FY2015-2016 / Q1 2016 Economic Reporter Newsletter

Good Morning, dear readers and thank you for viewing this site. Your interest is appreciated.
With all due respect to the Office of Economic Development for releasing the most recent "economic reporter" newsletter, you might be curious if that quarterly publication gets the attention it deserves for all the efforts put into it.
According to a presentation for Web Analytics on the website Mesaaz.gov/economic  by Kim Lofgreen, Marketing & Business Development Manager, made at the Economic Development Advisory Board meeting on 05 January 2016, there were 654 page views for the previous newsletter Q4 2015 from Aug 13-Dec 2015 [about 4 page views per day on the average] - Mesa has a population of about 500,000 people.
Average time spent on the Q4 newsletter was 3:43 with a bounce rate of 60% [without interacting with the page]

Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of web data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.
Typically, there's something called a dashboard [example to the right] that shows the source of pageviews, but none of that data was in the presentation.
So, you might ask, what's all this got to do with the most recent Mesa economic reporter newsletter for Q1 2016?
#1 it's published by the newsroom for the City of Mesa Office for Economic Development. Newsrooms want positive news to get out to both the public and private interests - it's their job to do that, so expect to see positive news for economic development ahead in 2016. Sweet?

Like most people, yours truly processes and understands information more quickly when infographics are provided ... I see no metrics in these economic reporter newsletters TO SEE RESULTS of "strategies" and "plans" or cost-to benefits analysis for actual results instead of "projections".
For example - take a look at the infographic from the Office of Management & Budget for FY2015-16 to the left to see where money is spent by the city: biggest expenditures are employee costs and debt service expenses for payment of principal, interest, and related service charges on obligations resulting from the issuance of municipal bonds.
Personal Services

The cost of personnel accounts for the largest portion of expenditures for the City. Personal Services consist of all employer costs related to compensating employees of the City of Mesa. This includes full-time, part-time and seasonal positions as well as overtime, benefits, specialty pay, shift differential and incentive pay. Also included are benefit expenses related to retired employees.

Debt Service [figure inserted by MesaZona blogger=$3,260+ per capita **]

Debt Service expense include payment of principal, interest, and related service charges on obligations resulting from the issuance of bonds. The City issues debt in the form of bonds in order to finance long-term capital improvements such as streets, buildings, utility systems, etc.
** Please note that figure if from FY13, outdated by two but still on City of Mesa website

If you want to compare that to per capita income of $$24,485 it's more than 12% - a significant factor when you compare any single-digit growth in figures for median household income.

Another example for seeing information is the data provided at the EDAB meeting on 05 January for Percent of Mesa residents living below the poverty line increased from 11.7% in 2009 to 16.3% in 2014 - nearly a 50% increase! . . . So, how's economic development working and developing results??                          

 

Here's a challenge for readers on this post - take the time more than a quick 3:43 to read the new issue
Hit this link >>
January 2016 Q1 Economic Development Reporter

Director Bill Jabjiniak cuts right to the qwik realizing we live in a competitive environment addressing that topic in "Quick Jab" on the front page
Advancing Economic Competitiveness

He makes these points, but take a look at the not-so-sweet at infographic for a declining growth curve in globalprofit estimates - could bd headed back to 2008 recession . . .

1. A fundamental change is underway in the practice of economic development and in the very ways in which regions compete for economic growth.
 
2. Today, competitiveness encompasses more than being low cost. Companies focus on regions with features that enhance their productivity and ability to compete in a global marketplace.
 
3.Regionally, representatives from all levels of government, academia, and industry have been discussing what key areas we should focus on for improving Arizona’s competitive position. Consensus is developing around the following principles:

• growing industries that are export-oriented and knowledge-based
• reinvesting and creating economic development tools that our competitors have and use against us
• attracting new companies
• growing existing and start-up businesses
• increasing prosperity – specifically closing the gap that exists in education inequality.

4. For Mesa, we are implementing strategies at the municipal level that will positively influence our level of success.
However, as a city, we are able to compete for significantly more projects when there are state and regional assistance programs to employ.
 
5. As a professional economic developer, the greatest concerns for our future sustainability are

• To ensure the state offers competitive economic development
• To reduce the gap that exists in education inequality which directly affects prosperity.

Continued improvement of Arizona’s economic development toolbox is a short-term solution, while solving the educational attainment gap needs urgent attention bolstered with a long-term, ongoing plan.













Some of the four site extensions showed one-day spikes in hits [40 for medical devices, 72 and 72 for tools added to website Mesa Size-Up and Mesa Site-Search for available real estate, and 85 hits looking at business district maps for the Fiesta District.