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Westside Economic Alliance hosted its' final forum of the year at a December 4th luncheon. This year's State of the Westside was moderated by Espousal Strategies CEO Johnell Bell and used the organization's 25th anniversary to anchor the conversation.
First, taking a look back at development of Intel's Ronler acres, the full house had the opportunity to hear how this region took calculated risks for what turned out to be a great reward. Local jurisdictions used smart planning and economic development tools like Urban Renewal districts while the private sector, in particular PacTrust, worked to bring together a patchwork of landowners to make way for Intel's early growth. The second panel took a look ahead at what our region might look like at the end of the next quarter century.
The conversation then ranged from what it would means to prepare for future growth through planning and public-private alignment of vision to what it means to truly think outside the box when thinking about infrastructure and future city growth. Across the board, panelists agreed that public-private partnerships are critical in order to realize the next big things for the region.
In order to build full-service communities of the future, both public and private sector panelists made clear there must be effective economic development financing tools from Enterprise Zones to Strategic Investment Programs. As the state legislature gets ready to convene in Salem, it was a timely delivery of the message that jurisdictions need to be able to offer well-thought incentives in order to play a proactive role in creating innovative and middle-class growing public-private partnerships.
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