Call for Submissions for the Annual Donald E. Hunter Excellence in Economic Development Planning Award

Get Recognized!

Deadline: Friday, February 7, 2014

The annual Donald E. Hunter Excellence in Economic Development Planning Award from the APA Economic Development Division is awarded to a community that shows innovation and success with an economic development plan or project. Award winners receive a plaque as well as recognition at the annual Division business meeting at the APA National Planning Conference, a featured article in the Division's newsletter, News & Views, and distribution through social media outlets. Honorable Mentions have been awarded and promoted in the past as well.

Eligibility
Any economic development plan or project implemented in the United States or Canada within the last 10 years is eligible. Any member of the American Planning Association may make a nomination, with at least one individual being a member of the Economic Development Division (either the person making the nomination and/or a member of the agency or organization submitting the application). Members of the Economic Development Division Executive Committee and Awards Committee, APA Board Members, and AICP Commissioners are ineligible.

Submission Information
Applications should be submitted by email (or FTP/file sharing site) to Julie Herlands at julie@tischlerbise.com. Please indicate in the subject line: "[Your Jurisdiction] Economic Development Division Award Application."

Contact information for questions:

Julie Herlands, AICP

TischlerBise

Email: julie@tischlerbise.com

Phone: (301) 320-6900, ext. 15

For more information, please see the submittal guidelines on the EDD's website. Learn more about prior winners here.

Please forward to others who may be interested. Thank you for your membership in the Economic Development Division!

APA Community Planning Assistance Teams

 

The Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) initiative is an AICP component of a broader APA Community Assistance Program.

By pairing a multidisciplinary team of expert planning professionals from around the country with community members, key stakeholders, and relevant decision makers, the place-based initiative seeks to foster community education, engagement, and empowerment.

Each team is selected for the specific expertise needed on the project to offer pro bono assistance in developing a framework or vision plan that promotes a sustainable, livable, economically vibrant, and healthy community.

Communities facing a range of challenges including, but not limited to, social equity and affordability, economic development, sustainability, consensus building, and urban design are well-suited for assistance through the program. Projects focus on localities with a demonstrated need for assistance, where planning resources and expertise may not otherwise be available.  Learn more at http://www.planning.org/communityassistance/teams/. 

FREE Webinar September 27

The Economic Development Division presents a FREE Webinar on "Incentivizing Your City Centers: Regional Connections Through Mass Transit and Redevelopment," on Friday, September 27, from 1:00-2:30 EDT.

Description: This session will focus on the kinds of incentives and planing tools that can be used to promote both redevelopment in the traditional centers of a city — those outside downtown — and the unification of those areas through mass transit. The session will cover the use of a variety of economic development incentives, form-based codes implementation, and use of the Institute for Transportation Engineers "Walkable Urban Thoroughfares Manual" as a package for revitalization in El Paso, Texas.

About the Presenter: Mathew McElroy, AICP, is Director of the City Development Department for the City of El Paso and oversees the Planning, Building Permits and Inspections, and Economic Development divisions. Prior to joining the City of El Paso, he served as the Associate Director of the Institute for Policy and Economic Development (IPED) at the University of Texas at El Paso. In his work at IPED, Mathew oversaw research operations. His work extended from redevelopment studies and housing to econometric forecasting, input-output based economic impact analysis, and geographic information systems (GIS). In his final year at UTEP, he co-led the team that won the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) National Award for Excellence in Policy Analysis for a bi-national industry cluster study. Mathew is a University of Texas at El Paso graduate of the English (BA) (1997), Master in Public Administration (2000), and Master of Science in Economics (2008) programs.

Register today!

NOTE: Attendees do not have to be an APA member; enter "N/A" when asked what Division or Chapter you belong to. However, if you wish to become a Division member to stay up to date on events like this, please visit our site HERE.

Airport Land Use Compatibility Guidance Update

Please join APA in a free webinar September 12, 2013 at 2 pm EDT. APA wishes to utilize the experience of the Economic Development Division's members to help improve national standards for development around airports.

This webinar will be facilitated with FAA officials, and participants will be given a short survey to provide feedback.

For more information, and to register for the webinar, please follow this link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/936466146

Submit Session Proposals for the 2014 APA Conference

Dear Economic Development Division Members:

Conference planning for the 2014 National Conference in Atlanta is underway! Share your expertise and help shape the practice of planning by submitting a session proposal through your own Economic Development Division. See http://www.planning.org/conference/proposals.htm to get started.

Background: Each APA Division is granted one "by-right" session. This means that a session proposed through the Division will be compared against fewer proposals than in the much larger, open process. And if your proposal does not get selected in this round, it will automatically go into the larger pool for consideration by APA.

Here are the details:

• DEADLINE for submitting proposals through the Division is July 31, 2013.
• Any Economic Development related topic is welcome, however, we are especially interested in topics pertaining to immigration/migration and effect on economic development. See the description of the track "Immigration and Changing American Communities" at http://www.planning.org/conference/program/tracks.htm.
• Note: Only APA members will be able to submit proposals. Non-members wishing to submit should team up with members to submit a proposal.
• All proposals must be submitted through the APA website. Begin your proposal at http://www.planning.org/conference/proposals.htm, then scroll down to “Division Sessions." Be sure to select "Economic Development Division" from the drop-down menu.
• The 2014 National Planning Conference is in Atlanta on April 26-30, 2014.

We look forward to seeing your submittals. Please contact me at Julie@tischlerbise.com or Mark Lundgren, Economic Development Division 2014 Conference Session Coordinator, at mark.lundgren@landpointerltd.com with questions or to talk about your session ideas.

Thank you for your membership in the Economic Development Division!

Best regards,

Julie Herlands, AICP
Chair, Economic Development Division 

FREE Webinar - June 14

“What NOT to do: Lessons Learned from the Failure of Others”

Friday, June 14, 2013 at 1:00 pm EDT

A wise person once said, “Learn from others' mistakes, you can’t possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.” No one who has been a party to a failed development or was taken in by a fraudulent real estate scheme thought that the project would turn out badly for them or their municipality. Unfortunately, in the world of economic development there are plenty of examples of poorly-designed projects, terrible advice, real estate fads, and clear fraud. As planners and economic developers, we have a duty to our clients to provide sound advice and analysis to protect the interest of the municipality, and ultimately the taxpayers. In this webinar we examine a few failed projects that damaged the financial position of the municipality that undertook them and consider what lessons we can learn from these unfortunate situations.

“The wise learn from other people's mistakes and fools from their own.” –Old Proverb

“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” –King Solomon, Circa 950 B.C.

Speaking will be Andrew Z. Murray, AICP, LEED GA. Andrew is a Project Manager for PGAV Planners and has experience in assisting communities with particularly complex and challenging issues, requiring innovative and collaborative strategies to bring redevelopment and revitalization. His projects have encompassed transit-oriented developments, brownfield issues, historic preservation, and both urban and suburban redevelopment contexts. His experience includes authoring neighborhood, regional, redevelopment, transportation, and bicycle / pedestrian plans. Andrew’s range of interdisciplinary experience has given him the opportunity to draft model policies and best practice guides for sustainable development, community engagement, and redevelopment in rural communities, small towns, and urban settings.

Register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/483333218

Economic Development Division at the 2013 National Planning Conference - Chicago

Please join the Economic Development Division at the following events during the 2013 APA Conference:
And on Twitter! @APA_EDD #APA13

Saturday, April 13• 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm

Can Planners “Create” Jobs (Facilitated Discussion)

If you don't have a job creation “story,” is your work missing the mark? A recent national survey released by APA indicates that the general public believes planners can facilitate job creation. But how do jobs get created—and what is really meant by terms like economic development? This session will explore how planners in both the public and the private sectors impact the job-creation process.

Sunday, April 14• 4:00 pm – 5:15 pm

Local Fiscal Challenges and Planning Solutions

As most local governments continue to face fiscal challenges, planners must be able to grasp the direct link between land use and fiscal conditions and craft realistic ways to implement plans despite shrinking coffers. This session will focus on current national efforts to better understand how planning decisions affect the fiscal viability of localities. Learn how to assess your community’s “cost to serve” and explore how to increase revenues without raising property taxes.

Monday, April 15• 9:15 am – 1:15 pm

“Chicago Lakeside” Economic and Physical Redevelopment (Mobile Workshop)

The site of the former U.S. Steel Southworks on the southeast side of Chicago presents an opportunity to reuse brown fields for more than 500 acres of fallow land. Tour this site and find out more about the proposed redevelopment project—a master planned undertaking coined “Chicago Lakeside” that includes residential, retail, commercial, and recreational areas. Explore the key elements of this highly complex development plan and learn about the political and governmental relationships that enabled it. Transportation: Motorcoach, walking. Includes lunch.

Monday, April 15 • 1:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m.

Value Capture

“Value Capture” helps communities capture a portion of the economic value created by entitlements and development to finance public improvements, infrastructure, and public goods. When does value capture work, and when does it not? Who pays, and who benefits? And is it an effective financing approach? This session will answer these questions. Learn how to capture value for public improvements and goods — and explore this tool at work in Arlington, VA, and Vancouver, Canada.

Monday, April 15• 2:30pm – 3:45pm

Turning the Economic Development Game Upside Down

Without much fanfare, the economic development game has pivoted. The primary focus of site selectors on low-cost, shovel-ready sites and incentives has shifted to include considerations about talent and quality of life. A successful ED strategy is now a "blend ED" strategy, requiring marketing, diagnostics, and a more sophisticated understanding of what businesses are searching for. This session will utilize the experiences of the presenters, along with their survey of prominent site selectors, to help planners understand how the "Game" is played today. The session will feature the use of electronic polling to help reinforce the lessons from the Site Selector Survey.

Monday, April 15 • 7:00pm – 8:30pm

Economic Development Division Business Meeting & Reception

Hyatt Regency Chicago, “Soldier Field” Room

Tuesday, April 16 • 4:00PM - 5:15PM
The Economics of Smart Growth

What factors most influence the fiscal impact of different land uses? And how can planners pinpoint the right mix of land uses to achieve fiscal sustainability? This session considers these questions. Learn how to encourage smart-growth development, including high-density planned communities that reap greater fiscal rewards than low-density sprawl. Case examples of cities in Arizona and Virginia will be used to contrast and compare different smart-growth techniques.