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INFORMATION 1 10-01-2012 El REQUEST FOR ACTION River TO ITEM NUMBER Economic Development Authority AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY October 1,2012 Clay Wilfahrt,Assistant Director of Economic Development ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By Marketing Update Annie Deckert,Director of Economic Development REVIEWED BY Cal Portner, City Administrator ACTION REQUESTED None BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the Economic Development Division's marketing initiatives. City Website Staff is working with Civic Plus to build a new city website. The site is intended to be more user friendly,have enhanced capabilities including GIS property listings,and will better incorporate the brand message. Content is currently being developed and the site is planned to go live in early February of 2013. Marketing Materials All Economic Development marketing materials were redesigned,updated,and incorporated the Powered by Nature brand. Attached is a copy of the restaurant marketing piece. Fats Oils and Grease Awareness Economic Development,Waste Water, and Elk River Municipal Utilities (ERMU)worked together to develop a flyer raising awareness for the proper disposal of Fats Oils and Grease. ERMU included the flyer in 4,500 utility bills in September. A copy of the flyer is attached. A grease recycling educational event is planned for October 24,2012. The event will inform business owners about proper disposal of grease to prevent obstruction of sanitary sewer lines. Attached is a copy of the invite for that meeting. Developing by Nature Newsletter Economic Development Staff developed an email newsletter in August 2012. Sent to over 800 people, the newsletter covered recent EDA initiatives and accomplishments including the BDPI grant, IEDC coverage of the Powered by Nature brand, and the Main Street Parking Plaza. 6 * E N f u 8Y INATUREJ P Staff uses analytics to determine who is viewing information from the newsletter such as available sites in city industrial parks. Staff follows up this research by reaching out with more information. MNCAR The Minnesota Association of Commercial Realtors (MNCAR)Annual Conference and Expo is November 8,2012. Economic Development and Municipal Utility staff will exhibit and highlight Elk River's competitive advantages in data center recruitment. A mailer will be sent prior to the expo inviting realtor's to stop by Elk River's booth. The booth will showcase Elk River's experience in dealing with data centers,quality utilities, and ability to quickly act on data center projects. Manufacturers' Connection Becker,Big Lake,Princeton, and Elk River collaborated to organize a Manufacturer's Connection event on September 18. Approximately 20 regional manufacturers and educators were in attendance including officials from Elk River High School, Salk Middle School and J&J Machine. Participants expressed a need for a closer relationship between schools, students,and manufacturers in order to maintain a sufficient workforce. The Star News wrote an article about the meeting that ran on the front page of the September 22nd issue. As a result of the event, Elk River High School has expressed interested in having manufacturers and city staff participate in developing industrial tech curriculum in the fall of 2012. Several manufacturers expressed an interest in opening up for students to tour their facilities, and a couple teachers stated that they would be interested in having their students tour those manufacturing facilities. Staff is working with both parties to ensure initiatives move forward. Manufacturers' Week In addition to working with manufacturers and schools for tours staff will recognize the contributions of manufacturers to the local economy and workforce through a half-page ad in the Star News, social media posts,blog articles,and the city's website. ATTACHMENTS • BES Invite • Restaurant Marketing • Star News Article • FOGs Flyer • Developing by Nature Newsletter C:\Users\dhuebner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.Outlook\5DQXOYST\Marketing Update 10-1-2012(2).doc GREASE ' U DRAN 'S WORST ENEMY! LEARN rA W 1 F 9r GREASE BUILDUP! JG TOBER 24 2012 POANEIE111 2:30PM - 130 Hi �.RnneR ELK RIVER LIBRARY 00 YOU 11101 IOW MR WASTE IREASE IRPACIS !OUR PIPES ABU SEWER STSIE11? Dina t U KNOW THAT THERE ARE REIUIiTiO S GOVERNING HON PMTS, OILS ANU R[IISES ARE OISPUSEU' IIARN 1015 ADO FORE II TIE OCTOBER 24 HUSiNESS META EMT! SPEAKERS VII BF NDB DDDUSCH OF HUM i CREASE REC CEINI HU JUSTIN IEMRftE. ThE CITY ENGINEER DI THE CITY OF ELK MM EL HIS I3 ; ffIFE EMI T PIM NSW TI i63. 3i.TGO6 Jr-- omMMI '312 41141 ■III 71."":•-' ' - e.. A -tea 1— ,:- s ■ Vii 4 .�� '` :6:'• 'f �/ , 9 �G �► y r = 5: I c O #' O a o E = Ell RIVER LOVES DINING OUT TIE PULLING PURR ii ELI I IIEI Type of food Annual Spending This table compares the pull factor of Elk River with City Rank Food at home 859,805,000 the pull factor of other Minnesota communities with White gear Lake 1 Food away from home populations between 18,500 and 27,900.Pull factor Y 861,005,000 divides per capita sales for each area by pet capita Alcoholic beverages sales for the state. Elk River ranks high among its Chanhassen 2 8 (6,629,000 gh 8 Alcoholic beverages away from home 84,675,000 peers,and of the 26 communities,only four draw Waconia 3 more restaurant sales per capita than Elk River. (7u agora 1 °Within a five mile radius of Elk Rivet This is a great indication of the good health of Elk River's restaurant industry and further supports why Elk River 5 you should locate your restaurant in Elk River! POWERED BY CITY INCENTIVES Fridley 6 V. Austin 7 Take advantage of one of our many incentive programs -- * a4, (iakd:dc x including •Up to$100,000 in a low interest loan to cover $61 Million—amount Brooklyn Center 9 the purchase of real estate,equipment or spent annually by Elk River Crystal 10 building renovations I residents on food Champlin 11 *Spread your SAC and WAC fees for up to five away from home. , years over your utility bill Hastings 12 *Expert staff trained to get you through the $60 Million—amount Faribault 13 development process quickly and efficiently ' spent by Elk River residents on New Hope 14 ''All programs require formal application and applicable food at home . New Brighton 15 hoard approval Rosemount 16 Chaska 17 , t Prior Lake 18 Shoreview 19 \ ' Ramsey 20 9/27/12 Businesses,schools hit it off I Star News erstarnews.com httplierstarnews.com/2012/09/24/businesses-schools-hit-it-offi Businesses, schools hit it off By Jim Boyle on September 24, 2012 at 1:42 pm by Jim Boyle Editor If you had to describe this past week's introductory meeting between school officials and area manufacturers as a first date,you could say it ended with a passionate kiss and an agreement to meet again. Both groups and their matchmakers — the economic development departments at four cities in Sherburne County — left the 7 a.m. meeting feeling a sense of excitement and promise. Clay Wilfahrt,the city of Elk River's assistant director of economic development who got representatives of Elk River schools at the table,was still pumped later that day. "It was such a great tone setter to walk out and see so many people buzzing," Wilfahrt said. There's a lot of work to be done to address a labor shortage in skilled positions working with automation, robotics and such. It's a problem both locally and nationally. One of the nation's largest manufacturers at a recent symposium estimated this country is 900 machine shops short of fulfilling its needs alone over the next 20 years. In Elk River there are 80 manufacturers, and all seem to feel the effects of the skilled labor shortage in a field that has largely fallen out of favor with Generations X and Y. Manufacturers,who say they battle an image problem created by the dungeons of old that etched a dark and dirty picture in people's minds, have welcomed the Sherburne County Manufacturers Connection being spearheaded by people like Wilfahrt. It has been the goal Annie Deckert, the city director of economic development, and Wilfahrt to get these groups together to address common concerns and increase interest in manufacturing careers. "This is a huge win under the economic development belt," Deckert said of connecting manufacturers with our high schools and middle schools.The program should lead nicely into Minnesota's Manufacturing Week, slated for Oct. 22-28. One goal will be to give high school kids a chance to tour Sherburne County manufacturers.The erstamews.com/2012/09/24/businesses-schools-hit-it-of f/ 1/3 9/27/12 Businesses, schools hit it off I Star News city of Elk River is also working with local manufacturers to partner and provide open houses to the public. Elk River has more than 6o manufacturers,who employ more than 900 people. They make things such as the Jack Link's wrappers on beef jerky (Quality Label) to plastic sailboats in Great Clips Salons across the nation (Classic Acrylics). Businesses such as Alliance Machine, M&M Machine and Faribault Foods have been participants in the Sherburne County Manufacturers Connection. So have Elk River, Princeton, Becker and Big Lake schools. Tuesday's meeting was held at Glenn Metalcraft in Princeton. It was the third in a series of meetings between manufacturers and community development and economic development departments in Elk River, Big Lake, Becker and Princeton. Up to this week it has been informational in nature.All things seemed to point to a meeting with schools and manufacturers. Manufacturers locally and across the nation are grappling with a workforce shortage. School administrators are trying to figure out the best possible plan of action for this brave new world they find themselves in,while at the same time make decisions about the costly nature of shop classes. "My dream is to influence some of these guys coming out of high school that don't have a career path chosen yet," said Brian Provo,the owner of Alliance Machine and an Elk River graduate himself. "There's a good living to be made for a lot of people. "There's a lot of manufacturing in Sherburne County, and we're all in desperate need of help. I'd give my eyeteeth for a dozen more people right now." People are needed to be machinists and to work with robotics and other forms of automation. These jobs do not align very well with the stereotypical images people have a factory laborers. "Ninety percent of the job is monitoring robots and computers," said Provo,who also serves on the Elk River Economic Development Authority. "They do less handwork than ... I do in a day.A lot of it's like the work of a brain surgeon. Measure twice. Cut once." These workers need to come in with some experience and baseline knowledge. That's why they are looking to high schools and two-year tech schools for help. "The manufacturers want to see how we can improve the skilled labor force, and prepare kids for erstarnews.com/2012/09/24/businesses-schools-hit-it-off/ 2/3 good jobs that are and will be out there," Elk River High School Principal Terry Bizal said. "And we want see what they can do to help us make the most of our curriculum." Does that mean scaling back in one area that is fading to embrace another that is taking off? Does that mean apprenticeships or internships for high school students? Maybe it means schools borrow equipment a couple months at a time to train kids how to use real world technology that is state of the art. "We need to take a step back," Provo said. "Whatever is being done now is not working.The unemployment rate shows that. I have jobs that can't be filled, and there's people all over town that can't find work." Wilfahrt said the ideas were pouring out around the table Sept. i8. "I was so pleasantly surprised to see the expressions on people's faces, as you could see the gears turning as ideas were coming out," he said. In addition to Bizal,the Sherburne County Manufacturers Connection was attended by Salk Middle School Principal Julie Athman as well as TA Flatland, a magnet school teacher there. There were also several teachers from the Elk River High School, including: Paul Nelson, Shane Netzinger, Jon Ostercamp and Tim Wick. The Superintendent of Princeton Schools Rick Lahn,Joe Glenn of Glenn Metalcraft and Cory Lenz of J&J Machine of Elk River were in attendance. Provo and Matt James of M &M Machine have also been part of the Sherburne County Manufacturers Connection. One thing manufacturers discovered,Wilfahrt said, is that tours of area businesses stopped as the economy soured. Funds used to bus kids to businesses dried up.An official at the meeting from the Central Minnesota Workforce Center suggested he might know of a group that could provide such funding. "We would love to give kids a chance to see what's produced locally and what career opportunities are out there," Wilfahrt said. What else could come of this past week's meeting is yet to be determined. But the Elk River Economic Development Department sees a bright future. "Some cement laborers make more than my guys but they only work three months of the year," Provo said. "This is a good, stable income with benefits in a climate-controlled environment.And you're just as worthy at 20 years old as you are at 60." GREASE YOUR e City of DPA)NS WOPSIQ w v ENEMY ! VAN River GREASE GREASE CLOGS YOUR CAUSES SEWER NEVER POUR PIPES GREASE DOWN THE BACKUPS DRAIN! ID0 k DC NCI "Put oil, grease and food scraps in collectio containers IRemoye oil and grease from kitchen utensils, pots, pans and food preperation areas with scrapers/towels/brooms Keep grease out of wash water ii/Clean in, around and under grease traps daily FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT ELK RIVER CITY RAIL: 763.635.1000 WWW.ELKRIVERMN.GOV w r r • �� 41 1 1:' 1 t r,/ w Xi �, �, lid 1*t % 14 4 Elk : _ River • , II1771 ,.V•11"4 L Air ,w�..l i.. 1 n C4.2 4 Q CAt , l r OP w. o ' ii State Awards Elk River $250,000 In This Issue to Assist in Opening up New Lots State Awards Elk River$250,000 Grant Powered by Nature Recognized by IEDC for Development Main Street Parking Plaza The Elk River Economic Development Authority received a$250.000 grant from the MN —11 %; , !`.e+ Department of Employment and Economic {;_ Energized by New and Development earlier this month through their ' Expanding Business Business Development Public Infrastructure _- '• -- In the past several months. several new grant program. The goal of the program is to P stimulate economic development activity by ,, , and existing businesses filed for building helping local units of government provide _ permits. Here are some of the notable infrastructure to assist private sector developers, = filings: in hopes of creating and/or retaining high quality jobs. New Cherry Berry- 18157 Carson Recently renamed Nature's Edge Business Center to promote the Sharp&Associates-9821 Gateway community's brand,'Powered by Nature',this city-owned property is roughly Road 75 acres located on the fringe of the primary growth area of the Mpls/St. Paul Dojo Karate Studio- 19022 Freeport Metropolitan area,just southeast of the Northstar Commuter Rail Station in Sport Clips- 18209 Carson Ct Elk River. This site has great access to feeder routes through the area with Auto Zone- 18278 Zane St excellent access to US HWY 10 and US HWY 169(less than 1/3 mile away). The property is zoned light industrial with retail,commercial, light Expanding industrial and warehouse use permitted. Spectrum School- 17796 Industrial Fantastic Sams- 18033 Zane Phase one of the construction of the industrial park will begin early July, and will open three lots for development: 10.36,4.01 and 0.86 Thank you to these businesses for acres. Improvements will include the construction of two new streets choosing to invest in Elk River, and we municipal trunk sewer and water facilities,storm sewer and storm water look forward to your continued treatment facilities and mass grading of the area. Construction is anticipated successes! to be complete by October of this year. The city also has two lots available in Northstar Business Park, located Join our northwest of the Northstar Commuter Rail station site. All lots are for sale at Mailing List market rate with several financing programs available including tax abatement and a Micro Loan Program (up to$100,000 per Events project). Additional information can be found at or by calling 763-635-1042. Wednesday August 22 Elk River Library Business Education Event on Water Powered by Nature Brand Conservation-12pm Recognized by the International Monday August 20 g Y Elk River City Hall Development Council in Atlanta, City Council-6pm GA Monday August 27 Elk River City Hall Downtown Task Force-6:30pm The International Economic Development ". Council(IEDC)has taken notice of Elk River • " • Tuesday September 4th Community brand-Powered by Nature. The Elk River City Hall IEDC.the world's largest professional Joint Meeting of the HRA and City organization for economic developers with over , a Council-6pm 4500 members internationally,featured the Powered by Nature Brand as an example of a /—'1 I Monday September 10th successful brand implementation at a recent Elk River City Hall economic development marketing and attraction EDA Meeting-5 30p course in Atlanta. Currently, over forty business and organizations Monday September 10th use the Powered by Nature brand to market their r Elk River City Hall business. Additionally. over fifty business City Council Meeting-6:30pm owners and residents in Elk River provided video ' testimonials about what the brand means to Monday September 17th them. These and other initiatives including the Elk River City Hall Powered by Nature blog, caught the attention of City Council Meeting -6:30pm IEDC instructor Linda DiMario who said Elk River is"an example of a city. community and Economic Development Authority that has taken control of Wednesday September 19th their ground game to build momentum for their community identity!" DiMario Elk River City Hall used Elk River's brand to teach others how to engage a community to create Energy City Commission-8 30am 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 or Main Street Parking Plaza In 2006.the Elk River Housing Redevelopment "fi.= Authority(HRA)purchased 716 and 720 Main ■ a Street in Elk River with the intent to expand c downtown surface parking. In January of 2008, f the Elk River Area Arts Alliance(ERAAA)began r 2 occupying 716 Main Street. Ongoing maintenance costs and deteriorating ,o_ y 1r building conditions over the years led the HRA to • " " ; decide to demolish the buildings late December of 2011. The buildings were posing a threat to . the public's health and safety. The removal of the buildings left approximately 13,000 sq ft and provides a view of downtown Elk River from US HWY 10. The city of Elk River partnered with Landform to design a municipal parking lot, Main Street Parking Plaza,which incorporated design elements from the downtown River's Edge Commons Park and provides an additional 23 parking spots for downtown businesses. �.♦ ♦ • .f•