Economic Development Director Tim Johnson presented Federal Way’s first economic development strategy in the city’s history to the City Council on Tuesday.

Among initiatives centered around downtown development, replacing Weyerhaeuser when it leaves in 2016 and rebranding the city, were ideas such as free business licenses, a college branch campus and a focus on the Hollywood filming industry.

The strategy is outlined in a 90-page draft called “Some Assembly Required” and will be the topic of discussion for the next month in several public hearings and committee meetings before Council is expected to adopt it on Feb. 3.

The strategy, created by Johnson and other city officials since he was hired in September, is meant to improve the city’s economic development in two years.

“I’m estimating there will be somewhere between $350-450 million in new public and private investment over the next two years in Federal Way,” Johnson said, adding that includes development of Town Center, Federal Way High School, the investment in Weyerhaeuser and the addition of a Seattle Children’s Hospital clinic. “[We’ll] see an announcement of 10,000 jobs over two years — full-time, permanent or temporary … and reverse the poverty level by 4 percent over the next two years, reversing the trend of where we’ve been.”

Johnson said while he realizes his projections are aggressive, he said the city has a great team of people to make the strategy a reality.

“I feel like I’m in an organization that’s riding a crest right now towards success,” he said.

But there are several projects and policies needed to potentially get to that success.

Projecting a plan approval by August, the city is on track to developing a recently-purchased $8.2 million, 7.5 acre piece of land in downtown to create a portion of “Town Center,” which includes Town Square Park, the Transit Center and the future Performing Arts and Conference Center.

Johnson and Chief of Staff Brian Wilson have already been working “hand in glove” with Weyerhaeuser consultants on a weekly basis and face-to-face on a monthly basis.

“Our intent is to find an end user that will produce as many jobs as Weyerhaeuser did when it was in its prime,” Johnson said.

Weyerhaeuser president Doyle Simons announced in August 2014 that the Federal Way-based business will move its headquarters to Seattle in mid-to-late 2016. It has not been determined who the property owners will sell the 430-acre site to.

While some community members expressed their desire for a potential college branch campus at the site, Johnson and other City Council members envision a college branch campus in downtown.

A “university initiative” employs the idea of actively recruiting a college for Federal Way because, as Johnson pointed out, only 25.4 percent of Federal Way’s population has bachelor’s degrees or higher, according to the Census Bureau.

This is compared to 50-plus percent of Seattle residents, 46 percent of King County residents and 31 percent of Washington state residents who do.

“If we’re going to participate in science, technology, engineering and math and what is coming shortly to us, the Information Age, we need to make sure that more folks in our population have bachelor’s degrees and on because without education, we go nowhere,” Johnson said.

Because of this disparity coupled with other factors, 15-16 percent of Federal Wayans are in poverty compared to 13 percent of Renton residents and 22 percent of SeaTac residents.

On top of rebranding, the strategy calls for business recruitment, retention and expansion, improved market intelligence, communication and outreach, and access to and availability of capital for businesses.

Of the nearly 5,000 business licenses in the city, 58 percent are physically located in Federal Way, he said. Of those, 70 percent employ between one and five people.

“If they can’t get access to and availability to capital, what ends up happening is they go out of business,” he said.

He said there are several programs that already exist but have yet to be utilized as ways to attract and keep business. These include taking advantage of the LIFT program, implementing half of the school impact fees in downtown, a reduction on traffic impact fees, applying a central city project area State Environmental Policy Act review so that a company doesn’t have to do a full Environmental Impact Statement, no parking fees, maintaining no Business and Occupation taxes or head count fees and using Revolving Loan Funds for the redevelopment infrastructure process, among others.

Yet even Johnson recognized some ideas in the strategy may not be favored by all.

“I’ll probably get criticized for this but I’m calling for the elimination of business license fees for any business that goes into the central city area that’s focused on innovation, design, education, entrepreneurship or arts,” he said, noting that the city would lose about $25,000 for 20 businesses in five years. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll split the difference with you and you can take it out of my salary. But I’ll tell you this much, it will work because you’re sending a signal, a bow shot across the business industry, that you care about them.”

The city would target industries in construction, arts and tourism, healthcare, professional and business services, information and communications technology, entrepreneurship, and global and trade investment.

And one special sector, in particular.

“In recruiting the types of businesses, I’m not going to let this one pass by,” Johnson said. “We have never really looked at attracting filming, Hollywood films and television to Federal Way. Here’s my pitch to you, and I’ve talked to the mayor about this, how about a reality show called, ‘Federal Way?’ That’ll catch a lot of people’s attention. I’m not sure what the theme will be but I have a feeling it will go well.”

The plan calls for four business district associations — downtown, Twin Lakes, south and north Pacific Highway — and an annual economic development summit, among other opportunities for forums.

The next public hearing will be held at 7 p.m., Jan. 20 at City Hall.