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Over 100,000 working residents commute outside of the county to work every day <br />(76.9%). A focus should be to work with the private sector and communities within <br />Washington County to increase the opportunities for people to both live and work in the <br />county. <br />Several communities have identified that broadband networks are not available. This is <br />equally important as other typical utilities for growing businesses. <br />Actions: <br />Marketing and Promotion: <br />Action Step: Market and promote Washington County, enhancing the efforts currently <br />being implemented by our public and private partners. <br />Deliverables: With the aid of our city and township partners, the Washington County <br />CDA will create a business brand for Washington County emphasizes the county's many <br />assets. The business brand must be crafted to appeal to businesses that are looking for <br />locational or expansion opportunities. This will be completed by the second quarter of <br />2017. <br />Washington County CDA will continue to attend, advertise, co-sponsor and market at <br />various promotional events including, Minnesota Commercial Real Estate Association <br />(MNCAR) Expo, MN Real Estate Journal Land Development Conference and MN Real <br />Estate Journal Industrial Development Summit. This will be ongoing. <br />Washington County CDA will build partnerships with and become members of local area <br />chambers of commerce including: Forest Lake Area Chamber, White Bear Lake Area <br />Chamber, Stillwater Area Chamber, Oakdale Area Chamber, Woodbury Area Chamber, <br />Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce. Washington County CDA will work with <br />our local chambers to identify business creation and expansion opportunities and <br />promote tourism. This will begin in the first quarter of 2017 and be ongoing. <br />Washington County CDA will build partnerships with talent attraction, retention and <br />training organizations, local area commercial realtors, developers and site selectors <br />through partnerships with Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic <br />Development (DEED), Xcel Energy, MNCAR, Xceligent and Greater MSP. The CDA will <br />receive and distribute new business inquiries to our local community partners and pass <br />new listings on to the community where the listing is located. The CDA will work with <br />communities when requested to respond to business inquiries. This will begin in the first <br />quarter of 2017 and be ongoing. <br />Action Step: Promote the quality of life and assets of the county, including the rich <br />diversity of communities with unique micro -markets. <br />Deliverables: Each city/township will be asked by the Washington County CDA to tell us <br />what types of specific business developments are a "good fit" for their community <br />(understanding this is subject to change). The Washington County Economic <br />Development Plan should not be "one size fits all". Each city and township will be asked <br />to prepare a listing of their preferred business types. This information will be used in <br />5 <br />