Plan West partners inc

The Planwest consulting team prepared an economic development strategy that pragmatically and usefully integrates land use and economics with the city’s mission statement and economic development guiding principles and goals.  Strategic Plan preparation included:

• Compiling an economic indicator database to help identify trends and economic assets;
• Building an economic assets layer compatible with the city’s GIS database;
• Applying economic and planning perspectives to interpret business industry information;
• Soliciting community interest and building support at key points in the planning process, both in stakeholder and community meetings;
• Developing an appropriate set of strategies that accomplish City General Plan objectives and carry out economic policy;
• Delivering a plan supported by the community and unanimously approved by the City Council;
• Preparing a vacant and underutilized land inventory for target industries;
• Developing neighborhood based implementation measures for land acquisition by the Arcata Redevelopment Agency to facilitate future development. 

The Economic Development Strategic Plan for the City of Arcata received the 2005 American Planning Association California Chapter Northern Section award for Outstanding Planning: Planning Implementation for Small Jurisdictions