{"id":123,"date":"2014-06-12T01:56:19","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T01:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reports.cityofsandy.com\/economicdevelopment\/?p=123"},"modified":"2014-06-12T01:56:19","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T01:56:19","slug":"economic-development-monthly-report-may-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reports.cityofsandy.com\/economicdevelopment\/2014\/06\/12\/economic-development-monthly-report-may-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic Development \u2013 Monthly Report \u2013 May 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

General notes:\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>The build-up for July 2014 is beginning in earnest, and this year July will be even bigger than it normally is.\u00a0 Preparations are starting at the Chamber for Music Fair and Feast, and the Sandy Mountain Festival Association is going full-bore to get ready for the Festival.\u00a0 The entertainment has been selected for the Summer Sounds concert series and Movies in the Park, the Public Market is up in Centennial Plaza on alternate Saturdays, and Urban Renewal is beginning work for this year\u2019s Fa\u00e7ade Program recipients.\u00a0 Business as usual.<\/p>\n

In addition, this year Sandy Main Street will be hosting its Imagine Sandy visioning meeting on June 23rd<\/sup> to collect input from citizens, downtown business and property owners, and other interested stakeholders (see below) regarding the future of downtown Sandy.\u00a0 \u00a0The Public Market will also have some competition, as both AntFarm and Organic Sandy will be offering their version on alternate Fridays in July as well.<\/p>\n

With regard to the suggestion that I look into some good training classes related to business recruitment:\u00a0 Seth, Lisa and I have completed a review of my budget, and there does in fact seem to be some existing funding available for such an endeavor.\u00a0 I have potentially identified a good 2-day IEDC (Intl Econ Devl Council) course in Atlanta in August \u2013 you can take a look at the agenda by clicking below:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.pe.gatech.edu\/courses\/iedc-economic-development-marketing-and-attraction<\/a><\/p>\n

This will be the first attempt to educate myself to become the City\u2019s marketing guru, but certainly not the last.\u00a0 As always, if you hear of a good resource on this topic, please forward it on to me!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dolly\u2019s Pet Shoppe:\u00a0 \u00a0Finally!\u00a0 After (literally) years of looking for a new building to relocate to, Anna and Marlene finally signed a contract on the best space they could have possibly hoped for: the old Chamber space!\u00a0 Anna and I have been talking about this day for well over a year now, and it will finally become a reality on June 15th<\/sup> when their contract expires with their current landlord.\u00a0 The new location is almost twice the size of her current store, and the space is badly needed \u2013 she says she has about 300 square feet of displays and product sitting in the living room of her house because she has no space in her store to set them up.\u00a0 Plus, it has better visibility, off-street parking (and a virtual loading zone outside the side door on Pioneer), lighting, and proximity to the downtown core of activity.\u00a0 This will also put Dolly\u2019s in a better position to participate in Sandy Main Street events like First Fridays and the Trick-or-Treat Trail, events that Anna has told me she would like to become more involved with in the future.<\/p>\n

If you have pets, stop by and see her new store when it opens during the 3rd week of June.\u00a0 She has a lot of quality product lines and, after 9 years in business, really knows her stuff.\u00a0 Way, way better than PetSmart!<\/p>\n

La Milpa Mexican Foods:\u00a0 Luis Corral and company are finally starting the process of moving their factory from their current home in Mike Maiden\u2019s complex to the former home of The Eclectic Institute.\u00a0 This represents a very positive move for La Milpa \u2013 the new factory floor is twice the size of their current one, which will allow them to start manufacturing a few new products like tortilla chips and tostada shells.\u00a0 Fire\/life safety inspection didn\u2019t turn up any serious problems with the building, so the move should proceed over the next 3 months or so.\u00a0 Senor Corral and his business partner are excited to finally be expanding, as they have been contemplating this move for about 2 years now.\u00a0 Once they get ready to test out their new product line, I will introduce them to Antonio Paez \u2013 perhaps the Tamale Factory can be their test lab! (I know Antonio is thinking about adding chips and salsa to his menu, and I\u2019m pretty sure he would be interested in a local supplier \u2013 \u201ceconomic gardening\u201d in action!)<\/p>\n

Blue Sky & Daydreams, LLC:\u00a0 a.k.a. the Laundromat from Hades.\u00a0 I stopped by at lunch the other day to see if any of the work rumored to be done here has actually been done on this space.\u00a0 To no one\u2019s surprise, the place is actually in worse condition than the last time I stopped by.\u00a0 The number of missing tiles on the floor seems to have multiplied, and it looks like someone tried to jack the change machines, which have wires sticking out now where the dollar bill accepters used to be.\u00a0 The vandalized sign referring customers to a phone number for refunds has been removed and replaced with nothing.\u00a0 Number of customers present: zero.\u00a0 So sad.<\/p>\n

All-Ways Towing: Terre, Tracy, Don Patty and I descended upon the All-Ways site for a fire\/life safety inspection, and it seemed to go very well.\u00a0 No huge problems were detected, and we got a little bit of insight into what they\u2019re planning.\u00a0 Other than that, it was a fairly routine inspection.<\/p>\n

Sandy Organic:\u00a0 Had the ribbon cutting for their Friday market concept on May 23rd<\/sup>.\u00a0 Many thanks to Mayor King for presiding, and for the strong presence at the event by both Council and staff.\u00a0 The event drew a fair number of people, and provided a great photo op for this new business.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sandy Main Street: <\/strong>Believe it or not, Aubrey\u2019s term of service with us is almost up!\u00a0 I completed the application for our new RARE student earlier in the week, and we will be conducting interviews the week of July 14th<\/sup> for Aubrey\u2019s 2014-2015 replacement.\u00a0 RARE is estimating that we will have between 3 and 5 interviews to conduct, most if not all of which will be via Skype or telephone.<\/p>\n

Also, we will be putting on Imagine Sandy<\/em>, our visioning meeting for Sandy\u2019s downtown core, on June 23rd<\/sup> at the Community Center.\u00a0 You all have invites in your City Hall mailboxes, and we would really, really love your participation if you have the time to spare.\u00a0 This event will be similar to the Prescriptions for ED<\/em> event that Dr. Lazenby and I put on in 2011, but will be moderated by Sheri Stuart, our Oregon Main Street supervisor.\u00a0 Sheri has done tons of these types of visioning meetings, so it will be a delight to have someone with so much experience running the show.\u00a0 We will share the results of this meeting with the community at a shorter follow-up event in August, and with the Council at a future Council meeting (probably in late July).\u00a0 If you have any questions, contact Aubrey \u2013 this is her show!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Project work:\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n