Taxpayer waste.
Boulder Bound: 60 Tallahasseeans seek inspiration in Colorado
Tallahassee Democrat
My preview piece of #TalBoulder trip - Boulder Bound: 60 Tallahasseeans seek inspiration in Colorado http://on.tdo.com/1GPWixP via @tdonline
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Boulder, Colorado, has something Tallahassee officials and professionals believe is worth seeing.A capital city 1,350 miles away, Boulder boasts a scenic backdrop created by the snowy Flatiron mountains. Restaurants and shops on Pearl Street are a center of commerce. Entrepreneurs thrive here.
So it begins. For the next three jam-packed days, about 60 Tallahasseeans will embark on a tour to learn how Boulder has evolved into a culture magnet and start-up haven. An August 2012 USA Today article listed Boulder in its "Top Cities for Technology Startups." It's also a tour de food, a place Bon Appetit Magazine labeled as America's Foodiest Town in 2010.
People want to be where the "next big city is talked about," said Chamber President and CEO Sue Dick.
"And they want to be in it. They can be anywhere because they see it. It doesn't mean it's going to be easy. And that's why you do these trips," Dick said. "You do these trips so you can expedite and be as competitive as you can and determine what is our uniqueness in this massive world that is changing."
The Boulder Inter-City Trip follows previous cross-country trips — Madison, Wisconsin, and Austin, Texas, for example — organized by the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce — all of which, chamber and government officials say, led to tangible results for Tallahassee.
But this trip is different. Momentum is building. Tallahassee start-ups and its entrepreneurship-friendly environment are getting noticed. Last week, WalletHub released an analysis stating Tallahassee was the top Florida city to start a business, beating larger cities such as Orlando, Miami and Jacksonville.
"We don't do these trips unless we have a real purpose and a focus and an outcome we can measure," Dick said.
Rare opportunities
The delegation includes Tallahassee's political, educational and business elite.
Among them are Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and the entire City Commission, Leon County Commissioners Bryan Desloge, Kristin Dozier and Mary Ann Lindley, officials specializing in research and workforce from Florida State, Florida A&M and Tallahassee Community College, consultants and entrepreneurs.
Some are paying their own way, while taxpayers will pick up the travel, hotel and other expenses for city and county officials. The trip will cost an estimated $2,000 for each city representative and $1,800 for county representatives, according to staffers.
Luther Lee, a revenue manager for the Florida Department of Revenue, said the trip will pay dividends for taxpayers as long as the group learns from the specific metrics and data it gathers.
"I will say that as a resident, I would have preferred that we invite members of their community to visit us so that some of their money makes it to Tallahassee," Lee said.
However, City Commissioner Gil Ziffer said there's a universal goal to grow Tallahassee, but "we have not come together as one cohesive unit" on how to get there. He hopes the trip will provide visuals, conversations and opportunities to ask questions.
"The only way you can learn is when you expand your horizons," he said.
By early afternoon on the first day, the group will load onto a bus to its first stop – the Pearl Street Mall — four blocks of pedestrian-friendly shopping in downtown Boulder.
Power talks will be interspersed with power walks. Some members of the delegation will seize moments to catch the ear of top-level government officials and point out projects and successes in Boulder that are possible in Tallahassee.
Along the way, the tour will stop at the University of Colorado's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences to learn about connecting university assets to the business world.
Talks on start-up communities are a much anticipated part of the tour. The group expects to visit Rally Software, a global provider of enterprise-class software and services, and Spark Boulder, a business incubator and "student entrepreneur's playground."
"You don't get those opportunities in town," said Gary Ostrander, vice president of research at Florida State University.
Ostrander is going on the trip because FSU wants to recruit more faculty from higher-ranked universities in cities that may offer a broader range of attractions than Tallahassee. The more Tallahassee has to offer, the better the university's chances.
In addition, he hopes to gain insight on how to commercialize research coming out of FSU and further spotlight FSU's National High Magnetic Field Laboratory – home to the world's largest and most powerful magnet.
"The idea is not to copy and mimic exactly what Boulder is doing," Ostrander said. "The idea is to figure out what works for us in Tallahassee."
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Stand-out city
Boulder is a progressive city with college town charm that mirrors Tallahassee. Like Florida's capital city, Boulder has a large number of residents with advanced degrees, and its thriving economy is directly tied to the University of Colorado.
The group hoped to agree on one city after studying candidate cities – Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Gainesville; and Nashville, Tennessee. Criteria for consideration included having university research facilities as economic drivers, private and public partnerships, entrepreneurial environment and methods for retention, expansion and recruitment.
"Like us, they have a very educated community, but they are a little further down the road in translating ideas to commercial opportunities," said Leon County Administrator Vince Long, who served on a 11-member committee tasked with selecting a city to visit.
Long joined others in previous chamber trips. Several, he said, resulted in new partnerships and programs between city and county government, such as the Renaissance Building, which houses several city and county departments, and the targeted business program that offers incentives based on jobs created.
"I've learned that it may not be what I think it's going to be because each of these communities have surprised me in terms of what they have to offer," Long said.
The trip also offers a glimpse at Denver International Airport's Federal Inspection Services, the arrival point for international passengers. City commissioners recently approved an international designation for Tallahassee's airport, a move likely to transform how local businesses operate and possibly entice more businesses to relocate to the region.
About 30 minutes from Boulder, Denver operates a solar farm on the airport's grounds. Tallahassee Aviation Director Chris Curry said there's fertile opportunity for commercial development within 1,000 acres at the airport.
"We have so much land that we have options," Curry said. But at the same time, "There are very specific requirements on how we use land on the airport," he added.
Inspired by Pearl Street
With the massive infrastructure changes that have taken root around Gaines Street, it's not surprising locals are looking to Boulder for inspiration.
The Madison Mile — a corridor of housing, commercial and entertainment development stretching from the Tucker Civic Center west to Doak Campbell Stadium — is a proposed $20-million FSU project tied to big-picture plans for an Arena District. The district includes six components — academics, athletics, retail and lifestyle options, a convention campus, signature outdoor attractions and green space and connectivity.
The projects are inspired by various case studies across the country, such as Pearl Street, said Real Estate InSync President Will Butler, who represents the Seminole Boosters.
Butler flew to Boulder on Friday ahead of the group so he could make contacts with professionals connected to Pearl Street.
College Town — a mixed-use development of residential and entertainment — has exploded with retail, housing, walk-up restaurants and that may one day complement the Madison Mile, a project earmarked for $20 million in Blueprint Sales Tax Extension funds after the infrastructure tax expires in 2019.
Now that the market has matured on Gaines Street and College Town fosters a vibe attractive to young professionals, families and others, Butler said the trip is a timely opportunity to take lessons from a mature pedestrian friendly market.
"Now there are things we can learn from Pearl Street," he said.
Many of those on the trip have never been to Boulder. Others say it's one of their favorite cities.
Matt Thompson, owner of Madison Social near Gaines Street, is going because he adores Boulder's charm. Since he's in the food and beverage industry, Thompson plans to make the most of Boulder's after-hours scene.
His restaurant is located in College Town — a vibrant area on Gaines Street that's inspired by cities like Boulder. Thompson said his traveling companions will get a familiar feeling and a glimpse of what could be.
" When you're in a town like Boulder, you're in a town like what Tallahassee wants to get to," Thompson said. "It's the feel that College Town is going for."
A comparison of two cities
Boulder, Colorado
Geography: Features farmland and grasslands in the plains to the high peaks of the Continental Divide, several dense urban centers surrounded by mountainous communities and the Rocky Mountain National Park.
Population (Census estimate for 2013): 103,166
Median household income: $56,312
Persons below poverty level: 22.8%
Percentage of people age 25 or older with bachelor's degrees: 71.8%
Academia and Scientific Research in Boulder County
Education:
University of Colorado at Boulder
Naropa University
Front Range Community College
Boulder Valley School District
St. Vrain Valley School District
Scientific Facilities:
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
Major industries shared with Tallahassee: Research & Engineering, Information Technology (especially software development) and Healthcare
Notable companies: Original home of Ball Aerospace, a founding NASA contractor), Celestial Seasonings, StorageTek and Techstars, a start-up incubator.
Tallahassee, Florida:
Geography: Hilly and anchored at the southern end of the Red Hills Region above the Cody Scarp. The city has two large lake basins, Lake Jackson and Lake Lafayette, and it shares a northern boarder with the Apalachicola National Forest.
Population (Census estimate for 2013): 186,411
Median income: $39,524
Persons below poverty level: 30.2%
Percentage of people age 25 or older with bachelor's degrees: 47.2%
Academic and scientific research in Leon County:
Florida A&M University
Florida State University
Keiser University
Barry University
Tallahassee Community College
Scientific and other facilities:
High Performance Materials Institute (HPMI)
FSU College of Medicine
FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Florida A&M University and Florida State University College of Engineering
FSU National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Advanced Manufacturing Training Center (AMTC)
Institute for Energy Systems Economics and Sustainably (IESES)
Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP)
Major industries shared with Boulder: Research and engineering, information technology (especially software development) and healthcare.
Areas for growth/improvement: Aviation and commercializing patents and research created by local universities.
Sources: Bouldercounty.org, U.S. Census and Tallahassee Greater Chamber of Commerce.
A glimpse at who's going
Mayor Andrew Gillum and City Commission
Leon County Commission Chairman Mary Ann Lindley
Leon County Commissioner Bryan Desloge
Leon County Commissioner Kristin Dozier
Will Butler, president of Real Estate InSync
Ed Murray, president of NAI Talcor
Vince Long, Leon County administrator
Alan Rosenzweig, Leon County deputy administrator
Lonnie Ballard, assistant city manager
Wayne Tedder, director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
Chris Curry, director of aviation at Tallahassee Airport
Gary Ostrander, director of research at Florida State University
Ron Miller, executive director of Leon County Research and Development Authority
Jim Murdaugh, president of Tallahassee Community College and chairman of the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee, Leon County
Rick Moore, partner in Moore Bass Consulting and chairman of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce
Audra Pittman, director of the Council on Culture and Arts
Visit Tallahassee.com to see a video of Chamber CEO Sue Dick discussing the trip.
Get live updates at tallahassee.com and on social media by using #TalBoulder on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram"
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