7.3 HRSR 02-06-2017Template Updated 4/14
Request for Action
To
Housing and Redevelopment Authority
Item Number
7.3
Agenda Section
General Business
Meeting Date
February 6, 2017
Prepared by
Amanda Othoudt, EDD
Item Description
HRA Annual Report for 2016
Reviewed by
Cal Portner, City Administrator
Reviewed by
Action Requested
Receive information
Background/Discussion
The HRA Bylaws require that the Housing and Redevelopment Authority review all existing projects.
The Annual-End-of-Year Report lists major activity in 2016. That report is attached. Staff will review the
report with the HRA at the Annual Meeting.
Financial Impact
N/A
Attachments
HRA Annual-End-of-Year Report (delivered at the meeting)
Quarter 4 Website Analytics
Key Highlights in 2016
■ HRA's partnership with Central
Minnesota Housing Partnership
(CHMP) was widely successful
in 2016. Nine projects were
completed with four more under
construction in 2017.
■ The new Blighted Properties
Residential Forgivable Loan
Program was implemented.
■ Direct mailings were sent to
over 500 residences within the
targeted area of the CMHP
Rehab Program.
■ The HRA's Rehab program was
featured on the front page of the
Star News, highlighting the
success of the program.
■ The HRA provided financial
assistance to Die Concepts, Inc.
to rehabilitate a blighted
property located at Line Ave and
Twin Lakes Road.
■ The HRA and the EDA
partnered to implement a new
user-friendly website with
mobile device capability.
Housing
Authori
Year-end Activity Summary 2016
Director's Message
Looking back at 2016, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority had a
year filled with new programs and policies that will foster improvements
throughout our entire community.
The HRA continues to work on community redevelopment projects
through our Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program facilitated by the
Central Minnesota Housing Partnership.
The Commission seeks to improve blighted commercial and industrial
properties within our community through a new Blighted Properties
Commercial and Industrial Forgivable Loan Program, and a new
Blighted Properties Residential Forgivable Loan Program.
Maxfield Research completed a housing study in 2015. Since then, we
saw 73 new single family housing starts, 2 new townhomes, and 51
single family remodels generating $16,704,604 in taxable value. In
addition, the City Council approved a two single family plats totaling
neatly 130 -lots, a new 100 -unit senior housing complex, and a brand
new 20 -unit memory care complex.
In addition, we continue to work with local businesses to redevelop
some of the communities blighted properties.
In 2017, I am looking forward to a year of progress in the promotion of
the HRA rehabilitation loan program and other redevelopment projects
in conjunction with the Mississippi Connections Plan in Elk River
through goal setting and plan implementation.
r__ —
Amanda Othoudt
Economic Development Direci
aothoudt@ElkMverMN.gov
13065 Orono Parkway
Elk River, MN 55330
763.635.1042
-,vcvw.ElkRiver.MN.gov
Die Concepts, Inc.
Die Concepts, Inc. was the first company to utilize the new HRA Blighted Properties Commercial, Industrial
Forgivable Loan Program this year. Die Concepts designs and builds progressive metal stamping tooling for a
variety of customers in the US, Mexico, and Ireland including Medronic, Boston Scientific, Toro, Grace, and 3M.
They purchased the former 21,000 square foot Minnesota Fabrication building in April of 2016 with plans to
completely renovate the facility, resolving prior building code violations, adding a 3 -hour fire barrier wall, and
removing debris from the property. The company will relocate 12 full time jobs to the city paying an average
hourly wage of $25/hour. After a few setbacks they will be moving into their facility in the first quarter of this
year.
Before
After
Prepared for
City of Elk River Economic
Development
Quarterly Analytics Report
4th Qtr Report
Golden Shovel Agency
43 East Broadway Street
Little Falls, MN 56345
Phone: (320) 639-0110
Toll Free: (888) 266-4778
www.GoldenShovelAgency.com
Confidential: This report is intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential information. Any
dissemination, distribution, copying, or other use of this document is strictly prohibited.
Website: City of Elk River Economic Development | http://econdev.elkrivermn.gov
______________________________________________________________________________
Economic Gateway Developments for your Website
As you know,we always strive to make our product better for you and the people that will be visiting your
website!We endeavor to be ahead of our competition and with this goal in mind we continue making
improvements and upgrades to our system.The biggest changes that were implemented the last quarter in
2016 are:
●List Template:A new template pulling from the List Maker module was created to create an
interactive display of list information.Information is displayed by title with expand/collapse
functionality to allow the user to access more details.Content can be sorted into categories and
filtered by sections to allow pages of isolated information.
●Accessibility Improvements:Multiple changes were implemented on the front and back-end to allow
better accessibility in sites (for improved 508 compliance).In the admin the addition of the
Accessibility Checker in CKeditor allows admins to see possible accessibility issues flagged and
suggests solutions.On the front-end ALT tags (to better support users on screen readers)have filled
in the blanks on standardized image content in News, Projects, and Staff module templates.
●Safe-Deleting Improvement:Some clients have been encountered issues when using the safe
deleting functionality of their site,as the page name of the deleted page is not freed up until a
GateKeeper representative verifies the deletion.We have modified the safe-deletion to immediately
free up the name of deleted pages (without requiring GateKeeper verification)so that admins making a
second attempt at creating a page are able to recycle the page name.
●CKEditor Styling Improvements:The Styles menu in CKEditor has been updated to remove
outdated techniques of applying styles.New styling techniques and –in some cases –new style
options have been added to the Styles menu.In addition,styles can now be more easily identified in
CKEditor's Preview mode as –in many cases –a simplified style is applied to the preview to give a
sense of how the styled content will look in relation to other content.
The above are just the most relevant pieces we have been working on and 2017 proves to be another big year
of website advancement for Golden Shovel Agency and our clients.Our development team has big plans for
this year and will continue working on more and bigger improvements for the Economic Gateway platform,
and we will keep you posted on the progress and let you know when they go live!
Expert Webinars
Last year we had the opportunity to host and present an excellent webinar series,with support from many
experts from the economic development industry.We've made a commitment to stay on top of economic
development trends and technologies and we take this seriously,so we can guarantee you this year is no
Golden Shovel Agency
Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications
Page 1
exception!
With this goal in mind,we want to kick off the year right and on January 17 at 10 am CDT,we are hosting our
first webinar of 2017:“A Disrupted Economy:Is Your Community Ready for Tech Disruptions?”presented
by Jon Roberts, Principal and Managing Director at TIP Strategies.
Disruptive trends in technology are irrevocably changing economic development.Employment,supply chains,
and social norms are all being impacted.Traditional models are no longer sufficient;our assumptions about
what constitutes economic vitality must evolve.Every industry is adapting to respond to disruptive trends in
technology.Economic development–as a profession–must show similar flexibility and a similar commitment to
change. This webinar continues a dialogue that can move our profession in a new direction.
Hope you can join us for the webinar and you can attend at no charge,but space is limited and registration is
required. Click here to reserve your seat now!
Conferences
Last quarter in 2016 we attended numerous events across the country in order to stay on top of the best
practices and new trends in the economic development field, these events include:
●Texas Economic Development (TEDC) Annual Conference in San Antonio Texas
●Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) Annual Summit in Columbus, OH
●National Rural Economic Developers Association (NREDA) in Mount Pleasant, SC
●Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC)Young Professionals Meet the Consultants in
Greenville, SC
●American Public Power Association (APPA) Customer Connections Conference in Nashville, TN
●Mid America Economic Development Council Competitiveness Conference and Site Selector Forum in
Chicago, IL
2017 offers great opportunities for learning and networking and January is full of it!We won’t stop working to
continue gaining expertise in the areas that are most relevant to the economic development field and this
month brings several can’t-miss events and our agenda is filling up fast. Some of the upcoming events are:
●Wyoming Economic Development Association (WEDA) Winter Annual Conference in Cheyenne, WY
●Economic Development Association of MInnesota (EDAM)2017 Winter Conference in Brooklyn Park,
MN where Aaron Brossoit,our CEO is also invited to present a session titled “Websites that Work:
New Communication Strategies for 2017”
●International Economic Development Conference (IEDC)2017 Leadership Summit in Jacksonville,FL
where Aaron Brossoit,our CEO is also invited to present a session titled “Websites that Work:New
Communication Strategies for 2017”.
We are looking forward to these great events and we’re sure there will be many opportunities to network with
other development professionals. If you are attending as well, it would be great to connect!
Golden Shovel Agency
Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications
Page 2
Gatekeeper Service
Our Gatekeeper Service,offers you great support and assistance for your website and social media channels
so we strongly recommend that if you are subscribed to this service you take advantages of the monthly
Management Service meetings.Regular meetings -monthly,quarterly,or custom created to fit your schedule
-are available as a part of this services and they serve as an extension of your team so they are a valuable
tool for generating new ideas,recommendations,adjustments to your organization’s marketing strategy and
improvements to the general aspects of your website.If you are a Gatekeeper client but have yet to take part
in the process,please feel free to contact us so we can make sure to provide you with all the necessary
information for you to get the best out it.
We hope that 2016 was truly a year of growth, innovation, progress, and development for you. Certainly, it was
that for us and we look forward to starting another great year with our clients and friends. Cheers!
The Golden Shovel Team.
Metrics
○# Total Visitors : 764
○# of New visitors : 477
○# Returning visitors: 287
Rank by Keywords
○Elk river economic development: #2 of
286,000 competing pages
○Elk river economic growth: #3 of
221,000 competing pages
●Google Analytics - Page 4-6
Golden Shovel Agency
Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications
Page 3
Golden Shovel Agency
Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications
Page 4
Top Pages
Top States & Cities
Golden Shovel Agency
Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications
Page 5
Golden Shovel Agency
Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications
Page 6