IEDP says retention visits, license applications and capital investment are climbing

Jarvis Sackman, director of business retention and expansion for the Independence Economic Development Partnership, briefed the council on a newly rolled-out IEDP dashboard and the partnership's recent activity. "To date, we have completed 20 retention visits," Sackman said, and he reported the IEDP has identified roughly $5.3 million in reinvestment opportunities, tracked 12 planned expansions with hiring potential and said there are 13 businesses the partnership has assisted with follow-up support.

Sackman told the council the dashboard showed 1,369 new business-license applications year to date compared with 834 at the same point last year, and later cited a year-to-date capital-investment figure displayed on the dashboard. When asked whether the 64% increase reflected applications or approvals he answered the figure referred to new applications and said he would follow up on approval timelines. Council members pressed for a breakdown by brick-and-mortar versus home-based businesses and asked how long permitting and licensing typically take; Sackman said he did not have that approval-timeline data available at the meeting but would provide it to the council.

Council members also asked about workforce constraints identified during retention visits; Sackman said workforce shortages had been raised by at least one business and that the IEDP is working with regional partners and education providers to connect employers with training and pipeline programs. On small-business outreach, Sackman described open chamber events (including a recurring "Fun Friday"), membership tiers and a $2,500 economic-development partnership investment level that provides deeper engagement. He said the IEDP is building an inventory of vacant properties to better match incoming businesses to available sites and that the partnership meets regularly with city staff to convert conversations into projects.