1. When the voters decided
in 2009 to change our
form of government and
directly elect a mayor, it
was a strong statement
that they expect leadership
from City Hall. Nowhere is
this more critical than the
City’s economic future.
For too many years,
our City has had a vision for economic
development, but lacked the strategy to
realize its goals. As the noted author and
pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry so famously
observed, “A goal without a plan is just a
wish.”
Wishes are not good enough when it
comes to building this community’s future.
That’s why I introduced the Economic
Development Strategy in early January. This
76-page document entitled “Some Assembly
Required” outlines the city’s six goals and 30
objectives for economic development during
the next two years.
The City’s economic development efforts
shouldn’t be a black box that leaves residents
and businesses wondering what’s happening
inside there. The Strategy makes the City’s
efforts transparent and available to all.
Major development goals include providing
the next generation of jobs through reuse
of the Weyerhaeuser Campus, attracting
and retaining
businesses to
provide local jobs,
aligning education
opportunities with
future job growth,
encouraging
entrepreneurship and creating a sustainable,
diversified economy with a global focus.
Highlights of our objectives include:
• Recruiting a university branch campus to
the downtown. The City is in conversation
with several four-year institutions about a
downtown campus that would enhance our
city center, generate new jobs, and most
importantly, increase educational and career
opportunities for Federal Way and South King
County residents.
• Bringing a major new employer (or
employers) to fill the Weyerhaeuser Campus.
The Weyerhaeuser Corporate Campus is a
nationally unique campus that can draw a
marquee Fortune 500 or 100 business to
the city. We are working to leverage this
opportunity and bring thousands of new jobs
to Federal Way.
• Developing programs to improve access
to capital and credit for local businesses.
We’ve identified a number of opportunities –
from a lender’s forum to the EQ-2 program
– that would make additional capital and
credit resources available to help Federal Way
businesses grow.
• Creating the “IDE2A Zone” in the city
core to bundle economic development
incentives to retain and attract business
involved in innovation, design, education,
entrepreneurship and the arts.
• Other objectives also include the
continued development of the Town Center
project, organizing a business summit, and a
conference for Women in Business.
Communicating and listening to our
business community is another essential
step outlined in the Economic Development
Strategy. As a regulatory agency, a promoter
of economic development, and the owner
of much of the infrastructure supporting
business, I feel it’s
vital that the City
actively listens to
business owners
and helps them
solve problems. The
Strategy introduces “Business Connection,” a
series of meetings with businesses (and open
to the public, of course) to foster dialogue to
improve the business climate.
I am inviting the Chamber of Commerce
to collaborate with the City in this effort. As
the primary voice of business in the City, their
presence will help inform the discussion and
reach more of our businesspeople.
This need for partnership is woven
throughout the Economic Development
Strategy. Done right, Economic Development
is a shared enterprise involving partnerships
between government, business, the Chamber
and other stakeholders.
We all have a vested interest in generating
economic growth and the creation of jobs.
We all want to see a Federal Way of the future
with a growing, vibrant downtown, and a
healthy local economy that supports families
and provides revenues that support vital
public services. The Strategy transforms that
vision from a wish list to a check list.
The next steps are up to all of us. I am
excited about the future that lies ahead for
our community.
The entire 76-page report can be accessed
online at www.cityoffederalway.com/EDS or by
contacting Economic Development Director Tim
Johnson at 253.835.2412.
Jim Ferrell,
Federal Way Mayor
Getting Down to Business
Mayor’s Memo…
The entire 76-page report can be accessed
We all have a vested interest in
generating economic growth
and the creation of jobs.
Kohls department store was one of many new businesses that
came to town in 2014.
Mayor Ferrell and Deputy Mayor Burbidge recently welcomed
Progressive Insurance CEO Glenn Renwick to Federal Way at
the ribbon cutting for the Progressive Claim Center.