City groups support EDC position

The city of Sarasota, The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Improvement District are committed to the city’s economic development director position because they say the position is changing to better fit the needs of the city.

Now city officials just need to pitch the new position to Sarasota city commissioners during budget talks this summer.

Changes are being made because former Economic Development Corporation Director Randy Welker resigned in June.

Welker cited personal reasons for resigning; he never relocated from Martin County, where his wife still lives.
Welker’s main goals were selecting a hotel developer for downtown and bringing a drugstore to the State Street parking garage. Negotiations are ongoing for a drugstore, and a hotel proposal has been selected and is going through the motions with city staff.

But, moving forward, all three parties discussed ways the position should change, in the hopes Sarasota city commissioners will approve funding for another three years of salary for the position.

Currently, the city pays $40,000; the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce pays $25,000; and the DID pays $25,000 a year for a total of $90,000 in annual salary for the position.

While DID members balked at funding $25,000 for an additional three years after Welker resigned in June, they changed their minds and voted unanimously to approve the funding after hearing a report and revised set of tasks (see sidebar) for the position at their Tuesday, July 10 regular meeting.

Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Steve Queior, who’s charged as the direct supervisor for the position, told DID board members a few meetings had been held “to take a step back” and see how the position should be handled moving forward.

“We discussed tweaks we would make,” Queior said.

Those tweaks come in the form of new general job description that incorporates past responsibilities, such as implementing strategies to increase the number of businesses and jobs downtown. New responsibilities would include working more closely with city staff to create a downtown marketing effort and serving as the go-to person for all city business-incentive programs, among other duties.

Working to attract more residents downtown is also key for the position.

Welker told the Sarasota Observer last month he believes it’s critical for downtown to attract residents and promote nearby neighborhoods.

“The key thing the city of Sarasota has is livability downtown,” Welker said. “That’s what the city has, and that should be a major focus for the new director.”

Attracting higher density, smaller unit developments in places such as the Rosemary District, Welker said, should be looked at closely.

Data collected by Welker, Drs. Roger and Phyllis Barry and the Assignment Downtown Council will be used to help identify downtown pedestrian generators, the report shows, and will also help the new EDC hire focus his efforts. The study shows the city has 34 pedestrian and traffic generators that generate more than 7.1 million visits a year. Those generators include Island Park, Whole Foods, Selby Public Library, the new Publix Supermarket, Regal Cinemas, the downtown SCAT transfer bus station and the Ringling Bridge, among others.

Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown urged the DID to move forward with helping to fund the position.

“We can focus a better mission and better responsibilities with this job description and this study moving forward,” Brown said. “With a newly defined role, I think I can sell this position to the commission for another three years.”

DID board member Dr. Mark Kauffman, however, said he expects the new EDC coordinator to work more closely with city boards, especially those that help fund the salary for the position.

“I would like to see more feedback and a report at least once a month,” Kauffman said.

Extension of the DID
Downtown Improvement District board member Tom Mannausa told the DID Tuesday, July 10, he is in the middle of ongoing discussions with Marina Jack owner Bob Soran to see if he would be interested in becoming a member of the DID, which would expand the DID district past U.S. 41 to the bayfront and give the group more input on future plans for an entryway and roundabout at U.S. 41 and Main Street.
Soran is interested, though, in getting support from DID members to build a low-level parking garage near his restaurant. Some who want to see the land near the bayfront preserved oppose the idea.

EDC Position Tasks
• Retention of jobs/businesses/government employees downtown
• Recruitment of retail and businesses downtown
• Recruitment of employers downtown
• Recruitment/development of pedestrian generators downtown
• Promotion of downtown
• Organizing and promoting downtown events
• Developing strategies to have more people live downtown
• Linking clusters of pedestrian generators downtown