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PART I <br />INDUSTRIAL REVOLVING FUND STRATEGY <br />A. ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT PROGRAM OVERVIEW <br />1. Nature and Scale of Economic Adjustment Problems <br />Economic Adjustment Problems: <br />1. 1 The loss of many highly paid, low and medium skilled manufacturing jobs has <br />precipitated a shift to lower paying jobs in the service and retail sectors. <br />Successes in manufacturing that have occurred often involved jobs at the lower <br />end of the manufacturing pay scale. The net result is a downward trend in <br />wages, employment and population for the City that has continued over the last <br />half century. <br />1.2 Local wage levels in comparison to national averages have dropped <br />considerably. <br />13.0ther problems associated with decreases in wages, employment and <br />population include: stagnant growth in the property tax base; loss of community <br />services and overloading those that are left; erosion of neighborhoods with <br />numerous vacant houses present in them; and loss of skilled workers who move <br />to higher paying wage areas. <br />2. Plan and Strategies: <br />2.1.Economic Development <br />• Encourage the attraction of new businesses, including technology, while <br />continuing to grow and retain existing businesses <br />• Attract high-quality/high -paying jobs in industries anticipating growth <br />regionally and globally, especially technology <br />• Promote alternate energy and green -based industries as integral sectors of <br />the regional economy <br />2.2.Financial Resources <br />Encourage an attitude towards entrepreneurship in the region <br />Promote a local economy that supports and assists the development of <br />small businesses <br />Improve credit and capital access for local businesses <br />2.3.Technology <br />Actively develop local and regional abilities to grow technology for <br />government and business <br />5 <br />