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<br /> Elk River EDA Strategic Plan | 4 <br />Peer city benchmarking. Forest Lake, Oakdale and Chaska were identified as peer <br />cities. For each city we conducted structured interviews to explore the management of <br />economic development strategies relevant to Elk River. Interviewees were: <br />• Dan Undem, Assistant City Administrator, Forest Lake <br />• Nate Kabat, Assistant City Administrator, Chaska <br />• Bob Streetar, Community Development Director, Oakdale <br />Individual interviews. Individual interviews were conducted with the following people. <br />• Paul Erickson, Founder and former Executive Director of the National Sports <br />Center in Blaine. Mr. Erickson offered his expertise and insights on the potential for <br />sports tourism in Elk River. <br />• Tim Storey, real estate broker and hotel market specialist, Cushman Wakefield. <br />Mr. Storey provided his thoughts on the potential for hotel development in Elk River. <br />• Amy Lord, Career and Technical Training Coordinator, ISD 728. Ms. Lord was <br />interviewed about opportunities for deepening workforce training strategies in Elk <br />River. <br />Elk River Staff. Elk River staff have been readily responsive in providing information and <br />serving as a sounding board through the course of this study. They also served as tour <br />guides for an Elk River site visit to many of the locations that are discussed in this report. <br />Each of these points of input and perspective have been critical in shaping the EDA <br />Strategic Plan that follows. <br />Summary of Research and Recommended Strategies <br />An important intermediate product in developing this EDA Strategic Plan was the <br />Summary of Research and Recommended Strategies. It documented the findings of <br />the economic research that was undertaken to understand the Elk River economic <br />context. And it proposed a broad set of recommended strategies that the City of Elk <br />River might consider to strengthen its economy. <br />The strategies from the Summary of Research and Recommended Strategies were <br />discussed with Elk River’s economic development staff. They were processed in a <br />workshop with the EDA. They were discussed further with City staff from multiple <br />departments to discern the best parties within Elk River’s city enterprise to champion <br />and lead the various strategies. The “Recommended Strategies” that are most <br />appropriately spearheaded by the EDA and Elk River’s economic development staff <br />are incorporated into this EDA Strategic Plan. <br />The Summary of Research and Recommended Strategies is included as an appendix <br />to the EDA Strategic Plan.