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Addressing the Economic Sustainability of Arlington
Economic Sustainability is a fundamental component of Arlington’s Economic Development
Strategic Plan “Framework for Prosperity". Strategic initiatives within the plan include
facilitating the growth of Arlington’s green economy, maintaining strong fiscal health,
focusing efforts on a balanced and diverse economy, and enhancing other sustainable community
assets such as culture and arts.
As part of its role to identify important economic development issues and advise the County
Board, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) is embarking on its 2010 workplan to examine
economic sustainability. The primary objectives of the workplan will be to increase awareness
of the economic sustainability of Arlington, assist with individual business needs, enhance
Arlington’s business mix and ensure business support systems are functioning with a high
degree of sustainability. Measures and indices will be developed to track progress in the
achievement of economic sustainability.
The EDC has parsed the complex subject of economic sustainability into three topic areas:
individual business sustainability, sustainable business mix and sustainable business support
systems. They will investigate the dynamics of each through focus groups with invited
experts. The issues in each topic area will be addressed through a series of questions:
Sustainable Business
- What are the business factors promoting sustainability, as well as those that hinder
sustainability?
- What are the most widely used sustainability-related business practices?
- What is the relationship between sustainability and business performance?
- How do sustainable businesses create broad stakeholder engagement that is built on a
foundation of sustainable values and alignment?
Sustainable Business Mix
- What firms or industries are successful and established in Arlington?
- How do they sustain economic business cycles?
- What are their top concerns?
- What are the emerging clusters?
- What kind of support do they want from their local government?
- What is our targeted industry mix and underlying structure?
Sustainable Business Support Systems
- What are the community characteristics that attract and retain a high quality workforce?
- Do we have the transportation infrastructure to support the needs of sustainable
businesses?
- Do we have the right mix of land uses to attract talent needed by business?
- Do we need to adjust our tax policy to provide the right incentives?
- Do firms need special local government services or technical assistance?
The Economic Development Commission will hold a special Commission work session in early
summer 2010 to synthesize information learned the in focus groups and produce
recommendations to address concerns and provide opportunities to increase the economic
stability of Arlington’s business base. Final recommendations will be developed for
presentation to the County Board by the end of the year.
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