Development Ready Communities program underway in 20 Utah communities

The Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) has announced that its member initiative called the Development Ready Communities (DRC) program has more than 20 cities and counties now participating statewide. The five-stage program better prepares Utah communities to attract and grow competitive, high-value companies and to foster the expansion of local businesses.

“The Development Ready Communities initiative provides EDCUtah members with data, research, marketing and strategic planning tools to facilitate a business development strategic plan. Our goal is to simplify the economic development process, provide increased capacity for our community partners and foster business retention, job growth, wage growth and capital investment in Utah communities,” said Theresa Foxley, president and CEO of EDCUtah.

Available to public members of EDCUtah, the program provides a structured, comprehensive and efficient methodology, Foxley said. EDCUtah’s Community Strategy team assists members through the five stages of economic development preparedness that include:

Community Assessment. EDCUtah’s community strategy team works with communities to evaluate local industry expertise, occupational concentration, real estate availability and other site-selection criteria. EDCUtah’s research department compares this data to nationwide, statewide, regional and community-specific data.

Planning. Stage 2 of the DRC uses the information and analysis from Stage 1 to create a Development Ready Plan for a community. This plan is a customized approach to a community’s economic development goals, capitalizing on its strengths and planning to resolve its weaknesses.

Community Marketing. Stage 3 equips communities with the needed marketing materials to effectively promote to companies and site selectors, both proactively — before an official request for information (RFI) is released — and reactively in response to an RFI. During Stage 3, communities work with EDCUtah to develop marketing materials and tools to use throughout the site selection process.

Training and Preparation. In Stage 4, communities receive training on key components of site selection, including the site selection process, incentives training, RFI training, site visit training and trade show training.

EDCUtah Integration and Support. In Stage 5, communities gain access to critical support via EDCUtah’s programs and staff. In particular, communities have access to the Community Match Grants Program, the Utah Mega Sites program, Global Strategy and Outreach missions and the Business Development staff.

“The program has been two years in the making, and is built on practical, proven approaches,” said Alan Rindlisbacher, ECCUtah director of community strategy. “There’s no better way for a community to make the most of the internal and external resources it can deploy in pursuit of economic development. We’re excited that dozens of our members recognize the value of this program.”