The Stafford Board of Supervisors approved the repeal of the Business, Professional and Occupational License tax after a public hearing this evening.

“Stafford has claimed for years that it is business friendly,” said Chairman of the Stafford Board of Supervisors Mark Dudenhefer. “We can now back that claim up with the repeal of BPOL and our recent re-commitment to economic development with our 10 point Economic Development Action Plan. We will work with them as much as possible to ensure they are successful while they are here and do everything possible to ensure they want to stay here.”

The Board approved a BPOL ordinance on July 2, 2008, making the tax effective in January 2010. Implementation of the tax was scheduled for this spring.  Merchant’s Capital, which the County was not allowed to collect with BPOL in effect, will continue to be collected. The estimated revenue from Merchant’s Capital is $961,000 for Fiscal Year 2010.  In addition, the repeal of BPOL will save the County start up costs of approximately $30,000 for postage, fuel, supplies and software upgrades.

The 10-Point Economic Development Action Plan was adopted by the Board after a special meeting with economic experts on January 12, 2010. At that meeting, Stafford’s business friendly atmosphere was cited as one reason why the county has performed better than the Commonwealth and the rest of the United States during the recent recession, the experts said. Stafford’s private sector built approximately seven million square feet of new commercial space and added nearly 15,000 new jobs in the last 10 years. During the period of 2003-2008, Stafford’s business community led the Commonwealth of Virginia by ranking first in producing jobs, third in producing new businesses, and fifth in wage growth, by percentage of growth. Stafford was also recently named “The Best Place to Get Ahead” by Forbes.com.

The Board’s 10-point Economic Development Action Plan follows:

Stafford County Board of Supervisors
Economic Development Action Plan 2010

1. Improve overall fiscal competitiveness
2. Enact business friendly policy initiatives   
3. Improve Stafford’s ability to attract and retain high quality workforce
4. Improve Stafford’s transportation/public safety infrastructure
5. Accelerate redevelopment activities
6. Create opportunities to gain more input on economic development policies from the private sector
7. Enhance small business assistance programs
8. Create economic development incentive program
9. Reinvigorate the Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) initiative
10. Enhance FY2010 Economic Development Marketing Plan

Many of the initiatives in the plan are already underway. Stafford recently conducted the first in a series of four focus groups on workforce development.  The collaborative effort was supported by the newly formed Stafford Workforce and Education Partnership (SWEP), a group that includes Stafford County, the University of Mary Washington, Germanna Community College, and Stafford County Public Schools.  This first focus group was held to gain a better understanding of the workforce training and education needs associated specifically with federal contractors, and a select group of other closely related businesses. Focus group meetings will be held over the next few months.

Also, redevelopment activities have been underway for years with more than 10,000 staff and contractor hours devoted to creating a redevelopment master plan for Stafford. The next steps are to forward the plan to the Planning Commission for inclusion in the Comprehensive Plan, and then begin to enact its various recommendations. Stafford also recently hired a new business retention and expansion manager, Bethany Miller, who will work with existing businesses to ensure their needs are being met.

“We are taking a more aggressive approach to economic development than we ever have,” Mr. Dudenhefer said. “We know it will help our community grow in a way that will allow more and more of our citizens to live, work and play in Stafford.” 

Fore more information about economic development in Stafford, visit www.GoStaffordVA.com or call (540) 658-8681.