QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

QUINCY NEXT Strategic Plan Core Initiatives Executive Summary

Cities must continually adapt in order to survive and flourish. We can build a stronger tomorrow by promoting high-quality, forward-thinking, productive growth and development through investments in people and place. TOP INITIATIVES

Quincy is the kind of place where going the extra mile in everything is an everyday thing. Extra effort – extra caring some would say – can color your whole view of a place. Sometimes extra effort comes exactly when you need it most. For your family, your business, your education or maybe just for the perfect night on the town. It comes right on time. Or as we like to say in Quincy… right on Q. To us, being right on Q permeates every aspect of life in Quincy. It’s about hard, honest work. It’s about excellent schools. It’s about developing a highly skilled workforce. It’s about working to make our community a vibrant place to work, play and live.

•Train a Skilled Workforce

•Grow a Diversified Economy

•Foster Startups and Innovation

JOBS

•Encourage Infill Housing

•Plan for the Future of Retail

DEVELOPMENT

•Placemaking

•Access and Connections

•Hospitality District

PLACE

•Develop the Riverfront

•Build a Greenways System

RIVERFRONT & GREENWAYS

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

1) Initiative: Train a Skilled Workforce

Summary: Support Quincy’s industrial/production economic base through workforce development

resources.

Benefits:

• This sector has traditionally been Quincy’s strength, and although the sector has shrunk

significantly, it is outperforming national averages.

• The industrial/production sector is changing rapidly with changing technologies, and a strong

workforce development infrastructure with the ability to train workers to adapt to these

changes will strongly position Quincy to attract more jobs in the sector.

• The sector is struggling to fill jobs, and needs the right hard and soft skills training to address

this challenge.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Continue and enhance financial and marketing support for workforce development initiatives

being administered by GREDF, Adams County, the State of Illinois, and other entities.

• Increase public and private funding and marketing support for GREDF to create a stable financial

base from which they can continue to engage in company attraction and retention activities.

• Continue investment into the Mid America Port development.

• Work with QU and JWCC to expand internship and apprenticeship programs in the

industrial/production sector, including for management jobs.

• Focus on growing programs around workforce readiness skills, particularly for grade school

students and for disadvantaged demographics.

Key Players: GREDF, JWCC, QU, QPS, Business Community

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

2) Initiative: Grow a Diversified Economy

Summary: Support growing industry sectors such as healthcare, tourism, hospitality, and the arts in

order to capitalize on national trends and diversify Quincy’s economy.

Benefits:

• The majority of new jobs added in Quincy over the past 30 years have been in healthcare and

professional services. These are also among the fastest-growing sectors nationally.

• A diversified economy is more resilient to changes in market forces that affect specific

industries.

• Visitors to Adams County spent over $100 million in 2014, and the arts and culture institutions

in the region had an economic impact of over $15 million. The two sectors support over 2,000

jobs, which would make them one the largest employers in the region.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Grow training programs at JWCC and QU for healthcare occupations.

• Grow and formalize programs aimed at helping new professionals and their families get

connected with Quincy, in order to increase attraction and retention of needed trained

professionals.

• Increase funding for tourism marketing and for resources for tourists (i.e. information kiosks and

wayfinding signage), potentially through hotel/motel tax revenues.

• Conduct an Arts Plan to coordinate efforts of different parts of the community around this

growing sector.

Key Players: Chamber of Commerce, Arts Quincy, GREDF, CVB, Healthcare Employers, OLC, Arts

Institutions

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

3) Initiative: Foster Startups and Innovation

Summary: Enhance and diversify resources for small business and start-ups to attract and train

entrepreneurs and to grow an innovative, diverse, and adaptive economy.

Benefits:

• Approximately one-third of new jobs created annually in the U.S. are from startup companies.

• Entrepreneurs are looking to locate in places that are dynamic, vibrant, offer good resources

and internet connectivity, and have a high quality of life. Quincy can offer all of these things at

an affordable price.

• A city known for supporting and encouraging entrepreneurship can retain recent graduates from

local higher education institutions and attract future students to those institutions.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Develop an incubator and co-working space for start-up companies.

• Establish a grant program to attract start-up companies to locate in Quincy (modeled on St.

Louis’ Arch Grants).

• Provide mentorship connections for entrepreneurs with local Quincy business executives.

• Enhance entrepreneurship and STEM skills training, particularly in grade school and higher

education institutions.

Key Players: GREDF, Mayor’s Office, Business Community, Quincy Business and Technology Center,

Lending Community, Adams Network, JWCC, Quincy University

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

4) Initiative: Encourage Infill Housing

Summary: Take steps to encourage the development of infill housing citywide, with a focus on dense

development, preservation of historic buildings, and a mix of uses.

Benefits:

• Denser development yields higher property values.

• Denser development reduces the cost of extending city services and utilities.

• Increased interest among professionals, particularly young professionals, to live in dense,

walkable environments with historic character.

• Historic architecture in a city is a valuable asset in attracting tourists and residents.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Establish Revolving Loan Fund for infill development, with a focus on existing historic districts

around Downtown (modeled on Downtown Residential Rehab Program).

• Implement local tax credit for historic rehabilitation, and continue to work with state

representatives to get state historic tax credits extended to Quincy.

• Institute a tax abatement for infill development in existing neighborhoods.

Key Players: The District, Northwest and Southwest neighborhood leaders, Preservation Commission,

Quincy Preserves, Developer community

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

5) Initiative: Plan for Future of Retail

Summary: Provide support with retail development in Downtown, on par with support provided to

Quincy Mall and Prairie Crossing, by leveraging changing preferences in retail spending.

Benefits:

• There is an increased interest nationally in shopping local and supporting small businesses.

• Ten percent of all retail expenditures in Quincy occur Downtown, more than at the Mall or at

Prairie Crossing.

• People are spending more money on experiences, such as dining out, and a significant

proportion of that money is spent by visitors to the community.

• The more unique retail options that exist and the more dynamic the environment, the more

attractive the city will be to visitors and new residents.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Establish Downtown retail tax rebate program that would provide grants for developing retail

businesses in existing buildings Downtown and for investing in streetscaping and placemaking in

Downtown (modeled on retail rebate to Quincy Mall and I-72 interchange).

• Establish a food and beverage tax citywide to raise funds for the implementation of Strategic

Plan initiatives.

Key Players: City Council, Downtown merchants/retailers

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

6) Initiative: Placemaking

Summary: Make investments in streetscaping and more comfortable street crossings to improve

walkability.

Benefits:

• Increased interest among professionals, particularly young professionals, to live in walkable

environments.

• Visitors will stay longer and spend more money in an environment that is more dynamic and

inviting.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Identify priority streets for streetscaping investments

• Utilize Downtown retail tax rebate (see #9 below) to invest in streetscaping in Downtown

Key Players: The District, Planning Department, City Council, IDOT

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

7) Initiative: Access and Connections

Summary: Implement districting and wayfinding to create better connections between different areas of

Downtown and to the rest of the city.

Benefits:

• Visitors will stay longer and spend more money in an environment that is easy to navigate.

• Making it easier to walk to amenities and activities decreases demand for parking and increases

physical activity.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Implement a wayfinding strategy along the Riverfront, in Downtown, and in other key visitor

areas that emphasizes major attractions, amenities, and parking facilities.

• Evaluate conversion of one-way streets to two-way streets to ease navigation.

• Create districts in Downtown and other key areas of the city.

• Develop gateway signage at major entrances to the city.

Key Players: The District, Planning Department, City Council, IDOT

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

8) Initiative: Hospitality District

Summary: Make investments in streetscaping and walkability in the area around the OLC and

Downtown hotels and in its connection to the Downtown core.

Benefits:

• Business travelers are biggest share of hotel market, and represent a large potential spending

pool if provided with easy and clear access to dining and entertainment options.

• Conventions and conferences often look not only for the best meeting space, but also for an

appealing place for attendees to experience outside the conference events. OLC struggles to

compete with peer cities on space, but its competitive advantage can be on place.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Invest a portion of the hotel/motel tax into streetscaping around the OLC and along 3rd and 4th

streets connecting to Downtown core.

• Enhance wayfinding signage around the OLC.

• Conduct a convention center study to help the OLC best position itself to attract events that will

utilize the space most productively.

Key Players: OLC, IDOT, Civic organizations (i.e. GREDF, The District, CVB, Chamber of Commerce)

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

9) Initiative: Develop the Riverfront

Summary: Raise funds via a citywide sales tax and private contributions to invest in residential, retail,

and recreational development along the Riverfront.

Benefits:

• The riverfront is one of Quincy’s greatest amenities and attractions for residents and visitors.

• Development of the Riverfront was consistently rated by the public and Strategic Plan task

forces as a top priority outcome of the Strategic Plan.

• Approximately 40% of retail expenditures in Quincy are made by visitors, and therefore only

60% of the investment in this initiative would fall on Quincy residents.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Conduct a Riverfront Master Plan in order to formulate an appropriately-scaled, comprehensive

strategy for developing the Riverfront area.

• Explore short, mid, and long-term projects for the Riverfront in order to maintain momentum in

its development.

• Raise a 0.5% sales tax for Riverfront and Greenway development [see below as well].

• Work with business community for assistance in promotion and funding.

Key Players: Quincy Park District, Riverfront Development Committee, Institutional and Business

Community, City Council, Riverfront Property and Business Owners

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

10) Initiative: Build Out Quincy’s Greenway System

Summary: Raise funds via a citywide sales tax and private contributions to invest in a regional greenway

system.

Benefits:

• A multimodal (bike and ped) greenway system will encourage active lifestyles among residents

and provide visitors with alternative options for exploring the city.

• There is increased interest among professionals, particularly young professionals, for

multimodal transportation options.

• Respondents to the Strategic Plan Public Survey and the Quincy Parks Department public survey

indicated high support for greenway development, as well as support for raising taxes to pay for

their development.

• Approximately 40% of retail expenditures in Quincy are made by visitors, and therefore only

60% of the investment in this initiative would fall on Quincy residents.

Implementation Recommendations:

• Re-evaluate Quincy Greenway and Trail Plan to explore options for better connections to all

parts of the city, with a priority on getting people to places rather than just providing a

recreational amenity.,

• Raise a 0.5% sales tax for Riverfront and Greenway development [see above too].

• Work with business community for assistance in promotion and funding.

Key Players: Quincy Park District, Institutional and Business Community, Friends of the Trail, City Council

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

QUINCY NEXT Core Initiatives – Executive Summary

How do we make it happen?

Put people first. Learn from the past. Focus on the future and innovation.

Citizen Champions

Identify leaders to promote different initiatives and projects, and citizens who want to be a part of the

implementation process. Find out what motivates people and help them get involved.

City Leadership

Demonstrate the commitment of the city and other public entities to the Plan through promotion, policy

changes, and specific plans of action. Public investment attracts private investment.

Civic Partners

Engage Quincy’s major businesses and institutions as champions and investors in Plan initiatives that

align with their missions and values. They are critical implementers, as well as major beneficiaries of a

more dynamic and attractive city.

Community Pride

Market Quincy’s assets and plans to current and prospective residents, workers, and visitors. People

want to be in a city that is working to make itself great.

We need to FLIP the SCRIPT and BET on OURSELVES for Quincy’s NEXT.