4C — January 26 - February 8, 2018 — Economic Development — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
G reater R eading P ennsylvania
By Pamela J. Shupp, AICP, CEcD, Greater Reading Chamber Alliance What’s happening in Greater Reading in 2018?
F
or the past several years, I have been projecting what I expect to see in
Reading in 2018. 1. Ready to go indus- trial land development sites are key. After years of turning away prospects who wanted to locate in our community, and we just didn’t have a ready to go site, Greater Reading is Ready! The pipeline for industrial land development in Berks County is substantial. We are projecting 7 million + SF in industrial and logistics inventory will come on line in Greater Reading in the next two years. The footprints of
many of these sites will be flexible and will accommo- date existing Berks County business expansions as well as new companies looking for that accessible and affordable east coast location. 2. Talent attraction is top of mind. Talent attraction joins the skills gap as a critical component of our workforce development strategy. Many existing Greater Reading com- panies are looking to expand. They need to attract new skilled talent and retain their current talent. As a result, we
are committed to enhancing our local communities to be places where employees want to work and where people want to be. Greater Reading’s primary focus will be on re- taining new and recent college and technical school gradu- ates and attracting skilled talent who are ready to start a family and looking for a com- munity to call home. 3. NewHousing develop- ment. Housing availability and opportunities become part of our economic develop- ment conversation. Greater
Reading needs to grow our population and attract new residents. The best way to do that is to provide housing opportunities and develop- ments where people want to live, filled with the amenities they are seeking and layouts that are conducive to their lifestyle. (who hasn’t heard of open concept floor plan)! 4. Location, Workforce, Talent, Quality of Place, Diversity – it’s not just one thing. Location, lo- cation, location - this real estate mantra that in the past drove many company location decisions gave way in recent years to workforce, workforce, workforce. And now, it has given way again. It’s about Location, Work- force, Talent, Quality of Place (who doesn’t want to locate close to a micro brew pub or a distillery?) and Diversity. To effectively focus on this market basket of company wants, Greater Reading in 2017 positioned itself to pro- actively and aggressively address it all. We created an economic development powerhouse which combines public and private financial resources and over 100 years of economic, business, and workforce expertise. Through the Greater Reading Cham- ber Alliance (GRCA) – we are hitting our stride in position- ing Greater Reading as THE best place to locate a business in 2018. In terms of location, well there are 100 +million people within overnight delivery and 84 million within same day delivery! And with a com- mitment to downtown revi- talization and placemaking, we are creating the places where people want to work and spend time. We are com- mitted to career pathways to more deeply develop an available skilled workforce. We are committing to grow- ing and supporting our La- tino entrepreneur and small business community who are such an important part of the fabric of our business community. Yes, we are ad- dressing a lot and as a result in 2018 - Greater Reading is Ready! Pamela J. Shupp, AICP, CEcD is executive vice pres- ident of the Greater Read- ing Chamber Alliance. n
the coming year. What n a t i o n a l and regional trends will a f f e c t u s ? How will it a f f e c t ou r business at- traction and
Pamela J. Shupp
growth strategies? What will we see locally? Well, here are my projections for what you are going to see in Greater
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