On Thursday, Jan. 12, Town Economic Development Director Amanda Jacobs gathered community leaders, Town staff and select members of the local business community to begin discussions on refining the Town’s Community Economic Development Plan (CEDP).

The purpose of the CEDP is to advance the economic vitality of Fountain Hills and to create a long-term vision by setting specific objectives in a systematic, collaborative manner.

At the Economic Development Summit, participants broke out into small discussion groups to share strategic insight on economic development concerns like attracting and maintaining new businesses, expanding and retaining workforce talent and encouraging entrepreneurialism.

“Economic development you’ll hear oftentimes is a team sport,” Jacobs said, who enlisted the support of Evelyn Casuga, director of community and economic prosperity at the Center for the Future of Arizona to facilitate the discussions.

Casuga has over 40 years of experience in economic development and leadership. She retired from a 25-year career as a general manager at Arizona Public Service (APS) and currently chairs the Arizona Central College governing board.

“Fountain Hills has unique, local resources and the leadership to advance its own successful, local economy,” Casuga said. “This is a collaborative process and a targeted economic development.”

Casuga led participants in answering questions like, “What are external/internal factors impacting our community?” and, “How do we look and be our best to the outside to attract new business and support our existing economy?”

Following the breakout discussions, participants came together to discuss their findings which revealed several themes. Such themes included supporting the local school district, adopting coworking spaces, providing a living wage for the local workforce, constructing affordable and diverse housing, capitalizing on tourism in Fountain Hills, offering residents local transportation, building on existing Town and Chamber partnerships and discouraging poor town perception across the Valley.

Within the next few months, the Town will compile notes and conduct further meetings to create a draft of the Town’s Community Economic Development Plan. The draft will be shared with the Strategic Planning Advising Commission for approval and finally make its way before Town Council for adoption.