City of Fife, WA – Economic Development Action Plan

Challenge

Strategically situated in Washington’s Puget Sound region with direct access to major freight corridors and the Port of Tacoma, the City of Fife (City) boasts a strong legacy as an industrial and commercial anchor. However, as the City evolves, it faces pressures around constrained developable acreage, high development costs, limited retail amenities, and complex permitting processes. Securing Fife’s long-term resilience requires the alignment of infrastructure and land use with market demand—balancing its strong local tax base with core traded sectors to cultivate a competitive, sustainable economy where businesses and workers thrive.

Response

To establish a clear path forward, the City engaged TIP in late 2025 to formulate the Economic Development Action Plan (EDAP). TIP conducted an economic assessment delivered via interactive data visualizations, engaged over 70 community leaders, and synthesized more than 120 business and resident survey responses. Findings informed an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT), from which a clear understanding of Fife’s competitive position and areas of strategic growth emerged. Grounded in the City’s newly adopted comprehensive plan and aligned with regional frameworks, the resulting EDAP establishes four strategic focus areas: (1) Business Growth; (2) Economic Competitiveness & Investment Readiness; (3) Enhanced Quality of Place; and (4) Strategic Communication & Marketing. The plan targets core traded sectors—Logistics, Transportation, & Distribution; Manufacturing; Industrial & Advanced Materials; and Technology & Business Services—while supporting foundational local business clusters such as car, recreational vehicle, and boat dealerships. To drive execution, TIP also provided a flexible, Excel-based implementation matrix specifying action steps, lead roles, regional partner organizations, and metrics. Ultimately, the EDAP provides a dynamic, data-driven framework and accompanying implementation tools that empower Fife to optimize public and private investment, support local job growth, and elevate its regional economic standing.