During the January 24, 2020 Strategic Planning Workshop, a proposed Pilot Business Retention and Expansion Program was introduced. The Program is an economic development strategy that will allow the City to proactively connect with existing businesses to understand and respond to their business needs. The primary focus will be on small businesses that employ between 10 to 99 employees, also known as Stage 2 businesses, without regard to industry sector. This in-part is due to the fact that startup businesses are more likely to fail with or without the City’s assistance and large businesses do not typically make relocation or expansion decisions locally.
Existing Rocklin businesses and workforce are key “barometers” of economic health. Research indicates that small businesses are the major drivers of regional job growth and are the companies most likely to add new jobs locally. This Program is intended to help focus the energies of community stakeholders on the economic assets that already exist thereby making them stronger and more resilient over time.
Program Goals
- Connect with businesses to better understand their needs
- Work with local partners to address needs
- Improve local business climate
- Encourage private investment and job creation
This staff lead effort would involve four primary phases including:
Phase 1
- Establish the Taskforce
- Conduct Taskforce meetings
Organizations that can impact local businesses should have representation on the Taskforce. A City employee designated by the City Manager will serve as the Program Coordinator, and the Taskforce will help guide all efforts. Potential stakeholders to consider may include a representative from many of the following organizations:
- Rocklin City Council (two members)
- Rocklin Area Chamber of Commerce
- Sierra College
- William Jessup University
- Rocklin Unified School District
- Building Industry Association
- Hacker Lab
- South Placer Municipal Utility District
- Placer County Water Authority
- Recology Auburn Placer
- Pacific, Gas and Electric
- Service Corp of Retire Executives (SCORE)
- Small Business Administration (SBA)
- Financial Institutions
- Placer County
- Greater Sacramento Economic Council
- California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development
- California Labor and Workforce Development Agency
Taskforce members should be considered for the skills, knowledge and expertise they possess as well as their ability to process information in a timely manner to address any issues/topics that may arise. In addition, members should be willing to commit their organization to solve any pertinent problems. The Taskforce will discuss which Stage 2 businesses should be targeted out of the existing 1,785 licensed businesses currently operating within the City, and will work on developing the questionnaire that the businesses will be asked to complete.
Phase 2
Each Taskforce member will invite another community stakeholder to attend part of one of the Taskforce meetings where they will jointly determine the readiness of the community for the Program by using a “scorecard” method. If necessary, strategies will be employed to heighten community readiness before pursuing the Program. Information about the Program will be shared through a variety of media outlets.
During this phase, the Program Coordinator will also solicit proposals from consultants capable of assisting with development of the questionnaire, analyzing results, ability to identify related strategies, and preparation of the final report.
Phase 3
The questionnaire will be sent out to each of the businesses selected by the Taskforce to participate in the Program. Follow-up mailings will be sent to those who have not responded. Both quantitative data (from the questionnaires) and qualitative data (from the site visits) will be recorded and analyzed. Once the questionnaires are returned, individual Taskforce members will be assigned to visit the selected businesses along with the Program Coordinator to review the questionnaire results and determine if there are any critical issues.
Phase 4
Information collected from the questionnaires and site visits will be divided into “green flags” representing issues that can be addressed and “red flags” representing issues to be immediately addressed. The Taskforce will recommend which specific strategies should be applied to each.
The consultant will assist the Program Coordinator in preparing a draft report which will be presented to the Taskforce for its revision (as necessary), then shared with participating businesses and presented to City Council for its consideration. The City and participating Taskforce organizations will then commit to implementing the strategies and initiatives identified in the report to directly address concerns raised by businesses.
Potential Outcomes
The desired Program outcomes include positive networking, potential increased private sector investment and job creation as a result of businesses relocating to or expanding in Rocklin, which in turn provides additional job opportunities and goods and services to citizens and property and sales tax revenue to the City. The Program can also help to improve the business operating climate and assist in stabilizing the economy during recessionary periods.
It is reasonable to anticipate the identification of issues that the City will likely be able to directly resolve and those that it may rely upon others for assistance. Some possible areas of assistance for consideration include:
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Marketing
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Land Use
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Permitting
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Infrastructure
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Utilities
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Incentives
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Workforce