7.0. EDSR 11-13-2000 1 Item 1 7
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City of MEMORANDUM
Elk ,. River
TO: Economic Development Authority
FROM: Pat Klaers, City Administrator
DATE: November 13, 2000
SUBJECT: Marketing Plan Update
One of the four key goals of the Economic Development Strategic Plan is the
development and implementation of a marketing strategy for the city's
business parks. I am directly involved with two of the marketing plan
projects, which are 1.) the siting/expansion process and customer service
project and 2.) the communication standards and brand (logo/symbol) project.
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We have just completed our second meeting of the siting/expansion process
and customer service project. Duckor and Associates, Inc. is leading this
project and Director of Planning Michele McPherson is our staff project
coordinator. Members of the project team include Michele; Cathy and Marc
from economic development; Steve and Cliff from building and
environmental; Terry from engineering; Bryan from utilities; Lori from
finance; and me. One of the goals for the project is to have staff members gain
a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities they and others have
in the development process. Ultimately we hope to develop a "how to do
business with the City of Elk River" guide and to implement some tracking or
management system to help us make sure that we don't miss a development
process step or task in working with our customers.
The first meeting for this project was somewhat general in nature and
allowed for a discussion on what we believe are the needs of the client, the
city development process, and the strengths and weaknesses in our
development process. The most recent meeting dealt in more specifics and
each department identified their tasks in the development process and how
they interact with other departments. This discussion will continue at the
• next meeting and then we will move to how the process can be improved.
13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 • Elk River, MN 55330 • TDD & Phone (763) 441-7420 • Fax(763) 441-7425
• The other marketing project I am involved with, the communications and
brand project, is just starting. City Clerk Sandy Peine is the staff lead for this
project and this project will not begin in earnest until after the election.
Currently we are looking at identifying everywhere the elk (our brand) shows
up and doing an inventory for each use of the elk.
Duckor and Associates, Inc. is also helping the city with this project and has
a similar project with the Elk River Municipal Utilities. General Manager
Bryan Adams is a key player in coordinating these two projects together so
that the brand between the city and the utilities is similar if not identical and
that our uses of the elk are also similar if not identical. Members of the
project team include Sandy, Bryan, Michele, Cathy, Bruce West, Tom Zerwas,
(or his representative from the police department), and me.
The downtown or central business district is referenced in both the Economic
Development Strategic Plan and in the Industrial Marketing Plan. In both
plans the emphasis is on redevelopment, an action plan, and design
guidelines in order to improve the attractiveness of the area. Recently the
downtown was a topic for a joint meeting between the City Council and the
HRA due mainly to the King/Main redevelopment project and the sidewalk
• plan for this area. At that joint meeting staff received direction to continue
working with the HRA and downtown business owners in order to combine
our existing downtown plans with the more recent riverwalk trail plans into
one overall master plan. This will take a number of meetings and a fair
amount of staff time and effort to complete. In a sense, the city was lucky
that it controlled the King/Main site so that it could ensure quality
redevelopment, but lacking any clear standards makes us vulnerable to a
private redevelopment project that is completed without city involvement. In
this type of situation the private developer could propose almost anything
that meets the letter of the code without appropriate consideration to the
"look and feel" of the downtown area. A master plan or guide should help us
manage the downtown redevelopment areas.
s:\eda\meetings\mktgpin.doc
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Item # 7.:
• MEMORANDUM
TO: Economic Development Authority
FROM: Marc Nevinski, Assistant Director of
Economic Development
DATE: November 13, 2000
SUBJECT: Marketing Plan Update
Staff has been working on the following components of the Strategic Industrial
Marketing Plan.
2001 Ad Campaign
An ad campaign has been developed for 2001 and will utilize two distinct types of
ads. The first will feature testimonials from area business executives and will
highlight various aspects of the community. (See Attachment) Examples include
workforce development, recreation, services, and access to venture capital. The
intent is to go beyond promoting real estate and promote Elk River's character and
resources to corporate decision makers. Currently, staff is working with Greta
ilk Wedell to further develop the above topics into ads, which will run in Twin Cities
Business Monthly and Job Shop Technology.
In addition to the testimonials, real estate oriented ads will appear in the Minnesota
Real Estate Journal and its quarterly Leasing Guide. These ads will be targeted to
brokers and may include a broker-oriented testimonial.
Web Page
Staff has again started working on the economic development web site. However,
because the City is redesigning its logo, establishing new guidelines for its use, and
possibly choosing new colors, staff will compile all the necessary content and then
complete the layout once the logo has been redesigned.
Fact Sheets
Fact sheets have been developed for both the East and West Business Parks and list
the zoning, acreage, land price, location, utilities, and contact information for each
area. Maps of the parks will be included on sheet. Staff will develop a final layout
once the new logo and color scheme is established.
Attachment
• . Conceptual Testimonial Ad
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