NAI Capital Commercial has been retained by the City of Arcadia to act as a consultant in drawing new business development.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the recommendation by City staff which spent many months reviewing and interview other candidates with the input of the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce.
City staff will now engage in contract negotiations with NAI.
It is the other component of a reorganized Economic Development Division that resulted in the recent appointment of Tim Schwehr as a Management Analyst to operate as ombudsman to the business community, assisting business owners through the land use process and the processes necessary to open or expand a business. Schwehr, who will be transitioning from his current position as Associate Planner with the City, will also work with the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, the real estate community, business districts, and others, on new initiatives and projects, promotion of the City, special events, and all of the required “wind down” activities of the former Redevelopment Agency.
It was the dissolution in 2011 of the State of California’s decades-old Redevelopment Agency funding to cities that led to this reorganization. Last year the City eliminated the Economic Development Manager position held at the time by Jerry Schwartz.
The fiscal impact of the reorganization will be net neutral, Assistant City Manager/Development Services Director Jason Kruckeberg told the Council Tuesday.
A staff report to the Council noted that the duties of the staff position in the Economic Development Division have not historically included a significant component of business recruitment and/or high level marketing for business attraction. These responsibilities are a priority of the City Council now and are a focus of the Development Services Department.
Professional commercial real estate firm NAI Capital will augment in-house economic development efforts by providing focused business recruitment efforts for specific locations and/or specific types of businesses within the City. The consultant will also work closely on outreach programs and business attraction programs where the City is partnering with the Arcadia Chamber or other entities such as the San Gabriel Valley
Economic Partnership.
In addition, a key component of the contract will be technical assistance with leases and land value analysis, potential incentives the City can offer to foster economic development, and other methods to attract and retain business.
Working directly with Kruckeberg and Schwehr, NAI will be part of a team dedicated to promoting the City of Arcadia as a business-friendly environment and enhancing all of the City’s business corridors and districts.
