Small steps key to growth, development expert tells Great Falls

Great Falls needs to take care of its existing businesses while it works to attract new companies to town, a Sunnyvale, Calif., economic
development manager told a group of Great Falls leaders Tuesday.

By BETH BRITTON
Tribune Business Editor

That was one of the messages Karen Davis shared with more than 50 local business and professional leaders Tuesday afternoon at
MSU-Great Falls College of Technology.

Davis was speaking at the first of five educational sessions scheduled for this week.

Tuesday’s meeting, titled "In Preparation for Growth," focused on what the community needs to do before growth occurs.

"The key is to manage growth and develop standards for what you want," Davis said. "There’s no one right approach, and you have to start
with small, incremental steps."

This week’s sessions — the second phase of a three-phase strategic planning process that the city is conducting with Public Technology
Inc. of Washington, D.C., — are the latest step in the city’s economic development efforts.

The Community Economic Development Council, an organization made up of the area’s various economic development entities, hired the
nonprofit to lead the economic development planning process.

Area businesses, organizations and government bodies are paying for the $42,000 project and subsequent planning expenses.

In October 2001, Public Technology president Costis Toregas visited Great Falls and interviewed about 30 local leaders and residents.

Phase two continues through Thursday morning; phase three, when local participants will create the city’s strategic plan for economic
development, is scheduled for later this month.

Fifteen primary participants shared their concerns and opinions about what the community needs to do in preparation for future growth.

Topics included assisting existing businesses, changing the community’s attitude toward growth, maintaining a quality educational
system, providing affordable housing and expanding airline service.

"I think often we in Great Falls need to be more positive about what we are and what we’ll be," said community leader Gerry Jennings.

Cascade County Commissioner Peggy Beltrone said, "We want the bar raised and we want to control what our community looks like. It’s
a departure from the old philosophy."

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20020313/localnews/1812659.html