PRESS RELEASE

September 14, 2007

Hoquiam, WA- -The City of Hoquiam invites the community to participate in a Community Forum to provide feedback on the City’s Draft Economic Development Action Plan. The Draft Plan identifies goals, action strategies, an implementation timeline, and city and community responsibilities that can contribute to creating a vibrant, economically healthy community for residents and visitors. The Forum will be held on October 11, 2007 at Emerson Manor (703 Simpson Ave, 98550), from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

Mayor Jack Durney encouraged community members to attend the Forum: “The Community Forum is an opportunity for the community to help establish a vision for Hoquiam and outline the steps to achieving that vision.” Forum participants will be asked to contribute their vision for the future of commercial districts downtown and in East Hoquiam. Additional topics for consideration include how the City can enhance quality of life for residents; what kinds of jobs and industries the City and business community endeavor to attract; tools to support and retain existing businesses; opportunities for celebrating and communicating the benefits of Hoquiam’s strong sense of community; approaches for Hoquiam to capitalize on its unique assets such as the waterfront; and others potential strategies for economic development in Hoquiam.

Greg McHugh, member of the Hoquiam Business Association and local business owner, said, “This planning process, and specifically this Community Forum, is an important step for Hoquiam. The business community is enthusiastic about the results and the Plan needs to reflect the larger community’s desires.”

In Hometown Hoquiam Phase 1, the community identified the need for an economic development action plan that outlined specific action strategies to improve quality of life and business in Hoquiam. The City took the community’s charge and through a partnership with the business community and a grant from the Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development, is in the process of developing an actionable economic development plan for Hoquiam. Over the past eight months, the City has been interviewing community leaders and business owners and conducting market, demographic, economic, and fiscal analysis to fully understand the current situation in Hoquiam and range of opportunities for development. (Summaries of the analytics and more are available on the City’s website at http://www.cityofhoquiam.com/hometown/ed_planning_7-13-07.pdf [2.51 MB]

Based on this analysis, the City has developed a Draft Economic Development Action Plan and is now seeking broad community feedback to ensure the Plan represents the needs of Hoquiam residents and the future they envision for their community.

At the October 11, 2007 Community Forum, participants will learn about the planning process and key findings and have an opportunity to give direct feedback to Staff and Council about the Draft Economic Development Plan in an informal setting. The City will have specific questions for the community regarding the document and what strategies make sense, which don’t seem appropriate, and what might opportunities or priorities might have been overlooked thus far in the planning process.

If persons planning on attending the community forum have specialized needs (language interpreter, handicap accessibility, etc.) please call Alissa Thurman at (360) 532-5700, ext. 211 for any accommodations.

If residents cannot participate in the Forum, the Draft Economic Development Action Plan will be posted to the project website after the Community Forum and any comments can be emailed to Alissa Thurman, City Planner at athurman@cityofhoquiam.com. At any point in the process, residents are invited to email Alissa with comments or questions.