POCATELLO — He ran on three primary platforms — economic development, more attainable housing and rebuilding community trust. Six months into the job, Pocatello Mayor Mark Dahlquist feels he has gained ground in all three areas.

Like many who live in the Gate City, economic development is at the top of his concerns. As mayor, he now has a seat on the board of the Portneuf Valley Development Corporation, or PVDC.

“One of the first things we did there is hire back Gynii Gilliam,” Dahlquist said. “She brings a lot of experience, a long list of contacts and a lot of enthusiasm. We are getting that organization revitalized.”

Gilliam led what was then called Bannock Development Corporation from 2006 to 2012. The PVDC announced last week that Gilliam had been hired as interim executive director for at least one year to help the PVDC refocus its efforts. She has not ruled out remaining longer if needed.

But there are other areas where tangible growth is happening, such as SME Steel.

“SME Steel has expanded since I took office,” Dahlquist said. “They now have another new facility out at Pocatello Regional Airport. They have been adding five to seven people a week.”

He recently toured the Pocatello FBI facility and learned the agency plans to add 50 or more positions in the future.

Dahlquist believes he has brought a good mix of prior experience — 18 years as an executive at Farmers Insurance followed by 19 years as executive director of the nonprofit NeighborWorks Pocatello — to the mayor’s office and is doing all he can to build relationships around town.

“I have been doing my best to get out there and talk to businesses, find out what they need,” he said. “I think we are positioning ourselves really well for growth. There are some things going on but there is more to do.”

In his role as executive director of NeighborWorks Pocatello, which works to revitalize central neighborhoods in Pocatello, he became familiar with the city’s planning and development processes — both the strengths and the factors that can create a lag in development. He said there are many pieces to the planning and development puzzle, but his goal is to streamline the process.

“Priority number one with housing development is to make development easy,” Dahlquist said. “We need to accelerate development and not make it a long process.”

He said cities can be compartmentalized when it comes to planning, often requiring developers to satisfy one department before moving on to the next. His hope is to create a system through which a developer has a single point of contact at the city who helps resolve issues as they arise.

When it comes to rebuilding community trust, Dahlquist believes accessibility and transparency will go a long way.

“We have introduced what we call the ‘Mayor’s Minute,’” Dahlquist said. “Those have been well received and I am trying to keep those topics based on issues the community is concerned about.”

He has also reintroduced quarterly town hall meetings. The most recent included an explanation of the city’s planning and development process. The plan for those meetings is to have a speaker discuss an issue of community concern, then open the conversation to those in attendance for comments or questions.

Dahlquist also adjusted the structure of Pocatello City Council meetings to signal that the community is a priority.

“We restored the comment period to the beginning of the meeting,” he said. “We had pushed that back to the end of the meeting and in some instances weren’t doing it.”

To further aid transparency, the city is rolling out a new budget platform called OpenGov, through which residents can view the city budget in real time — even during the budgeting process.

“It’s something that we have been using internally and it will go live on our website later this summer,” Dahlquist said. “The public can access OpenGov and see all these budget documents.”

Dahlquist said he has made strides in each of the three areas he committed to during his campaign, adding that it has not been a singular effort — those around him are also committed to making the city better.

“I am settling in pretty well,” he said. “I am embracing it and I am enjoying the ride. It comes with more stress and more work, but it fits like a glove.”