Page 35 - FDI Alliance International Magazine Summer 2020 Digital Interactive Issue

impact local businesses, especially in rural markets where these types of
professional services can be lacking.

One thing COVID has taught us is the importance of remote working. More
and more people are finding they can connect with and leverage talent
from anywhere in the world. Local EDOs can lead the way by identifying
and vetting a preferred list of providers, helping the small business owner
save time and money.

Local EDOs also learned the importance of a strong social media following.
By investing in creating and building a robust social audience, the EDOs
were able to leverage their feed to help shine a light on their local businesses
that were open and available to serve the community.

One such example was the #LampasasRising campaign created by the
Lampasas Economic Development Corporation to highlight their small
business owners, which diversified, expanded and enhanced their business
during the crisis. The LEDC provided daily tweets and Facebook posts with
the campaign hashtag to raise awareness of the local shops and their
updated hours of operations and services.

“The #LampasasRising campaign was created as a means to highlight
and show appreciation to our local businesses struggling in the trenches,”
explained Mandy Walsh, PCED, director of economic development for the
City of Lampasas. “At a time when there was so much uncertainty lying
ahead, we felt it was important that the community knew how critical it was
to support [local businesses] during the pandemic, along with various ways
in which they could support them. Probably the best part of the campaign
SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES DURING A was seeing it turn into these virtual ‘high fives’ from our citizens to our
business owners. They found ways to adapt and survive during a very scary
and unstable time for the local (and global) economy. In essence, they
PANDEMIC: A SURVIVAL GUIDE persevered and discovered ways to ‘rise’ above.”

Princeton, Texas, a community located in Collin County on the north Pop Around The Corner, a gourmet popcorn and gift shop in Denison,
Since March of this year, the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has encouraging their businesses to ramp up their ability to meet the increasing side of the Dallas-Fort Worth region, leveraged its utility billing system to Texas, was among the recipients of the community’s E-Commerce
put economic developers’ skills to the test in supporting our local small demand for online shopping, transactions and delivery. The Denison provide every resident with a $25 voucher to be spent at participating Accelerator Incentive Grant Program.
businesses. How could we be there for them when we couldn’t even visit E-commerce Accelerator Incentive Grant Program funds up to $6,000 of local businesses. Local businesses were encouraged to sign up via an
them? How could we, as public entities, best invest our resources to help e-commerce marketing projects of $8,000 or more. Level One (“LAUNCH online form. The information was imported into economic development’s
maximize the benefit to our small businesses and save our economy’s E-commerce”) encourages businesses to gain or improve their ability to CRM and used to communicate program updates. This use of technology
backbone? conduct business online and begin digital promotions to guide shoppers to allowed the town’s staff to quickly and efficiently provide information to
their website. Level Two (“AMPLIFY E-commerce”) focuses on expanding and local businesses and keep them informed as the project moved forward. It
We discovered that it’s a tall order, but it’s part of our job to figure it out. growing online sales through enhanced digital marketing and promotions. also allowed the team to enter frequently asked questions and update the
Above all, it starts with listening. By connecting with business owners and community’s program with needed adjustments. The EDC will be able to
engaging them in a conversation, we can fully understand their story and Research has shown that more vibrant digital businesses in a community use data collected during the program to build a more robust business and
their pain points. Armed with this knowledge, we can start to work through lead to higher median incomes and healthier communities. Denison’s retention program and better serve the existing local businesses.
our tool chest to find the instruments that will provide solutions. incentive program was designed not just to help local businesses survive
COVID, but to create a lasting economic impact for the community. “Our COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Voucher Program allowed us to help
Economic developers can utilize customer relationship management (CRM) on both sides of the equation,” said Princeton City Manager Derek Borg.
to be better prepared when disaster strikes. In fact, a robust CRM system is “Retailers, including restaurants, quickly discovered the need to serve their “Our residents were given a voucher to treat themselves to dinner out with
the cornerstone of an economic development program. So much of what customers differently,” noted Denison Development Alliance Chairman their family or something else they otherwise might have had to forgo in
we do as professionals depends on relationships and the ability to leverage Matt Looney. “The ability to display products and services through a website order to pay their bills, and in turn it helped our local businesses.”
our network that having a way to effectively and efficiently connect the dots or app was critical for this unexpected change in shopping routines and the
is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have. That’s why our “Framework for future of our economy.” The late bestselling self-help author Napoleon Hill once said, “Every
Success” starts with the installation of a CRM. By inputting information into a adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal
centralized database over time about each small business, we can analyze Applicants are given complete control of which online sales platform to use, or greater benefit.” The pandemic of 2020 has provided plenty of adversity,
the data for patterns to find the businesses’ challenges and opportunities. which consultants they engage, and which digital advertising option they failures and heartache. It is our role as economic developers to find the seed
This centralized contact database also allows us to connect with the business incorporate during the six-month grant. of opportunity, plant it and nurture it into a mighty oak of benefit that future
owners and develop trust more efficiently. This trust will enable us to better generations can sit under and enjoy. As we emerge from this pandemic,
serve our business owners in their time of need. Another opportunity for economic developers to help serve their small may we take the lessons learned and create a brighter economic future,
businesses came from the various loan programs provided by the federal helping our small business community thrive once again.
One of the significant challenges faced by many small businesses going government and the information needed to apply. Day One Experts provided
into COVID was their lack of an online presence. They had always relied free consultation services during the early stages of the crisis, and we found
solely on face-to-face interactions to do business. But now, with the entire it shocking how little the business owners knew about their business. Most DAVE QUINN, CECD
world shut down and isolated in their homes, these small companies were mom-and-pop operations that knew how to provide their product or MANAGING PARTNER, DAY ONE EXPERTS
were forced to embrace a new way of doing business. Their very survival service but lacked the business knowledge to understand if their business
depended on their ability to connect with their customers electronically. Here was profitable. Our team recognized right away the opportunity to provide
was an opportunity for economic development organizations to help their resources to these small businesses to better position them, not just during (214) 775-0617 www.D1Experts.com Princeton, Texas leveraged its utility billing system to provide every
businesses with the processes needed to remain viable during the shutdown. COVID but also into the future. By providing fractionalized services like resident with an economic stimulus voucher to be spent at participating
One community in North Texas created a unique program aimed at bookkeeping, marketing and human resources, an EDO can substantially dave@d1experts.com local businesses displaying this sign
35. FDI ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL