The city of Sandy Springs in 2011 wrote a playbook for economic growth and everything seems to be going according to the game plan.
Pass a budget with $175,000 for economic development: check.
Include in the same budget $300,000 for a downtown master plan: check. Pass an economic incentives policy: check.
In December, the council hired an economic development manager. Check.
The council began 2012’s game plan where 2011 left off, appointing an economic development advisory council at its first meeting.
With nearly $500,000 of taxpayer money invested in the project, City Council members think they’ll win big for the city, growing the tax base by adding jobs.
Councilman John Paulson said the council saw other communities making similar moves and vying for the same businesses as Sandy Springs.
“In my opinion, we were obligated to focus more on economic development to make sure that Sandy Springs was viably considered when new businesses were coming in,” Paulson said.
Sandy Springs economic development timeline
June 2011: City Council approves fiscal year 2012 budget with $175,000 for economic development, $300,000 for a downtown master plan.
July 2011: City Council approves incentives for Graphic Packaging.
October 2011: City Council approves economic incentives policy to lure businesses to the city.
December 2011: City hires economic development manager.
January 2012: Sandy Springs Council appoints Economic Development Advisory Committee.
Councilwoman Karen Meinzen McEnerny said the downtown master plan looms large in securing the city’s economic future.
“I think the reason that we are looking at this plan for economic development is to jumpstart quality development in our town center,” she said.
City Manager John McDonough said the city’s hiring of Jahnee Prince as its economic development manager will establish more concrete priorities for the city and identify the challenges for achieving its goals.
“The first step is creation of the plan,” McDonough said. “It will outline metrics for determining success. How we execute will be determined by what we need to do.”
Prince’s contract extends through June 2012 and is worth up to $50,000, which includes salary and expenses. Prince said much of her work in the early stages will consist of information gathering.
“We need to know two things: what we’ve got and what we’ve got to offer,” Prince said.
“ … We need to know what’s here, what isn’t and why.”
The city needs to know what companies want to know when looking for a place to set up shop, Prince said. Paulson said having an economic development manager means the council will see results.
“Now we’ve got a focused person and that’s a very good thing,” Paulson said. “What gets focused on gets measured, gets done.”
