6.0. EDSR 01-09-2006TT]',ri # 6.
x~ver
MEMORANDUM
TO: Economic Development Authority
FROM: Heidi Steinmetz, Assistant Director of Economic Development ~~
DATE: January 9, 2006
SUBJECT: Strategic Industrial Marketing Update
Attachments
"Starting the year right," Elk River Stax News. January 3, 2006
News from the Hub Econotnic Development Newsletter, Winter 2005
2005 Business Retention and Expansion Visit Schedule
I. Product Offering Strategy
The EDA will discuss this strategy during the 2006 goals and projects agenda item.
I I. Competitive Strategy
See the attached article regarding Duke Realty's acquisition of 160 acres of land in Otsego
fox an office/industrial park. Duke submitted a proposal to Elk River a year ago for the
exclusive development of the EDA's Noxthstar Business Park.
III. Key Account/Lead Generation Strategy
Staff has received two significant inquiries within the last month.
IV. Promotions & Advertising Strategy
As in previous years, staff is working with Tammy Miller Design on the 2006 Strategic
Industrial Advertising Campaign. More details regarding the 2006 ad schedule will be
provided in a future marketing update.
V. Public Relations Strategy
Technical Assistance Program
In May 2003, the F_DA conunitted a $5,000 match to a giant provided to the EDA by the
Initiative Foundation to implement atwo-year partnership program with l~linnesota
Technology, Inc. (MTI). The progtam offers manufacturing companies up to a X2,000 giant
fox technical assistance services, such as plant layout assistance or Lean manufacturing
training. Applications axe reviewed and approved by staff.
Stcatntn'c Industrial Mazk[ing Updnm
January'J, 2006 GllA Meeting
L'agc 2 of 3
The program was utilized by Elk River Machine last summer when they received a $2,000
Technical Assistance Program giant fox strategic planning assistance provided by M"T'I.
I'he two-year giant period with the Initiative Foundation ended on May 31, 2005. Staff
requested and received two 6-month extensions since that time, which allowed the program
to be extended until June 30, 2006.
Economic Development Newsletter
Staff and Wolf Marketing & Media completed the attached 9`h edition of the Economic
Development newsletter in late 2005. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide
manufacturers and site selectors information that is useful to their operations and to present
an "open fox business" image. The newsletter is distributed in the Economic Development
marketing packets, is available fox download on the Economic Development page of the
City's Website and is distributed directly to approximately 550 people representing the
following groups:
• Elk River manufacturers
• Manufacmxexs located in Anoka, Sherburne, Wright and Hennepin Counties
• Past & present prospects/inquiries
• Key accounts (site selectors, bankers, etc.)
Holiday Card
Holiday greeting cards were sent to approximately 175 people, including Elk River
manufacturers, prospects and key accounts. Fox the last three years, the holiday card has
been custom designed, inwxpoxating the City's logo into a holiday theme on the front of the
card.
2006 Community Profile
'T'ypically the Community Profile is available early each year; however the 2006 Profile will
not be available until early Spring this year in order to include the fma12006 tax rates rather
than the estimated rates.
VI. Strategic Partnership Strategy
Energy Citv
Staff developed a Request Fox Proposals (RFP) fox the redesign of the Energy City Website
and received three proposals on January 3`d. Staff and the Energy City Commission Chair
will make a recommendation fox a designer at the next Energy City Commission meeting on
January 18"'. This project will consume a fair amount of staff time during the first half of
2006.
Downtown Revitalization Pxoiect
Watch fox the next Q & A Newsletter in a late January issue of the Elk Rivcx Stax News,
which will answer many of the community's recent questions about the project. In
summary, the environmental xemediation of the Bluff Block occurred in November and
construction is anticipated to begin soon. The construction of Jackson Place will begin this
Spring.
Stxam~c Industrial Marlxe[ing Update
~uvuary'l, 20U( ISDA Meeting
Page 3 of 3
Shexbume County Economic Development
Over the last couple of months, the County has been working on completing its commercial
and industrial market analysis of cities and townships within the County. Staff met with
County officials late last year to provided input and assisted them in completing the analysis
for Elk River.
Staff continues to attend monthly Sherburne County Economic Development Alliance
(SCEDA) meetings and most xecendy presented Tax Rebate Financing requests to both
SCEDA and the Sherburne County Board fox the Quality Label project in Elk River
Business Park.
VII. Business Retention Strategy
2005 Business Retention and Expansion (BRF,, Visits
A total of seven BRE visits were held in 2005. The 2005 BRE schedule is attached, which
contains BRE visit dates and other meetings ox contact made with Elk River manufacturers
in 2005.
Staff is working on the 2006 BRE schedule, which will include Elk River manufacturers who
have not been contacted in the last couple of years. As in previous years, staff encourages
that Commissioners attend BRE visits.
2005 Minnesota Manufacturing and Technology Week
As you may have read in the attached newsletter article, "Manufacturing Week luncheon
scores a touchdown," the 2005 Minnesota Manufacturing Week event drew more than 50
people including about ten Elk River manufacturers. In years past, less than five
manufacturers attended the event.
Starting the year right
Starting the year right
by Susan M.A. Larson
Staff writer
The new year is off to a fine start for Otsego, with news of a multi-
million dollar industrial park to be built there by Duke Realty.
"This is the first major industrial development for Otsego," said City
Administrator Mike Robertson. "We've had several small industrial
parks, but this will be as big as anything any other community has.
Right now, the concept calls for a million square feet of industrial
space."
"It's actually more than that," said Pat Mascia, Duke's senior vice
president, Minneapolis operations. "We could conceivably build r.4
million.°
"It will be a $ too million project when it's done," said Mayor Larry
Fournier. "We look for our tax base to continue to be one of the lowest
in Wright County."
File on Duke Realty Corp.
•Duke Realty Corp. owns, builds,
develops, leases and manages
commercial real estate in r4 cities in
the Midwest and the South.
•Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind.,
with an office in Minneapolis, Duke is
one of the larger commercial real
estate companies in the United
States, with toe million square feet of
office and industrial properties in t4
cities in the Midwest and South.
•Duke has nationwide construction
capabilities with 4,50o acres of land
to support 64 million square feet of
development and total property
ownership of more than rt5 million
square feet.
The city has agreed to the development and provided incentives and
discounts on sewer and water hookup fees. The future industrial park, which Mascia said has yet to be named,
will be located just east of Highway ror and south of County Road 37. Duke has approximately rho acres, of
which about tzo has been earmarked for industrial. The industrial park will include space for warehouse,
office, manufacturing and distributing.
"We have various sites under contract," said Mascia. "We haven't closed on any of the land yet. We're
scheduled to close on one piece (last week) ... Grading and dirt work will start this spring. Then we have to let
the site settle a while. We ie going to look at the feasibility study, but we might be able to put a building up (in
2006). There's some challenges with the topography there."
Describing the future park, Mascia said, "We're looking at big box industrial, probably 24-3z-foot clear
buildings" of various sizes. "There will be a couple of build-to-suit pads where we could build a couple of
smaller buildings, 50,000-85,000 square feet. The rest will probably be anywhere from t53,ooo to z9o,oo0
square feet."
Of the decision to build in Otsego, "The location is great," said Mascia. "We have a big footprint in Brooklyn
Park and we're looking to expand that. It's the biggest and strongest industrial submarket in the Twin Cities."
Expounding on that, Mascia explained that Duke likes to build large industrial parks with a lot of density in
one area. There are, he noted, very few sites available that allow for that.
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Four groundbreakings to bring and create 126 jobs
GOAL TO BE THE `LIGHT INDUSTRIAL HUB OF THE NORTHWEST METRO' IS ON TRACK
roundbreaking shovels have been
getting quite a workout in Elk
River in recent months.
Since late September, those shovels have
been used by local officials and business
owners to break ground for four new
facilities in City business parks. All of
the finns are new to Elk River, bringing
with them a total of 74 existing jobs and
creating 52 new ones.
All four manufacturing finns received tax
rebate financing assistance from the City
of Elk River and Sherburne County.
.'he assistance provided to the four
companies ranges from $150,000 to
$275,000, depending on the number of
jobs the firm will bring to the City and
the cost of the land.
"The City looks at
these projects as
part of along-term
effort to attract
companies that bring
solid employment
opportunities and will
become active parts
of our community,"
says Catherine
Mehelich, the City's
Director of Economic
Development.
"Elk River has truly
become the light
industrial hub of the
Northwest Metro."
^ Medical Extrusion Technologies
(MET) Inc. is building a 20,000 square
foot facility on 2.4 acres. MET, which
manufactures plastic tubing for medical,
cotrunercial, telecommunications and
recreational applications, has been in
business since 1990 in California. It
wanted to build a "sister site" in the Twin
Cities to be closer to many of its clients.
MET expects to create 23 new jobs.
Here's a look at the four companies
building facilities in Elk River:
^ Crystal Distribution Inc. is
constructing a 30,000 square foot facility
on 3.7 acres. The company provides
sheet tneta] fabrication for custom
heating ventilation and air conditioning
distributors throughout the United States
and Canada. It will bring 31 existing jobs
to Elk River and create 15 new ones.
There is room on the lot for a future
12,000 square foot expansion.
^ Classic Acrylics Inc., a plastic
fabricator ofpoint-of-purchase displays,
has broken ground on a 20,000 square
Please.ree "Groundbreaking"on Paget
a.ray or tcx cover economic Development Winter 2005
Alliance Machine Int.'s Bryan Provo, vice president, and
Pat Provo, president and founder, recently broke ground in
Elk River.
GYOZl72dbi"CRk211g (Continued from Page I)
foot facility on 2.48 acres. The company "The people in the Economic
plans to bring 13 jobs to the City and
°xpects to create five more. The site will
.ave room for a furore 5,000 squaze foot
expansion.
^ Alliance Machine Inc., which
machines plastic and metal components
for high-tech manufacturers, is building
an 18,000 squaze foot facility on 2.84
acres. There is room for a future 10,000
square foot addition. Alliance's clients
are in the aerospace, computer, medical
and defense industries. It will bring 30
jobs to Elk River and create nine more.
As far as Alliance Vice President Bryan
Provo is concerned, relocating to Elk
River was a "No-brainer."
Development Division welcomed us with
open arms and were a month ahead of
every other city in giving us a proposal
for financial assistance and a plan,"
says Mr. Provo, whose firm is currently
leasing space in another northwest metro
suburb. "And working with the fire and
building inspectors went very quickly
and smoothly. We looked into moving
to several other cities, but after we'd
worked with Elk River and got such a
positive response from everyone there,
the decision was easy."
Of the four companies to break ground,
one, Classic Acrylics, is building in
the Elk River Business Park, while the
other three are locating in the City's new
Northstar Business Park just off U.S.
Highways 10 and 169.
One of the attractions of the Northstaz
Business Park is that it is located within
walking distance of the future Northstar
Commuter Rail line slated to eventually
make a 40-mile run between downtown
Minneapolis and Big Lake.
"The future Northstar line is a great
feature of that business pazk," says Mr.
Provo of Alliance Machine.
"We definitely have employees who
will use i[, and perhaps even some of
our customers who fly into the airport
will use the rail line to come out to our
facility." ^
New Community Development Director on board
SCOTT CLARK NOW OVERSEES THE CITY'S DEVELOPMENT-RELATED FUNCTIONS
hen the City of Elk River hired
Scott Clark in recent months,
it did more than just bring a
~ew face to City Hall.
With Mr. Clark's hiring, the City also
created a new department, called
Community Development, to oversee
four divisions: Economic Development,
Planning, Building and Environmental.
Each division has its own supervisor.
Mr. Clark, who has worked in various
city planning and development
deparanents for three decades, is Elk
River's new Director of Community
Development.
"One of the goals of creating the new
Community Development Department
is to build an even better development
process for developers in Elk River," says
Mr Clark, who has a master's degree in
Urban and Regional Studies. "Some of
the keys we see aze communications and
efficiency."
In the past, developers could enter
the city development process through
ifferent avenues. Now, they will enter
the process in a more uniform way.
"We have excellent people in excellent
divisions, and my job is to make sure
that we create an efficient system and
process for developers to follow," says
Mr. Clark. "And once the City Council
sets the City's goals and strategies for
development, we will be committed to
following and implementing those as one
department, with the different divisions
performing their part of the job."
For example, the Economic Development
Division will continue to make efforts to
attract light industrial businesses to the
cmnmunity's industrial parks, as well as
explain possible financial assistance plans
to prospective businesses.
Mr. Clark arrived in Elk River in recent
months with plenty of knowledge and
years of experience concerning city
development issues.
For 27 years, he worked for the city
of Brooklyn Park, where he was both
the Deputy Community Development
Director and the Director of Economic
Development.
In addition to day-to-day development
issues, Mr. Clark was involved in two
major efforts: The development of
industrial properties along the new
Highway 610 corridor, including the
development of
a 500,000 square
foot financial
office building
for Target
Corp.; and the
Village North
redevelopment
project, a 150-
acre rundown
retail area
that will be
transformed into 500 units of new
housing and some retail.
Mr. Clark also spent ayear-and-a-half as
the Community Development Director in
Arden Hills, where the city is engaged in
an ongoing effort to develop 450 acres of
]and that has long been part of the U. S.
Army's ammunition plant. The project
is expected to create 2,500 housing
units, light industrial projects and sotme
retail. When completed, the overall
development should generate $800
million of real estate value.
As For his new job in Elk River, Mr.
Clark said he's bullish on the city's
prospects for continued success in
attracting businesses, including light
industrial companies.
Pleare see "Community"nn Page 3
City of Elk River Economic Development Winter 2005
Scott Clark
Manufacturing Week luncheon scores a touchdown
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, CHAMBER TEAM UP FOR INFORMATIVE EVENT
txing business with fun and
education was an overriding
theme at Elk River's
Manufacturing Week Luncheon in mid-
October at the Time Out Restaurant &
Sports Bar.
Sponsored by the Elk River Economic
Development Authority (EDA) and the
Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce,
the luncheon drew more than 50 people,
including representatives from about 10
manufacturing firms located in Elk River.
The featured guest speakers were Dr.
Frederick Zimmerman, a manufacturing
expert and a professor at the University
of St. Thomas, and Chuck Foreman, the
All Pro running back from the glory yeazs
of the Minnesota Vikings.
With these two well-known guests
providing their insights for success,
the title of the day's events, naturally,
blended football with business: "What's
"We were impressed that the luncheon
featured Dr. Zimmerman, who is a well-
known and well-respected industry
expert," says Mr. McChesney. "When
we saw that he would be speaking, we
knew we had to go because anytime you
can heaz him talk you're going to gain
valuable insight into what's going on in
the industry... seeing Chuck Foreman was
a nice bonus, too."
Dr Zimmerman provided local business
owners with valuable information about
strategic planning and manufacturing
processes, while Mr. Foreman spoke
about the vital leadership role that
local businesses have in a community.
Mc Foreman also provided plenty of
autographed memorabilia and gave away,
as door prizes, four NFL footballs signed
by the legendary No. 44.
Before lunch, participants toured two new
manufacturing facilities in Elk River:
Orluck Industries, a precision machining
firm that opened a 23,500 square foot
building earlier this year; and Gradient
Technology, ahigh-tech firm that opened
a 13,000 squaze foot headquarters and
reseazch facility in late 2004.
I Your Game Plan for 2006?"
On hand at the luncheon were Elk River
Machine Co.'s Jim Barthel, the president,
and Todd McChesney, the manufacturing
manager.
Community
(Continued from Page 2)
"The city is well-positioned to continue
to grow in terms of more housing,
retail, and light industrial," Mr. Clark
says. "Our industrial parks offer great
opportunities for companies that bring
with them good jobs. Our downtown
redevelopment project should stimulate
other development in the city, as well as
major redevelopment projects"
Mc Clazk adds that the Community
Development Department is planning
to host a developers' forum in February
in which city officials will explain
changes in the development process and
ask for input from developers. Details
I -onceming the forwn will be available
after Jan. 1. Please call the Economic
Development Division at 763.635.1040
for updates. ^
City of Elk River
"Elk River business people tell us
they like to go out and tour the city's
manufacturing businesses," says
Catherine Mehelich, Elk River's
Economic Development Director. ^
Huger Target Tech Center is big catch
CITY, COUNTY TEAM SECURES QUICK APPROVAL
Target Corp. broke ground in October on its future 160,000 squaze foot
Technology Center, which will be located on 30 acres of land formerly
owned by Sherburne County in faz western Ells River.
Despite the fact that the massive project involved the county and several city
departments, the approval process took just a matter of months. Last spring,
Elk River's Economic Development Division received an inquiry from a broker
looking for a site for a large user, which remained anonymous at the time.
Upon receiving the inquiry, the Economic Development Division referred the
broker to Sherburne County, which was in control of 70 acres adjacent to its
government center to accommodate future growth. Because the county does not
need all of the land, it was looking to put a portion back on the property tax rolls.
"The City of Elk River and Sherbume County distinguished themselves well, both
during the negotiations for the land and the approval process," says Collin Barr,
Vice President of Development for Ryan Cos. USA Inc., the designer, builder and
general contractor on the Tazge[ project.
"They did the whole thing efficiently and effectively, which often is not the case
here in Minnesota, and which was important on this project."
The project needed to pass through the City's Planning, Engineering, and
Building Divisions. Along the way, it needed approvals for platting, site plan and
conditional use permits. It also needed approvals from the Elk River City Council
and the Sherburne County Board.
"It really did take alot ofhand-in-hand coordination between the City and the
County, and they did a very goodjob of that," says Mr. Barr. It will be Target
Corp.'s second technology center in the Twin Cities. ^
Economic Development Winter 2005
airy of
~.lk
River
13065 Orono Pkwy
Elk River, MN 55330
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ELK RIVER, MN
Downtown Elk River is being revitalized
PROJECT WILL BRING NEW RETAIL, HOUSING AND PARKING TO HEART OF CITY
EIk River's Light industrial parks
aren't the only spots in town
seeing lots of construction
activity.
The city's downtown is currently
undergoing a major redevelopment,
which will bring new retail, parking,
a plaza and housing to the heart of the
business district.
The project has been spearheaded and
planned during the past three years by
the city's Housing and Redevelopment
Authority (HRA) and SL Paul-based
MetroPlains Development LLC.
Constmction began in late October,
when three existing older buildings
were razed to make way for the
redevelopment. The project entails two
components:
^ Bluffs of Elk River, which will have
11,000 square feet of street-level retail
space, 67 condominiums on three upper
floors, underground parking, and a
plaza on the corner of Main Street and
Parrish Avenue
^ Jackson Place, which will have about
10,000 squaze feet of street-level retail,
32 rental housing units on the upper
two floors and underground parking,
In addition, one portion of the
downtown revitalization project was
completed earlier in the summer, when
the city improved an existing parking
lot on the site of its former Municipal
Utilities building, which added about
70 new stalls.
Community Development Director
Scot[ Clark sees the downtown
revitalization project as a key to
attracting new businesses, housing
projects and residents to the City.
"I see the downtown project
stimulating other development activity
in [he City," Mr. Clark says.
"When you have a vibrant downtown,
it creates synergy between the
residential areas, the business parks and
the retail areas." ^
City of EIk River Economic Development Winter 2005
EIk River's revitalization of its downtown began in October with the
demolition of several existing buildings.
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