Council weighs scope and metrics for citywide economic development study

Cody Hill, Provo’s economic development director, presented a draft request for proposals for a citywide economic development study and asked the council for feedback on gaps and priorities.

Council members offered a mix of strategic and practical changes: clarify which decisions the study should support and which industries to target; make implementation outputs explicit (short-, medium- and long-term actions); strengthen fiscal and financial-impact analysis to account for costs to public services; and expand competitive benchmarking by including case studies from other cities. Several councilors urged fewer, prioritized metrics rather than a long laundry list of KPIs, recommending a "North Star" metric and a handful of secondary measures.

Councilors also recommended stronger stakeholder engagement (developers, capital providers, site selectors), inclusion of decision gates and steering-committee reviews, and a clearer plan for transferring capability and ownership of deliverables to city staff. Councilor Jeff Whitlock and others suggested the RFP include an anticipated cost range or budget window so proposers can scope responses appropriately; staff indicated a draft range (e.g., $50,000–$80,000) could be discussed with procurement.

Council members volunteered to form a small group to help finalize metrics and refine the draft before staff advertises the RFP. Hill said he would incorporate the council’s feedback, prepare a draft final RFP and return to a future work session with a survey of council priorities in the meantime.