Olympia Strong: A Roadmap to Economic Opportunities

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What’s Happening?

The City of Olympia has launched an effort called Olympia Strong to better understand what actions it can take to help residents, businesses and our City organization thrive – particularly in challenging economic times. The things we learn will help build a roadmap to a healthy, inclusive and sustainable economic ecosystem.

Background

At the onset of COVID-19, Olympia joined forces with economic development partners from around the region in an effort known as Thurston Strong. The partners took immediate action to help businesses and workers weather the emergency (a hotline, protective gear, childcare support, $9 million in grants) and implemented a 24-month plan to accelerate regional economic recovery and support workers seeking new job opportunities.

Now, it's time to focus within Olympia on creating the positive economic conditions that can provide long-term support for our city, its employers, and the people who call Olympia home.  

Why are we doing this?

Olympia has many strengths. Among them, an overall stable economy, top-rated schools, vibrant economic centers, and people and organizations who genuinely care and work together to make a positive difference. We also face challenges which disrupt our economic system such a housing crisis, climate change, and workforce and supply shortages.

Disruption inevitability leads to change. As we recover from the pandemic, we have an opportunity to shape this change. Olympia Strong invites our community to consider new approaches to our local economic ecosystem and explore how we can:

  1. Elevate more people of all backgrounds and abilities into financial stability and help people overcome economic hardships,

  1. Leverage and expand on Olympia’s economic strengths,

  1. Sustain economic growth and support for Olympian entrepreneurs,

  1. Build on the work of Thurston Strong, and

  2. Ensure municipal funds and other funds are capable of supporting community goals.

Get involved

Share your ideas!

Use the "Ideas" tab below to tell us your ideas for building a more stable and inclusive local economy. You can also click the heart button on other users' ideas to show your support.

Schedule a presentation
Invite staff to host a discussion with your community group (October 2022 -March 2023) We’ll share some data about our economic ecosystem, what we are hearing from the public and discuss ideas for action. To schedule a presentation, please contact Amy Buckler at abuckler@ci.olympia.wa.us.

Stay informed

Sign up to receive Planning & Development E-news alerts at olympiawa.gov/subscribe.

What’s Happening?

The City of Olympia has launched an effort called Olympia Strong to better understand what actions it can take to help residents, businesses and our City organization thrive – particularly in challenging economic times. The things we learn will help build a roadmap to a healthy, inclusive and sustainable economic ecosystem.

Background

At the onset of COVID-19, Olympia joined forces with economic development partners from around the region in an effort known as Thurston Strong. The partners took immediate action to help businesses and workers weather the emergency (a hotline, protective gear, childcare support, $9 million in grants) and implemented a 24-month plan to accelerate regional economic recovery and support workers seeking new job opportunities.

Now, it's time to focus within Olympia on creating the positive economic conditions that can provide long-term support for our city, its employers, and the people who call Olympia home.  

Why are we doing this?

Olympia has many strengths. Among them, an overall stable economy, top-rated schools, vibrant economic centers, and people and organizations who genuinely care and work together to make a positive difference. We also face challenges which disrupt our economic system such a housing crisis, climate change, and workforce and supply shortages.

Disruption inevitability leads to change. As we recover from the pandemic, we have an opportunity to shape this change. Olympia Strong invites our community to consider new approaches to our local economic ecosystem and explore how we can:

  1. Elevate more people of all backgrounds and abilities into financial stability and help people overcome economic hardships,

  1. Leverage and expand on Olympia’s economic strengths,

  1. Sustain economic growth and support for Olympian entrepreneurs,

  1. Build on the work of Thurston Strong, and

  2. Ensure municipal funds and other funds are capable of supporting community goals.

Get involved

Share your ideas!

Use the "Ideas" tab below to tell us your ideas for building a more stable and inclusive local economy. You can also click the heart button on other users' ideas to show your support.

Schedule a presentation
Invite staff to host a discussion with your community group (October 2022 -March 2023) We’ll share some data about our economic ecosystem, what we are hearing from the public and discuss ideas for action. To schedule a presentation, please contact Amy Buckler at abuckler@ci.olympia.wa.us.

Stay informed

Sign up to receive Planning & Development E-news alerts at olympiawa.gov/subscribe.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Resiliency Survey

    Thank you for taking time to complete this brief survey. Olympia Strong: A Roadmap for Economic Resiliency is an extension of Thurston Strong work initiated during the pandemic. Goals include creating pathways to economic resiliency for more people and building inclusive economic systems that better enable our community to weather challenging times.

    In this first phase of the project, we are inviting people to help create the broader vision. We’re interested in learning about your perception of  Olympia’s economy now, and what you’d like to see or be able to say about economic opportunities a decade from now. Let’s get started!

    Closed
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Page last updated: 14 Feb 2023, 01:24 PM