7.0. EDSR 04-14-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• The City of Elk River Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan must be both understood and agreed to by the City Administration,City Council and all City Commissions. There appears to be a lack of understanding of the customer requirements and needs of light manufacturing/industrial firms by the Planning Commission. There must be an alignment between the customer requirements(for light manufacturing/industrial firms)and the City's Product Offering. The City of Elk River is at a distinct competitive disadvantage with both business parks because it does not own the land directly and multiple owners own the land. This causes the process to take longer because of the private land pricing and negotiations. Also,this limits the City of Elk River's capability to close the deal compared to its competition.As planned in the Strategic Industrial Marketing Plan,joint-marketing agreements would be obtained with the landowners to avoid this issue. However,the joint-marketing agreements were not obtained because landowners did not perceive any value. Without signed contracts with landowners for initial marketing,sale and development,that include a price for the land,it is impossible for the City to know what the land offering is for the client. Therefore, it is difficult for the City simply to provide a seamless process for the client nor does it look like the City is knowledgeable about their product offering. It is critical that the City is able to move quickly and also be in the lead of the siting process. In addition,the key competitors are offering"Up-front"financing(land for$1)for industrial • development in their respective cities. The "Up-front" financing is attractive to industrial firms because it reduces the initial capital outlay. The City of Elk River's "Pay As You Go" financing is a distinct competitive disadvantage and limits the amount of industrial development the City can capture compared to its competitors. Action Education and Strategy Alignment with Policy Makers o Duckor & Associates, Inc. to debrief the Planning Commission on Industrial Development and Clients' Requirements. (Fall 2002) o Conduct a joint site tour with both the Economic Development Authority(EDA) and Planning Commission and visit competitive industrial parks in Anoka,Ramsey, Rogers, and Big Lake. (Fall 2002) o Expand knowledge and understanding of state, regional and local Economic Development tools to assist industrial clients to grow and prosper. (On-going) ❑ Expand and develop working knowledge of staff,EDA and Planning Commission, about the industry and business information in the targeted sectors: Industrial Machinery, Fabricated Metal and Electronic Equipment by monitoring industry magazines, etc. (On-going) i Duckor&Associates,Inc. 4 A BluePrint for Your Success. . . Today and Tomorrow