op•por•tun•i•ty a favorable occasion; a chance to improve or obtain
for
WILL COUNTY The Will County Center for Economic Development (CED) is proud to introduce a five-year growth strategy called A Step Ahead of Tomorrow. As the name implies, A Step Ahead of Tomorrow will leverage Will County’s economic assets to sustain growth well into the future. And who better to position the county than the CED, named one of the top 20 economic development groups in the nation by Site Selection magazine.
Consider these achievements: • Since 2002, the CED had a direct role in the creation of more than 6,500 primary jobs, representing $1.2 million in new consumer buying power in Will County. • The CED created Southern Alliance For Extension (SAFE), a grassroots group that played an instrumental role in the southern extension of I-355.
• The CED laid the groundwork to brand Will County as the world’s next Global Transportation Center. • The CED facilitated consensus on the redevelopment plan for the Joliet Arsenal, leading to creation of a state-of-the-art intermodal rail yard that made Will County the talk of the international logistics community.
A Step Ahead of Tommorow will expand and build upon this record of performance by concentrating on four key areas that follow.
lead•er•ship the quality of maintaining a leading role within a group
Priority
THE ENTERPRISE FUND A unique aspect of A Step Ahead of Tomorrow is the creation of a strategic leadership council and an enterprise fund. Key business and community leaders will meet quarterly to identify complex issues that challenge economic growth, and develop strategies to meet them. The plan allocates $400,000 annually to underwrite execution of strategies.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR INVESTORS? A bottom line ROI of more than 36,000 new jobs and $4.4 billion in new employee income.
ISSUES • Raise the political clout of Will County at state and federal levels. • Leverage all transportation assets to position Will County as the next Global Transportation Center in the USA. • Marshall financial and leadership resources to develop workable solutions to education funding, performance and accountability.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS • Validation of the market demand for the South Suburban Airport and commitments from investors and users. • Full development of industrial infrastructure in the Joliet Arsenal Impact Area. • Surface transportation improvements throughout the county, especially in the critical interstate development corridors. • Successful representation in Springfield and Washington on key development issues facing Will County.
Priority
BRANDING WILL COUNTY FOR HIGH-QUALITY GROWTH STRATEGIES • Brand Will County as a Global Transportation Center. • Refine marketing messages for target industries: R&D, Plastics, Chemicals, Motor Sports, Transportation Technologies, and Food Processing. • Create a Logistics Council to enhance our marketing efforts and position for growth in high-end logistics jobs and facilities. • Engage WEN to develop and execute a strategic business call/promotions program within targeted industry clusters. • Implement an aggressive, multi-media marketing strategy featuring online
site-search capabilities and prospect services, earned media placements, key industry events, detailed prospect research, and carefully targeted advertising and prospecting events.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS • 10,000 new jobs attracted to Will County over five years. • Earned media placements identifying Will County’s potential for Global Transport or any of our other target industry sectors. • Ability to deliver site searches and other prospect services online. • Leads and prospect traffic generated through the coordinated marketing plan.
BRANDIN
NG
Priority
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THAT WORKS STRATEGIES
brand•ing to create an identifying mark, symbol or statement that ensures recognition
• Continue the Quality Indicators for Economic Development project. • Implement the next phase of the Will County Brownfield Program for site clean-up and redevelopment. • Incorporate local economic development initiatives into a countywide strategy. • Work with municipal partners and the private sector to provide a diversity of housing to parallel job growth. • Provide leadership training to local officials on Community Economic Development.
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS • Earned media attention on Smart Growth and Growth Management successes. • Specialized developers engaged to restore brownfield sites to productive use. • Improved housing diversity in the county.
suc•cess 1. favorable outcome of an attempt 2. person or group that attains success
Priority
JOB RETENTION STRATEGIES • Adopt an “Early Warning” program to respond to cutbacks and closures when they cannot be prevented. • Ensure workforce development efforts support industry needs and a competitive base of talented, creative workers. • Using state-of-the-art software and survey instruments, expand our understanding of current and future business needs and competitive realities, with emphasis in our target industry sectors. • Use Business Retention & Expansion survey data to improve community services, update tax policy and ensure prudent incentive tools are in place to help us compete more effectively.
&EXPANSION
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS • 3,500 jobs retained or created by existing businesses (over five years). • Implementation of Early Warning programs. • Improved feedback from employers regarding workforce quality. • Adoption of specific policy improvements or incentive tools.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR INVESTORS? Worldwide recognition that Will County is an international player in the exploding field of logistics.
re•turn on in•vest•ment a specific measurable that is gained after putting forth time, money, energy, etc.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR INVESTORS? • Creation of 36,757 new jobs, increasing employment income by $4.4 billion—direct and indirect ROI for your company. • Direct participation in shaping Will County’s economic future through the leadership council, the board of directors, or committee activity. • Access to our wealth of business data. • The inside scoop on new infrastructure and business developments. • Access to people that can add value to your business.
Projected ROI based on inducement of nearly 37,000 new jobs: New Employee Expenditures Five-Year Totals Employee income from new jobs $4,402,500,000 New employee expenditures 3,583,700,000 Auto Payments 341,740,000 Clothing & Apparel Stores 197,600,000 Educational Institutions 67,710,000 Electric & Gas Utilities 118,500,000 Entertainment & Recreation Facilities 193,060,000 Furniture & Appliance Stores 162,890,000 Grocery Stores 311,000,000 Health Care Providers 111,910,000 Home Mortgage Holders (Interest Only) 263,560,000 Insurance Agents (Home, Auto, Health, Life) 256,350,000 Professionals (Attys., Accts., Architects, etc) 14,300,000 Rental Housing 203,510,000 Restaurants 224,810,000 Telephone/Communications Providers 87,760,000 Misc. Retail, Product & Service Providers 1,034,000,000 New Business Number of New Businesses Local Government Revenues County Cities Total
814
80,415,050 252,612,746 333,028,000
Banking/Finance Bank Deposits Operating Profit Increment
967,000,000 27,000,000
Housing Units from Total Program Residential Real Estate Investment
20,657 $4,175,700,000
Commercial Real Estate Space Utilized Commercial Real Estate Investment
28,487,000 $1,851,700,000
Return on Investment (New Employee Income/Program Investment) Return $4,402,500,000 Program Investment $7,500,000 Times Investment Returned 587
Keeping Will County A Step Ahead of Tomorrow
It’s What We Do. For information on how you can help keep Will County a step ahead of tomorrow, contact us today. 116 N. Chicago Street, Suite 101 Joliet, IL 60432-4204 815.723.1800 fax 815.723.6972 1-888-723-7773 www.willcountyced.com