03-17-2015 EDC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Economic Development Commission Minutes March 17, 2015 Page 2 of 3 *Dealing with online Reviews—Managing online reviews is an essential business practice. *Downtown Market Analysis Toolbox—A working group that includes local business leaders, economic development professionals and community leaders to utilize the free online Downtown Market Analysis Toolbox. This may be a tool for the EDC to use. *Retail Gap Analysis—Compares the demand for stores based on the spending potential of the area's residents to the supply of stores actually in the trade area. Merritt stated he could do this for the City at no charge. *Market Area Profile—Organizes data into a comprehensive description of who shop and visit the community, demographics, purchasing power, and lifestyles. The Extension organizes this data into an easy-to-understand report and leads discussions about the data. *2nd Homeowners Survey Report—Develops outreach and engagement strategies with seasonal residents who have business experience. *Customer Service Training—Provide training for private and public sector employees. Matt Kilian stated he is working on a regional tourism study. Pequot Lakes needs to find a brand that each individual business can communicate. It should include no more than three key points. This would help in marketing the City and could be used for signage near the Highway 371 alternate route. Matt stated that the Chamber would assist in spearheading the City's marketing endeavors. Commissioner Roggenkamp questioned how to bring all of the different types of businesses together to focus on 3 key points. Matt stated that the broader you go the more diluted it becomes and the less useful the message. He noted that the goal of the marketing logo is to bring people off of the highway and to be used as an economic driver of tourism. Commissioner Merritt stated that Pequot is not Nisswa and is not entirely driven by tourism. Chris Lindholm suggested that Pequot is a great place to visit and even a greater place to live. Dan Frank stated that the Initiative Foundation can act as the coordinator and help the EDC figure out how to pull all of the different aspects together. They have many resources available and can offer tools to use to come up with a plan to take advantages of the opportunities presented with the alternate Highway 371 route. The EDC will focus on branding, marketing, and messaging. Commissioner Roggenkamp suggested using the Toolbox to work with the branding and having