of organizations that are there to first and foremost listen to what their needs are and then be able to provide that exceptional level of follow-up,” Zellers clarifies. VISION FOR A RESILIENT AND PROSPEROUS FUTURE In terms of incentives, the city is actively exploring tax incentives for incoming businesses and collaborates with the county economic development corporation to promote its small business loan program, which has already made a positive impact on smaller enterprises. However, like many cities, Fairfield faces the pervasive challenge of economic uncertainty, particularly concerning the cost and availability of labor and materials for construction. A major step in this direction is the recent rollout of Fairfield Build, a new permitting and planning software. This online portal will allow projects to track their progress, ensuring predictable review times and providing developers and investors with greater clarity, thereby alleviating some of the anxieties associated with fluctuating supply costs and market volatility. “We can’t change macroeconomic trends, but what we can do is create more certainty in our development processes and timelines so that they can move quicker through what we need to do to secure the labor, materials, and services we need to get those construction projects underway,” Zellers says. 192 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 07
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