During the Oct. 11 Holbrook City Council meeting, the former director of the White Mountain Economic Development Corporation Bob Moffet gave a presentation to the council about a strategy for economic diversity in Holbrook.
“Holbrook has many opportunities for economic development,” said Moffet. In his presentation he stated that economic development refers to the policies and actions that promote economic goals and growth within an area. “There are several ways of measuring economic growth.” He showed that growth could be measured by the number of business establishments created, as well as the number of jobs. The overall growth in gross domestic product, property and sales taxes, and rooftops also can be used as a measurement.
“We want to do this collectively,” stated Moffet, adding that economic development should become a communal endeavor, by forming a community wide town hall to get citizen input as well as working with community leaders, such as state legislators and county leaders.
“We need then to have what we call breakout sessions. In these sessions, opportunities within the city, such as education, infrastructure, recreation, tourism and historical would be discussed and explored to help with attraction,” he said.
Other important aspects to economic growth noted by Moffett are forming partnerships and using resources. “We need to utilize the social media. We need to develop a website that talks about what we are as organization, as a community,” stated Moffett.
He explained that to help recognize what Holbrook is as an individual community, a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis is used. When those aspects are all recognized, the negative aspects can be addressed. The city then needs to identify what it wants to attract to the community, both industrially and commercially.
“We can’t do this without recognizing the fact that it’s not going to be happening in 90 days,” said Moffet. “It’s going to be a three- to five-year program.”
During call to the public, Director of Community Development Kathleen Smith addressed the council, stating, “He (Moffet) brought up some great points and I want to let you know that (Interim City Manager Randy Sullivan) is aware of most of those.” Smith mentioned that she would like to do a counter presentation to coincide with Moffet’s to show what the city is doing in economic development under the direction of Sullivan.
Vice Mayor Wade Carlisle asked Sullivan to have Moffet and Smith on the agenda to come and give presentations at a later meeting.
