Economic
Development in the City of Corning
includes those programs which are intended to
cause economic growth for the City of Corning
and the surrounding area. As a small City, Corning
can not easily provide an Economic Development
Manager, therefore, the responsibility rests
with the City Manager, and with four local agencies
with which the City interacts.
The
Corning Chamber of Commerce is the
best known of these agencies, and it's stated purpose
is to foster business growth in the City by promoting
business, and by encouraging quality development
and residential growth. The Chamber coordinates
many community activities designed to bring visitors
to Corning.
The
Corning Business Improvement District
is a Special District organized under the laws of
the State of California and City Code. The BID is
managed by a Board of Directors chosen by the participating
businesses in the Community. The BID has the legal
authority through City Council action to levy an
annual assessment on individual businesses with
in the City Limits of Corning.
The mission of the Corning Business Improvement
District is to promote a positive business &
shopping atmosphere by providing an enhanced business
environment designed to increase consumer spending
in the district, retain current business and attract
new business when possible.
TEHAMA
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
is a private, non-profit corporation responsible
for the retention and recruitment of business and
industry to the County. TLDC recruits and assists
prospective developers by providing site information
and building requirements, and often "holds the
hand" of the perspective new business. The TLDC
Executive Director acts as a County-wide team leader
bringing the City and County staffs and local business
representatives together as a team to quickly respond
to development inquiries.
TLDC’s record of business recruitment and retention
has been outstanding; Their Annual Report reflects
their success. A study was conducted in July, 1995,
of twenty four companies which received either TLDC
support in relocating to Tehama County, or assistance
resulting in their retention in the County. Out
of a total of 2,824 jobs attributed to TLDC, 424
of the jobs were held by Corning residents (zip
code 96021). In other words: fifteen percent (15%)
of the jobs went to Corning residents! At the (then)
new and partially staffed Wal-mart Distribution
Center, 9% of the jobs went to Corning residents.
These percentages are important, because the population
of Corning only represents twelve percent (12%)
of the total County population! Therefore, Corning
has received its fair share of the jobs created
by TLDC.
TRI-COUNTY
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
was established in 1985 as a private, non-profit
agency and provides economic development planning
and coordination in the Tri-County region, including
Butte, Glenn and Tehama Counties. Tri-County EDC
is recognized by the State and Federal Governments
as the agency having Overall Economic Development
Program responsibility for the region. Tri-County
EDC works with the City of Corning by including
Corning's economic development priorities in the
Regional Plan, by soliciting federal grant financing
for planning purposes and actual economic development
projects, such as the recently approved Corning
Ford Project. The State Department of Economic
and Community Development indicated that this
Application, prepared by Tri-County EDC staff,
was the “best and most thorough package” the State
staff had ever reviewed.
Tri-County also administers the Federal Business
Loan Programs for the City of Corning, and assists
businesses in finding capital for new business
growth. Since 1989, Tri-County has completed sixty-four
small business financings, Public Works or Technical
Assistance Projects in the region, totaling 10.3
million dollars to leverage an additional 22.3
million dollars in private sector investments.
These sixty-four projects have either created
or retained seven hundred eighteen local jobs.
Each year, Tri-County EDC is invited to apply
for an Operating Grant through the State Department
of Economic and Community Development. The match
for the Grant is provided by the Cities and Counties
which receive services from Tri-County. $3,500
has been proposed in this year’s Budget as Corning’s
match, with funding from Program Income in the
“Community Development Fund”.
