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Policy B, Promote the retention and expansion of existing businesses as <br />well as the development of new businesses. <br />Policy D. Encourage development of light industrial uses within the City of <br />Ellensburg. <br />Goal ED -3 Grow and sustain a qualified workforce. <br />Policy A. Coordinate with local high schools, higher education institutions, <br />workforce development, vocational rehabilitation, and local businesses to <br />train a workforce that is prepared for emerging job markets. <br />Goal ED -4 Emphasize economic development of downtown as an economic, <br />tourist, retail, art and cultural, and event destination. <br />Policy B. Partner with local organizations to implement the downtown <br />economic development plan. <br />We have included with this application a copy of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment <br />docket that CenterFuse submitted to the City of Ellensburg in June 2021. These <br />amendments align with the goals and strategies of CenterFuse to create a proactive <br />economic development environment. <br />8. Describe any research Your organization has conducted which shows the need for <br />this position. Please include the data upon which your claims are based for our review. <br />It is well documented that economic performance in rural regions of the US lag behind <br />urban. To stabilize and ultimately thrive, Harvard Business School's Institute for <br />Strategy and Competitiveness points to six key steps for boosting rural economies; <br />these are <br />1. Rural economic development should focus on the unique strengths of each area, <br />rather than concentrating on ameliorating generic weaknesses <br />2. The appropriate economic unit for strategy purposes must include not only rural <br />areas but also adjacent urban centers <br />3. Rural economic development should address and harness: the efficient spatial <br />distribution of economic activity rather than attempt to replicate urban economies <br />4. A single national rural policy is unlikely to be meaningful and successful <br />5. Each community should bear responsibility for its economic success, not the <br />federal government <br />6. Federal and state governments need to provide rural regions with the necessary <br />tools and financing mechanisms to develop and executive an effective strategy <br />Stauber, in `Why Invest in Rural America,' discusses the need for a set of agreed-upon <br />outcomes including survival of the rural middle class, reducing concentrated rural <br />poverty, and sustaining and improving the quality of the natural environment, <br />