2015 Annual Report
Photo courtesy of Joe Rice窶馬ewly constructed Marriott Residence Inn on West Main Street
Director’s Message Dear Stakeholders, Welcome to the annual update from the Office of Economic Development (OED). I often describe our work in economic development as “making good things happen.” Those good things can take many forms such as: an ordinance change that removes a roadblock to business growth, a small grant to a new entrepreneur, or a life changing workforce training program. These efforts also connect to real people in meaningful ways and in 2015, as you will see in the following pages; we were able to play a role in many good things. With the addition of another staff person, we were able to enhance our service levels and community outreach at the Downtown Job Center. The Center has now assisted more than 3,000 job seekers in finding and preparing for employment. And speaking of employment, our Growing Opportunity (GO) programs start with an open position and work to build the right skill set around willing and able candidates. These unique and innovative programs have now helped over 60 Charlottesville residents achieve employment and move closer towards self-sufficiency. Despite our constrained geography, the number of jobs located in the City increased yet again in 2015, reaching a new high of 37,350. This suggests that a broader national trend of job migration towards cities, and more specifically walkable downtown locations, is alive and well in Charlottesville. Our regular interactions with area businesses confirm this strong desire to be near the core of the City. During 2016, if you have an idea on how we can make more good things happen please let us know, or better yet, stop by and see us in our newly renovated office space inside City Hall. We would love to see you.
Sincerely,
Chris Engel Chris Engel Director, Office of Economic Development
Photo courtesy of Tom Daly—newly renovated Coca-Cola building on Preston Avenue
“Despite our constrained geography, the number of jobs located in the City increased yet again in 2015, reaching a new high of 37,350.�
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Capital Investment Building partnerships with private sector groups in order to maximize capital investment in the City
Indoor Biotechnologies Charlottesville-based Indoor Biotechnologies has doubled its office and lab space by relocating into a renovated facility in the Silk Mill Building at 700 Harris Street within the City. The 12,000 square foot office, which includes administrative offices, lab space, and a conference room, is characterized by natural light, bright colors, and modern furnishings. The $2.5 million dollar project was performed by Artisan Construction. Indoor Bio currently has 17 employees and, with the expansion, intends to add six entry level laboratory positions over the next three years. The company is enrolled in the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) and previously participated in the Virginia Leaders in Export Trade program (VALET), which assists companies in expanding international business. The company was founded in 1995 by Dr. Martin D. Chapman, formerly Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Virginia and a member of the UVA Asthma and Allergic Diseases Center. Indoor Biotechnologies is recognized as the world leader in assessment of environmental exposure to allergens—in the home, workplace, schools, and commercial buildings. The company manufactures highly purified allergens for allergy research and diagnostics and is internationally recognized for research on allergen structure, function, and immune recognition.
Photo courtesy of Indoor Biotechnologies—newly renovated 12,000 square feet office space on Harris Street
Market Plaza Market Plaza, one of the largest projects ever planned for downtown Charlottesville, cleared several more hurdles this year and is on target to begin construction in 2016. City Council approved the sale of the City-owned property on the block bordered by Water Street, 2nd Street SW, South Street, and 2nd Street, SE. Council also approved a long-term lease for the City Market and a cost sharing agreement to assist with undergrounding of utilities in the area. The mixed-used Market Plaza building will have parking below the plaza level, an event venue and retail space on the first floor, office space, and 68 condominiums on the upper floors. In addition, the outdoor plaza will serve as the new home of the Charlottesville City Market on Saturdays and will function as an open urban plaza throughout the rest of the week.
Violet Crown Cinema Following a $5 million renovation of the former downtown Regal Cinema property, Violet Crown Cinema opened to the public in November 2015. The Cinema offers 10 stadium-style auditoriums with state-of-the-art projectors and sound systems, luxurious seating, and a full bar and restaurant. The Violet Crown Cinema will play first run commercial releases, indie and international films, and documentaries with ticket prices comparable to other theaters. The Charlottesville cinema marks the third location of a Violet Crown Cinema, with two others in Austin, Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Charlottesville is fortunate to have had downtown theater options for many years including: The Paramount, The Jefferson, Vinegar Hill Theatre, and most recently, the Regal Theater, which opened on the Downtown Mall in 1996. The opening of the Violet Crown not only continues that tradition, but enhances it by providing a unique movie watching experience in the heart of the City. The latest Star Wars movie attracted over 15,000 patrons to the theater during the first week of its release with nearly all shows being sold out. Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—the newly renovated Violet Crown theater on the Downtown Mall
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Business Development Creating an entrepreneurial environment where start-ups thrive & existing businesses have opportunity
Business Visitation Program 2015 was a very productive year for the OED’s business visitation program. The OED’s goal to have a proactive outreach program is critical in order to understand issues faced by local businesses and promote the City as an ideal business location. The business visitation program now offers several programs to strengthen City businesses. In addition to the City’s local match for the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP), the OED has become more focused on assisting City businesses with their workforce needs. The new GO Hire program helps businesses looking to hire new staff with wage subsidies and also helps create training programs and supplement expenses for existing employees. Outcomes achieved during 2015 include: business to business connections, business expansion, connecting businesses to incentives, workforce hiring and training, business relocation within the City, and relocation to the City.
“The Office of Economic Development has been a great help to Tech Dynamism and our ability to grow and flourish in the City of Charlottesville. The funding through VJIP and the City match have helped us cover some of our initial hiring expenses. We're happy to be purchasing a building in the City in the Spring of 2016 and hope to make the City of Charlottesville our permanent home.” -Jason Daniel, Founder, Tech Dynamism
ACE Program The OED’s unique business assistance program, Advancing Charlottesville Entrepreneurs (ACE), has assisted nearly 40 businesses over the course of the last three years. 2015 brought a new chapter to the ACE Program with micro grants being awarded to eligible businesses. These grants have been used for advertising, equipment, and supplies and the goal of the ACE Program remains the same—helping City businesses increase revenue and capacity.
"By working with the ACE Program, I was able to get the funding I needed to finish my studio's build out for a childcare center. By adding this center, I was able to make my studio stand out from competition, provide a family friendly environment to come into, and add another layer of "edge" to my studio." -Hanna Dobbels, Owner, barre[d]
“The ACE Program is an excellent opportunity for understanding the marketing basis of your business, as well as offering opportunities to help grow your business.” -Pronta Anderson, Owner, Hands to Design Hair Salon
"The ACE Program put my business's name and information on the side of our box truck, something that needed to be done, but that we couldn't afford. Having our name on the truck helped us look more professional. I believe it played a crucial part in gaining one of our largest new clients. It has been directly responsible for many of our smaller new clients as well. The ACE Program has helped us stay in business." -Mike Kruse, Owner, Evergreen Document Destruction & Recycling
Photo courtesy of Hanna Dobbels—barre[d]
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Workforce Development Fostering an environment that provides career ladder employment opportunities for Charlottesville citizens
Downtown Job Center The establishment of the Downtown Job Center (DJC), located in the lower level of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library at 201 East Market Street, was one of three overarching recommendations made by the Strategic Action Team (SAT) in the Growing Opportunity report that was submitted to City Council in July 2013. Now in its second year of operation, the DJC continues to assist area job seekers by offering employment services such as job search assistance, help completing employment applications, resume review and creation, and mock interviewing. The DJC also administers the GO Ride transportation assistance program that provides subsidized bus passes to City residents for employment purposes and serves as the point of contact for recruiting participants in the City’s GO training programs. The OED added a second full-time staff member to the DJC in 2015. Matthew Murphy joined the team on May 4, 2015, and in addition to offering the above mentioned employment services, he also oversees BankOn of Greater Charlottesville, which provides financial literacy education and training to the unbanked and underbanked. The DJC also celebrated its one year anniversary on September 10, 2015 with an open house and light refreshments. Representatives from various community agencies, graduates from GO training programs, and job seekers dropped in to celebrate and helped make the event a success. Photo courtesy of Blair Morris
2015 Downtown Job Center Stats 1,111
952
627
306
# of Intake Forms Completed*
# of Cville Visitors
# Receiving Job Search Help
# Receiving Resume Help
*This number does not include general inquiries not requiring the completion of an intake form.
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Job Fairs In addition to the annual Charlottesville Community Job Fair, which was held on May 6th at John Paul Jones Arena and attended by more than 90 exhibitors and over 1,400 job seekers, the DJC also held a targeted mini job fair for Graduate Charlottesville Hotel on April 6th. More than 60 people turned out for the event, which was intended to help the Graduate find qualified employees for its newly renovated location on The Corner.
Photo courtesy of Joe Rice窶馬ewly renovated Graduate Charlottesville Hotel on The Corner
GO Job-Driven Training Programs In 2015, the OED and DJC administered six Growing Opportunity (GO) jobdriven workforce development training programs in partnership with numerous community partners. These programs included GO Office, GO Clean, and two cohorts of GO Driver and GO Electric. Forty seven City residents successfully graduated from these programs, receiving various industry specific credentials (e.g., commercial driver’s license learner’s permit, basic foundations in electrical certification, custodial technician certification, etc.), as well as certifications in workplace and career readiness and customer service. Over 90 percent of the graduates were placed with local employer partners who participated in the training programs such as UVA Health System, the City of Charlottesville Department of Public Works, Farmington, Graduate Charlottesville, Charlottesville Area Transit, Charlottesville City Schools Pupil Transportation, JAUNT, and Design Electric.
“I cannot possibly express all that the GO Office training program has meant to myself and my family. Being new to the area and being in the often overlooked category of "under-employed," I was desperate to find something meaningful, something that would be truly beneficial to our well being. The GO Office program provided that vehicle. The training that I received from the staff transported me to avenues of possibilities, the most meaningful of which propelled me into the wonderful position that I now have as Front Desk Supervisor at the Graduate Charlottesville Hotel.” -Donald Gathers, GO Office Graduate & Front Desk Supervisor, Graduate Charlottesville Hotel
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Special Projects Working with internal and external partners on special projects that further the City’s economic goals
Brewery Definition Expanded Following a discussion with a City business, the OED requested that City Council initiate a review of the zoning code related to the definition of a microbrewery and the production of other alcoholic beverages. After input from planning staff, the Planning Commission recommended to Council a series of changes to the zoning code to better accommodate these facilities within the City. The most significant change is the creation of the small brewery category, which allows up to 30,000 barrels per year to be produced in a number of zoning classifications. The amendment reflects the growth in popularity of craft brewing and the changes in technology, which have allowed increases in capacity with few outside impacts. Thanks to this change and a strong consumer demand—brewing, small batch wine production and distilling are now poised for continued growth and job creation in the City of Charlottesville.
"Three Notch'd Brewing Company is very excited that we will be able to continue to grow our business while staying inside the city limits of Charlottesville. The OED understood that a change needed to occur because of how dynamic the craft beer industry has become, and because of their efforts we can now focus on bringing as many new jobs to the city as possible as we develop our brewery into a 15,000 barrel operation and more!" -Scott Roth, President, Three Notch'd Brewing Co.
Parking Management Increasing visitation and a growing number of downtown employers are putting pressure on the parking system downtown. In 2015, the City’s parking consultant performed a comprehensive analysis including a utilization survey of on- and off-street parking. Peak occupancy of all public spaces was found to have increased to 74% from 63% in 2008 and use of on-street spaces averaged 86%. As a result of a presentation to City Council, the consultant is developing an implementation plan to assist the City in transitioning to a managed onstreet system.
Photo from Virginia Brew Review
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Community Engagement Collaborating with community partners in order to increase opportunities for City residents & businesses
Events The OED collaborated with over 15 partners to offer more than 10 events in 2015. Over 600 people attended these events, which ranged from business development and workforce development workshops to conferences and various community presentations.
OED staff presenting to a group of Chinese delegates at UVA
Inquiries
Newsletter
The OED continues to implement its customer service standards, focusing on professionalism, timeliness, and accessibility. In 2015, OED staff responded to 2,250 inquiries from stakeholders.
In 2015, the OED sent 10 newsletters to more than 500 subscribers. The average open rate for the newsletter was 30%, which is higher than the Constant Contact average for government newsletters (22.6%).
509 commercial construction permits issued in 2015 with an investment value of $87,938,192
44,500 people attended national artist shows at the Pavilion in 2015
over 1,000,000 people attended events at the Pavilion since 2005
Photo courtesy of Blair Morris
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OED Staff Chris Engel, CEcD Director Hollie Lee Chief of Workforce Development Strategies
Jason Ness Business Development Manager
Cory Demchak Job Center Coordinator
Matthew Murphy Project Assistant Blair Morris Administrative Assistant
610 East Market Street 2nd Floor, Room B226 Charlottesville, VA 22902 Photo by Bob Mical courtesy of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau
www.charlottesville.org/econdev 434.970.3110