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3 <br /> <br />Priority Project 1: Ongoing Business Visits <br />The recommendations section of the Business Retention and Expansion Program that was administered <br />in 2015 recognized the importance of conducting ongoing business visits in an effort to maintain up to <br />date information and relationship building with the business community. Developing a system for and <br />conducting ongoing business visit should be a top priority of the city. <br />Feedback received from the Economic Development Commission <br />• Expand current, planned visits <br />• Show value to businesses with visits (information, contacts) <br />• Communicate information back to business community <br />• Coordinate with other visiting entities <br />• Share, consider regional information <br />• Consider frequency of formal BRE program <br />• Track results of BRE initiatives <br /> <br />Questions to consider when developing a sustainable business visit model: <br />• Who should be targeted to receive a visit? <br />• How many visits should be conducted each year? <br />• What is the core objective of the visits? <br />• Who should conduct the visits? <br />• What should the frequency be of conducting a formal BRE program? <br />Recommended Implementation Strategy <br />• Choose to target a specific industry (i.e. manufacturing, med tech, etc.) or defined geography <br />(i.e. Red Fox/Grey Fox, Round Lake, etc.) for business visits throughout 2016. <br />o It is recommended that the City focus on the Red Fox/Grey Fox district initially in <br />response to some of the feedback regarding transportation in the area and recent <br />changes in the make up of the local business community, such as Smiths Medical leaving <br />and the opening of the Red Fox Business Center. <br />• Plan to conduct 6-8 visits during the remainder of 2016 <br />o It is estimated that business visits require approximately 4 hours of time to conduct, <br />inclusive of outreach, scheduling, visiting, and inputting data. <br />• Aggregate information collected throughout the year and produce a year-end report. <br />Timeline <br />Ongoing through 2016 with plans to review strategy for 2017 near the end of the year <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />