Marketing and Attraction: Day 1

Baltimore, MD

February 23, 2016

If I'm being honest, I haven't thought a ton about how to use my communication skills in Economic Development until this week. Silly, I know, since my background in Communication should be a natural backbone to my new venture in economic development, but for some reason I just hadn't thought about marrying the two.

Thankfully, this class provided me the opportunity to pause and consider how I can effectively use the skills I already have to continue the City's work in economic development. I'm excited about the possibilities!

Day 1 contained a discussion about how to use websites effectively, some discussion of comprehensive marketing plans and an overview of the goals of a marketing plan for economic development. Since marketing is my field, a lot of the information felt intuitive, which I'm thankful for in a sea of what sometimes seems like foreign.

We talked about the audiences that should be considered when developing marketing pieces for economic development, including corporate decision makers, site selection consultants, local executives, local stakeholders/funders, skilled talent, and local and national media. Of course, determining who the audiences should be, and finding out who they actually are can present two different challenges. I know I need to narrow the focus in my mind from "anyone who will locate here" to "the right fit for our community". Luckily, TexAmericas is in the middle of a grant project working with consultants who will determine exactly what type of industry would be a good fit for our region. So, I feel confident that grant could yield a sound base from which to start working.

We then looked at a study called "Winning Strategies in Economic Development, A View From Corporate America, 2014" which is a study done by Development Counsellors International. In this study, we were able to look at survey responses from corporate executives and site consultants regarding what information they are looking for when deciding where to locate. Of the respondents, 49% were involved with services, while 51% were in manufacturing. 91% were males, and 9% female (that's a whole other blog topic). 47% were in small companies (1-25 employees) while 45% were employed by companies with more than 25 employees.

The information revealed in the study was helpful. When asked what their leading sources of information about sites were, 55% answered that dialogue with industry peers, or word-of-mouth, is what they rely on. 44% said newspapers and magazines, and 37% said business travel.

What's that mean for Texarkana? Well, mostly it means that we have to make sure we have a stellar reputation, so that the word-of-mouth information that is relayed about us is always positive. We may not be able to purchase advertisements in national recognized newspapers and magazines, but we can make sure that we leave a lasting and positive impression on developers so that they can give us a good recommendation to their peers.

In some ways, the City is already doing this. Some time ago, maybe three years, now Assistant City Manager Shirley Jaster started holding "Infrastructure Meetings". This was a practice that brings all the relevant departments to one table to meet with potential project developers and investors. When a new business wants to locate in Texarkana, we schedule an infrastructure meeting and invite all the key personnel: building and code, fire, health, public works, city management, public information, and whoever else might be involved. This helps the developer know that the City is on board and wants to make the process smooth, it irons out any kinks that could delay the project if left unsaid, and it helps everyone in the room feel comfortable with the future interaction they will have with the developer. This provides a "one-stop-shop" for development in our city, and opens the doors to working out problems as soon as the arise, rather than waiting and causing a potential delay when budgets will be impacted. We have had fantastic reviews from corporate and local business developers alike, and can only hope that our reputation will be spread throughout the development community. We need to think of other ways we can apply this same idea of reputation marketing to economic development.

There was a lot of other good information shared from this survey. I won't be able to cover it all here, but if you'd like to read it for yourself, feel free to check it out. You have to give DCI your information, but I think it's worth it to download the report.