Economic Development Manager Eric Zeno (left) works to retain and help existing business while Economic Development Director Mark Willis promotes efforts to recruit new businesses.[/caption]

The city of Leander is reorganizing the economic development department to better focus on recruiting new businesses to the city.

As part of the reorganization, in May the city hired new Economic Development Director Mark Willis, filling a position left vacant since 2012.

Willis said Leander can benefit from Austin growth, but he wants to show business owners how Leander differs from cities such as Cedar Park, Georgetown and Round Rock.

“It’s a sales job in a lot of ways,” Willis said. “And for us it’s [a goal] to make the region aware that we’re out here and what advantages we have.”

Unlike Cedar Park, Leander does not have city boards that can grant businesses incentives from a portion of sales taxes. Instead Leander uses half its 2-cent sales tax to fund the Capital Metro railroad.

“We’ve got to work with the landowners and public/private partnerships,” to attract new business development, he said.

To incentivize business, the department could work with the city to add infrastructure, such as roads and utility lines, to property that  a landowner to sell land at a discounted price to a business, Willis said.

Meanwhile, Economic Development Manager Eric Zeno, acting as the city’s Leander Chamber of Commerce liaison, helps to maintain the city’s existing business relationships. If existing businesses are content then new businesses will more likely move to Leander, Zeno said.

Willis said the city can find more ways to encourage small businesses. For example, Willis proposed a program to provide incentives in the city’s Old Town area. Council approved the program Nov. 19.

Starting in spring 2016, the city could also promote a monthly farmers market downtown on weekends and support an ongoing downtown festival, Willis said.

Austin Community College’s expected opening, by summer 2018, will also help draw business, Willis said.

“In 10 years, the city offices may move over there [from Old Town] to the business area,” he said. “That will help younger people get interested in living here [in Leander].”

Willis said he knows some developers believe Leander’s zoning process is too strict. For example, city planners do not encourage business driveways that are located close together, such as on US 183.

“It might be easier to recruit more retail and service companies if we were a little more flexible,” Willis said. “But by planning we improve the livability of the city long-term.”

The city needs to choose what businesses are best to help it grow, he said.

“I describe Leander as an adolescent city deciding what it wants to be when it grows up,” Willis said. “Leander’s going to be fun for us for the next five years, because we’re going to see a lot of this growth and managing it is going to be a challenge.”