08-04-08 Special Called Regular Meeting of the La Porte Development Corporation Board of Directors

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Companies participating in the program appreciate the attention to their needs, but the companies are especially grateful that the community recognizes their value and is willing to help them grow. The methodology begins with a letter to the targeted business leaders on behalf of the community. Each letter begins and ends with an expression of gratitude to the business for operating in the community. The letter requests a short time commitment for a conversation about the needs and concerns of the company with a highlight that the call is not a sales call. If we are doing our jobs properly, economic developers will deliver customized, bottom-line benefits to these business constituents. The following four individuals will be the Program Ambassadors as follows: the City of La Porte, Economic Development Coordinator; San Jacinto College, Business Development Manager; CenterPoint Energy, Economic Development Manager; and the Economic Alliance Houston Port Region, Business Development Director. These people can and will bring a customer focus to the businesses. The ultimate reward is hearing area businesses say, "I belong here and my investment is appreciated and valued." Before interviewing a company, the Business Retention & Expansion member will obtain and review valuable data in advance such as type of product, number of employees, NAICS codes, ownership and more. The attached interview guide is only for our general purposes as each visit will be "about" that business' needs. The territory will be the City of La Porte and the extra territorial jurisdiction, Bayport, South La Porte and the Battleground Industrial District areas. There are about 120 companies in the district and we would visit a minimum of 2 per month. There are also many other occasions in which the Economic Alliance staff and the Economic Development Coordinator interact with the local manufacturers. These include the Citizen's Advisory Council to La Porte industry, the La Porte Emergency Operations Center, the Transportation Task Force, the Air Quality Task Force, and the Workforce Task Force. At every opportunity we strive to listen and learn what is happening in the industry so that we can continually refine our business retention and expansion efforts. The suppliers provide needed services to the primary manufacturers. These are firms like Pfeiffer & Sons providing electrical services or Analytic Stress supplying heat treatment and stress relieving equipment. In order for La Porte to get a handle on the issues, we need to contact them. A level of expectation has been set from the beginning that someone will follow up to assist the company with its needs, in addition to sending thank you letters to all company executives. Following the visit, a report will be filed in the Business Retention & Expansion book for reference. Also, we will monitor and follow through we what we learn. We want the company managers to know that we are listening and moving forward on their requests. In summary our local companies are vital to our economy. This Program will build a strong or stronger relationship with a company's top decision makers that will keep us in touch with their needs. From there we will also able to fashion the needed programs and policies that will continue to help them grow and the city to prosper into the future.