5. EDSR 09-11-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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EDA Marketing Committee Minutes J>ily 17, zoos Page 2 ourselves and keep getting the smaller industries. Santwire stated that Cymbet could be our next hope fox a corporate campus project and the best corporate campuses to be in Elk River will be grown from within the community. Ms. Mehelich stated that staff receives very few inquires for corporate campuses but the city is/was currently host to a few existing (GRE, Tescom, SoftPac) but the companies• tend to be acquired or merged with larger corporations and that the threat is that the new "out of town" executives often chose to relocate the headquarters out of Elk River. This is a trend that we need to be aware of because it affects business retention. Santwire stated a Duke will help bring the corporate campuses but the small industries are never tied to a big developer, and even if we had a corporate campus prospect, where would they go in Elk River. He stated Elk River needs more pxoperry. Barthel stated that the city's workforce and population will draw the industrial market that is natural fox the city, but it appears we need more land to be marketing. Gumphrey stated he felt the city didn't accomplish anything under the 2002 Action Plan, that the city needs more land to market, the city's not going to get corporate headquarters to locate here and that our transportation system has a negative affect. He felt we should survey our current manufacturers and attempt to recruit their suppliers and vendors that they need to be successful. Urista stated that companies are attracted to Elk River because we have land and a blue collar workforce. He agreed with Gumphrey that we don't need to focus on corporate companies, that traffic on Highway 10 is horrible and that businesses will see the future Northstar Commuter Rail as an incentive to come to Elk River. Santwixe stated that right now there is a Councihnember that want commercial and restaurants. He inquired if the Committee is really going to be blending commercial and industrial in the same marketing plan. He asked Gumphrey if the EDA/Council is satisfied with the Northstar Business Park and development in general. Gumphrey stated yes, but we need restaurants in the city and a sign marketing the available lots fox sale in Northstar Business Paxk. He inquired why Elk River doesn't have a nice restaurant but the surrounding communities do. Mr. Wolf asked the committee how they measure success of the marketing plan; is it job creation ox tax base enhancement? Santwire stated he felt jobs is the biggest measurement of success. Tviete stated he felt job creation is number one and tax base is also important but that we want people to be able to live and work in Elk River rather than being a bedroom community. He stated that if you're seeing $3 gas prices, we instantly become less attractive. Barthel stated that good employees axe key to a company's success and that tends to be how we get more business. Santwire stated that the city code and ordinance/design standards control the building design and the city should be experiencing a better tax base as a result. He added that if we focus on jobs, the tax base will take care of itself. Urista added that if job creation comes First the city will realize some tax base enhancement when the company expands their building in the future. Tviete mentioned the Target data center as an example of a project in which the tax base enhancement is a greater benefit than job creation. The consensus of the committee was that job creation is number one in the measurement of the marketing plan's success. Mr. Wolf asked the committee their assessment of the development process in the city. Santwire stated that consistency is important between the various departments and divisions.