TASSA CONSULTING GROUP, LLC - 2007

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EZ Application Consultant Services - City of Santa Ana July 5, 2007 I. Statement of Qualifications & Experience Tassa Consulting Group, LLC was formed in 2005 to assist cities and counties, such as the City of Santa Ana, in applying to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) for Enterprise Zone (EZ) designation, as well as seeking expansions of existing EZs. Snodgrass & Micheli, LLC was formed in 2004 to provide governmental relations and advocacy services, with a focus on enterprise zone designation and expansion. This application is a joint venture between the two fIrms. The principals involved in both firms successfully led the application effort of Stanislaus County and three of its cities (Modesto, Turlock and Ceres) in 2004-05, through an arduous I8-month application process. This was the first competitive EZ process handled by HCD, and the first EZ designation approved by the state in many years. In a competition involving nine applicant jurisdictions, where only three were ultimately successful, Stanislaus County scored the highest number of points and became the 40th EZ in the state on November 16, 2005. In the following year, the competition involved 25 applicants for 23 spots. We assisted the following eight applicants: CalexicolImperial County; San Diego, Chula Vista and National City; Richmond; Compton; San Francisco; , Long Beach; Delano; and, Merced County (including six of its cities). Every one of them received Conditional Designation. Accordingly, our record of success stands at 100%: We intend to have similar success in this year's Application process. We have also worked on several EZ expansions during the past few years including, most recently, the Stanislaus County expansion to include Patterson, Oakdale, Riverbank, and parts of Modesto, Turlock and Salida. In addition, Snodgrass & Micheli, LLC handled the successful expansion of the Bakersfield EZ to include the Dreyers' facility, which is now the world's largest ice cream manufacturing plant. We work with the private sector companies in the surrounding area, County and City officials and staff, the local economic development corporation and HCD in these expansion efforts. In addition, our firms have extensive experience and proven ability to work effectively with local government staff, the Workforce Investment Board (WIB), state officials and other relevant stakeholders. We have worked with both individual and multi- jurisdictional applicants. Our extensive experience and expertise in working with the Administration, including HCD, Business, Transportation & Housing Agency (BT&HA), and the Governor's Office, each of which plays a role in the EZ designation process, is unmatched. In all 9 successful EZ applications that we have handled, and the expansions that followed, we have worked extensively with state, local and elected officials. In addition, we have broad experience with and knowledge of California's EZ Program. Rex Halverson, a Principal at Tassa Consulting Group, previously worked at KPMG as a -3-