SEQUIM — The city has paid out almost $130,000 to the Clallam County Economic Development Council since 1992, but officials can’t show much documentation of what they got for their money.
This year, the Sequim City Council is poised to fix that.
As they consider another one-year, $18,000 contract with the Economic Development Council, council members are asking for a report on Sequim’s economy — business types, wage levels and availability of labor.
Then they want a recruitment plan outlining how to attract firms to Sequim.
The Economic Development Council plan would culminate in the contacting of 30 to 45 companies by the end of this year, and bringing them to town for a tour.
‘A very aggressive plan’
“This is a very aggressive plan,” said City Manager Bill Elliott at Wednesday’s City Council study session.
The “deliverables,” he added, have never been so clearly outlined.
Sequim has been paying the Economic Development Council about $18,000 per year since 2001, and last year a satellite office was set up at Sequim City Hall.
Development Council Executive Director Linda Rotmark arrived here six months ago and began talking with local firms about their needs.
But the deadlines in the 2006 contract with Sequim — April for the “community marketing package,” June for the recruitment plan, the fourth quarter for the tour — will probably be loosened.
Finishing all of this within the year is probably too ambitious, council members said.
They plan to discuss and adjust the time frame during their 6 p.m. Feb. 6 meeting at the Sequim Transit Center, 190 W. Cedar.