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ARDEN HILLS EDA JOINT MEETING WITH EDC – JANUARY 26, 2015 4 the BRE initiative. For example, programs can be city-wide efforts or can have a more limited scope looking at a specific industry sector, such as manufacturing, or a particular business district. Associate Planner Bachler reported that the focus of step one is gathering information on current conditions in the business community. This is completed by relying on existing economic data sources and conducting interviews with selected businesses using a survey instrument. A leadership group comprised of elected officials, city staff, residents, and members of the business community is usually responsible for completing these interviews. In step two, community strengths and weaknesses are identified through an analysis of the collected research. This review process also allows cities to address short-term problems that may come up in the business interviews, such as the threat of a business relocating to another community. A summary report is completed that highlights issue areas and makes suggestions for actions to respond. Associate Planner Bachler indicated that the final step of a BRE program is implementation. Following the review of the summary report and deliberation by the City Council, priority projects are selected. Publicity is important during this phase to demonstrate to the business community that concrete steps are being taken to address their concerns. Following the completion of these steps, it is beneficial for a community to develop a business visitation cycle in order to maintain an ongoing BRE effort. Staff completed a ten-week long course with the University of Minnesota Extension in 2014 on developing a local BRE program. This class focused on the economic benefits of undertaking these initiatives and on the BRE services available through the Extension office. Following the completion of this course, staff contacted three cities in the metro that have contracted with the Extension on BRE programs to ask for feedback on these efforts. Staff also reached out to the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce (SPACC), which has a long history of providing BRE services to the communities it serves in suburban Ramsey County. As one of the founding members of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce “Grow Minnesota!” BRE program, they have helped contribute to more than 8,200 business visits, which have resulted in direct assistance to over 1,200 companies. Associate Planner Bachler commented that the EDC and staff evaluated preliminary BRE program proposals from both the University of Minnesota Extension and SPACC. The initial cost estimate provided by the Extension for the program was approximately $8,800. SPACC has proposed a not-to-exceed cost of $5,000. For several reasons, the proposal from SPACC was selected as a better fit for Arden Hills. Key advantages of the SPACC proposal are:  A significant advantage to working with SPACC is that the Chamber has an established relationship with many businesses and other stakeholders in Arden Hills and will be better positioned to carry out the business outreach efforts. SPACC will also be able to leverage its existing databases to compile a comprehensive list of businesses in the City and prioritize which companies to visit.