Sedona.Biz – The Voice of Sedona and The Verde ValleySedona.Biz – The Voice of Sedona and The Verde Valley
    Sedona.Biz – The Voice of Sedona and The Verde Valley Sedona.Biz – The Voice of Sedona and The Verde Valley
    • Home
    • Sedona News
    • Business Profiles
    • Opinion
    • Mind & Body
    • Arts
    • Elections
    • Gift Shop
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    Sedona.Biz – The Voice of Sedona and The Verde ValleySedona.Biz – The Voice of Sedona and The Verde Valley
    Home » Sedona City Talk: Molly Spangler, Director of Economic Development
    City of Sedona

    Sedona City Talk:
    Molly Spangler, Director of Economic Development

    October 27, 2016No Comments
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Email Reddit WhatsApp
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email Reddit WhatsApp

    City of Sedona ArizonaSedona AZ (October 27, 2016) – It has been three months since I started my position as director of economic development for the city of Sedona. Thank you for the warm welcome. Not only is this the most beautiful place on Earth, Sedona is filled with entrepreneurial people who seek the highest quality of life for this community. I continue to be impressed with the talented staff, dedicated City Council, and engaged organizations, businesses and residents. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve this community.

    You may be wondering, “Who is Molly, anyway?” I have spent the last 15 years working as a community and economic development professional. I fell in love with this career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Romania when I was able to connect small artists with a market to sell their paintings. From there I’ve had the pleasure of working in diverse communities — big, small, tourist and industrial — in Illinois and Wyoming. I’m passionate about building a sense of community, working with small businesses and connecting people to solutions.

    It is my job to build and direct an economic development program for the city, and we will do this in a variety of ways. For starters, I’m developing relationships by listening to business success stories and existing impediments to growth. Along with city partners, we’re studying the local economy to understand and inventory our strengths and weaknesses. We’re also using data and research which will empower city leadership to make ongoing informed decisions.

    Economic development isn’t just something that happens — it’s a process that requires strategies. Strategies must be flexible and relevant to where people live and do business, and the economic and environmental needs of our community as a whole.

    The goal is to implement sustainable economic development efforts to diversify our local economy. This can be done through a plan that concentrates on business expansion, primary jobs which pay above-median wages, and quality of life. While the private sector creates jobs, it is the role of an economic development program to set the scene for thriving businesses and higher-wage jobs.

    Sedona Gift Shop

    For example, a question we may ask ourselves at the city is: If the goal is to enable $100,000 of new payroll in our private sector, would we rather have 10 part-time jobs at $10,000, two jobs at $50,000 or one job at $100,000? Which situation is best for improving our quality of life and creating a sustainable local economy and do we focus on the quality of the jobs or the quantity of the jobs?

    Based upon the Community Plan’s vision and a City Council priority of what economic development in Sedona will look like in years to come, staff is developing strategies that will help achieve outcomes of job creation, quality of life and business expansion.

    Some of these strategies may include the following:

    • Focus on health and wellness business expansion and recruitment.
    • Support locally-owned businesses.
    • Create a virtual incubator for businesses to use for resources.
    • Capitalize on the creative industries such as the arts, film, research, music, architecture, and design.
    • Understand the tourism supply-chain and associate dynamics for potential business growth.
    • Address issues of workforce development and recruitment.
    • Think regionally to support and grow the Verde Valley economy.

    Clearly our future is bright and I look forward to serving the city. Feel free to contact me at 203-5117 or via email at MSpangler@SedonaAZ.gov.

    Comments are closed.


    The Bloody Machine
    By Tommy Acosta
    What is a life anyway? A single “life?” Is it nothing more than a collection of emotions and thoughts, reverberating pain and pleasure, hopes, dreams and fear? Are we merely meat; flesh and blood creations encapsulating what we believe is a soul? Or is a single life the microcosm and macrocosm of human life on earth, each one of us a unique representation of who we believe we are and the whole of humanity at once? We are born. We grow old. We die. Everything we experience is but a dream between those two points. Or are we manifestations of a Divine Creator, every one of us complete in the image that we were made? So, we are told. Read more→
    Recent Comments
    • Sedona Schnebly on Fighter Jets Fly Over Sedona
    • JB on The Bloody Machine
    • JB on 2023 Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran’s Day Tribute in Camp Verde
    • Ellen Siepser on The Bloody Machine
    • Hey Sean on The Bloody Machine
    Categories
    © 2023 All rights reserved. Sedona.biz.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.