MAYORS INSTITUTE September, 18, 2013 DESTINATION WHITING, INDIANA

Striving for Diversified AV Growth Enhance “Business Corridors” Improve “Housing Inventory” There are different ways to do it Whiting is betting it’s through tourism related development OUR STRATEGY

Luck played a bigger part in our story than talent did Probably no surprise to you! DISCLAIMER

To give you a perspective of Whiting’s geography, here’s an aerial view of the city LAY OF THE LAND

WHY TOURISM? Whiting’s 4 Top Assets are:

bp

All 4 Assets support the theme BP - Engaged Partner - Tax $$ - Tourism Asset (think Hershey, PA) Main St. – Supports the visitors Pierogi Fest – 300K visitors Proximity to Chicago = 9.5 million people WHY TOURISM?

We knew we needed a catalyst Lakefront Development was the obvious place to start With the help of American Structurepoint, we created a plan Implementation of the Plan was estimated to cost $50M HOW DID WE START?

We then shopped the plan to anyone who would listen It all came down to finding someone crazy enough to publicly beg for $30M HOW DID WE START?

LOOK NO FURTHER

$50M Lakefront Development $20M RDA Grant $20M TIF Bonds (single taxpayer) $6M Federal Grants $3M BP Contribution $1M Pocket Change SECURED FUNDING

WHAT’S BEEN COMPLETED?

WHAT’S IN PROCESS NOW?

WHAT’S on DECK? BP’s $4 billion modernization project will hit the tax roles in 2014 Will allow me to: Issue a new bond for $$$ Retire the $20M Lakefront bond

LF - STADIUM DISTRICT $20M Lakefront Hotel Lakefront Restaurant 150,000 sf mixed-use development 3 in 1 Museum Senior Apartments Residential Condos – Single Family We’re far from done …. 3 years?

BP plans to build a new “ginormous” Office Campus $$$ Adjacent to Oil City Stadium All in our TIF Primary driver for location selection was our Lakefront Plan ICING ON THE CAKE

Analyze your strengths – Assets You must have a “Plan” & “Vision” No one will take you seriously You don’t have to reinvent wheel Shamelessly promote your City until you run out of liquor, then start again TIPs

Start small We started with acquisitions Recruit a corporate partner(s) Hire a grant writer UTILIZE TIF Be “Relentlessly Persistent” Took me 7 years TIPs

If Whiting can get this far with me steering the ship, sky’s the limit for you guys! ENCOURAGEMENT