Only a few weeks after retiring as Marysville’s longtime city administrator in March, Mary Swenson is back to work, this time as a senior adviser at Ron Dotzauer’s Strategies 360 in Seattle.
Commenting on her “short retirement,” Swenson admitted she was surprised by Dotzauer’s call but soon came to the same conclusion as he had — her 32 years of economic development, planning and administrative experience has great value for Dotzauer’s expanding ranks of municipal clients.
“When Ron approached me, knowing what I did with economic development planning in Marysville, I saw an opportunity to help other communities, too,” she said. “My husband asked me, ‘Didn’t you just retire?’ ”
Splitting her time between her home office in Marysville and Strategies 360’s Seattle headquarters, Swenson said she’s been busy getting familiar with the regional strategic planning firm, settling in with an experienced staff she calls “pretty amazing … with great depth” and linking up with contacts in the associations and communities where she was active while working for Marysville.
Among other roles, she was a past-president of the Washington Cities Insurance Authority and served on the boards of the Washington City-County Management Association and the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re thrilled to bring Mary on board,” said Dotzauer, S360 co-founder and CEO. “Mary’s expertise and strategic counsel will be invaluable to our clients. Her regional connections are incredible, but her knowledge of how to get things done is even better.”
As city administrator, Swenson oversaw a period of rapid growth and economic development in Marysville, when the population grew from 4,700 residents to 58,000. She also guided the development of master plans for three distinct areas within Marysville, laying the foundation for industrial and retail development as well as revitalization of the downtown business district. Following implementation of the city’s economic development strategy, three major retail centers opened, boosting city retail sales and use tax revenues by more than 52 percent in two years.
For years, Swenson oversaw several economic development committees that streamlined the permitting process and assured predictability within the development community. The city’s Community Development Department gained a reputation for being one of the most efficient permitting jurisdictions in the state.
“I love cities. Being able to use my knowledge to help them is exciting,” she said.
The newest master plan covers Smokey Point, which led to development of the recently opened Lakewood Crossing shopping center that added significantly to the city’s retail base. It also plans for future job creation on industrially zoned land north of the city and south of the Arlington city limits.
When Swenson left the city, Marysville was working with property owners in the Smokey Point area of Arlington to finance construction of a new I-5 overpass at 156th Street NE, which would greatly reduce congestion at Marysville’s Lakewood Crossing shopping center and open up access to industrial land in north Marysville.
“You have to have a plan, that’s the first rule for cities that want to accomplish organized economic growth, and you need to work with your neighboring communities,” Swenson said. “Mayor Dennis Kendall has been a great help in working with the Tulalip Tribes and building relationships. We also coordinated with Arlington. Economic development isn’t limited to just your community. If a business didn’t find what it needed in Marysville, we’d recommend Arlington or Lake Stevens.”
Swenson also has expertise to share about working with commercial developers and home builders.
“Most of the staff the public needed to see for building permits and economic development plans were on the second floor of City Hall,” she said. “We moved them down to the first floor and it greatly improved communications and public access. … But to plan it we had to work with the public and developers to find out their needs. … Developing a master permit process made it easier and faster for the public and developers to get their plans approved, which gave the city a good name in the building community.”
Now, Swenson’s sharing the lessons she’s learned.
“Strategies 360 has a lot of commercial and municipal clients who can benefit from what I learned from the local government side. I’m really glad to be here to share those ideas,” she said.
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