Policies could be developed so that the rest of Somerset isn’t “left behind” by growing commerce in Dockyard.This is according to Erica Smith, director of the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation, who spoke to west end residents and business owners last night.She said the Economic Empowerment Zone (EEZ) agency had conducted research over the past three years and identified concerns held by Somerset residents and stakeholders.It had identified a series of issues, including the fact Dockyard gets resources to develop commerce, “but Somerset gets left behind”.“This has been a fact, and continues to be a fact, but as we continue to designate Somerset we will develop some policies to try and address that,” she said.Ms Smith said the recently established Somerset Economic Empowerment Zone (SEEZ) would involve a ten-year plan to empower area residents and business owners to take control of their future.The plan was based on stakeholders’ concerns, such as a lack of commercial garbage collection, limited parking for store customers to utilise and lack of public transportation and coordination between ferry and bus schedules to make sure there was a timely provision of services.“Of course commerce competition in Dockyard and how to overcome those challenges, especially if the vast majority of economic dollars are being spent to promote that as a destination over and beyond any type of village setting of Somerset,” she said.She said many businesses felt they were last on the suppliers’ list. For while there were many attractions and historical sites in Somerset, there didn’t appear to be any coordinated effort to attract visitors and utilise and promote those resources.“There isn’t any type of community commerce hub, no real town centre,” she added. “Somerset has a real linear pattern of development right along Somerset Road, through to Manchester Street, but there isn’t really one point that people can point to and say this is considered the hub of Somerset itself.”The EEZ began in North-east Hamilton in 2007 and earlier this year expanded to include both Somerset and St George’s.Ms Smith said the west end EEZ would include approximately 50 percent of the land area, approximately 305 acres, in Somerset.Starting near Willow Bank, it runs along Somerset Road and Mangrove Bay Road, ending at Watford Bridge.It includes Sandys 360 and other open spaces designated for the community. It also incorporates hotels 9 Beaches, Willowbank and Cambridge Beaches, which can “partner with tourist entities and businesses that operate in this area,” said Ms Smith.Last night she outlined the agency’s ten-year plan, which seeks to empower area residents and business owners to take control of their future.The plan includes:l creating unification within the zonel looking to overhaul the public transport schedule to address untimely service issuesl creating marketing opportunities to exploit tourism.l establishing a vendor marketl creating a central meeting space as a hub for activityl setting up evening entertainment opportunitiesl developing some kind of village collective in the area, such as a division of the Chamber of Commerce to focus strategically on Somerset and its issues.l increasing parking capacity to create pedestrian and browsing traffic for businessesl creating opportunities by utilising the tight-knit communityl providing Government services directly in the SEEZ not currently available in order to be an advocate for business and commerce in the area.At a meeting last night at Sandys Secondary Middle School, Ms Smith was asked why the zone did not include Somerset Bridge and some of the fishing and marine sports businesses in the vicinity.She said they started the zone on Somerset Road, after much research, to incorporate businesses like Packwood Home and Pearman Funeral Home. She said only Robinson’s Marina would fall out of the zoning.