Assuring a Strong and Equitable Economy

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The most essential element of a strong community is an economic base that offers all residents the ability to make a living to support themselves and their families.

Creating this environment requires a comprehensive approach that builds opportunities for many different skills sets and experiences. Actions include:

 

One - Enacting a “Buy Valpo” ordinance

mandating that City and Redevelopment Commission (RDC) contracts be awarded to qualified local businesses first, if they are within 10% of the lowest outside bidder;

Two - Working with local industry, schools and non-profits

to create job training initiatives, including a youth job corps providing opportunities and mentoring, especially those under-served and economically at-risk;

Three - reating a Tax Increment Finance/Tax Abatement reform

 which prioritizes taxpayer subsidies directed first towards local businesses, requires recipient businesses to show genuine need, provides for robust reporting and accountability through annual jobs/salaries reports, requires a loss to local government analysis be submitted with each new TIF/Abatement request, and encourages redevelopment and economic development goals include serving under-served and economically disadvantaged constituencies, especially the inclusion of affordable housing and taxpayer subsidized private development via the RDC

Four - Assuring the inclusion of under-represented constituencies

 in economic policy making by adding positions to local economic development entities to be filled by members of those constituen-cies; and

Five - Guaranteeing a “living wage,”

achieved through cooperative efforts of government and the private sector so that all can share in the prosperity of the community.

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