Westbrook needs to promote the importance of economic development more to its residents so that they have a better understanding of what the city is doing to attract business and why.

That was what members of the local business community, real estate developers and residents gathered at One Riverfront Plaza told the city’s economic development representative on Friday at an economic summit. The group of about 30 met to discuss the direction of the city’s economic development.

“In order to get more people involved, we need to communicate,” City Councilor Mike Foley told the room. “Involvement and communication are the two main points, and we need to work on those.”

The gathering was the second installment of what may become a series of economic summits in the coming years. The city held a summit in the fall of 2005, which focused on assessing how Westbrook was bringing in development and establishing goals for the coming years. At that meeting, a main message was that Westbrook needed to promote itself in the region more.

This time around, the meeting focused on getting more involvement from people within the city in planning its future.

The consensus among the group was that the city needed to educate its residents on how economic development affects them. Former Westbrook Mayor Ken Lefebvre said the city should circulate a simple explanation of why economic development is necessary.

“So people understand why we’re doing it, why we’re paying (Director of Economic and Community Development Erik Carson),” he said.

Lefebvre explained it succinctly by saying the city spends money and brings money in. To keep taxes low, the city needs to either spend less, which is difficult, or bring in more revenue through business tax. To get more businesses paying taxes, the city needs to lure them with economic development.

Beyond that, the city would need to explain what exactly economic development is. Foley suggested the city publish an information booklet explaining what activities the city is undertaking to bring in new business. The booklet would also contain information on how those seeking to bring their businesses to Westbrook could take advantage of what the city offers, including such things as TIF – Tax Increment Financing district – thereby acting as an information booklet and also a promotional publication for business owners.

One of Carson’s major goals for the summit was to get all of Westbrook agreeing on a single direction for the city. To do that, the city would need to get more people involved.

“Nothing in our city exists in a vacuum,” said Westbrook resident Eileen Shutts. “For everyone to come together and work to move forward, they have to realize they don’t exist in a vacuum.”

State Rep. Tim Driscoll suggested holding a series of public forums, which would help to involve people who wouldn’t normally attend a function such as a summit.

Mark St. Germain, owner of the St. Germain and Associates engineering firm on Main Street, said the city should treat its outreach effort as a kind of public relations campaign. He said people should understand how economic development results in better schools, more businesses and a higher quality of life.

Several spoke in favor of the city’s efforts to bring new business and the direction the city has taken in its ongoing transformation from a mill town to a small, vibrant city.

“Stay the course with what you’re doing,” real estate agent Tim Flaherty told Carson. “I’ve always called it a diamond in the rough,” said Flaherty.

Economic summit: Educate, communicate