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7.3. EDSR 07-15-2019Request for Action To Item Number Economic Development Authority 7.3 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by General Business July 15, 2019 Colleen Eddy, Economic Development Specialist Item Description Reviewed by Marketing Update Amanda Othoudt, ED Director Reviewed by Cal Portner, City Administrator Action Requested Items presented as information. Background/Discussion In the first half of 2019, staff marketed and promoted the city in various capacities. Advertising In the first quarter, ads were placed in Site Selector, Trade and Industry and Expansion Solutions magazines. This venture also includes a lead generation component. The city once again was promoted via a full color ad in the MN Twins Yearbook. The city was part of the Economic Development Directory feature in the Heartland Real Estate Journal publication and will be in the August edition of the Growler Magazine. Advertisements in the Vikings Program will complete this year’s print promotion. Marketing The 2019 Community Profile has been received from Prime Advertising. We are finalizing a new business welcome packet and a business siting packet, which is one of this year’s performance measures. Promotion The “Elk River Swag Box” currently includes seven items and we are expecting one more item as we work with a local company on the box creation. EDA website The EDA website has been upgraded to Gateway 2.0. The Powered by our Businesses video module is currently showcasing CHOW Mixed Grill. We work with Golden Shovel Agency on content to populate the news feed and receive quarterly analytic reports reflecting the number of hits/page views of each page. Videos New videos were created by the city cable coordinator to highlight the BR&E visits. The videos of Oliver Kelly Farm, Plaisted Companies, Liberty Clark, Home Depot, and Geared up Sports are now live. The Elk River Vision A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity Sponsorships In June, the EDA sponsored the Annual EDAM Summer Conference held in Duluth and attended by over 200 economic development professionals from around the state. As the Keynote Sponsor, Amanda gave a two-minute presentation on the city and introduced the keynote speaker. We will sponsor the MN Real Estate Journal’s Energy and Data Center summits in partnership with Elk River Municipal Utilities, the MNCAR Realtor’s Expo in October and the Elk River Chamber of Commerce golf tournament. Trade Shows/Conferences Staff attended the Data Center Dynamics conference in New York and met with representatives from Minnesota Municipal Power Agency who presented at the event. Amanda attended the MN DEED hosted FAM Tour in Dallas and we will attend the upcoming event in Chicago. Colleen will attend the Best Practices Conference hosted by Mid-America Economic Development Council later this week. The event is in Milwaukee and includes opportunities to learn, explore and discuss highly relevant topics such as economic development leadership, talent issues and strategies, opportunity zones, alternate options to fund projects. Financial Impact Funding for trade shows, marketing and advertising are included in the 2019 budget. Attachments nd  2019 2 Quarter Google Analytics Report   Prepared for  City of Elk River       Quarterly Analytics Report  Q2 2019  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: http://www.econdev.elkrivermn.gov/elk-river         Recent developments/upgrades to the Economic Gateway Platform    Golden Shovel has again been diligently working on making your websites better and easier for you. Each month  we implement client requests to produce responsive tools built by economic development professionals. Simply  put our tools lead the industry. As always, all of these developments and upgrades are available to you at no  extra charge.    ●Security Expansions - ​A server firewall has been implemented to filter malicious requests and unwanted  bot traffic in order to reduce unnecessary load on the servers and improve processing performance of  websites. Low-level vulnerabilities relating to SQL injection and cross-site scripting were identified and  eliminated.    ●Content Sharing Improvements - ​The interface and functionality for content sharing between connected  Economic Gateway sites was reviewed and updated to improve accuracy and user-friendliness. Along  with back-end code improvements, the admin terminology for content sharing has been changed from  being 'sharing' in all locations to 'borrowing' and 'lending' as applicable to the functionality.    ●New 'Hamburger' Menu - ​A new option for a hamburger menu (a menu which is opened via a click-able  icon on all screen sizes) has been built. The new menu takes advantage of the maximum available screen  space and shows all published site pages upon opening, creating greater exposure for the full site  content and reducing the number of user interactions required to access a page of interest.  Get in touch with our Gatekeeper team for details on improvements available for your website. Rest assured, our  development team will continue working on more additions and upgrades. Be on the lookout for these to take  place and be implemented on your website!   Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 1     Where have we been lately?   We continue to attend state and national conferences  and work with economic development experts, so that  we are well-versed in the areas most important to this  industry. We have brought back many ideas and great  networking from the recent conferences and now, we  look forward to many more this new quarter. Here is a  brief list of events we attended:   ●Business Facilities LiveXchange​ Fort Worth,  TX - April 7-9   ●2019 SelectUSA Investment Summit​ - Washington, DC - June 10-12  ●2019 EDAM Summer Conference​ - Duluth, MN - June 12-14    We are now gearing up for the next event in our list, the ​MidAmerica EDC Best Practices Conference​ ​(​July  17-19, Milwaukee, WI​), where we will have the opportunity to learn, explore and discuss about highly relevant  topics such as economic development leadership, talent Issues and strategies, opportunity zones, alternate  options to fund your project and more! We’re confident this will be a very successful event and if you’re planning  on attending as well, please let us know, it would be great to connect!    Learn from the experts!   You are always welcome to join our free expert webinars!  We know sometimes is not easy to stay on top of all new  technologies and trends, right? However there is no  reason for you to miss out the latest innovations,  strategies and techniques in the industry. Our webinars  provide you with the opportunity to learn about relevant  topics and innovative strategies, directly from the experts  in the industry. This is, and will always be, a free resource  available to you and your team so don’t stay behind, visit  our ​website​ today and save your seat for our next session!   The following are sessions we hosted last quarter, if you couldn’t join any of them, we got you covered and you  can access the recordings​ ​here​!  Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 2     ●Opportunity Zone - Marketing Your Zone For Development - ​Do you still have questions about what  direction to take your opportunity zone marketing? Have questions in regards to finding the right  investment, or creating an opportunity zone fund? Do you have the questions in regarding to building your  community prospectus and getting it in front of the right people? ​Sam Howard, Project Specialist of  Northeast Kentucky Development and Kirstie McPherson, Director of Marketing for Golden Shovel  Agency ​presented and discussed on a variety of opportunity zone topics to help answer any remaining  questions you have about the process.​Placemaking in Economic Development  ●Placemaking in Economic Development ​- ​Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and  reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and  the places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public  realm in order to maximize shared value. More than just promoting better urban design, placemaking  facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities  that define a place and support its ongoing evolution. ​A Community Conversation Guide for Making  Your Community a Welcoming Place for Newcomers. ​Creating a sense of place is one of the key  components for workforce attraction. In this webinar discussions were held on a variety of placemaking  topics, including a hands on guide that will help you to evaluate if your community is actively participating in  placemaking design.    ●Bridging the Gap: Practical Tools for Stakeholder Management​ - As an executive director, ever zone  out at dinner with your family wondering how to get more quality engagement out of your board? Ever lie  awake at night as a volunteer board member wondering how you can get your executive director to  understand your side of the story? Many of us have filled the shoes of one or both of these scenarios. In an  organization, nothing is more foundational that a healthy culture and that starts with transparency, shared  vision and common values. Unfortunately, the grind of every day takes us out of that mindset - how do we  get back in the groove? ​Meg Manke, COO​ of ​Rose Group International​ was with us to talk about  Organizational Culture and Dynamics. We discussed how to create an environment where all the talents of  an organization are utilized and stakeholders are engaged, appreciated and excited!         Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 3       Is your website strategy performing as  planned?     Your website strategy is the foundation to growing your  visitors and attracting workers and businesses. Our  GateKeeper’s know your strategy and your community.  We are your watchdog for success. Coupled with a strong  strategy is the right metrics and analytics.     Have you figured out what your content should be about? ​There is a wide array of topics you can and may  want to share with your audience to meet the specific goals and objectives of your organization. But one rule  always applies: ​Don't make your content about you. Make it about your audience​. Make it about the stories  they love. Those stories stand out from the rest, and it is because they engage and resonate with them. Lastly,  don’t underestimate the power of social media, it is the perfect way to amplify your online presence and mobile  devices are on almost everyone’s hands these days. If you have a success story, share it with the world!     Numbers don’t lie.​ The ultimate goal of reviewing data is to take action, based out of real information you have  and shows which content is performing so you can take advantage of that and then expand and increase the  results, but also to find out which content pieces are not working as planned so you can make any necessary to  your strategy. By doing this, you can focus on the type of content that is producing the best results (and more  visits to your website), allowing you to make better decisions on how to leverage your marketing resources and  increase your site engagement. By focusing on what motivates and engages your audience and having the ability  to create and share the content they want, ​you become a resource.      Yes,it’s official.We are now well into Summer and communities across the country are looking their best.                   It is the perfect time to get out and shoot some great photos that will help to keep your web presence                      warm over the winter. Have a successful third quarter!     The Golden Shovel Team.          Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 4     Metrics    The following data and metrics will provide you with an  overview of your website’s performance through Q2 2019.  These metrics will be useful for you to make adjustments  and plan ahead in order to get the greatest outcome out of  your website strategy.         Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 5     Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 6       Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 7     Lead Forensics      Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 8       Golden Shovel Agency  Groundbreaking Economic Development Communications    Page​ 9