JESSICA HARPER JESSICA HARPER JESSICA HARPER
At age 21, woman becomes Fantastic Sams owner 7A Burger Jones to open in Burnsville this spring 13A New conference center to open in Apple Valley 44A
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DATE ##, 2009 SEPTEMBER 30, 2010
VOLUME 30, NUMBER # VOLUME 31, NUMBER 31
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INSIDE BIZ FORUM
Counter Tea Party anger and cynicism toward government by supporting programs for children 4A
DANE SMITH FORUM
Collaboration could benefit area cities Itasca Project’s regional development entity a move toward a united marketing front for the entire metro area by Aaron Vehling DAKOTA COUNTY TRIBUNE
For at least the past decade, urban studies theorists such as Richard Florida have illustrated how a modern metropolitan area, for all intents and purposes, functions as a single municipal entity. While this is true to some extent in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, cities or pockets generally operate in much more of a Balkanized fashion, even with the Metropolitan Council and other cross-border relationships at play. The Itasca Project, a cadre of representatives from the business community, asserts this lack of unified marketing has cost the Twin Cities metro area economic opportunities as businesses choose other areas whose cities act in closer concert. “The Twin Cities region is not on anyone’s radar,� said Skip Nienhaus, economic development coordinator for Burnsville. He added that whenever national site selectors do actually visit the metro area, “they are incredibly impressed. In many cases, we get on their radar because of the visit.�
Membership dues for cities participating in this unified marketing effort are based on population. Burnsville, whose mayor Elizabeth Kautz is part of Itasca’s job growth task force, seeks to kick in the required $25,000. Minneapolis, for comparison purposes, has dues in the $150,000 range. Another area city looking to become a part of the entity is Rosemount, whose city council witnessed a presentation last week by Kathy Schmidlkofer, an executive at General Mills who is spearheading the effort. City Administrator Dwight Johnson sees potential for Rosemount achieving positive returns on a possible $10,000 membership investment. The cost of not having a national marketing presence is too much, he said. “It puts us at a disadvantage,� he said. “Places like Austin (Texas) have a very welldeveloped agency.� But how can Rosemount with a population of about 22,000 benefit from being just one part of such a large group of cities? “Although we’re not the
largest suburb by any means,� Johnson said, “we have a lot of undeveloped land. In terms of growth, we’ll be the next area to develop significantly over the next 10 to 15 years.� Another perk Rosemount can bring to the table is UMore, Johnson said. “It’s a unique site,� he said of the large tract of land owned by the University of Minnesota. “It may be pretty important to the whole metro area. We think we have a fairly important stake in what the new entity can accomplish.�
National competition The partnership seeks to raise $2.8 million to get the entity started, with 20 to 30 percent of that coming from the public sector and an eye on a $4 million operating budget once the entity is in full force, according to Schmidlkofer’s presentation. This will provide the non-profit with full-time marketing and support staff. The regional entity has two major project goals: to raise the region’s overall economic competitiveness and quality of life and to reduce and eliminate
socioeconomic disparities, according to the presentation. Regarding the latter, the presentation asserts that “addressing the opportunity gap is critical to both long-term prosperity and short-term recovery.� The regions Schmidlkofer cites in her presentation as offering the “best practice� for how to market a metro area include the aforementioned Austin and Kansas City, among others. She pointed out in her presentation that national site selectors often remark that the Twin Cities do not do enough outreach. “I get piles of marketing materials ever week,� one selector said, “and I get nothing on the Twin Cities.�
Consumer conf idence is down. Current ideas to raise taxes and the new health care plan will not help. PETER MCCLELLAN 4A BUSINESS 101
Knowing when and how to speak up can improve relationships and performance in your personal and professional life. STEVE BEZANSON 5A BEST PRACTICES
Business leaders should use the power of storytelling to engage their employees and colleagues. JEFF APPELQUIST 5A
Riding the fence Thisweek also spoke with officials from Apple Valley, Eagan, Lakeville and Farmington - all cities in its coverage area that are not certain about committing membership dues to Itasca’s regional entity just yet. For the lot, it was mostly a See Collaboration, Page 10A
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