Driving Sustainable Economic Growth through Partnerships and Quality-of-Place

Danielle Cohen Lima, Economic Development Director, City of Sunrise

Danielle Cohen Lima is Economic Development Director for the Sunrise, focused on business attraction, redevelopment, and public–private partnerships. She emphasizes quality-of-place, workforce alignment, and long-term planning to strengthen economic resilience, job creation, and sustainable community growth.

This article is based on an interview between Govt CIO Outlook and Danielle Cohen Lima. It explores her perspectives on business attraction and retention, aligning economic growth with community priorities, public–private collaboration, and building long-term resilience through strategic planning and quality-of-place investments.

Tactics for Attracting and Retaining Businesses Today

We prioritize supporting businesses by being accessible and responsive, assisting with permitting, navigating City processes, providing training, connecting owners to resources, and when appropriate providing incentives. We also use the City’s suite at Amerant Bank Arena to host business owners and developers, which helps build genuine relationships in a more informal setting.

Those relationships are critical to retention. I’ve spoken with businesses that considered expanding elsewhere but chose to stay in Sunrise because they felt supported and connected. That sense of partnership often leads to organic attraction through word of mouth. At the same time, we continue to promote Sunrise through print, video, and social media as a premier Business and Entertainment Destination, anchored by assets such as Sawgrass Mills, Amerant Bank Arena home of the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers and one of the largest corporate parks in the state.

Beyond direct outreach, we focus on quality-of-place investments that make Sunrise more attractive overall. Public art, park improvements, streetscape enhancements, and the redevelopment of older commercial plazas into residential or mixed-use projects, including workforce housing, strengthen the City’s appeal. Ongoing investments in infrastructure and transportation allow us to grow responsibly without the congestion or capacity issues seen in larger cities.

One particularly effective non-traditional economic development tool is our free, on-demand transportation service within the Business and Entertainment District. It supports employee commuting and access to jobs and amenities, and it is a benefit business owners consistently cite as an advantage of being in Sunrise. Ultimately, businesses want to locate in communities where people want to be, and these quality-of-place investments help make Sunrise exactly that kind of city.

Aligning Economic Growth Initiatives with Community Priorities

A strong business base allows the City to generate tax revenue without placing additional burden on homeowners. In fact, Sunrise has not increased its millage rate in 17 years. When discussing economic development or redevelopment projects with residents, I emphasize that attracting businesses and new development helps fund City programs and services while keeping taxes stable.

We also align growth with community benefit by offering incentives to larger employers that hire Sunrise residents, ensuring job creation directly benefits the local workforce.

Community engagement is a critical part of this alignment. We host meetings for specific development projects to listen to residents’ concerns and work collaboratively with developers to address issues and add components to the project that provide a benefit to the community overall.

“The challenge is adjusting strategies while staying true to a long-term vision that benefits the community.”

Additionally, the City takes a proactive role in land acquisition and disposition to maintain greater influence over the type of development that occurs in key areas.

A strong example of this strategy is a 25-acre parcel the City acquired in the 1990s. Over the years, multiple residential and commercial proposals were presented, but the City chose to hold the property, recognizing the community’s long-term need for a hospital. In 2025, the City sold the site to Baptist Health, and construction of a new hospital will begin this year. The state-of-the-art, 100-bed facility represents an approximate $500 million capital investment and will create hundreds of high-paying jobs, while providing residents with access to top-tier healthcare close to home. It is a project that strengthens both the community and the local economy.

Accelerating Local Economic Outcomes through Public–Private Partnerships

Public–private partnerships are essential to successful economic development. I work closely with brokers, site selectors, business owners, property owners, land use attorneys, and developers, always looking for ways to align the City’s vision with private-sector goals. For any plan to be successful, the priorities of both the public and private sectors must be aligned so projects are feasible, timely, and mutually beneficial. I see the role of an economic development professional as a bridge between City policies, processes, and leadership and the priorities of business owners and developers.

The City operates within zoning codes, procedures, and public processes, while the private sector is often most concerned with time, cost, and feasibility. Strong partnerships help align those perspectives and move projects forward.

A good example of this collaboration is the implementation of the East Sunrise Improvements Master Plan, adopted in 2019 which was a Plan focused on strategies to increase investment in the oldest area of the City. While some elements of the Master Plan plan could be implemented directly by the City, much of it focused on opportunity sites that are privately owned and outside of City control. A key part of my role was building relationships with property owners, educating them on the plan’s long-term vision, and gaining their buy-in. At the same time, attracting the right mix of businesses to the area required creative thinking and strategic incentives. The City lays the groundwork and acts as a facilitator and sometimes helps bridge the gap, but ultimately, private investment is what brings these plans to life.

Leadership Skills for Navigating City-Level Economic Change

Flexibility and sound judgment are critical leadership skills during periods of economic change. Economic development professionals must understand that what we want is not always immediately economically viable. The challenge is adjusting strategies while staying true to a long-term vision that benefits the community.

As economic conditions change, the traditional focus on large, headline-generating wins can become more difficult. In those moments, effective leadership means recognizing the value of smaller, incremental successes, whether that’s supporting existing businesses, advancing modest redevelopment projects, or improving quality-of-life initiatives that strengthen the overall economy.

Versatility is also essential. There is no typical day in economic development. My work can range from negotiating incentive agreements to discussing technical redevelopment details, developing small business programs, or managing the selection and installation of public art. Being able to shift between very different responsibilities and understanding that each contributes to the City’s broader success is key to navigating change and building long-term economic resilience.

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