At a recent Moscow City Council meeting, Mayor Agidius appointed
Cindy Rinaldi, Jeff Eisenbarth and Jim Pilcher to Moscow's newly-formed
Urban Renewal Agency.
Cindy Rinaldi is the Vice President and Senior Branch Manager of the
Moscow Office of West One Bank. A College of Idaho graduate, Cindy has
worked for West One Bank for over twenty years. Cindy serves as Vice
President and member of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors
and is also active on the Gritman Medical Foundation and the Gritman Medical
Center Board.
Jeff Eisenbarth serves as Assistant Financial Vice President for
Auxiliary Services at the University of Idaho. He also teaches management
classes for the College of Business and Economics. Jeff is an Idaho native,
raised in Weiser, Idaho. Jeff holds bachelor of science and masters of
business administration degrees from the University of Idaho. Jeff has been
instrumental in organizing the Auxiliary Services division of the University
of Idaho and obtaining over $38 million in tax exempt facility revenue bond
financing for many capital improvement projects at the University.
Jim Pilcher is a Certified Public Accountant and a partner in the
firm of Hayden, Ross & Co. He was born in Nampa, Idaho and graduated from
the University of Idaho with a bachelor of science degree in Accounting. He
has served as National Vandal Booster President and is currently
president-elect of the Idaho Society of CPA's. Jim is a member of the
Moscow-Latah County EDC Board of Directors and serves as president of
Enterprise Development, Inc., a local loan fund designed for early-stage
businesses.
Urban Renewal Agencies are public bodies created by state law which
can be activated by municipal resolution. The agencies were created in
response to a recognized "need to raise revenue to finance the economic
growth and development of urban renewal areas and competitively
disadvantaged border community areas".
Due to a lack of appropriate relocation space, the technology-based
companies graduating from the Business Techynology Incubator have been
relocating elsewhere. These companies which are starting up and growing
here offer a wonderful opportunity to diversify our economy with home-grown
businesses. As employment opportunities decline dramatically in the
agriculture and timber industries due to mechanization and restricted supply
of raw material, it is becoming even more important to keep these companies
here. The revenue generated by the 13 for-profit companies currently
located in the Incubator is revenue that is imported into our area and
recirculated in our economy through employees' salaries, purchases from
other businesses, homes bought and taxes paid. It is estimated that the
graduated companies that have left Moscow will earn in excess of $15 million
in 1995, money which could have been flowing through our economy.
The Urban Renewal Agency will be working with City of Moscow staff
and a consultant to determine the feasibility of developing infrastructure
for a business park with tax allocation financing.
Tax allocation financing is a method of targeting a portion of the
INCREASED tax revenue generated from a project FOR A LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME,
to pay for the construction of the infrastructure for a project. (Although
some may wonder about targeting tax revenues to a specific project, when you
really think about it, cities target tax revenues to specific projects and
activities every year through the process of developing and adopting a budget).
Tax allocation financing provides a tool for municipalities to
construct projects that otherwise would not have occurred. These projects
bring enhanced economic activity and increase the tax base, creating extra
funding for schools, roads and parks.
As it is proposed, not only will this project provide a relocation
site for technology-based businesses, it will also enhance the quality of
life for everyone in Moscow by the addition of a segment of linear park and
the development of a small park in the interior.
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Industrial Sites Committee Hard At Work
The EDC's Industrial Sites Committee was appointed in response to a
goal developed by the EDC in its FY 1996 Program of Work. Members of the
committee include Ed Bayman of Kendrick, Gerald Nichols of Potlatch, Del
Cone of Potlatch, Marie Vogel, Mayor of Troy, Becky Kellom, Mayor of Bovill,
Steve Cooke, Shelley Bennett, Howard Marquardt, B.J. Swanson, and the
Chairperson of the committee, Barry Ramsay. Gerard Billington, Latah County
Planner and Dale Pernula, Moscow City Planner have been invited to attend
the meetings as "ex-officio" committee members.
The committee has been working on a set of goals and has tentatively
identified the following three:
1) Develop a list of existing and potential sites throughout the county.
Tactical Plan: Contact the smaller communities and elicit their
involvement in this process.
2) Develop a model zoning ordinance.
Tactical Plan: Research the currently-adopted ordinances in place
in the county, as well as ordinances from other communities and
counties.
3) Work with the existing industrial site owners to get more use out of
their land.
Tactical Plan: None adopted as yet.
At its most recent meeting, committee members reviewed the results
of an economic development survey conducted in 1994 by the EDC which asked
respondents what type of business development they would like to see in
Moscow and the county. Overall, Moscow respondents indicated "high-tech" as
their first choice, while county respondents favored light manufacturing
followed with "high-tech" as a very close second. Committee members
utilized this information to generate ideas about the type of industries
they feel would be appropriate to "grow" in Latah County and Moscow over the
next 20 years. Rather than identifying specific industries, most of the
discussion centered around performance standards such as, "non-polluting",
and "low water usage." It was noted that other than value-added industries,
it would be desirable for these companies to be minimal users of natural
resources.
The committee also reviewed a number of ordinances which have been
collected from other cities and counties. They selected a format utilized by
one of the other communities that they feel is easy to read and understand.
Members of the committee will submit their list of ideas for inclusion in an
ordinance and these will be compiled into the suggested format by EDC staff.
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NINE F's of Entrepreneurial Success
According to William Bygrave, author of THE PORTABLE MBA IN
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, there are nine key ingredients for successful
entrepreneurism. These include:
FOUNDERS - a first-class entrepreneur
FOCUSED - on niche markets, specialization
FAST - decisions are made and implemented quickly
FLEXIBLE - responsive to change
FOREVER INNOVATING - tireless innovators
FLAT - as few layers of management as possible
FRUGAL - overhead is kept low and productivity is kept high
FRIENDLY - to customers, suppliers and employees
FUN - it is fun to be associated with entrepreneurial companies
______________________________
Carole Helm, Executive Director chelm@moscow.com
Moscow-Latah County Economic Development Council (208)885-3801
Manager, North Central Idaho Business Technology Incubator