Chris Beutler's remarks about the Mayor’s Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy or MOVE Council

I have spoken with literally hundreds of people across our great city in the last few months. Their voices have been in unison on the issues of creating new jobs and making Lincoln a more business friendly community. They believe, as I believe, that Lincoln can be more; that we can provide more of the opportunities that keep our high school and college graduates in town and that allow for working families to earn a better living; that we can provide more for the existing businesses to help them grow and expand; that we can do more to attract the employers of the 21st Century so Lincoln can benefit from a growing and vibrant economy.

These community voices are also in agreement that the next Mayor and the business community must work closely to seize the opportunities that arise. When we have the chance to attract new jobs or investment, our message must be that Lincoln is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. That can only be accomplished with unity of purpose and a common vision on Lincoln’s economic future.

That’s why today, I am unveiling another piece of my Mayoral platform on creating an Exceptional Economy.

I want more opportunities for employers and employees. I want a strong and vibrant economy for all. In short, I want Lincoln to MOVE. I am proposing the creation of a MOVE Council.

MOVE (say it and then spell out “M”, “O”, “V”, “E”) is an acronym for the Mayor’s Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy, or “MOVE” Council. The MOVE Council will be comprised of community groups and leaders active in creating economic development and who play a vital component in creating momentum on matters related to Lincoln’s economic policy.

The first job for the Council will be the most important. We must come together and develop community wide consensus on our economic policy, determine which projects best support that policy, prioritize those projects, and find the resources to make those projects happen.

I will rely on the expertise of the MOVE Council’s members to help streamline city government’s rule and regulations on business development so we can move faster and build new business more quickly.

The MOVE Council will assist my administration in strategic thinking on business development and how to best use our public economic development tools. We will work to anticipate future growth and how we prioritize public investment to foster that growth.

The MOVE Council will consist of 11 people appointed by the Mayor. I will ask for broad cross section of representatives from our business community including the Chamber of Commerce, LIBA, the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development, our neighborhood business associations, the Realtors, and the Homebuilders. The University of Nebraska plays a key role in our city’s economic development and they must be represented. The emergence of the 2015 Visioning Group is creating new ideas and they should be at the table. I will ask that neighborhoods, the Downtown Lincoln Association, and employees be represented so we can achieve the common vision that is critical to moving forward. And finally, the non profit entities must be represented because priority donors working through the non profits can play a vital role economic development.

As Mayor, I can provide the leadership this community needs to create an Exceptional Economy. I have a long and proven record of making things happen for both Lincoln and Nebraska. However, leadership cannot proceed without vision, without expertise, or without purpose. That’s where the MOVE Council comes in. Together we can make Lincoln more and MOVE our community forward in creating economic opportunities for the future.

Thank you.