OUR SERVICES
Our diverse areas of expertise are designed to fit the changing needs of your community.
01.
MANAGEMENT
Unexpected staffing changes, transitions in executive-level positions, and increased workloads are inevitable in small and large communities. Let us lend your community our over 20 years of experience to help with those transitions, opportunities, and connections. We can provide a stabilizing hand to your organization during uncertain times and ensure that no project or issue gets left behind during staffing changeovers. These services include:
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Serve as interim agent and department Management
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Project implementation and management
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Staff recruiting assistance
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Applicant vetting
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New hire onboarding
02.
ZONING & PLANNING
Land use planning and development affects every aspect of local governance and is integral to the future of your community. Most people can tell you that they like a town, a street or a building but they can’t tell you why. Proper planning for design and land use are the why. From facilitating, writing or amending your community master plans, comprehensive plans and ordinances to dealing directly with your staff or prospective developers and property owners, Vance LLC can help your community create its why.
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We also have experience negotiating Planned Developments and Development Agreements to ensure that new development and redevelopment projects compliment, not detract from this why.
03.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic development means very different things to each community. Our approach to it focuses on nurturing a fertile ground for existing and new businesses to thrive in your community. In our minds, recruitment and placemaking are how this is done. We focus first on creating a physical place that people and businesses want to be through physical and aesthetic improvements to make your community visibly attractive and on policy improvements to make your community financially attractive. Creative public funding options are often needed for a community to realize the benefits of economic development. Vance LLC has extensive knowledge in the various public funding options allowed in South Carolina including; Tax Increment Financing, Municipal/County Improvement Districts, Residentail Improvement Districts and Multi-County Industrial Parks. We can use these options to move your community forward and take full advantage of the economic development happening in your community.
04.
EDUCATION, TRAINING, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND ALIGNMENT
Having a well-trained and aligned staff, council, boards and commissions is important to your agency’s success. These activities are often more well-received when delivered by an independent and external expert. Vance, LLC’s staff has experience in providing elected and employed members of public agencies training on various management and planning topics.
We have also facilitated several strategic and comprehensive planning exercises to align organizations with the goals of their citizens and membership. Not only will these exercises create a clear and concise path forward, they will also train your group to work together. These types of activities begin to create the muscle memory it takes to truly work together to move your community forward.
05.
PUBLIC FUNDING
We have never heard a community say that they have too much funding for a project. Oftentimes, a public improvement project takes three or four different funding sources to make it become a reality. Our staff has over 20 years of knowledge on how to build these funding stacks using federal, state, nonprofit and local government funds.
In 2024 Vance LLC secured over $4 million in Federal and State funding for our clients for public improvement projects. From writing grants, to working with state and federal delegations to get projects funded, to grant and project administration, we can help your community find the funds to make your projects happen and help you manage them to successful completion.
06.
COMMERCIAL BUSINESS RECRUTMENT
A healthy balance between residential, industrial and commercial properties is essential to a stable tax base and local government financial sustainability. Commercial business recruitment includes the recruitment of retail, restaurant, service and office users to your community that enhance the overall quality of life of your citizens. At Vance Consulting we have created a 7 part process to enhance a community's ability to recruit commercial users:
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1. Establish Priority Investment Areas
2. Conduct a Retail Market Analysis for each Priority Investment Area
3. Conduct a Real Estate Analysis to highlight current or future vacant or underdeveloped properties in each Priority Investment Area
4. Survey community for desired commercial offerings in each Priority Investment Area
5. Conduct a SWOT Analysis on each Priority Investment Area
6. Create a Recruitment Strategy for each Priority Investment Area by determining ways to mitigate its challenges and take advantage of its opportunities. These may vary for each area and can include placemaking activities, business incentives, infrastructure investments or public-private partnerships.
7. Tell Your Story! Make data available to the public. Utilize local Chambers of Commerce, Civic Groups, Realtor Associations, etc. to get your community's story to potential and existing entrepreneurs, business owners and property owners.