City of Lawrenceville Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee

3.4 Economic Development3.4.1 Economic Development IssuesUnderutilization of downtownFor many years, the downtown area of Lawrenceville acted asthe cultural, economic and social hub of the community. Withthe explosive growth of the City and the County in the 1980’sforward, most of the new retail growth occurred outside of thedowntown area. This left government, service and officefunctions as the main economic activities downtown. Many ofthe buildings were allowed to decay due to absentee landlordsor disinterest from the community. Although the last severalyears have seen an increase in activities in the Courthousesquare area, many adjacent blocks of the downtown area arestill underutilized for entertainment, cultural and small retailactivities.No cohesive economic development policyThe City lacks a comprehensive economic development plan.The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and theLawrenceville Tourism and Trade Association (LTTA)contribute to planning, downtown development and businessleadership, but there remains a need for a formal economicdevelopment plan that is regularly updated.“No one to sell Lawrenceville”Together with the lack of a cohesive economic developmentpolicy, there is no one employed by the City or by the DDAor LTTA to expressly “sell” Lawrenceville as a place to dobusiness. The Chamber of Commerce looks over theinterests of the entire County, and, (as admitted by the Cityleaders and several business owners themselves),Lawrenceville cut themselves off from the County in manyways over the last twenty years, leading many economicdevelopment efforts to focus elsewhere, such as Sugarloaf,Duluth, Suwanee and the Hamilton Mill areas.The City has determined that now is the time to hire a fulltimeEconomic Development Officer that will be responsiblefor developing policy and for “selling” or marketingLawrenceville to the general public. This EconomicDevelopment Officer will not only be responsible for theexpansion of business and job opportunities inLawrenceville, but will also liaison or partner with CityOfficials, the DDA, LTTA, education leaders, healthcareCity of Lawrenceville 3 - 5Comprehensive Plan 2030Adopted VersionCommunity Agenda 6 October 2008