Big Idea: Growing Economic Competitiveness

Strategy 1: Work with City-funded economic development partners to address the needs of economically distressed areas. City funding of economic and community development is intended to improve conditions throughout the city, and can impact social inequity and economic disparity by focusing public investments and services in areas of greatest need. Without focused effort, these areas and residents are likely to continue to struggle economically.

Strategy 2: Support the addition of a variety of housing types and price points in coordination with investment in historically underserved areas. Providing additional housing options will increase the likelihood that residents are able to stay in the neighborhoods they love and will provide greater opportunities to attract new investment.

Strategy 3: Create land-use plans to involve neighborhood residents and other stakeholders and coordinate public and private investment, and use a variety of tools and funding sources to leverage incentives and finance transformative projects in areas of disinvestment. Market strategic sites and recruit retail uses that are economically sustainable, meet neighborhood objectives, and attract other investment. Commercial development that is sustainable and compatible with neighborhood objectives should be encouraged.

Strategy 1: Work with community partners to ensure that the appropriate sites are designated as Industrial on the Future Land Use map on Greensboro’s periphery. Identify the most important assets for future development and make sure that the resources needed for that development are preserved. Development should focus on industrial uses first. Greensboro should undertake more detailed land-use studies of industrial areas to better understand how phasing can be achieved to preserve industrial land while providing space for support services.

Strategy 2: Ensure that the appropriate sites are designated as Industrial on the Future Land Use Map in the developed, central areas of Greensboro. These areas are suitable to flexible, smaller scale light industrial development that can provide jobs closer to neighborhoods in need. Create plans that evaluate the relationship of industrial with supporting land uses to understand how these areas should evolve.

Strategy 1: Encourage fiber-ready infrastructure to reduce the need for costly future up-fits, increase property values, and promote economic growth. Build on local and regional partnerships to increase the capacity, adaptability, quality, and availability of the City’s technology infrastructure. Access to technology is increasingly necessary for everyone, from big businesses to school-age children. Making sure that people have access to the necessary tools of advancing technology is essential to Greensboro’s quality of life.

Strategy 2: Build data systems that foster informed public policy decisions and enhance the City’s capacity for delivering services in an efficient and equitable manner. This includes both data gathering and analysis, as well as systems that use real-time data to make adjustments, for instance in light signalization and pedestrian crosswalks.

Strategy 1: Work with our community partners to provide quality learning from early childhood to higher education through local schools and businesses. Continue to work with local schools, businesses, and economic development entities to provide training for available and upcoming jobs that support entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Strategy 2: Work with our partners to proved accessible and affordable career and workforce education. Support and promote the alignment of workforce strategies as established by regional economic development groups, working with employers to understand specific needs, and providing specialized training for people to meet those needs.

Strategy 1: Work cooperatively with loal and regional economic development and entrepreneurial entities to leverage relationships and maximize impact with our collective resources. Foster a dynamic, diversified, and inclusive business climate that makes Greensboro the location of choice for private investment and corporations expanding their businesses. Position the City of Greensboro organization as a leader in diversity and inclusion. Enhance public transit connections to major employment areas, including those around Piedmont Triad International Airport, in order to provide transportation options for employees and broaden the applicant pool for employers. This could include smaller shuttles to specific sites, which may require partnerships with area businesses.

Strategy 2: Provide entrepreneurs at all stages of the business life cycle with connections to education, financing, and other resources and assets that support their growth. In particular, increase opportunities for Greensboro businesses, especially those owned by minorities and women, to participate in the local economy, and showcase the talents and products of homegrown companies in the global marketplace. Retain, recruit, and inspire innovative businesses and talented individuals with bold vision to expand interesting and creative opportunities for employment for all segments of the community.

Strategy 1: Market professional development opportunities to young professionals, skilled and unskilled tradespeople, artisans, and craftspeople. Support and foster relationships between our colleges, universities, and local employers that establish a direct pipeline connecting graduates to local jobs. Highlight opportunities that exist in Greensboro, whether they are for technical jobs in fields such as aviation or for creating career paths by developing their new businesses.

Strategy 2: Market our park system, strategic location, and other unique assets that make Greensboro attractive. SImilar to how we market our city to tourists, make sure everyone knows what a great place Greensboro is to live and work. Give students an opportunity to see what Greensboro is like outside of their campus.