Shoe leather key to Sparks economic planning

Shoe leather is the critical commodity in the economic plan adopted this month by the city government in Sparks.

Mayor Geno Martini and Economic Development Analyst Tom Burrous are on the street, visiting with the 25 biggest employers in the city measured by their contributions to the Sparks tax rolls.

At the same time, Burrous is working with entrepreneurs some of them sole proprietors who want his help in reviewing business plans and looking for locations in Sparks.

Whether they're working with big businesses or tiny start-ups, Burrous says Sparks officials continue their focus on developing and retaining the jobs that will keep Sparks residents from commuting across the metro area each day.

With population growth running 4.8 percent a year in Sparks, Burrous needs to run hard to generate jobs to keep pace with the growth.

In new developments such as Kiley Ranch on the north side of Sparks and Copper Canyon in the hills on the city's east side, city planners are working with developers to create "smart growth" communities projects in which jobs and housing are near to one another."We have the dirt available to master-plan," Burrous says.

"The opportunities are out there." At the same time, city officials are beginning to think about the future of some older industrial areas many of them in the Interstate 80 and Truckee River corridors where big-box manufacturing buildings are becoming outdated.

The goal, Burrous says, is to develop more jobs per acre of development, and ensure that those jobs pay enough to allow workers in Sparks to purchase homes in Sparks.

The housing boom in the city it's seen $1 billion in construction in five years creates a sales strategy as Sparks officials woo office users and other employers.

"We have a diversity of housing out there.

Whether it is an executive or a secretary, they can find a niche that they can afford," Burrous says.

And he says the quality of life in Sparks will continue to draw a workforce that can be tapped by new employers.

"The quality of life is the big thing.

People are looking for where they want to live, then they find a job," Burrous says.

"We're trying to sell the whole package to employers."

At the same time, the city's economic plan reinforces the importance of retaining existing businesses.

That's where the visits by Martini and Burrous come in.

"They're shocked to have the mayor come visit them," Burrous says.

While many of the business executives raise issues specific to their business, Burrous says the visits also identify themes that cross industry groups.

The big one these days? Finding adequate supplies of good workers.

The Sparks visits are linked to a similar retention program run by the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada.

EDAWN also is the lead agency in recruiting new employers to Sparks, Burrous says.

The city looks to the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, meanwhile, to take the lead in attracting foreign companies that might establish assembly or distribution sites in Sparks.

The city plans to develop marketing materials in Mandarin Chinese and other languages as needed and plans to highlight the widespread availability of foreign-trade zone space in the city.

(Within a foreign-trade zone, customs duties are deferred on imported merchandise that's headed for U.S.

markets.

Merchandise that's re-exported is allowed into the zone duty-free.

Importers in the zones also face less cumbersome customs procedures.)

But the work in foreign countries will be only a modest part of the Sparks' effort.

"We're not really pushing foreign trade as a major part of our drive," Burrous says.

"We're not going to spend a lot of money on it."