Gaithersburg On Relatively Solid Footing, Knapp Report Says

Mike Knapp had good news for the Mayor and City Council when he presented his Economic Development Strategy report at their weekly meeting Monday night.

Gaithersburg weathered the recession better than most communities in the country, Knapp said. The city's unemployment rate is about half of the national average. It's already seen as a hub for jobs in technology research and development. And it is projected to have the fourth largest increase in jobs over the next 30 years in the D.C. metro area, behind only three counties in Northern Virginia, according to the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments.

Knapp also praised the council for setting aside $2 million last year for future economic development in the city.

"Last year you all had the foresight through yourselves and city management to say ... in the middle of a recession, we need to think about what happens next," Knapp told the council.

The city hired Knapp, a former Montgomery County Council member, and his consulting firm Orion Ventures, LLC in November to help it develop a development strategy and advise it how to spend the $2 million. Knapp spent nearly six months researching and conducting interviews, with the city paying him nearly $80,000.

While many of Knapp's suggestions weren't necessarily new to the council, his report prioritizes a number of immediate projects and objectives that can be undertaken relatively quickly and inexpensively. These include hiring an Economic Development Director, for which the city is continuing its troubled search.

Knapp also stressed finding a way to fund the Watkins Mill Interchange, a project that has languished on the state budget for several years. Gaithersburg has already acquired three of the four portions of land necessary to build the interchange. Not only would the interchange improve traffic along Interstate 270, it would improve access to the city, especially Lakeforest Mall and the new Watkins Mill Town Center.

The interchange would provide another exit along I-270 (between exits 11 and 13) and another road across I-270. Currently Watkins Mill Road deadends at Route 355 on the east side, while W. Watkins Mill Road ends just before the interstate on the other side.

Knapp's 44-page report centers around two broad strategies: focused communication of the city's "brand" and building upon the city's existing resources.

Knapp notes early on in his report that because of the city's proximity to the District of Columbia, "activities in Gaithersburg tend to be overshadowed by its larger jurisdictional cousins," which include even Rockville.

Knapp suggests the city "activates region-wide press efforts" and identify certain themes that the city wants to communicate.

"Put together a real clear media plan, and ... really lay out over the course of the next nine to 12 months: here are our key themes, and to really begin to hammer home on those themes over a period of time, so that people are coming back to you and looking at you as a place where things are really happening," Knapp told the council. "Because they are, they just don't necessarily have that perception because of what they know of in the past."

Knapp's report identifies several trends in the press that he says the city should use to its advantage. Recently, local business journals are trying to "cater more to specific geographic activities," and Knapp says "it would be advantageous to work with the editors of these journals to place stories."

Some regional publications do not have reporters dedicated to cover geographic activities, he says. "Therefore, in order to reach out to this particular media outlet the right topic has to be identified and then communicated to the appropriate reporter," he says.

Knapp also identifies in his report the proliferation of local online journalism (Patch is mentioned) as an asset to be used. While these sites cater to local audiences, "if there is a greater trend addressed in these online report, the stories will get picked up for broader distribution by other media outlets."

Knapp continues to say that these sites are "great opportunities to place local stories with regional interest that can be captured through automated searches run by brokers and businesses looking for relocation opportunities."

The other main component of Knapp report deals with using existing resources and businesses for attracting other similar companies. Gaithersburg is already home to MedImmune, IBM, Lockheed Martin and NIST.

While NIST is technically not a part of Gaithersburg (it is a non-regulatory agency of the federal Department of Commerce), it is the city's largest employer. Knapp stresses the importance of establishing a formal relationship with NIST as part of the city's development strategy in his report, as well as in his presentation Monday night. "Gaithersburg is positioned to establish itself as the entry-point for new and existing businesses seeking to work more closely with NIST," the report says.

A large part of this is expanding the city's existing accelerator model. Gaithersburg established an accelerator program for life science companies in 2010. Accelerators, also commonly known as "business incubators," are designed to help entrepreneurial and start-up companies succeed. Gaithersburg's accelerator waives certain fees associated with maintaining a company's real estate, such as mechanical and electric fees.

Knapp suggests being more proactive with this model, and enter into a strategic partnering relationship with NIST to see what companies it would like to attract to the city.

Knapp also says the city could do a better job of promoting events in each of its four retail hubs: Lakeforest Mall, Olde Towne, the Kentlands and Washingtonian. While the city already advertises events it's sponsoring in these areas, Knapp suggests also assisting the hubs in promoting their own events.

While the report was not made available to the council or the public until last night, Knapp's presentation was largely a straightforward outline of it. The council offered nothing but praise for Knapp, with each member highlighting elements they found most important. Many, however, agreed that the Watkins Mill Interchange was a top priority.

"I think one of the single most important things you hit on was the Watkins Mill Interchange," council member Henry Maraffa said. "I think we need to take every effort we can, partner with the people who are involved in it and just keep pressing everybody to get it done."

"I think it's a unique situation," council member Cathy Drzyzgula said. "It's not like we're looking to have five interchanges built and this is the first one. This is really the last major interchange on 270 we anticipate for a long time. It's kind of like that anchor piece in the arch ... if you could supply that you have this whole new gateway.

Drzyzgula also praised Knapp's report, but she said that like the other council members she would have more questions once she read the report.

Mayor Sidney Katz repeated Knapp's earlier sentiment that this report was only the beginning of the city's development strategy. There will be a lot of experimenting with what works and what doesn't work, and there needs to be flexibility in anything the city does, Katz said.