46 need to have a multi -pronged approach to business development. His focus is to
47 help those established businesses. Regarding choosing clients, the number one
48 issue is whether or not he can help that business. They have limited resources, so
Committee of the Whole, 2/25/2003, Page 3
1 that is the first filter that he uses. Because they work primarily with existing
2 businesses, they don't have to use the filter system of whether the business is a
3 viable business for Whatcom County. That is the political aspect that is the County
4 Council's job. His job is to give the business owners the tools to be successful.
5
6 Caskey-Schreiber asked if a business owner new to the SBDC would have to
7 wait three months. Dorr stated they would typically adjust schedules to get the
8 business owner in sooner. He and the EDC refer businesses back and forth
9 appropriately, depending on the type of request. He averages about one referral
10 for startups every day or two. Last year, they had over 2,000 requests of his
11 office, not including the traffic on their website.
12
13 McShane stated no one is in charge of economic development in Whatcom
14 County. There are a lot of good things going on. The SBDC has done some
15 surveys. County government does have some responsibility for maintaining a good
16 economic base through developing infrastructure. He asked what Whatcom County
17 should be doing better. Dorr stated the continual challenge for elected officials is to
18 understand the puzzle of economic development. From an economic development
19 standpoint, the community is going through a transition. The EDC and Chamber of
20 Commerce are going through transitions. The Downtown Renaissance Network and
21 Partnership for Sustainable Economy are new entities. Sectors such as agriculture
22 are powerful, but not coordinated. The challenge that they have is to assist the
23 Council in knowing what is going on in the community. They all need to work in a
24 way that is better coordinated. They need to mobilize quickly to help a business
25 overcome impediments.
26
27 McShane stated he thought the economic development chapter of the
28 Comprehensive Plan represents pretty well what the County wants to see in terms
29 of economic growth, particularly in certain areas. One concern about the County's
30 economic vitality is making sure they are providing services that are necessary for
31 new corporations. People complain that the regulations are stopping businesses
32 from locating here or growing. He hoped that those involved with helping
33 businesses would make sure the County Council hears about anything that is
34 slowing the economic development process down.
35
36 Brenner asked if there is an example of another area where the economic
37 development efforts are working well. Dorr stated Skagit County is working well.
38
39 The Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) study information in the Council
40 packet discusses the strengths and weaknesses in the local community. It is a
41 snapshot of what is happening in the community. If there are issues that the
42 County Council would like to see addressed in future surveys, he can work with the
43 Council to include those items.
44
45 McShane stated he is aware of some things that the County should change.
46 Dorr stated the County could be more proactive and less reactive about educating
47 people on permitting. The SBDC used to have a good relationship with the Building
Committee of the Whole, 2/25/2003, Page 4
Industry Association (BIA), the City of Bellingham, and the County. That
relationship can be improved.
Roy asked if there is a contact between the SBDC and the County Planning
Department that could act as an established conduit. Dorr stated that would work
and should work both ways.
Caskey-Schreiber stated she hoped that the Council brings more input into
the process the next time they work on the Economic Development Chapter of the
Comprehensive Plan.
Caskey-Schreiber stated she and Councilmember Roy suggested a change to
the Economic Chapter about the 16,000 students in the County influencing the
average wage in the County. It is worth mentioning. Dorr stated that information
was given in his presentation a few weeks ago. One of the influences that pulls the
average wage down is the students. If someone is working part-time at the mall,
that income is part of the per capita wage that is reported. The next phase of
research is to pull that population out. He's not sure the students were counted 30
years ago in the census. There is a high percentage of residents at the poverty
level. If half of those are students, the question is whether the County should
really develop policies based on students being included in that information.
Nelson asked what information is used in the report. Dorr stated the
information in the report is from the census data.
Nelson stated he thought the information for the census is done based on
where the students come from. Dorr stated that has changed. Students who live
off campus are considered residents.
(Clerk's Note: End of tape one, side A.)
Dorr continued to state that there are other cities, such as Gainesville,
Florida, that have seen a similar trend.
Crawford stated the numbers indicate that the portion of students in this
population is dropping as a percentage of the population. The growth at Western
Washington University has not matched the growth in the county.
Caskey-Schreiber asked if they would explore other geographic regions and
wages to decide where they should target infrastructure. Dorr stated he thinks
they are looking at that. They haven't developed the next survey yet.
OTHER BUSINESS
There was no other business.
Committee of the Whole, 2/25/2003, Page 5
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ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 11:55 a.m.
A
Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
These minutes were approved by Council on March 11 , 2003.
ATTEST:
Dana Brown -Davis, Council Clerk-
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
,
IIIA-
Dan McShane, Council Chair
Committee of the Whole, 2/25/2003, Page 6