General notes: The Departmental Report for Economic Development will be changing format somewhat starting with this month’s report. This report will now be reflective of Sandy Main Street’s operations, which I have assumed managerial control of at the direction of the Council. I will include SMS operations under a separate sub-heading further down in this report. I will no longer be updating you on my public information officer-related duties as these responsibilities are in the process of transferring over to Caroline Ramer. These will include the current utility bill newsletter and information on the City of Sandy’s social media outlets (Facebook and Twitter), although I have included one last update with regard to social media on this month’s report.
Also, please note that my office has moved once again. I am now in the Sandy Main Street office in the AEC building (Jason’s old office), and we’re still working on getting my office furniture and other effects moved along with me. Please bear with me through this chaotic process: I have half an office in the SandyNet building, the other half in the AEC building, and the desk I am currently typing this report on will be removed tomorrow by Firwood Designs (the current owner of my desk) at a time as yet to be determined. I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to get my old desk to my new office. As you can imagine, my organizational skills are being challenged like never before…
Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.): Barbara Sah & Rich Monnie properties // Skipper/Lundeen properties // Mark Benson properties
Bunsenbrewer: This business has made great strides forward since last month. I received an e-mail message from Mr. Hanson on September 11th detailing his then current level of frustration regarding a) an exhaust fan install, and b) a floor drain/grease interceptor requirement. Please (seriously, please!) read the letter and ED departmental response here: G:\Economic Development\new businesses\Bunsenbrewers\aaron letter and response.docx
This response seemed to adequately address the questions that Aaron had, and when asked about his situation at his appearance at the Sept. 16 council meeting, he said things were going pretty smoothly. We then had an “all-hands-on-deck” (myself, Tracy, Terre, Noryne, Aaron Hanson, Mike Maiden) meeting at Bunsenbrewer on September 25th to discuss pending issues, project timelines and the change to a two-tier project (phase 1 = keg/growler distribution only / phase 2 = on-site beer sales and consumption). This meeting also went very smoothly, and approval for a business license for Phase 1 of the project is pending.
Sandy Gold Swap: As I have discussed with some council members earlier in the month, this business essentially packed up shop and absconded into the night a few weeks ago. As far as I can tell, there were no outstanding bills or damage left behind, so all is well. It was interesting to listen to the owners of Ox & Marley (building neighbors) describe the departure though – “They just pulled up a truck on a Friday evening, packed everything into the truck that wasn’t nailed down, and disappeared leaving a completely empty box of a store in their wake.” Fortunately, the Paola Bros. (building owners) have already found a new tenant, and he is already working inside the property customizing it to his liking. The new business occupying this space will be the reincarnation of Royal Flesh Tattoo. More to come….
Verizon Wireless store: The quest to get these gentlemen onto SandyNet fiber continues. Scott Brown and I have talked with Greg Shippen (store manager) and Connor Smith (regional manager) multiple times, and they always sound positive about the prospects. The business that owns this store (Cellular Plus) is busy expanding in Colorado at the moment (opening 3 new stores), so Connor has asked for patience as they work through that process. Scott and I will continue to monitor the situation.
The Buzz at Bakers: The ribbon-cutting/grand opening at their new location on September 25th was a smashing success. We had 30-40 people show up (including most of the Chamber of Commerce!), and the ribbon-cutting made for a fantastic photo-op for the owner. Preliminary reports indicate that they have lost a few customers (who don’t want to drive to that end of town…sheesh!) and gained a few as well, most likely due to the improved visibility (catches traffic going both directions on US26 instead of just one way on Proctor; lots of stops in that complex). I predict that this will end up being a profitable move for the owner in the long run.
ribbon cuttings: In and around the month of September, we (ED/Chamber) have done ribbon cuttings (and one “virtual” ribbon cutting – Hi Bill!) with the Mayor at the following businesses:
* Ox and Marley (Sept 6)
* Verizon Wireless Store (Sept 6)
* Sandy Family Restaurant (Sept 12)
* The Buzz at Baker’s (Sept 25)
* Pizza Hut (Oct 3)
This is a fantastic PR move for both the City and the Chamber, as all of these events have been extremely positive in attitude and wildly popular with the business owners. More of this, please!
Public Information:
- · Social media: Facebook followers = 3,341 (+20) // Twitter followers: 143 (+6) // Nothing really to report here – the most activity any post showed was a job posting by Otto’s Ski Shop that merited 15 shares, but no comments. Slow month…
- Current copy of the Sandy Business Insider –
Sandy Main Street: We have welcomed our first RARE student into the fold, and I for one could not be happier with the results. Aubrey Irwin started in the Sandy Main Street office as our new SMS Coordinator at the end of September. She comes to us by way of Boise, and has never lived outside of the state of Idaho before. She has a degree in environmental science, and hopes to continue on to a master’s degree program in planning at either University of Oregon or Portland State. If you haven’t met her yet, please stop by the Sandy Main Street office sometime soon and say hello.
ED Committee: There is no ED Committee meeting scheduled in September or October. Next ED meeting will be in early November.
Project work:
- destination hotel – Doing a review of buildable land for the potential move of Johnson RV to another location on the west end of town. Unfortunately the only lot anywhere close to the same size as Brandon’s current property is the Benson property next to Sanford Jones’ ARCO station. This property is slightly smaller than Brandon’s current property, but he’s actually looking for a larger lot so he can expand. Will discuss with Mark Benson in person in mid-October, and will get advice from Jamie Johnk at CC for additional options if any.
- SIFI fiber project – Final recommendations to the Council have yielded a Council recommendation to accept the most current offer from SIFI and begin moving forward. This ball is in Joe Knapp’s hands for the time being. I do plan on arranging a meeting with Joe and Scott to talk about a) a pricing schedule for business fiber so we can begin to offer organizational rates to future business customers instead of case-by-case pricing, and b) a sales strategy and pricing schedule for VOIP phone service. This is contingent on their availability, which is understandably going to be close to nil until early 2014.
- PPLIP – So sadly, this project didn’t yield the results that Kelly O’Neill and I were hoping for. It did increase awareness of the parking lot’s existence, but not by nearly enough to make a noticeable difference in usage. However, it did increase goodwill between local businesses and the City (all prizes were from local companies; cheap and effective advertising for them) and citizens (vast majority of winners were Sandyites), so all-in-all our efforts were not completely wasted. However, we believe that better signage will be the most effective answer to this problem.
Conferences/training: [ELGL Conference, 10/4, Kennedy School (Portland)] A good day of training with Kelly O’Neill at the Kennedy School in Portland. CHighlight of this 1 day conference was listening to former Governors Kulongoski (OR) and Gregoire (WA) talk about leadership, moderated by former OR Secretary of State Phil Keisling. Fantastic panel and very energizing discussion!
Upcoming conferences include:
- OEDA Conference: Sunday, October 20 – Tuesday, October 22 – Hood River, OR