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HomeMy WebLinkAbout020224 - 04.1 Economic Development Strategies ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES INTRODUCTION Danville’s fiscal health, like that of most cities, is highly impacted by sales tax revenues. In the 2023/24 fiscal year, sales tax continues to represent the second largest revenue source for the community, accounting for 21.5% of the Town’s projected General Fund revenues. This dependence on sales tax as a key revenue source underscores the importance of a robust local economy. While there are no set standards, key elements for fostering business growth include a business-friendly local government, responsive municipal services (such as public safety and permitting), sound and reliable infrastructure, ample commercial space and land, a skilled workforce, and a supportive customer base. Larger cities often drive economic development by attracting big businesses with tax incentives or approving major commercial projects to boost sales tax revenue. Danville's approach differs due to its community profile consisting of predominantly residential land uses, limited large commercial sites, and an emphasis on preserving its uniqueness. Danville's economic development strategy focuses on: 1. Safe and Inviting Environment: A dedication to public safety and maintenance to create a welcoming setting for visitors and business activities. 2. Sound Infrastructure: Another key component for ensuring not only quality of life but also quality of place. Since incorporation, the Town has invested at least $103 million in capital improvements in downtown Danville alone. In 2024, the Town is poised to invest another $5 million in downtown improvements. 3. Empowering Small Businesses: The Town actively nurtures its entrepreneurial spirit with initiatives like local business grants, marketing campaigns, and community events to increase foot traffic. To date, the Town has invested $1.6 million of Business Promotion and Retail Incentive funding and $150,000 of ARPA funding, in the business community. DISCUSSION The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly reshaped consumer habits, changing how they engage with Danville businesses. Local businesses, particularly in the downtown area, have reported a decrease in foot traffic and a reduced impact from previously effective strategies. 2 In response, our Economic Development team spent the latter half of 2023 actively engaging with business owners to understand these changes. Through in-person visits, interactions at networking events, online surveys, and engagement on social media platforms, staff have gathered valuable insights: • Business Boost Grant Program (July 2023): Feedback from this successful program revealed local business priorities. The majority of the grants were used for marketing and building improvements, suggesting that infrastructure investment continues to be vital and marketing support for local businesses could be a key focus in the upcoming year. • Holiday Gift Guide and Campaign (2022 and 2023): Surveys of participating businesses indicated that despite their willingness to participate again, they didn't observe a significant increase in business directly linked to the gift guide. Analytics revealed that social media campaigns had the strongest consumer response. These findings suggest that future holiday shopping campaigns could lean more heavily on social media and other digital marketing platforms, where the return-on-investment is easily measured, and its cost effectiveness can be leveraged to cover a greater number of businesses. These insights are crucial as the Town refines strategies and seeks more efficient ways to support local businesses in this evolving landscape. Transitions: What is the Town Doing Now Based on the input staff received, the Economic Development team has developed the following key initiatives for the remainder of the fiscal year. These projects are both efficient to implement with available resources and respond directly to feedback from business owners. • New Business Toolkit: The Town has upgraded the Business Toolkit to the “Danville Prospector,” an online resource offering vital information on demographics, Town business services, and available properties for lease. This tool aids new and expanding businesses in Danville. • “Open in Danville”: The Town wants every new business to be aware of the services the Town provides and a direct line of communication with staff. Staff will reach out to new businesses as they are preparing to open and make sure that their opening is announced to the public through the Town’s social media channels and printed Live Locally Quarterly Newsletter through the Open in Danville program. Shortly after the business opens, staff will visit the business with the Mayor or a Councilmember to officially welcome the business to Town. Staff will take a photo with a branded “Open in Danville” sign and promote the business on social media. 3 • “Tell the Town”: Another social media effort is Tell the Town, a program that invites businesses to share news with us, so staff can share it with the Town. The news can be special sales, new product lines, expansions, and similar big events for the business. This will become part of a regular business-focused effort on the Town’s social media channels. • Danville History Tour: Planning staff are working with the Heritage Resource Commission to develop a mobile tour of historic places in Downtown Danville. As that mobile tour is finalized, it will be launched in cooperation with local businesses along the route. The map would also show what the spots look like now, to promote businesses along the route. • Business-Friendly Town Events: The Town is integrating business-boosting elements into existing and new community events, in partnership with the Recreation, Arts & Community Services (RACS) teams. RACS has independently incorporated business elements to their events when appropriate, and now it will be a more concerted effort with Economic Development. Staff will also continue to promote the Business Promotion Grant Program to ensure all budgeted funds are expended to support local businesses. That program already has a waiting list for FY 2023/24. • Business Email List: While the Town has access to business owner contact information through our business license database, use of that list is limited to transactional emails and critical business-related updates from the Town. To foster better engagement and community among businesses, staff are developing a business-focused opt-in, anti-spam compliant, email subscription list. This will enable the Town to share regular updates, relevant news, and opportunities (such as grants), and keeping businesses informed about Town support and initiatives. Looking Ahead: Proposed Updates To better support businesses in the post-pandemic era, staff propose two key updates to the Town’s Economic Development program: 1. Develop a Business Communication Strategy: This will involve identifying existing communication gaps and devising methods to address the changing needs of businesses in the coming years. 2. Updated the Comprehensive Economic Development Plan: The current plan, which expired in 2021, could benefit from an update to reflect the latest economic landscape and respond to evolving needs of the business community. RECOMMENDATION Consider the information and status update outline. Provide feedback to staff with regard to the two proposed longer-term strategies: (1) Business Communications Strategy; and (2) Comprehensive Economic Development Plan Update.