City, EDC hear plans for strategic development
Don’t put all your eggs in the Samsung basket is the advice a strategic-planning group hired by the Taylor Economic Development Corp. is giving the city.
During a joint session of the EDC and the City Council Jan. 7, representatives from consulting firm MRB Group addressed concerns on the minds of many about how closely Taylor’s success is tied to Samsung Austin Semiconductor and the risk the city could face in becoming a single-industry town.
The firm also released details of a new economic-development strategic plan that incorporates many areas of growth.
“One of the goals of this plan is how
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How do we take advantage of Samsung (Austin Semiconductor), but also how do we diversify ...?”
— Michael N’dolo, MRB Group do we take advantage of Samsung, but also how do we diversify so that we understand truly what are some of the other opportunities in addition to semiconductors, which is a very cyclical industry?” said Michael N’dolo, national economic services director for MRB Group. “When it goes in a down cycle, what keeps your community going in the interim?”
The analysts also advised the EDC to continue pursuing suppliers to the $17 billion Samsung chip foundry and other advanced manufacturing companies.
The EDC awarded a contract to MRB Group in May to begin work on the plan, which addresses core economicdevelopment functions, workforce development, collaboration with city departments and goals, construction-ready site and infrastructure development and local business development.
“Economic development is a team sport,” said EDC President/CEO Ben White. “It takes all of us to do our role.”
MRB Group set forth a goal of identifying infrastructure-friendly target industries with low water, wastewater and transportation requirements. The diversification recommendations include targeting industries from the information technology, analytical instruments, aerospace vehicles, defense and medical device sectors.
Along with expanding the industry base, the city will need to increase qualified workers.
“Every company has (the workforce) as No.1 on their radar for issues they are experiencing, especially manufacturing. And I’ll take it one step further: It’s not just every company,” said Kris Phillips, MRB senior economics analyst. “It’s every town, every city, every county, every state. This is an issue across the country.”
The EDC strategic plan incorporates long- and short-term goals to develop a workforce pipeline. Partnerships with the Taylor Independent School District, highereducation providers, teachers and other industry stakeholders are part of the goal to bridge the gap between educational outcomes and employer needs.
Pursuing industry targets that require railroad transportation, like many in the chemical product and construction materials sectors, was listed among top goals over the next five years.
Taylor would ideally create a second commercial rail park like the RCR Taylor Logistics Park, which gives customers including Tesla access to both Union Pacific and BNSF railroad lines.
Add EDC staff
To achieve the many goals detailed in the MRB presentation, the consultants recommend the EDC hire an economic- development project manager.
Currently, the corporation is operated by White along with Vice President Regina Jo Carlson and an administrative assistant, Renee Touchstone.
“They’re doing an amazing job as a staff of two,” Phillips said. “Now that Samsung’s here, now that there’s more companies looking at Taylor, in order to keep the performance going at the level the EDC is moving, this is going to be an important next step.”
To help find and secure funding for some of the projects the EDC has in its sights, the company will consider either hiring a grant writer or contracting with a grant-writing service.
The strategic plan is set up with goals identified by priority, time frame and relative cost.
White and the consultants recognize that finances and resource limitations inhibit how much can be accomplished right off the bat, but they hope to see the majority of the plan being accomplished within the next five years.
“Now’s the time to go focus in on those action steps, start divvying out the responsibilities to each party and each entity and put some timelines on things,” White said. “We are very excited about the future of Taylor and the partnerships we have here and I think this plan really lays out how we can be very successful in this community moving forward.”
