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Council leans to staff-led update for Saginaw economic-development strategic plan
Summary
Staff presented three update options (in-house, consultant, hybrid) for the city's 2016 economic development plan. Council favored an in-house or limited hybrid approach and directed staff to proceed with an in-house model with scoped outside support as needed; consultant costs were estimated at $30,000–$150,000.
At a workshop, Pedro Zbrano, director of economic and community development, presented options for updating Saginaw's 2016 economic-development strategic plan and asked council for direction on whether to proceed in-house, hire a consultant, or pursue a hybrid model. Pedro said the 2016 plan "defines some long-term goals" and that updating is necessary because "a pandemic happened... industries have changed... population has changed." He described three options and their pros and cons and gave a consultant cost range of "30,000 to 150,000."
Council members discussed the tradeoffs. Supporters of an in-house approach cited local knowledge, control and cost savings; advocates of the hybrid or consultant model stressed objectivity and efficiency. Councilmember Paul suggested the hybrid's "best of both worlds," while Mary and others expressed concern about staff capacity. Sean and others noted the in‑house approach would require breaking the work into smaller tasks and holding multiple work sessions.
On balance council signaled preference for an in-house process with the option to bring targeted outside expertise (a limited hybrid), and staff were asked to proceed with a work plan and timeline. Pedro said staff would provide examples of other cities' strategic-plan tables and follow up on pacing and budget implications.
