The Redevelopment Agency agreed to give $125,000 to the Morgan
Hill Chamber of Commerce for the second year in a row, to continue
promoting economic development in Morgan Hill.
The Redevelopment Agency agreed to give $125,000 to the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce for the second year in a row, to continue promoting economic development in Morgan Hill.
The Chamber receives the funds as part of an agreement with the RDA to assist the Chamber in providing economic services for the community. The Chamber has been helping the city with economic development for over 10 years. The partnership is currently implementing a marketing plan for retaining and expanding businesses, and promoting tourism in Morgan Hill.
Bob Martin, together with Chamber Executive Director Dan Ehrler, detailed the partnership’s efforts in their report. Martin, of Martin Marketing Corp., is a marketing consultant on the marketing plan.
In the past 18 months, Martin and Ehrler noted the Chamber initiated a “Shop in Morgan Hill” campaign to entice Morgan Hill residents to spend their money at local businesses. They initiated advertising and wide media coverage, and represented the city and businesses at trade shows. The Chamber promoted shopping and recreational activities in Morgan Hill during the Far Western Swim Meet, made business videos, and conducted more than 100 business attraction meetings.
This year, the Chamber plans to continue its efforts to attract, retain and expand local businesses. It plans to implement a strategy to market Morgan Hill’s image locally and nationally, and develop an advertising campaign like “Shop in Morgan Hill.” The Chamber will continue to coordinate events like the business appreciation lunch. The organization also plans to maintain a real estate property database on the Internet, coordinate activities with the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, and work with the tourism advisory committee and market special events.
The Chamber’s budget for the marketing plan for this fiscal year is $287,655 – $125,000 from the city, $55,900 private funding, and $106,755 of its own money.
Upon the conclusion of the presentation, Councilman Mark Grzan, who, along with other council members makes up the RDA, tried to pin down Chamber representatives on specifics.
“I understand the goals, you’ve made that quite clear, but I still don’t have a sense of how many businesses have been retained, how many were attracted by the promotions. How can we get some quantifiable return for our investment?” Grzan asked them.
Martin said the best indicator of the city’s investment in the Chamber and their partnership is through sales tax revenues, which are climbing. According to city officials, sales tax cash receipts increased 34.1 percent to $1.36 million as of June 2005 and the city predicts earnings will reach a record $5.5 million at the end of this fiscal year.
“Sales tax receipts are an indirect response, our efforts are results. Part of our efforts is a long-term one,” said Martin.
Grzan repeated the importance of receiving “some sort of quantifiable return. Your goals are clear, yet I see no results from that. We’ve been doing this for some time.”
Martin pointed to “the business that shares the building with the police department,” as an example of success in the Chamber’s efforts at attracting businesses to Morgan Hill. Martin was referring to Solara Energy, Inc. The solar panel business located there through efforts facilitated by the Chamber, according to Chamber officials.
