5. EDSR 09-11-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Appendix A: One-On-One Interviews Executive Summary Wolf Marketing & Media interviewed 11 past, present and potential clients of the Ciry of Elk River Economic Development Division, as well as partners, developers and builders. The goal of the interviews was to explore attitudes and beliefs regarding the industrial development environment in Elk River and the rest of the Northwest Metro area Some of the notable comments were: ^ Clients, partners, developers and builders all agree that clients typically start the site selection process by identifying a particular region of the Twin Cities Metro Axea, such as the Northwest. ^ Nearly all said that they prefer to do their initial research online, starting with city Web sites. At a minimum, they expect to fmd lists of avaIlable sites and community demographics. One current client said that a case study that was posted on the City of Elk River Web site was the primary thing that convinced them to learn more about sites in the City. ^ The interviewees said that clients narrow their list of potential sites based on a variety of factors. Almost all users consider all of these factors: transportation access, available work force, prevailing local wages, existing utilities and infrastructure, specific buildings and sites, the cities' reputations toward development, and the cities' levels of interest. But the weight they put on each factor varies. ^ These factors are explored more deeply as a follow-up to the online research, usually by making direct contact with city staff in the cities under consideration. ^ The Northwest Metro is popular among industrial users because it is a growing area with good road and xaIl transportation access (including the future Noxthstar Commuter Rail line), an existing manufacturing-oriented work force, lower wages than the metro core, existing utilities and infrastructure, available buildings and sites, lower real estate costs, communities with apro- business and pro-development reputation, and communities that axe very aggressive regarding economic development. ^ Elk River is considered by potential users fox these same reasons. ^ The convergence of Highways 169, 10 and 101 in Elk River is considered a major asset due to accessibility, but there are growing concerns regarding traffic congestion. ^ Elk River might be less attractive to some potential users because it is further from Interstate 94 than some other Northwest Metro communities ^ Most respondents insisted that fmancial incentives axe not the key to making a final decision. But, if all else is equal, they said they can be the deciding factor. .91