5.0. EDSR 05-12-2008ITEM ~ 5.
City of
El.
ver
MEMORANDUM
TO: Economic Development Authority
FROM: Catherine Mehelich, Director of Economic Development
DATE: May 12, 2008
SUBJECT: Marketing Update
The purpose of this memo is to provide a brief update on the recent and proposed marketing
initiatives of the Economic Development Division.
Sherburne County Development Roundtable - Apri129, 2008
The City Administrator Lori Johnson, Economic Development Assistant Annie Deckert and me
recently participated in the county's first development roundtable held Apri129, 2008. The event
involved my presentation of Elk River's recent developments and new development
opportunities via a bus tour to 5 metro-area developers. The bus tour featured the downtown
projects, Hwy 169 retail development, Northstar Business Park and Gateway Business Park and
the gravel mining area as future development opportunities. The developers shared their
feedback to the county and communities at the end of the day. The comments included
recommendations for tapping the metro-area developer community and boasting Elk River's
recent data center successes. EDA Commissioners Gongoll and Dwyer attended the developer
summary, in addition to Mayor Klinzing.
Follow up strategies:
• Annie and I have made contact with developers individually and provided a
complimentary pass for their attendance at the MREJ Land Development Conference
(details noted below).
• Annie has registered Elk River on the newly established «~~-w.nnetromsp.org website
(property listings for 11-county metro area).
• Annie is participating in follow up discussions with the county regarding additional
marketing strategies.
MN Real Estate journal -Land Development Conference -May 14, 2008
As in previous years the City is a marketing sponsor for the MREJ Land Development
Conference. The $2,500 sponsorship includes my participation on a panel discussion at the
event, advertising, inserts, and articles related to the event. In addition Annie and I will have a
marketing booth at the event as well as access to the event's attendee list for follow up marketing
efforts. I will be featuring recent development successes as well as welcoming developer
proposals for the city's Gateway Business Park. In addition, I was recently asked to speak on a
panel of city planning leaders at the Design Build Institute of America (Upper Midwest Region)
program on May 21, 2008 featuring the Northstar Commuter Rail and Economic Development
Opportunities.
Follow up strategies:
• I will be directly contacting developers to hold individual luncheons in Elk River to
discuss specific development opportunities.
• Annie will be coordinating direct mail/newsletter mailings to the attendee list.
Commercial/Industrial Sites Inventory
Last fall, commercial sites were added to the City's listing of available land/lease sites that is
posted on the city website. Annie has been actively conducting an update of the sites inventory
which is anticipated for completion next month. Not only does the listing provide an easily-
accessible tool for developers, it also allows the Economic Development Division a tool for
monitoring the amount of vacant space by building type on a regular basis.
Follow up strategies:
• Annie will be updating the listings on a quarterly basis.
• We will be considering additional features to the listings (e.g. photos)
Sportech, Inc. Expansion Groundbreaking
Annie and I are working closely with Sportech and Amcon Construction to coordinate a joint
groundbreaking ceremony for Sportech's new 80,000-sf corporate headquarters and state-of-the-
art manufacturing facility located in the City's Northstar Business Park. The event will include
invitations to local and area public officials, including the Commissioner and staff of the MN
Dept of Employment & Economic Development.
Recent Inquiries/Prospects
We have experienced a slowdown in the number of commercial/industrial inquiries relative to
the slowdown in the economy, particularly in retail/commercial development. The trend appears
to be that developers are more risk-sensitive to undergo land investments or speculative
development and axe relying on build-to-suit developments. Recent prospects of note that I
continue to work directly with includes a 30,000-sf regional business college, a 200-person
software development/data center, maintain contacts made with Target and its broker over the
past several months, and maintain contact with a local manufacturer on expansion plans.
Staff is awaiting discussion and direction from the City Council and/or EDA and Marketing
Committee regarding the following items relative to future marketing strategies:
1) Identify the city's desired "target market" for specific types of commercial and industrial
development.
2) Identify desired marketing focus/theme (e.g. Light Industrial Hub, Energy City, etc.)
3) Identify sites for commercial and industrial business park development in order to
maintain a sufficient inventory.