Table of Contents Why This Booklet? / What is CEDO? 1 Economic Development Division 2 Timeline of Economic Projects and Selected Awards 3 The Pine Street Renaissance 5 The Waterfront 11 Energy Efficiency Policy 17 Downtown Groceries and City Market 22 Business Loan Program & Lake Champlain Chocolates 29 Model Programs 32 Five-Year Goals & Priorities 35 City of Burlington Awards 41 CEDO Charter 46 Economic Development Staff 47 Lessons Learned 48 Why This Booklet? 2008 marked the 25th anniversary since Mayor Bernie Sanders created the Community & Economic Development Office. The newly established office had an unusually broad mission: to foster economic vitality; preserve and enhance neighborhoods, quality of life and the environment; and promote equity and opportunity for all of Burlington’s residents. Over the past 27 years, CEDO has worked diligently towards those goals; accomplishing much, suffering some setbacks, and receiving quite a few accolades along the way. In fact, in the field of community and economic development, CEDO is often offered as a model of how an engaged municipal government can play an active role in helping create and maintain a livable city and and foster a healthy and vibrant local economy. In recent years, it has been repeatedly suggested that CEDO ‘write its story’ to be used as a teaching aid and promotional tool, as well as a guide for other city governments. This booklet is a first step toward that goal. It is a chronicle of major economic development efforts, highlighting a handful of particular programs and projects as well as some of the many awards that have been received. Included are sections containing Five-Year Goals, Priorities and Lessons Learned over 27 years. It is by no means the entire story, as this booklet only focuses on CEDO’s economic development efforts. What Is CEDO? In support of its mission, CEDO foster job growth and employ- works in partnership with citizens, ment opportunities; increase civic the public and private sector, and engagement and citizen partici- other city departments to pation; support the delivery of strengthen the quality of life in human services; and revitalize Burlington’s neighborhoods, pre- Burlington’s waterfront. CEDO serve and develop decent, safe has developed an extensive reach and affordable housing opportuni- into the community and has part- ties; maintain and improve the nered with most of the non-profit vitality of Downtown, the Pine organizations operating in the Street area and neighborhood City. CEDO is funded through business districts; encourage a federal and State grants, and thriving small business sector; through the Housing Trust Fund. 1 Nurture a robust “third sector” of private, non- profit organizations capable of working in concert with government to deliver essential services. Since its creation, CEDO has been divided into three functional divisions that address CEDO’s Economic Development economic, housing, and community Division distributes an international, award- issues (the community development winning business guide; maintains an avail- division is now known as the Center for able commercial space database; and Community and Neighborhoods). provides free individualized technical, finan- cial, and location assistance. Economic CEDO’s Economic Development Division development efforts also include targeted assistance to employers who provide livable CEDO is Burlington’s hub for information wage jobs, to small businesses and microen- and assistance for all things business. At terprises, and to businesses that play a key your service are people experienced in role in the City’s vitality. business and in navigating your govern- ment. Whether you need help with the CEDO was founded, and continues to oper- permitting process, forms to file, gap ate, on some bedrock community and financing, assessing the region’s economic development principles: resources, or simply want to discuss your Encourage economic self-sufficiency plans, CEDO is here to help. through local ownership and the maximum use of local resources. The Economic Development Division Equalize the benefits and burdens of offers a wide array of services including: growth. Business Planning Counseling Leverage and recycle scarce public funds. Commercial Space Database Protect and preserve fragile environmental Business Loans resources. Tax Incentives Ensure full participation by populations Guide to Doing Business in Burlington normally excluded from the political and Chittenden County Resource Guide economic mainstream. 2 Timeline of Economic Efforts and Selected CEDO Awards 1983 CEDO founded. Worked with FM Burlington, the City’s largest property tax- Applied for Urban Development payer, on $25 million plans to Action Grants (UDAG): construct a major department The Maltex Building: $675,000 store, expand Burlington helped restore the vacant Square Mall and the Radisson 40,000 sq. ft. building on Hotel, and provide parking Pine St. which was completed with a $4 million UDAG to be in 1985 and later incubated completed in 1985. Dealer.com and Lake Cham- plain Chocolates. Located at 125 College St., the Wells- The Wells-Richardson Build- Richardson building was constructed in ing: $300,000 helped reno- 1883 and is on the National Register of vate the 18,300 sq. ft. build- Historic Places. A former drug manufactur- ing on College St. which was ing company and law firm, the building completed in 1984. now contains CEDO’s Community Justice Center offices. The Holloway Block Project: $215,000 in grants helped revamp this block near Bat- tery and Main Streets which contained some of the oldest buildings in Burlington, cre- ating 6,000 sq. ft. of office space. 3 1984 1985 E-Z Access Program (grants to The $25 million FM Burlington Project businesses for wheelchair modifi- expanded the Radisson Hotel by 57 rooms; cations) launched. added an additional 10,000 sq. ft. of retail within the Burlington Square Mall; Burlington Revolving Loan Program constructed a parking for business begins awarding loans garage; and opened through CEDO. Porteous, a new, major Supported Alden Waterfront Pro- 70,000 sq. ft. department ject for mixed-use development of store with $4 million from public open space, boathouse, bike the UDAG program. path, museum, children’s center, The Vermont Energy Investment visitor information, and housing. Corporation, established to help Also enabled citizen participation businesses, landlords and tenants and tracked public opinion. meet energy efficiency goals, was Created Old North End Redevelop- originally formed with CEDO staff ment strategy offering over 80 small and funding assistance from BHA business and housing improvement and VHFA. VEIC currently employs loans and grants and supported a 160 people. new Community Police Program. South End Arts & Business Asso- Published Jobs and People: A Strate- ciation formed with financial and gic Analysis of the Greater Burling- technical assistance from CEDO. ton Economy, a 25-year blueprint for CEDO’s Economic Development Received a $1.6 million Urban programs. Development Action Grant dis- CEDO funding launched the non- tributed as loans to the Maltex profit Burlington Youth Employment Building on Pine St. for incubator Program (BYEP) providing training space as well as the downtown for disadvantaged youth. Park Plaza and Wells-Richardson Building projects. The Burlington Revolving Loan Program combines the resources of borrowers, local banks, and CEDO’s City of Burlington establishes Tax Small Business Loan Fund to provide financial Increment Financing District to support for small businesses. Since the beginning spur development and help pay of this program, CEDO has made loans to more for future public improvements on than 140 businesses totaling over $10 million. the waterfront. 4 Highlights: The Pine Street Renaissance One of the larger projects that CEDO has coordinated over its history has been the revitalization of the South End of Burlington, primarily focusing on the Pine Street area. Beginning in 1985, CEDO’s assistance has focused on two key elements. 1. Incubators such as the Maltex Building CEDO utilized the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) program to reno- vate the Maltex Building into an incubator which could house a number of small businesses. CEDO continued to support the redevelopment of 392,601 sq. ft. of vacant or underutilized buildings into incubator buildings in the area in the late 1980s, including the old Soda Plant at 266 Pine St. (using industrial revenue bonds), the Vermont Maid Maple Syrup building (using the Burlington Revolving Loan Program), Flynn Dog at 208 Flynn Ave., the Howard Space Center, and the Kilburn and Gates building. 2. The South End Arts + Business Association (SEABA) Originally known as the Greater Pine Street Business Association, CEDO and State Representative, Bill Mares, began this group in 1985 with 30 local busi- ness owners and artists to promote and develop Burlington’s creative economy. Today, the group represents over 100 businesses and nearly 300 local artists from the South End of Burlington. One of SEABA’s primary events, The South End Art Hop, is Vermont’s largest and most attended visual arts festival. Each year, 30,000 people visit over 100 sites in Burlington’s South End, where over 700 artists display their work. 5 1986 STEP-UP for Women (now called Vermont Works for Women), created and funded by CEDO, is a program that trains women for non-traditional careers that pay a livable wage. City mandated that 10% of the construction jobs for publicly funded construction