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The Strategic Plan provides a realistic and practical road map for the County. It guides the <br />county leaders and allows them to focus on the most important economic development priorities. <br />Furthermore it directs staff time and financial commitments to those activities that support the <br />County's mission, 6sion, and goals. Ultimately when the plan is underway and the County has a <br />solid foundation, it will improve accountability and the capacity to measure performance and <br />outcomes. <br />Economic Development Structure <br />One of the primary questions that the strategic plan will answer what structure best suits the role <br />Washington County wishes to take. The Working Group and county staff conclude that this will <br />be a process that takes time to mature. Throughout the process two concepts were identified that <br />are important components of the planning process: less formal structure and formal structure. <br />Information on each follows_ <br />Less Formal Structure (Public Private Partnership) <br />These models are essentially Economic Development Commissions (EDC) supported by <br />membership dues from private companies and local units of government. They are typically <br />convened and staffed by the interested municipal entity and play primarily an advisory role and <br />advocate for development in the community. Some communities, such as Wright County, assign <br />the entity to evaluate and underwrite their loan programs, but the County Board retains the <br />ultimate authority to approve the allocation of those financial resources. <br />In addition to the private sector business representation, these boards can be comprised of <br />representatives of smaller communities. This allows for these public private entities to pool <br />resources and provide economic development technical assistance to those communities that <br />don't otherwise have the individual capacity. Large communities with more staff and financial <br />capacity use these types of structures more as an advisory board representing private sector <br />business interests. In the case of Washington County, Woodbury and Oakdale use this structure <br />to help develop Economic Development Strategic Plans. <br />Since the primary benefit of this structure is to encourage private sector involvement through <br />board participation and possibly financial support, the question is how could this type of structure <br />benefit Washington County and what are the downsides. Our research shows that often counties <br />in Minnesota start to play a role in economic development with this type of EDC structure as a <br />first step. Counties can provide financial resources based on tasks assigned to that entity while <br />retaining final approval authority for specific projects and programs. These structures work well <br />as marketing champions for county wide growth and should not be considered mutually exclusive <br />of a more formal structured approach. The possible downside risk of this approach in <br />Washington County is the current private business community participants, particularly the <br />Oakdale and Woodbury EDC's, could perceive that this is duplicative. In addition, the more this <br />public private model is tasked with direct economic development activities, such as loan <br />programs and technical assistance, the more there would need to be careful consideration given to <br />avoiding duplicating those same efforts currently undertaken by the larger communities and <br />potentially the County HRA. <br />Washington County Economic Development Strategic Plan 2014 <br />Page 6 <br />