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Home My WebLink About091521-03.3 STUDY STUDY SESSION MEMORANDUM 3.3 TO: Town Council September 15, 2021 SUBJECT: FY 2021/22 Business Promotion Funds – Funding Allocation Plan BACKGROUND As part of the annual budget process, the Town Council considers appropriating up to $50,000 in Business Promotion Funds for providing grants to small businesses and organizations that make Danville a premier retail, dining, and service destination. Over the life of this program, components and criteria have continued to evolve to improve its effectiveness while supporting the goal of developing programs and events that: 1) Are deemed advantageous to a broad range of Danville’s business community; 2) Anticipated to yield the greatest level of direct and immediate results; and, 3) Build collaboration among Danville businesses. Historically, organizations or businesses have applied for either Cohesive Marketing Funds or Individual Marketing Grants based on the type of program/event being proposed. Cohesive Marketing The Danville Area Chamber of Commerce has been the primary recipient of the Cohesive Marketing Grant because it developed programs that support all businesses in the community. Through the years, funds have been used to develop print magazine publications such as “Danville Life”, a monthly “Danville In Style” community news pages, etc. As print media has given way to newer marketing platforms, program development shifted to focus 1:1 support for businesses to develop online presence through various sources (i.e., Google, Yelp, Door Dash, etc.), monthly radio marketing campaigns, the creation of the Danville Business Directory, and digital version of the Live Locally guide. Individual Marketing Grant Recipients of grants have included non-profits, local businesses and property management companies that developed engaging collaborative events, marketing FY 2021/22 Business Promotion Funds 2 September 15, 2021 promotional mailers, technology tools to promote shopping local (e.g., Wine Stroll, Where’s Waldo Scavenger Hunt) featuring a large number of local businesses. DISCUSSION Given the economic impact of the pandemic on Danville’s business community, it is vital that Business Promotion Funds continue to be set aside to help business make a meaningful impact in the community, be community builders and contribute to economic growth. Unlike prior years, Business Promotion Funds were not allocated for specific purposes as part of the FY 2021/22 Operating Budget. Given the variety of pandemic related restrictions currently impacting businesses and events, the Town Council chose to allocate $50,000 in funding with the understanding that the Town would revisit how funds would be administered once business and event activities could safely resume. As part of deferring this process, the Town intended to conduct a comprehensive review of the Business Promotions Fund and shape the program to better meet the needs of the business community. However, continued changes and fluctuations in health orders and safety requirements have caused the Town to focus exclusively on ongoing business recovery as the Town’s top priority. Use of the funds is recommended to continue support of business recovery efforts for the remainder of the fiscal year. Recommendations for use of the FY 2021/22 Business Promotion Funds are as follows: Cohesive Marketing and Promotion Focus Allocate $35,000 towards a range of cohesive marketing programs collaboratively developed and administered by the Town or the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce (Chamber), to be designed to support economic recovery efforts and promote Danville businesses. a) Danville Holiday Recovery Campaign – Fourth quarter sales are extremely critical for brick-and-mortar businesses to sustain operations. Therefore, it is imperative that an impactful “Gift Locally” marketing campaign be developed, building from last year’s campaign efforts, to encourage residents to focus spending locally this holiday season. Campaign components include producing a high quality Give Locally Holiday Shopping Guide for which businesses can purchase a product specific ad at a reduced cost of up to 75% off and benefit from an expanded promotion of the holiday campaign through multiple media platforms (e.g., gift guide, print, social media, radio, website, print delivery of gift guide to 55k residents). This program would be FY 2021/22 Business Promotion Funds 3 September 15, 2021 administered by the Town of Danville with utilizing the services of a marketing firm and promotion support of the Chamber ($25,000). b) Structured Radio Media Campaign – This program will involve developing a focused monthly radio campaign to feature local events and activities with an emphasis to engage residents and consumers to shop, dine, and discover events and other experiential activities locally. This program would be administered by the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce. ($10,000). General Marketing Grant Focus The balance of Business Promotion Funds ($15,000) would be awarded in grants up to $1,000 each to applicants whose marketing activities promote the business community, based on established criteria. Applicants whose events or activities encourage collaboration among multiple businesses or that are coordinated and marketed in conjunction with other events simultaneously (e.g., the Art & Wine Stroll, Shops and Hops), would be eligible for a maximum of $1,500 per grant application, provided funds are available and not allocated to other grant applicants. Grants would be issued administratively on a first-come-first-serve basis and reimbursement would be retroactive for purchases made for grant purposes since July 1, 2021. General Marketing & Promotion efforts should: 1. Provide opportunity for collaboration among multiple businesses. 2. Engage consumers with experiential events and widespread promotion opportunities. 3. Promote events or cooperative marketing programs through print and/or digital mediums. 4. Incorporate “Live Locally” branding into all marketing efforts. 5. Ensure patron safety by following all current safety guidelines provided at the federal, state and local level. Business Promotion 2.0 The pandemic has accelerated the trend toward consumers shopping online and highlights the need to deliver a more organized thoughtful effort to support Danville’s business community. Looking forward to a post-pandemic “new normal” for businesses, it is important to re-evaluate the purpose of the Business Promotion Program and advance the goals and criteria established to ensure the needs of the business community are being met. A forward -thinking program should include consideration of emerging trends, feedback FY 2021/22 Business Promotion Funds 4 September 15, 2021 from businesses, and resource availability from the organizations administering programs developed through this program. It is expected there may be more of a need for a managed community marketing approach administered by the Town in partnership with a marketing firm that understands Danville’s brand and is positioned to develop targeted campaigns to support our business community. Events and other activities will also be evaluated to determine what level of support works for our business community moving forward. We anticipate receiving business feedback related to this program during the outreach efforts from the Downtown Master Plan update process. We look forward to developing a Business Promotion Fund 2.0 version and expect to share it with the Council as part of the FY 2022/23 Budget review process. Prepared by: Jill Bergman Business & Economic Development Director