Paul D. Mills,
City Manager, Ranson, West Va.

Mills states that “with the off-shoring of manufacturing jobs combined with an ever shifting economy, communities have to be more proactive than ever in their approach to downtown economic development. Local government knows that convincing investors to put their money back into the urban core is a tough sell, but if you add to it the perceived or real threat of environmental contamination, then the challenge is even greater.” Because most brownfield properties are single-use, re-purposing them into something productive takes a comprehensive approach with all disciplines contributing to the overall plan, said Mills. “It is the job of local government to develop the plans and programs that give investors the comfort they need to take on a tough downtown redevelopment project, verses a relatively easy greenfield development on the urban fringe.”

Mills believes that cities must ensure that adequate infrastructure is in place, make current market research available, create programs that help finance difficult projects, and educate the entire community about the benefits of urban redevelopment. “In the past, a city was tasked with providing steady, reliable services to its citizens. In the brownfield era, a city will now have to sell itself as the preferred place to do business to encourage the investments that make communities strong and sustainable,” he concludes.