Res-134 2017 Distressed County Sales

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PROJECT r-;ARRA TIVE 1. Request Description: Please describe the work this position will perform. Include a job description and any other pertinent information. These funds will be used to help cover the staffing for the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Department. The core functions of the department are to provide assistance to businesses that are looking to locate within the county, to provide assistance to those businesses already doing business in the county, and to assist individuals who are looking to start a new business. The department also tracks and maintains information pertinent to the business community such as incentives, grants and demographics. The Chamber utilizes several different staff to accomplish these functions and tasks. 2. Is this a new position for your organization? If so, please describe why this position is needed. If not. why Is it a necessary for this fund to continue to support this position? The positions and staffing described above are existing. The Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce is the only county-wide organization offering businesses technical assistance, assistance with site selection as well as business start-up assistance. Since the Chamber is the County's Associate Development Organization we maintain an inventory of business resources, track incentives, make business referrals to the State and Federal Departments of Commerce as well as keeping an inventory of available commercial, industrial and retail sites. We regularly conduct one on one business interviews with businesses from around the county in order to uncover barriers that inhibit economic vitality. 3. Will your organization be capable of supporting this position in the future without support from this fund? Please describe your plan and include target dates for implementation and completion. If no plan is currently in place and/or no plans are being made, please explain why. No, the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce cannot continue to support its current efforts of business recruitment, retention and assistance without these funds. The Washington State Legislature realized this and provided a provision in RCW 82.14.370 section 3 c (iii) to fund an "economic development office". The legislature also recognized the importance of consulting with a local authority on economic development in making the decisions for use of these funds in RCW 82.14.370 section 3 b "In implementing this section, the county shall consult with cities, towns, and port districts located within the county and the associate development organization serving the county to ensure that the expenditure meets the goals of chapter 130, Laws of 2004 and the requirements of (a) of this subsection." (Please see Attachment A for remainder of answer) 4. Will this position serve the needs and/or interests of multiple jurisdictions and/or organizations? Please eXDlain in detail. Yes, we work throughout all of Kittitas County and with all of the municipalities. Last year we provided assistance to 7 businesses that were looking to locate within Eastern Washington and conducted 9 site visits. Through our business retention and start-up efforts we provided assistance to 38 existing businesses and 30 start-ups which resulted in helping 4 to expand and 6 new businesses open their doors. By conducting one on one business interviews and hosting industry round tables we have been able to identify some of the issues facing our businesses and convey them to the appropriate city, county or state entity. We continue our partnerships with Central Washington University, the Ellensburg Downtown Association, Ellensburg Business Development Authority, Vision Cle Elum (until it was disbanded), newly formed Cle Elum Downtown Association and New Vision of Yakima County with projects like Cle Elum Main Street, Business Plan Competition, working on the creation of co-working spaces in Cle Elum and Ellensbura. and manv others. 8