HomeMy WebLinkAbout5A Adoption of EDA Strategic Planning4646 Dakota Street SE
Prior Take_ NM 55372
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AGENDA REPORT
MEETING DATE: June 13, 2011
AGENDA #: 5A
PREPARED BY: Frank Boyles, Executive Directo
PRESENTED BY: Frank Boyles
AGENDA ITEM: ADOPTION OF EDA STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
DISCUSSION: Introduction
At the last meeting, Commissioner Morris distributed a comprehensive set of
notes he had assembled from the Strategic Planning workshop. Members
agreed that it would be worthwhile to provide the opportunity to review the notes
and then decide at a future meeting whether the initiatives should be adopted,
shared with the City Council or filed for future reference. Before the EDA meet-
ing, I will talk with the Strategic Planning Consultant about his thoughts for in-
corporating these initiatives in the City's 2030 Vision and Strategic Plan.
Economic Development
Vision and Strategic Plan
Random Thoughts and Notes
May 8, 2011
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City of Prior Lake
Economic Development Authority
Executive Summary
A vision of the City of Prior Lake as an "Incubator City" for young high technology
businesses and startups is central to our economic development strategy. This involves
development of technology parks and a business incubator to attract new and growing
businesses to locate in our city. Further it envisions the development of a city wide
broadband fiber optics network, which will provide high speed internet access with
advanced voice and TV services. This network will connect to the outside world through
Scott County's existing 90 -mile ultra- high -speed fiber optic ring.
Advances in the nation's communications infrastructure and evolving technology
developments are creating an explosion in the creation of advanced products and
startup companies.
There is now a transformation in the use of digital technology applied to improve
information logistics in many fields. Five fundamentals are leading to this change. First,
the continuing decline in costs of digital technology and communications bandwidth.
Second, Internet as a common global information transport infrastructure. Third,
advances in wireless communications technologies providing for un- tethered and mobile
access. Forth, the continuing miniaturization of electronic and optical technologies.
And fifth, virtualization of networks, computing and services.
Among fields which will be most fundamentally changed through improved information
logistics are education and healthcare. Education (e.g. the transfer and acquisition of
knowledge and understanding) stands to benefit profoundly from improved access and
quality of learning experiences through thoughtful application of information logistics
technologies. In healthcare, telemetry technology combined with Internet and un-
tethered wireless networks allow for mobile patient monitoring and intervention
capabilities. Early work by NASA and MIT's Media Lab has shown viability.
This strategy continues to support re- development of the city's downtown, and create
downtown themes which will continue to attract people, businesses and activities to the
city center.
Costs associated with implementation of the above initiatives will be considered
investments since they will generate revenues which will recover the investments and
contribute to the city' income in future years.
Premises
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_ Strategic Objectives
The following strategic objectives establish the success criteria for the execution of this strategic
plan.
• Property will be identified, and a development plan will be in place for Prior Lake's first
technology park by year end 2011. A marketing program to attract business clients to the
park by the 1S quarter of 2012.
Property will be identified, and a development plan will be in place for Prior Lake's High
Technology Business Incubator by year end 2011. The development plan will include:
financing plan; building specifications; construction plans; staffing requirements; service
offerings; and a planned opening date. A marketing program will be initiated three
months prior to the opening. If a property is selected, such as Fountain Hills, with
existing buildings, the plan must include a build -out plan while the HTBI is in operation.
• The City of Prior Lake's future ultra- high -speed broadband network is assumed to be
owned and operated by the city. This effort will be coordinated with Scott County's
broadband build -out through SCALE.
The city will engage a qualified consultant to help plan this network in terms of its design,
layout, construction methods, financial implications and operation. This effort should be
initiated by July 2011. A source for investment financing should be in place before year
end.
_ The city will explore the feasibility and benefits of developing an internet based data
center within the city as a means of attracting additional companies to locate in Prior
Lake. A successful data center within the city can provide income in support of our
economic development goals.
As with the city's broadband network, the city will engage a qualified consultant to help
plan this Data Center in terms of its requirements, design, layout, construction methods,
financial implications and operation. This effort should be initiated by September 2011. A
source for investment financing should be in place before year end.
Strategic Elements
Technology Park(s)
A Prior Lake Technology Park will become a catalyst for economic development in the city and
Scott County region. Re- energizing the industrial park concept, this site will bring together
technology -based industries with research, development and training, while partnering with
traditional heavier industry.
The technology park will be the result of a strong partnership of various entities representing
industry, government, and education. Each of them envisions not only enhanced benefits within
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their own spheres of influence, but a greater growth foundation for companies and firms that will
reside in the park.
High Technology Business Incubator
Proposed here is an economic development strategy to support the creation and nourishment of
new growth oriented businesses.
High Technology Business Incubators offer new and developing enterprises a better chance to
succeed. They provide assistance and management services for the development of
businesses, providing furnished space for office, laboratory and production facilities, and are
fertile environments for the creation of new enterprise.
High Technology Business Incubators [HBTI] are newly constructed or rehabilitated buildings
containing laboratory, and office space that is subdivided and leased to developing businesses
on very flexible terms. Contained within the buildings are such centrally shared facilities and
services as a technical library, prototype shop, electronics laboratory, drafting, accounting, and
legal services. Also a complete range of communications and computer services is included,
such as teleconferencing, and computer based education.
Other forms of entrepreneurial assistance are also critical to the successful formation and
development of a new business. Professional staff within the High Technology Business
Incubators counsel the center's clients in matters of business management such as; product
creation, business planning, securing financing, technology management, employee training,
market research, and effective access to facilities and services.
r The business incubator has become an important tool in the attraction and growth of small
businesses and subsequently the creation of thousands of new jobs. The concept was perfected
in the 1980's by Control Data Corporation with the creation of their Business & Technology
Center (BTC) model.
More than three decades of experience with business incubators in the United States has
shown that, although 80% of new independent businesses fail within their first five years,
businesses that start and develop in an incubator have a 70% chance of surviving and growing
beyond five years.
City Wide Broadband Network
Proposed here is an ultra- high -speed fiber optic network throughout the city, connecting to
homes and businesses, providing broadband internet access, as well as TV and voice services.
This initiative is consistent with the U.S National Broadband Plan, and the efforts of the
Minnesota Ultra- High -Speed Broadband Task Force recommendations. World -class broadband
networks and services are essential for jobs, economic development, community vitality and
quality of life.
Community leaders throughout Minnesota are working to create and strengthen the local and
regional broadband networks and services that will enable long -term economic and social
sustainability.
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Technology tools, enabled by broadband networks and services, are a critical asset for
addressing the issues Prior Lake faces for jobs, health care, education and governing.
Quality infrastructure and a highly skilled workforce drive economic vitality. Broadband is now
widely recognized as the indispensible infrastructure for the new economy. National research
documents and Blandin Foundation's experience shows that economic growth follows
telecommunications investment.
100 MB and gigabit connectivity are the international standard for economic development, and
these services are widely available in a growing number of international locations.
Continuous learning, often enabled via online training, is necessary for maintaining a quality
workforce. Companies seeking new locations quickly bypass communities without world -class
broadband. Most college graduates would never consider moving to a community without
broadband; communities with inadequate representation on the web are invisible to these young
people as they chose where to live.
Broadband networks and services provide an infrastructure with far reaching benefits.
Broadband enables new solutions to our most critical challenges. Examples include:
• Smart grid electrical systems that monitor and control electrical supplies and usage
making businesses more efficient, reducing residents' utility costs and cutting the
state's need for additional generating capacity.
• Tele- health services that enable Minnesotans to access increasingly sophisticated
health care services from local clinics or their homes, thereby increasing choice of
health care providers and reducing transport costs for people of all ages. Close
electronic monitoring of those with chronic diseases improve health and reduce
costs.
• New forms of educational opportunities can be provided through broadband,
including online learning, video conferencing, customized lesson plans, and home
schooling options. The four -day school week, now forced by budget cuts, could be
supplemented or even enriched, through online educational offerings.
• Telework and entrepreneurship require broadband. As the trend towards self -
employment and contract employment accelerates, statewide ubiquitous
broadband will provide a platform by which rural Minnesotans will have access to
work provided by metro area employers or by companies around the world.
• Government services can be made more efficient and effective through more
sophisticated intergovernmental collaboration and by providing 24 x 7 x 365 access
to e- government services.
High -speed wireless and mobile communications capabilities are every much as important as
the fixed fiber network. However, since wireless services are provided by myriad suppliers in a
heavily competitive environment, these services are improving quickly as each of the providers
are continually working hard to out -do their competitors.
High -speed broadband affords significant opportunities to encourage economic development. A
region well served with high -speed connectivity encourages business growth for companies of
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_ all sizes. Cluster development occurs when infrastructure is in place to serve businesses that
support or rely on related industry. The availability of high -speed broadband also provides an
incentive for small and /or home -based businesses to locate and operate in well - served areas,
reducing travel - related expenses and traffic congestion.
Data Center
If Prior Lake makes targeted investments in broadband infrastructure, including incentives to
attract a data center, the City can expect increased economic growth through increased
business attraction, increased local business expansion, and an increase in good - paying job
opportunities.
Data centers, over the past decade, have become building blocks of the Knowledge Economy.
The steady and geometric growth of demand for bandwidth has been doubling every two years
for wired connections, and AT &T recently indicated smartphone users on their network have
been doubling their bandwidth use annually. Behind the bandwidth growth is content and
services of all kinds, and that content (data) and services have to be stored somewhere — ideally
as close to users as possible to reduce the cost of hauling that data long distances.
The rapid growth in hosted services has also spurred the growth of data centers. Companies
like Microsoft, Apple, and Google have been building massive data centers throughout the
United States to support their online services (e.g. search services, music downloads via
Tunes, movies and TV on demand). These data centers are generally located near sources of
affordable electric power and where there is abundant non - incumbent fiber available.
There is another trend that has contributed to the growth of data centers throughout the country.
In the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, companies throughout the U.S. have been
decentralizing their data center operations to be able to better cope with disruptions caused by
terrorism and /or natural disasters (e.g. floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.). This
decentralization includes:
• Duplication of data centers, with many firms building not just a second data center
but three or more in different parts of the country to provide diversity.
This is also driving demand for more fiber and competitive pricing for fiber.
Companies that are not building private data centers are using either commercial
data storage services or are leasing space in data centers for remote backup of
company data. And this data is usually being backed up in more than one location.
The availability of such a facility and the reduced cost of both data /server storage and Internet
access enhances the city's ability to both attract new businesses and to retain existing
businesses. The importance of business retention is often under - estimated. We regularly meet
business people who are contemplating, planning for, or have executed business relocation
plans based solely on the local cost of Internet access and bandwidth. A data center that
provides secure space for servers and network equipment, coupled with a competitive market
for Internet access and services can be a powerful economic development tool.
Most data centers are privately owned and managed, but some communities have already
made public investments in such facilities to enhance economic development. And over the next
two years, many more communities will be adding data centers and colocation facilities via
funding provided via the ARRA broadband stimulus program. Coupled with local open access
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fiber infrastructure, data centers are rapidly becoming essential infrastructure for economic
development, just as water and sewer capacity were regarded as essential economic
development infrastructure decades ago.
Downtown Redevelopment
The historic downtown and adjacent Lakefront Park are unique community focal points and
destination attractions that contribute to the City's identity and offer opportunities for recreation,
employment, housing, shopping and dining.
Retain businesses in the historic downtown which are consistent with the vision. Offer economic
development tools as appropriate to those businesses who wish to expand or renew their
offices.
Seek out and encourage development and redevelopment of multi -use buildings which include
residential with a combination of one or more of these uses: commercial, retail or office.
Ensure there is sufficient parking to meet historic downtown needs now and in the future.
Develop sidewalks and trails to assure that historic downtown is pedestrian friendly, particularly
in its connection of the north and south segments across County Rd. 21.
Implementation Initiatives
Next Steps
References
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