Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Forest Park economic development highlights Main Street events, workforce programs and business outreach
Summary
Interim Economic Development Director Rochelle Dennis previewed Main Street events, a business awards program, workforce initiatives including a workforce housing placement for a firefighter, and a city job fair; staff also held a data center town hall to explain the Gillum Logistics Center project.
Rochelle Dennis, interim director of Economic Development, gave a cluster of updates on downtown programming, business outreach and workforce development in Forest Park.
Dennis said upcoming Main Street events include a coffee-and-breakfast-yoga series on Aug. 23 and Sept. 20, a Longest Table event paired with Food Truck Friday on Oct. 5, and the second annual Blues on Main concert on Oct. 10. Staff are working on new light pole banners, a Main Street welcome sign and a public art installation for the corridor. The Forest Park Business Association breakfast is scheduled for Sept. 10, and the city plans an end-of-year business awards program for local firms.
On workforce development, Dennis said the city launched its first workforce development housing initiative and successfully matched a Forest Park firefighter into the program; staff are also planning a City of Forest Park job fair on Aug. 14 and continuing the city’s Elevate workforce program. “We have successfully launched and have moved in, a Forest Park firefighter into our very first leaf life initiative workforce development housing, here in the city,” Dennis said.
Dennis also noted the economic development office and the URA hosted a data center town hall at Fort Gillum to explain the proposed facility and respond to resident questions.
Why it matters: The city is using events, business outreach and workforce programs to support local businesses and connect residents to jobs and services. Many programs are in early stages and staff provided dates and program descriptions rather than budgets or impact metrics.
What the meeting did not detail: The transcript does not include budgets, participant counts, or evaluation metrics for the workforce programs and events. Dennis flagged further information would be available at informational tables and future reports.
Practical info: Main Street events (Aug. 23, Sept. 20, Oct. 5, Oct. 10), Business Association breakfast (Sept. 10) and City job fair (Aug. 14) were announced at the Ward 1 meeting.
