2014 City of Charlottesville Office of Economic Development Annual Report

2014 STAFF Chris Engel, CEcD Director

ANNUAL

REPORT

Hollie Lee Chief of Workforce Development Strategies

Jason Ness Business Development Manager

Cory Demchak Job Center Coordinator

Blair Morris Administrative Assistant

610 East Market Street 2nd Floor, Room B230 Charlottesville, VA 22902 www.charlottesville.org/econdev 434.970.3110 Photo courtesy of Joe Rice

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice

# OF CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ESTABLISHMENTS—2010—2014

Dear Stakeholders,

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Greetings from the Office of Economic Development (OED). Our vision statement suggests that we—“build a stronger economy one business, one job at a time.” While that language was conceived over five years ago, in 2014, during our first full year implementing recommendations from the Growing Opportunity report, we feel that our efforts to strategically align economic and workforce development efforts have really come into focus.

482 commercial construction permits issued in 2014 with an investment value of $51,371,769

With additional funding support from City Council, the OED grew its physical footprint and staff for the first time in many years with the establishment of the Downtown Job Center.

This unique partnership with the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library allows convenient access to services for job seekers and demonstrates our customized approach to helping citizens connect with the job market. Over 500 people have been assisted in just four months of operation, and the Center now serves as the primary access point for all our workforce training programs.

# OF EMPLOYEES IN THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE—2010—2014

Charlottesville ranks #8 in the US for venture deals per capita

While workplace readiness and training programs have received a great deal of focus recently, an equally important component on the path to self-sufficiency is the availability of jobs. On that front, the City for the first time in a decade, has added new jobs for several years running.

In fact, over 1,300 net new jobs were created over the past three years for a total of almost 36,000 jobs City-wide. Both our Business Visitation Program and ACE Program are working to support the continuation of this trend through regular interaction and assistance to existing businesses and startups.

CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE AVERAGE GROSS WEEKLY WAGES—2010—2014

Charlottesville’s population

These efforts collectively lead to a more vibrant economy that helps support local services and provides meaningful job opportunities for citizens. Thank you for your continued support of Charlottesville’s business community.

has grown by 10% since 2010—the highest percentage growth of any city outside of NOVA

Sincerely,

Chris Engel Chris Engel Director, Office of Economic Development Photo courtesy of Joe Rice

Source: Virginia Employment Commission—data is averaged from the 1st & 2nd quarters of 2010 through 2014.

Photo Courtesy of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau

15

Working with internal and external partners on special projects that further the City’s economic goals

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Photo courtesy of Bob Mical

PARKING MANAGEMENT In response to an increasing demand for convenient on and off-street parking, the OED is spearheading an effort to update the relevant parking data so that a comprehensive parking management strategy can be developed. In addition to refreshing key data and providing recommendations, the consultant will create an implementation plan for transitioning to a managed on-street system.

FLASH FREEZING FACILITY With support from a Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services planning grant, the City and County of Albemarle are partnering to provide the required local matching funds to pursue a detailed business planning process to determine the feasibility for a state-scale flash freezing and light processing facility. The resulting business entity would create light food processing jobs for low to moderate skilled individuals in the City of Charlottesville, while supporting incremental job creation on farms themselves and providing anchor institutions and consumers with year-round access to locally-sourced, nutrient-rich foods.

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice

3

CAPITAL INVESTMENT

Photo courtesy of the OED—Selling to the City workshop with over 40 attendees

Building partnerships with private sector groups in order to maximize capital investment in the City Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—Governor's AFID grant announcement at Relay Foods

RELAY FOODS EXPANSION Proving that Charlottesville continues to be an ideal location to start and grow a business, Relay Foods, which began operations in the City in 2007 as Retail Relay, made a significant commitment to expand the company in 2014. Governor McAuliffe paid a visit to the facility to announce that Relay was as a recipient of a $50,000 grant given through the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund (AFID). The Commonwealth of Virginia is partnering with the City of Charlottesville and its Economic Development Authority (CEDA), which will provide the local match on this project. The company, a leading online grocery store and farmers market, will invest more than $735,000 into the business and create 25 new jobs in the City.

13

MARKET PLAZA

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

EVENTS

The City received significant interest after issuing a request for proposals from qualified developers interested in presenting a viable design and development concept for a mixed-use development in downtown Charlottesville. Following staff review and public feedback, Council directed OED staff to proceed with negotiations to develop a contract for the sale of City property with principals from the Market Plaza submission.

The OED collaborated with over 15 partners to offer more than 10 events in 2014. Over 500 people attended these events, which ranged from lunch and learns to business development and workforce development workshops and conferences.

Market Plaza includes a half acre civic plaza that will accommodate a weekly farmers market, a 9,000 SF of retail/cafĂŠ space, 55,000 SF of Class A office space, 67 residential condominiums, and 250 underground parking spaces. The $50M project is expected to break ground in late 2015 or early 2016.

INQUIRIES The OED continues to implement its customer service standards, focusing on professionalism, timeliness, and accessibility. In 2014, OED staff responded to almost 2,000 inquiries from stakeholders.

Photo courtesy of Market Plaza LLC—a rendering of Market Plaza on City Market day

NEWSLETTER In 2014, the OED sent 10 electronic newsletters to more than 500 subscribers. The average open rate for the newsletter was 33%, which is higher than the Constant Contact average for local government newsletters (22.6%).

Collaborating with community partners in order to increase opportunities for City residents & businesses

HOTEL DEVELOPMENT With occupancy rates averaging above 70% for another year, interest in further hotel development to meet the high demand remains continues. In September, Homewood Suites opened its newly constructed, 150 room extended stay hotel located at 2036 India Road in Charlottesville. Also nearby, the former Days Inn has been demolished to make way for a new Country Inn and Suites.

Closer to downtown, the 130 room Marriott Residence Inn and Suites is nearing the halfway point of construction with plans to be open in 2015. An additional hotel has received a special use permit and plans to begin construction this year at 1106 West Main Street. The owner of the stalled Landmark Hotel on the Downtown Mall has reengaged with the City and indicates a desire to start work again on the project. 2015 could be a big year!

5

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—GO Driver graduates now employed by CAT

BUSINESSS DEVELOPMENT

GO RIDE

Creating an entrepreneurial environment where start-ups thrive & existing businesses have opportunity Photo courtesy of Jack Looney—Hemoshear’s new office located at 501 Locust Avenue

BUSINESS VISITATION PROGRAM The OED continued to enhance its “Business First” business visitation program throughout 2014. An active visitation program is critical to understanding the issues being faced by local businesses and promote the City as an ideal business location. An additional benefit of the visitation program is the promotion of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) and the City’s local match for qualifying businesses. The program provides funding to companies creating new jobs or experiencing technological change by reducing human resource development costs of new hires.

Highlights from 2014 include: connecting businesses to State and local incentives, financing resources, business to business connections, workforce development and hiring, and relocation within the City limits.

The Growing Opportunity Transportation Assistance Program (GO Ride) launched in May 2014 to address transportation as a barrier to employment. This program provides City residents facing transportation challenges, as it relates to employment access, with three months of fully subsidized bus passes using the Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) system. During the pilot of GO Ride, which lasted from May until July 2014, SAT members partnered with nine workforce development agencies to refer clients to the program.

During the pilot, 110 passes were issued, with 1 out of every 2 passes playing some role in the employment process.

Due to the success of the program, GO Ride has continued beyond the pilot phase and is now administered through the City’s Downtown Job Center.

From September through December 2014, approximately 275 monthly bus passes were issued to City residents. Seventy-one resumes were created, 79 interviews were attained, and 45 jobs were obtained.

11

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—GO Driver graduates now employed by CAT

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

ACE PROGRAM In its second year, the Advancing Charlottesville Entrepreneurs (ACE) Program’s goal is to help existing, City businesses increase revenue and capacity through collaboration with staff and specialized business consultants. Through the Program, business owners get access to services such as webpage development, branding, and accounting to help them move their business forward. To date, the ACE Program has served 29 businesses. Outcomes in 2014 includes: increasing sales, decreasing operating expenses, and acquiring new business assets.

C4K PROGRAM

GO DRIVER In Spring 2014, members of the Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) Advisory Board expressed a need for bus drivers. Based on this need, the SAT, in partnership with CAT and Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC), developed Growing Opportunity Driver (GO Driver), a pre-employment training program consisting of four weeks of intensive customer service and commercial driver’s license (CDL) instruction. Twelve students graduated from the program, which began in early October, and eight students were hired by CAT in November as a Relief Transit Bus Operators at a rate of $15.18 per hour. These individuals are now receiving on-thejob training to earn their permanent CDL. The four remaining GO Driver students will be hired in February 2015. Due to the program’s success, a second cohort is being planned for Summer 2015. Several new training programs based on GO Driver are also in development.

In 2014, the OED once again partnered with Computers4Kids (C4K) to host its second annual Youth Entrepreneurship Camp. This class served as a platform for students to understand the basics of entrepreneurship as they worked to launch their own business. During the week, the ideas and principles of business ownership were directly incorporated into students' personal business plans.

At the end of the week-long class, students pitched their business ideas to a panel of community judges and many were awarded start-up funding to launch their business. To date, 23 students have graduated from the program.

Photo courtesy of Mike Uriss—owner of Amazing Cleaning Service, Beyan Johnson, displaying his new logo and uniform, which he received through the ACE Program

7

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Significant progress has been made towards many of the action items in the Growing Opportunity: A Path to SelfSufficiency report, which was presented to City Council in July 2013. In particular, all three of the overarching recommendations made by the Strategic Action Team (SAT) have been implemented and are now underway, including the creation of the Workforce Advisory Council, the establishment of the Downtown Job Center, and the development of the Partnership of Peer Networks.

Additionally, numerous programs and initiatives focusing on the major barriers to employment for low-income City residents have been planned, developed, and/or implemented.

We strongly believe that the rapid progress made on these efforts and the aforementioned overarching recommendations are the direct result of interdepartmental collaborations and innovative partnerships with external community agencies and organizations.

We hope that you enjoy the report that follows and that you will walk away as excited as we are about the achievements that have been accomplished over the past 18 months.

Fostering an environment that provides career ladder employment opportunities for Charlottesville citizens Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—Downtown Job Center ribbon cutting held on September 10, 2014

DOWNTOWN JOB CENTER STATS

468

403

# OF INTAKE FORMS COMPLETED*

# OF CVILLE VISITORS

278

91

# RECEIVING JOB SEARCH HELP

# RECEIVING RESUME HELP

*An additional 294 individuals visited the Center for less intensive services.

Data from September 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.

DOWNTOWN JOB CENTER The City of Charlottesville Downtown Job Center officially opened on August 18, 2014 in the lower level of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, located at 201 East Market Street. A formal ribbon cutting, attended by more than 60 community partners, was held on September 10th.

The Downtown Job Center is currently staffed by one full-time Job Center Coordinator, who offers employment services such as help with job searches, completing applications, and resume writing. The Downtown Job Center also administers GO Ride, a program that provides subsidized bus passes to City residents for employment purposes. There are currently plans to hire another full-time staff person by the end of February 2015 to allow for enhanced Center services and the administration of BankON.

9

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Significant progress has been made towards many of the action items in the Growing Opportunity: A Path to SelfSufficiency report, which was presented to City Council in July 2013. In particular, all three of the overarching recommendations made by the Strategic Action Team (SAT) have been implemented and are now underway, including the creation of the Workforce Advisory Council, the establishment of the Downtown Job Center, and the development of the Partnership of Peer Networks.

Additionally, numerous programs and initiatives focusing on the major barriers to employment for low-income City residents have been planned, developed, and/or implemented.

We strongly believe that the rapid progress made on these efforts and the aforementioned overarching recommendations are the direct result of interdepartmental collaborations and innovative partnerships with external community agencies and organizations.

We hope that you enjoy the report that follows and that you will walk away as excited as we are about the achievements that have been accomplished over the past 18 months.

Fostering an environment that provides career ladder employment opportunities for Charlottesville citizens Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—Downtown Job Center ribbon cutting held on September 10, 2014

DOWNTOWN JOB CENTER STATS

468

403

# OF INTAKE FORMS COMPLETED*

# OF CVILLE VISITORS

278

91

# RECEIVING JOB SEARCH HELP

# RECEIVING RESUME HELP

*An additional 294 individuals visited the Center for less intensive services.

Data from September 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014.

DOWNTOWN JOB CENTER The City of Charlottesville Downtown Job Center officially opened on August 18, 2014 in the lower level of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, located at 201 East Market Street. A formal ribbon cutting, attended by more than 60 community partners, was held on September 10th.

The Downtown Job Center is currently staffed by one full-time Job Center Coordinator, who offers employment services such as help with job searches, completing applications, and resume writing. The Downtown Job Center also administers GO Ride, a program that provides subsidized bus passes to City residents for employment purposes. There are currently plans to hire another full-time staff person by the end of February 2015 to allow for enhanced Center services and the administration of BankON.

9

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—GO Driver graduates now employed by CAT

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

ACE PROGRAM In its second year, the Advancing Charlottesville Entrepreneurs (ACE) Program’s goal is to help existing, City businesses increase revenue and capacity through collaboration with staff and specialized business consultants. Through the Program, business owners get access to services such as webpage development, branding, and accounting to help them move their business forward. To date, the ACE Program has served 29 businesses. Outcomes in 2014 includes: increasing sales, decreasing operating expenses, and acquiring new business assets.

C4K PROGRAM

GO DRIVER In Spring 2014, members of the Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) Advisory Board expressed a need for bus drivers. Based on this need, the SAT, in partnership with CAT and Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC), developed Growing Opportunity Driver (GO Driver), a pre-employment training program consisting of four weeks of intensive customer service and commercial driver’s license (CDL) instruction. Twelve students graduated from the program, which began in early October, and eight students were hired by CAT in November as a Relief Transit Bus Operators at a rate of $15.18 per hour. These individuals are now receiving on-thejob training to earn their permanent CDL. The four remaining GO Driver students will be hired in February 2015. Due to the program’s success, a second cohort is being planned for Summer 2015. Several new training programs based on GO Driver are also in development.

In 2014, the OED once again partnered with Computers4Kids (C4K) to host its second annual Youth Entrepreneurship Camp. This class served as a platform for students to understand the basics of entrepreneurship as they worked to launch their own business. During the week, the ideas and principles of business ownership were directly incorporated into students' personal business plans.

At the end of the week-long class, students pitched their business ideas to a panel of community judges and many were awarded start-up funding to launch their business. To date, 23 students have graduated from the program.

Photo courtesy of Mike Euress—owner of Amazing Cleaning Service, Beyan Johnson, displaying this new logo and uniform, which he received through the ACE Program

7

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—GO Driver graduates now employed by CAT

BUSINESSS DEVELOPMENT

GO RIDE

Creating an entrepreneurial environment where start-ups thrive & existing businesses have opportunity Photo courtesy of Jack Looney—Hemoshear’s new office located at 501 Locust Avenue

BUSINESS VISITATION PROGRAM The OED continued to enhance its “Business First” business visitation program throughout 2014. An active visitation program is critical to understanding the issues being faced by local businesses and promote the City as an ideal business location. An additional benefit of the visitation program is the promotion of the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) and the City’s local match for qualifying businesses. The program provides funding to companies creating new jobs or experiencing technological change by reducing human resource development costs of new hires.

Highlights from 2014 include: connecting businesses to State and local incentives, financing resources, business to business connections, workforce development and hiring, and relocation within the City limits.

The Growing Opportunity Transportation Assistance Program (GO Ride) launched in May 2014 to address transportation as a barrier to employment. This program provides City residents facing transportation challenges, as it relates to employment access, with three months of fully subsidized bus passes using the Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) system. During the pilot of GO Ride, which lasted from May until July 2014, SAT members partnered with nine workforce development agencies to refer clients to the program.

During the pilot, 110 passes were issued, with 1 out of every 2 passes playing some role in the employment process.

Due to the success of the program, GO Ride has continued beyond the pilot phase and is now administered through the City’s Downtown Job Center.

From September through December 2014, approximately 275 monthly bus passes were issued to City residents. Seventy-one resumes were created, 79 interviews were attained, and 45 jobs were obtained.

11

MARKET PLAZA

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

EVENTS

The City received significant interest after issuing a request for proposals from qualified developers interested in presenting a viable design and development concept for a mixed-use development in downtown Charlottesville. Following staff review and public feedback, Council directed OED staff to proceed with negotiations to develop a contract for the sale of City property with principals from the Market Plaza submission.

The OED collaborated with over 15 partners to offer more than 10 events in 2014. Over 500 people attended these events, which ranged from lunch and learns to business development and workforce development workshops and conferences.

Market Plaza includes a half acre civic plaza that will accommodate a weekly farmers market, a 9,000 SF of retail/cafĂŠ space, 55,000 SF of Class A office space, 67 residential condominiums, and 250 underground parking spaces. The $50M project is expected to break ground in late 2015 or early 2016.

INQUIRIES The OED continues to implement its customer service standards, focusing on professionalism, timeliness, and accessibility. In 2014, OED staff responded to almost 2,000 inquiries from stakeholders.

Photo courtesy of Market Plaza LLC—a rendering of Market Plaza on City Market day

NEWSLETTER In 2014, the OED sent 10 electronic newsletters to more than 500 subscribers. The average open rate for the newsletter was 33%, which is higher than the Constant Contact average for local government newsletters (22.6%).

Collaborating with community partners in order to increase opportunities for City residents & businesses

HOTEL DEVELOPMENT With occupancy rates averaging above 70% for another year, interest in further hotel development to meet the high demand remains continues. In September, Homewood Suites opened its newly constructed, 150 room extended stay hotel located at 2036 India Road in Charlottesville. Also nearby, the former Days Inn has been demolished to make way for a new Country Inn and Suites.

Closer to downtown, the 130 room Marriott Residence Inn and Suites is nearing the halfway point of construction with plans to be open in 2015. An additional hotel has received a special use permit and plans to begin construction this year at 1106 West Main Street. The owner of the stalled Landmark Hotel on the Downtown Mall has reengaged with the City and indicates a desire to start work again on the project. 2015 could be a big year!

5

CAPITAL INVESTMENT

Photo courtesy of the OED—Selling to the City workshop with over 40 attendees

Building partnerships with private sector groups in order to maximize capital investment in the City Photo courtesy of Joe Rice—Governor's AFID grant announcement at Relay Foods

RELAY FOODS EXPANSION Proving that Charlottesville continues to be an ideal location to start and grow a business, Relay Foods, which began operations in the City in 2007 as Retail Relay, made a significant commitment to expand the company in 2014. Governor McAuliffe paid a visit to the facility to announce that Relay was as a recipient of a $50,000 grant given through the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund (AFID). The Commonwealth of Virginia is partnering with the City of Charlottesville and its Economic Development Authority (CEDA), which will provide the local match on this project. The company, a leading online grocery store and farmers market, will invest more than $735,000 into the business and create 25 new jobs in the City.

13

Working with internal and external partners on special projects that further the City’s economic goals

SPECIAL PROJECTS

Photo courtesy of Bob Mical

PARKING MANAGEMENT In response to an increasing demand for convenient on and off-street parking, the OED is spearheading an effort to update the relevant parking data so that a comprehensive parking management strategy can be developed. In addition to refreshing key data and providing recommendations, the consultant will create an implementation plan for transitioning to a managed on-street system.

FLASH FREEZING FACILITY With support from a Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services planning grant, the City and County of Albemarle are partnering to provide the required local matching funds to pursue a detailed business planning process to determine the feasibility for a state-scale flash freezing and light processing facility. The resulting business entity would create light food processing jobs for low to moderate skilled individuals in the City of Charlottesville, while supporting incremental job creation on farms themselves and providing anchor institutions and consumers with year-round access to locally-sourced, nutrient-rich foods.

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice

3

# OF CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE ESTABLISHMENTS—2010—2014

Dear Stakeholders,

DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Greetings from the Office of Economic Development (OED). Our vision statement suggests that we—“build a stronger economy one business, one job at a time.” While that language was conceived over five years ago, in 2014, during our first full year implementing recommendations from the Growing Opportunity report, we feel that our efforts to strategically align economic and workforce development efforts have really come into focus.

482 commercial construction permits issued in 2014 with an investment value of $51,371,769

With additional funding support from City Council, the OED grew its physical footprint and staff for the first time in many years with the establishment of the Downtown Job Center.

This unique partnership with the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library allows convenient access to services for job seekers and demonstrates our customized approach to helping citizens connect with the job market. Over 500 people have been assisted in just four months of operation, and the Center now serves as the primary access point for all our workforce training programs.

# OF EMPLOYEES IN THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE—2010—2014

Charlottesville ranks #8 in the US for venture deals per capita

While workplace readiness and training programs have received a great deal of focus recently, an equally important component on the path to self-sufficiency is the availability of jobs. On that front, the City for the first time in a decade, has added new jobs for several years running.

In fact, over 1,300 net new jobs were created over the past three years for a total of almost 36,000 jobs City-wide. Both our Business Visitation Program and ACE Program are working to support the continuation of this trend through regular interaction and assistance to existing businesses and startups.

CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE AVERAGE GROSS WEEKLY WAGES—2010—2014

Charlottesville’s population

These efforts collectively lead to a more vibrant economy that helps support local services and provides meaningful job opportunities for citizens. Thank you for your continued support of Charlottesville’s business community.

has grown by 10% since 2010—the highest percentage growth of any city outside of NOVA

Sincerely,

Chris Engel Chris Engel Director, Office of Economic Development Photo courtesy of Joe Rice

Source: Virginia Employment Commission—data is averaged from the 1st & 2nd quarters of 2010 through 2014.

Photo courtesy of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau

15

2014 STAFF Chris Engel, CEcD Director

ANNUAL

REPORT

Hollie Lee Chief of Workforce Development Strategies

Jason Ness Business Development Manager

Cory Demchak Job Center Coordinator

Blair Morris Administrative Assistant

610 East Market Street 2nd Floor, Room B230 Charlottesville, VA 22902 www.charlottesville.org/econdev 434.970.3110 Photo courtesy of Joe Rice

Photo courtesy of Joe Rice