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HRSR INFORMATION 12-12-2011INFORMATION MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: Housing Redevelopment Authority Annie Deckert, Director of Economic Development December 12, 201 I Executive Director Update The purpose of this periodic memorandum is to keep the EDA and HRA informed of various ongoing activities that often go on behind the scenes in the Economic Development Division. EDA and HRA Commissioners should feel free to bring up any questions ox issues for discussion under the "Other Business" section of the Agenda. EDA Micro Loans Staff continues to monitor the following micro loans: Ethanol Technologies of MN and Nicole's Salon. In addition, staff has met with and provided Micro Loan information to several prospective businesses. An Energy Efficiency Rehabilitation Program was approved by the EDA earlier this year to provide additional incentives for existing businesses as well as new businesses. Restaurant Recruitment An update was provided to the EDA and HRA in September outlining efforts. Staff has initiated new recruitment activities in addition to the efforts outlined in the September memo. Staff heavily promoted our SAC/WAC payment program for full service restaurants at the 2011 Minnesota Commercial Association of Realtors (MNCAR). In addition, staff will be promoting this program through the distribution of the economic development holiday card. Staff has met with several developers to communicate our incentives, and discuss properties within Elk River feasible for restaurants. Staff is working with the broker of the old Hardees facility to fill the vacant building. Marketing material Staff is working to update and redesign our marketing materials to implement our brand. ~ ®~ E II E I i t N:ADepa~[mrn[~;ACommunity Derulopmen[AH<onomic DevclopmenLAI^tA [v moveAAgendv\Yoar20llVV.~ecudve ~~~~ Dircchx ttpoa 12-1~1 Ldoc Economic development website Outlined as a priority in the brand plan, staff is working with several web designers to obtain quotes fox a new website. 'T'his is an item which has been approved in the 2012 budget. Staff anticipates the website to be complete mid-2012. Greater MSP Greater MSP is a private-public partnership funded by business, institutions, and government, whose mission is to stimulate economic growth and prosperity, and higher quality of life for citizens in the Metropolitan region. Its primary role is to be a value-added resource to all economic development organizations and activities in the region In addition, Greater MSP hopes to better coordinate the activities of the region's economic development partners by providing vision, strategy, resources, and staff support to link state and local governments and organizations involved with job creation, marketing, recruitment and retention. Staff and EDA Commissioners Ron Touchette and Pat Dwyer attended an information roundtable with Greater MSP to educate the organization about Elk River, its attractions and resources. Since then, a prospective business lead has been provided to F_.Ik River. No more information is available at this time. Staff will continue to work with Greater MSP on business xecmitment. Recent Inquiries/Prospects Most prospects through the MNCAR system have been focused on searches for existing buildings, including restaurants, rather than new constmction. Staff has been working with Sherburne County, Elk River Municipal Utilities and Greater MSP to market acounty- owned piece of property for a future data center. Staff is following up with a few inquiries from the MNCAR Expo interested in the new SAC/WAC payment program fox full service restaurants. 716 & 720 Main Street In October of 2011, the HRA authorized moving forward with the demolition process fox these buildings because of their structural condition. Staff is wanking with Randy Schumacher from the Schumacher Group on management of this project A mandatory walk through fox all bidders was held late November, and bid opening took place on December 6`". There is asbestos present in both buildings; because of this, there are notices which need to be provided to applicable agencies which extends the anticipated timeline. It is anticipated a minimum the asbestos removal will take a minimum of three days, and demo and backfill will take approximately three to four days. The project will be executed from the north side of the buildings in the parking lot; staff anticipates only a portion of the parking lot to be closed. Staff will work closely with downtown businesses to ensure this information is communicated. The HRA will be considering a demolition contract at their December 12`h special meeting. Per approval, staff will be moving forward with the process. The buildings are anticipated to come down sometime during the last week in December/first week of January. A verbal update regarding the HRA action will be provided at the EDA meeting. N:ADepartmentsVCommunity DevclopmrntVISwnomic DwelopmemVI IRA In moveAAgendaAY~ar211ll VISseeu[ive Di~ec[o<<epoc[ 1Z 12-7 Ldo< Staff has worked closely with Elk River Meats in regard to project communication. Elk River Meats wIll be closed fox business during the time of anticipated demolition. At the November HRA meeting, the HRA directed staff to explore potential uses for this site after demolition. Staff will be researching this topic and report back the HRA at a future meeting. Elk River Axea Arts Alliance (ERAAA) The ERAAA has relocated to 310 and 314 Jackson place and held their grand opening on December 10`h. The ERAAA indicated this is a temporary location. Region 7W Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) In 2009, staff and a few EDA, HRA Commissioners and the Mayor participated in public information meetings to develop economic development strategies for the Region 7W (Stearns, Benton, Wright, Sherburne Counties). The CEDS analyzes the regional economy and serves as a guide for establishing regional goals and objectives, devising and implementing a regional plan of action, and identifying investment priorities and funding sources. A CEDS is required by the US Dept. of Commerce in order to access federal economic development giants fox infrastructure, disaster recovery and some stimulus funding programs. 'The CEDS plan was recently completed and submitted fall 2010. Staff attends periodic meetings to discuss this plan and to learn about potential grants and programs which we may be eligible fox. Branding Implementation The Powered by Natare brand is growing quickly. Numerous businesses and organizations utilize the brand, and staff continues to move forward with brand implementation. Staff created a Powered by Nature b1og, and the logo can be seen on city materials including emaIl signatures, business cards, letterhead, agendas, memos, receipts, and more. The City's branding steering committee developed a list of the 23 most high-impact and important goals and assigned a responsible party and timeline for each. The branding subcommittee is working to branch out by identifying and assembling a Brand Champions Team led and chaired by the private sector with a staff liaison. Potential CDI Expansion Staff received a proposed expansion fox Crystal Distribution Inc. (CDI), located in Northstar Business Park late this summer which proposed an expansion onto the 8.88 acre vacant lot in the northern portion of the park. CDI expressed their desire fox a potential lot split because their expansion did not require the entire pastel. Splitting the lot would leave the northern portion of the lot inaccessible. In addition, sewer and water service would need to be made available to the remainder of the parcel. At their October EDA meeting, Che EDA directed staff to work together to come up with a proposed site plan acceptable by both CDI and the city. In addition, the EDA directed staff to obtain appraisals on the property in its entirety, and the two separate parcels should the lot be split. This is to determine the market value and the marketability of the northern portion of the parcel should the lot be split. N:ADepa~tmrn[s-VCommunity DevelopmentAGconomic DevelopmentAI IRA to moveA/Agcoda\Y ca2U11 VI'.xemtive Director mpoa L2- 7~1Ldoc Staff obtained quotes and is working with the appraiser to complete the appraisals. These appraisals take roughly 3-4 weeks to complete. Staff will bring this information back to the EDA for discussion at a later date. Social Media Evaluation Staff is working to review, evaluate, coordinate and benchmark city social media presences. This process begins by critically analyzing social media presences to determine audience, voice and consistency. Following the analysis is development of a plan to optimize social media presence by targeting each voice at its audience and maintaining a consistent presence through message automation. Finally, staff is setting benchmarks fox each social media presence and measuring success accordingly. This evaluation is anticipated to be complete early 2012. Ta Law Earlier this year, a brewer taproom license (otherwise known as the "Surly Bill" and "Minnesota Pint Law" (Subd. 6, Section 340A.101) was approved by the MN Legislature. Included in the annual omnibus liquor bill (HF 1326), this gives production breweries such as Surly, Schell's, Summit, etc. the opportunity to sell pints of beer at their brewery. Staff has prepared a draft taproom ordinance fox Council consideration at a future meeting. Business Subsidy Reporting In 2009, the Bank of Elk River was granted an extension to achieve their job and wage goals as outlined in their Tax Abatement and Business Subsidy agreement which was approved in 2007 for the renovation and expansion of their downtown location, extending their deadline to September of 2011. In October, The Bank requested an additional two-year extension which was approved by the City Council, extending their job creation and wage goal deadline date to September of 2013. Staff continues to complete the mandatory annual reporting to the state fox other tax abatement and business subsidy agreements. Northstar Commuter Rail Staff continues to attend the Northstar Commuter Rail marketing meetings to promote ridership. Staff utilizes our city website and social media to promote the train service. In addition, Uo-'To cards (discounted train tickets) axe available at City Hall for purchase. The US Deparnnent of Housing and Urban Development received a giant to execute a market analysis study along the Northstar Carxidox. Staff has met with consultants and will continue working with them to provide community information, plans and resources. An open house revealing the results is anticipated to be held mid-2012. Foreclosure Initiatives The strategies to address foreclosures in Elk River axe 3-fold - 1) Prevention 2) Preserve & Secure and 3) Recovery. To address this issue, staff applied fox and received the Neighborhoods Stabilization Program grant to provide applicants with down payment assistance. A total of 13 households were provided down payment assistance ranging from N:Allepaamen[sVCommunrt~• Dcvelopmrn[Aliconomk Dcvdopmrn[AI fRA [o moveAAgcnda\Ycar2U11 VI?sccutive Dim<[o~ rcpoct 12- 1Z1Ldoc $5,000 to $14,999 (not including matching sources) as a result of the City's NSP program Staff has conducted several outreach presentations with various community groups regarding the city's strategies in addressing foreclosures as well as communicating resources available through partner agencies like the MN Homeownership Centex and HOME Iane. Quarterly mailing of this information is provided to local banks, mortgage companies, churches and non-profits. Staff continues to collect foreclosure data from the county and share information with various city departments to monitor these neighborhoods and prevent issues arising from vacant homes. This interdepartmental communication will be more important going into the winter season to prevent water damage in foreclosed homes. Staff maintains an in-house list outlining available properties within the cit}' which may not be listed on the larger databases. Minnesota's Manufacturer's Week Minnesota Manufacturers Week is held every year to recognize the contributions of manufacturers to the economy. This year staff partnered with Big Lake and Monticello to organize a Manufacturers Meet and Greet The Meet and Greet was held to establish a network between manufacturers, educational facilities, and workforce resources. The event had roughly 15 participants and will be held again in January at the request of the manufacturers. Staff partnered with the Chamber and Minnesota Workforce Center to host a tour of Metal Craft on October 29`h. Business Retention/Expansion Visits An update will be provided at the EDA meeting. Additionally, staff is a member of the Elk River Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown River's Edge Business Association, Two Rivers Referrals networking group and the local Biz to Biz chapter to strengthen relationships with local retail and commercial businesses. Local Business updates • E & O Tool and Plastics recently celebrated their 25`" year anniversary. • Elk River Printing has been chosen as the 2011 Chamber Business of the year • Pizza Ranch will be opening on December 12`h • JoAnn Fabrics opened late November • Ashley Furniture celebrated their grand opening on December 8`~ • Nicole's Salon closed late November • Simenson' s Salon and Spa closed in October; Bella Salon relocated from Carson Street Station to this location • Hardees closed in September and moved to a new facility in Rogers Other updates The activities below are outlined in the Economic Development Strategic Plan and 2011 Vision & Goals status update. Please refer to these documents fox additional information: N:ADcpartmenf+ACommunity DevelopmentVliconomic DevelopmentAI IRA [o movcAAgenda\Ycar211ll VI'secutlvc llimcroc report 12 12-1l.doc • Commercial/Industrial Sites inventory • 171" Focused Area Study • Data Centex marketing • Future industrial park site identification • 2012 Housing Study • Downtown revitalization plan N:ADepa~tmrn[sVCommuni[y DevelopmentAI!conomle DevelopmentAHR~ [o moveAAgendaAYeafLOll \Nsewrive Dimetor report 12- t~ll.doc