Last week, we said goodbye to former Fremont Economic Development Director Kelly Kline, who is moving on to a new opportunity with the City of San Jose. Of course, we thought it only fitting to reflect on her impact on the City of Fremont here on Takes From Silicon Valley East. After all, this blog itself is a perfect example of how a small economic development team translated its big aspirations for Fremont into tangible results. A review of Kelly’s tenure in Fremont reveals an instructive story of reinvention and repositioning a City for greatness.

Here are just a few of the themes that helped us break away from conventional economic development wisdom and lead to the creation of what we coined “Economic Development 2.0” (although we are probably inching closer to 4.0 these days!).

  1. Play to Your Strength — While aspiration is important, avoid trying to artificially establish industries or clusters that are not readily visible in your community. Search within, and chances are you will find a niche that you can support and grow. In the case of Fremont, it was biomedical, cleantech, and advanced manufacturing. Rather than compete with other parts of the Silicon Valley region for app developers, we focused on what we did best.
  2. Embrace the Power of Partnership — Once you have identified your areas of focus, immerse yourself in those industries. Develop meaningful relationships with key players not only to gain valuable insight into industry issues, but also to help influence on behalf of your companies. This is where the magic occurs — fostering and leveraging the right connections and not sitting behind a desk!
  3. Be the Resource — In the post-redevelopment era, our mission was to find new ways to add value to our companies. Gone were the days of traditional incentives; it became clear that the collective “we” had to become the incentive for businesses. That’s where those industry connections and a City organization’s specific expertise really come in handy.
  4. Tell a Story — You’ve invested so much time in penetrating specific industries and connecting with your companies, so now what? Your thought leadership is best utilized in creating a narrative that you can share with audiences far and wide, large and small. Your value, which your local client base is already well aware of, will now gain recognition externally and more broadly. From media relations and blogs to speaking opportunities, Fremont’s profile has skyrocketed, thanks to the ever-evolving narrative that we continue to nurture.
  5. All in a Tweet — In this age of social media, the power of communication has never been stronger. And while it can be daunting to “feed the beast” known as Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, you just never know who your followers are. Like the time we replied on Twitter to renowned urban studies scholar, Bruce Katz. From that single tweet, a relationship was born and resulted in contributions to Brookings Institution research and acknowledgement of Warm Springs as one of the only manufacturing-oriented Innovation Districts in the country.
  6. Take it on the Road — Whether it’s offering tours of your environment or speaking at conferences and events, there is no substitute for the personal delivery of your message. While there are some weeks where we are in a different location each day, there’s no doubt this methodical and steady stream of interactions has helped spread the word of Fremont throughout the region and beyond.
  7. Incorporate Yin and Yang — Perhaps most importantly, foster a strong team dynamic comprising complementary skills, and harness the energy each member has for various parts of the work program. There is nothing more satisfying than reaching the end of Manufacturing Day, wrapping up the Cleantech Open, or pulling off an EcoLab, knowing that each team member played a critical role in its production.

Farewell, Kelly, and thank you for everything.

Former Economic Development Director Kelly Kline and current Economic Development Director Christina Briggs