HANDOUT AT MEETING litarid 0 tiki-- fa
El REQUEST FOR ACTION
River
To I ITEM NUMBER
Economic Development Authority& Housing and
Redevelopment Authority
AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY
August 13, 2012 Clay Wilfahrt,Assistant Director of
Economic Development
ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By
Other Business Annie Deckert, Director of Economic
Development
REVIEWED BY
ACTION REQUESTED
None.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Below are notable updates from the past month:
• Economic Development and Environmental staff will host a business educational event on
August 22 at 12:00pm at the Elk River Library. Elk River Municipal Utilities will present
information regarding water conservation. The event is free,and local businesses are
welcome to attend.
• The first City of Elk River Realtors'Forum on Wednesday August 8 had 19 Realtors in
attendance. Mayor Dietz welcomed the group, and staff presented information encouraging
realtors to use city resources. The event built relationships between staff and realtors and
encouraged open and active communication between them. Feedback about the event from
the realtors was positive; each indicated they would be interested in a similar annual event.
Economic Development staff met with the President of ReMax Results Realty to discuss the
Micro Loan program because of the Forum.
• The Powered by Nature brand was featured at the August 9 and 10 International Economic
Development Council Marketing and Attraction Training Class. Elk River's progress implementing
the brand impressed IEDC instructor Linda DiMario who decided to use Elk River as an example of a
community that has taken control of their"ground game" to build momentum for their community
identity. A press release is attached and will be distributed.
• Staff attended a broker's event held by Granite Shores to discuss their commercial space. Area and
metro brokers were invited to provide input and suggestions to fill the vacant space. Three brokers
attended the lunch,and it was the consensus of the group that filling the space with retail and/or
commercial would be extremely challenging. Their work with retail/commercial tenants indicates a
desire to be along Hwy 169, not Hwy 10. They indicated that limited parking was a major deterrent
and encouraged soliciting executive-type office uses. The brokers also indicated Granite Shore lease
space was considerably higher than all other available space in the area, and highly encouraged Granite
Shores to accept and work with any and all offers they received from potential tenants. Staff provided
community information, downtown parking maps and incentive information to the brokers.
[ Mali er
NATURE
• Midwest Living Magazine held a photo shoot earlier today at Pompeii Pizza to feature in the March
2013 issue of the publication. This is a regional magazine who utilizes professional photographers to
feature different communities and businesses throughout Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin.
ATTACHMENTS
• IEDC Press Release
• Business Educational Series Invite
Action Motion by Second by Vote
Follow Up
C:\Users\dhuebner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\2TFRCCVW\Other Business August
13th.docx
PkiLl ...,./), News Release
Elk ,�� For Immediate Release
liver Contact:
13065 Orono Parkway Clay Wilfahrt
Elk River,MN 55330
763.635.1000 Assistant Director of Economic Development
763.635.1090(fax)
763.635.1041
cwilfahrt @elkrivermn.gov
Powered by Nature Brand Recognized by the International
Development Council in Atlanta, Georgia
Elk River, Minn.-The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) has taken notice
of Elk River Community brand—Powered by Nature. The IEDC, the world's largest professional
organization for economic developers with over 4500 members internationally, featured the
Powered by Nature Brand as an example of a successful brand implementation at a recent economic
development marketing and attraction course in Atlanta.
Currently, over forty business and organizations use the Powered by Nature brand to market their
business. Additionally, over fifty business owners and residents in Elk River provided video
testimonials about what the brand means to them. These and other initiatives,including the
Powered by Nature blog, caught the attention of IEDC instructor Linda DiMario who said Elk
River is "an example of a city, community and Economic Development Authority that
has taken control of their ground game to build momentum for their community
identity!" DiMario will used Elk River's brand to teach others how to engage a community to
create a community identity.
The Elk River EDA kicked off the branding journey in December of 2010 with branding consultant
chandlerthinks. The community brand,Powered by Nature,was presented to the community in
September of 2011 and has been quickly embraced by area businesses, organizations and residents.
More information about the Powered by Nature brand can be found at www.poweredbynature.com
or www.poweredbynature.blog.com
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