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LSEDC Direct Mail Postcard
Campaign Launched Highlighting Local Entrepreneurs |
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Our newest postcard
campaign’s goal is to showcase Lee’s Summit as a
growing, vibrant and pro-business community that
welcomes new ideas. We are featuring eight Lee’s
Summit-based entrepreneurial ventures. Starting
March 1, the 8-month direct mail campaign to 2,500
regional decision and opinion makers will highlight
some bright, successful business men and women who
see Lee’s Summit as a great place to build and run a
company. The postcards feature pictures of the
entrepreneurs in their places of business and a
brief overview of their companies.
Those featured
include:
The first card
features ViraCor, an LSEDC Pacesetter Investor.
Pictured on the front under the headline, "Saving
Lives of the Most Vulnerable" are ViraCor’s CEO and
Founder Phillip "Flip" Short, CFO John Martin,
President Patti Aspenleiter and the company mascot,
a reliable lab dog.
Of the company,
the postcard says, "Every day medical specimens from
critically ill patients around the country arrive at
ViraCor’s Lee’s Summit testing laboratory. Patients
with transplants, cancer, severe burns or other
conditions can’t fight viral or fungal infections
like the rest of us. They don’t have four or five
days to wait for their results. Their life depends
on the 24-hour turn around that ViraCor provides -
even on Christmas Eve, 2005 when a ViraCor team
drove to the airport, tracked down a specimen,
unlocked their lab and found the reason why a young
boy in a distant city was rejecting his transplant.
ViraCor started in 2000 with one test, two client
hospitals and averaged three diagnoses a day. Today
they run 7,000 tests a month for over 100 hospitals.
'If you take care of the patient, everything else
will come,' founder Flip Short says." Learn more at
www.viracor.com.
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Each postcard
ends with an invitation for recipients to contact
the LSEDC. It says, "Entrepreneurs love Lee’s
Summit. See why at
www.leessummit.org or
contact Jim Devine, President and CEO, Lee’s Summit
Economic Development Council, 218 SE Main Street,
Lee’s Summit, MO 64063. 816-525-6617."
This is the fourth
series of cards we have done in recent years. They
are eye-catching, informative and a great way to
share our message with the Greater Kansas City
business and civic community. |
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LSEDC Supports
Renewal of 1/2 Cent Transportation Sales Tax |
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On April 3, the citizens will
be asked to vote for the continuation of the transportation
sales tax to fund nearly $70,000,000 in new and improved
roads in Lee’s Summit.
On March 7, the LSEDC Board
and Advisory Board passed a resolution supporting the
renewal and continuation of the ½ cent sales tax.
By voting "Yes" on this no
tax increase ballot issue, new or
continuing improvements will be made to
Bailey, Chipman to View High, Hook, Lee’s Summit
Road, Ward
Road,
and Jefferson Street over the next 10 years. Also
included in these projects are sidewalks and multi-use bike
paths.
Click
HERE to link to the City’s website for further
information. |
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LSEDC Retreat A
Success |
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Armed with investor and customer survey feedback
forms, members of the LSEDC Board and Advisory Board
dug into several important issues facing the
community’s competitiveness at the March 7th board
retreat. Consultants assisted LSEDC members during
small group discussions on each topic Listed below:
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Diversity
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Growth and
Development
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Business
Retention and Expansion
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Community
Leadership Development,
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Implementing
Lee’s Summit’s Brand,
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Board
Effectiveness.
In the coming weeks
and months, the staff and Executive Committee will
sift through attendees’ recommendations. While our
mission will remain the same -- Community Product
Improvement, Business Retention and Expansion,
Targeted Industry Attraction and Community Image
Enhancement --certain new initiatives discussed at
the retreat are already being considered within
these broad goals.
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"Lunch with Jim:" This
will be an investor- and interest-group-driven
forum to brief investors and industry peer
groups on Lee’s Summit issues and events.
Arranged and hosted by investors at a place of
their choice, Jim and a member of the Executive
Committee will be on hand to discuss current
issues and events. The details are yet to be
worked out, but if you are interested in hosting
a lunch with Jim and a member of the Executive
Committee, let us know.
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Increased collaboration with the
Lee’s Summit Chamber
on areas of mutual interest such as small
business development and entrepreneurship.
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Focusing on workforce issues and
needs:
Lee’s Summit’s strength lies in its people and
their skill sets. How we market our workforce
assets and provide for a diverse workforce will
set Lee’s Summit apart from other communities.
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More face-to-face outreach to
metro opinion- and decision- makers.
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Increased input in local,
regional and state issues affecting Lee’s
Summit’s competitiveness.
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County Executive Mike Sanders Meets
Eastern Jackson County Realtors
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Lee’s Summit
EDC, along with the Eastern Jackson County
Development Alliance, recently hosted the
first quarterly meeting of the Eastern
Jackson County Realtors Roundtable at Chapel
Ridge Banquet Center. The Roundtable,
started in Lee’s Summit, has evolved into a
quarterly event hosted by members of the
Eastern Jackson County Development Alliance.
The next one will be in Independence in
April.
In addition to a presentation about Legoland
and the sharing of leads, the group of over
50 people welcomed newly elected Jackson
County Executive Mike Sanders, who shared
his vision for Jackson County and answered
questions. The attendees were impressed with
Sanders’ commitment to listening and
learning from the eastern Jackson county
electorate. The county executive reaffirmed
his commitment to work with the local
economic developers in mutually supportive
ways. |
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Legoland Watch |
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As Chairman Nancy Blackwell
recently said, "Let the conversation begin," and so it has.
Legoland is the topic of print and electronic media
coverage; it is the talk at coffee shops, school functions
and in the classroom.
The City is currently
awaiting more information on the costs and benefits of the
theme park, its hotel and convention center, the festival
retail, aquarium and spin-off development. Be assured that
this project will be the subject of professionally directed
due diligence and public scrutiny. After all, mega projects
require mega attention on both the pros and cons. We are
confident, however, that with communication and
collaboration, the right balance for Lee’s Summit will be
determined, and the Council will make an informed decision.
One thing is for sure, this
is a high profile project which has and deserves
considerable discussion and scrutiny. |
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Southern Gateway
Business Alliance Formed |
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LSEDC has been asked to staff
an informal group of business executives from businesses
south of 50 Highway. The group, which employs over 1,000
people, will meet regularly to learn what is happening in
the city and share issues and concerns in areas of workforce
development and transportation. City staff recently briefed
the group on the projects proposed in the ½ cent
transportation sales continuation. Of special interest were
the proposed improvements to Bailey Road, Jefferson Street
and Lee’s Summit Road. The alliance passed a resolution
supporting the ½ cent sales tax continuation. LSEDC
investors in the alliance include:
Plastics Enterprises Co., Inc;
Toys R Us;
Metcraft Industries; American Food Service;
R&D Tool & Engineering;
Billy Goat Industries; and
Geiger Ready Mix. Plastic Enterprises President Chuck
Koester serves as the informal chairman of the group.
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Retail
Development: An Important Economic Development Strategy |
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A recent poll of
4,000 economic developers demonstrates that retail
development is a widely accepted strategy for
communities needing cash to fund growth and
expanding public services. A recent survey by The
Buxton Company, a leader in customer analysis and
retail site selection, revealed:
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85% of communities surveyed use
retail development as a component of their
economic development strategy
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69% of communities offer
incentives to retailers
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52% offer
infrastructure assistance
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42% offer tax
increment financing (TIF)
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26% tax
abatements or exemptions
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25% loans or loan
guarantees
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21% grants
Why do communities
want more retail development?
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85% for a better quality of life
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81% for increased sales tax
revenue
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86% to encourage residents to
shop and dine within their community
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72% to stop retail leakage
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Arts and Culture
Contribute to Community Quality of Life and Economy |
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Retail isn’t the only
strategy to improve a community’s quality of life.
Arts and Culture are major contributing economic
drivers to local economies and infrastructure in the
metropolitan area. They add over $279 million to our
local economy, and billions more nationally.
The City of Lee’s
Summit has engaged a nationally-recognized
consulting firm, AMS Planning & Research, to
oversee the research and prepare the City’s first
Cultural Plan. The Cultural Plan will set
future priorities in areas such as public art and
arts education, and make recommendations on how the
City can best support arts and cultural programs and
organizations.
Input will be
obtained by intercept surveys of residents on a
random basis over the next several weekends. Results
from this survey will help set direction for the
City’s cultural plan.
Members
of the public also have an opportunity to complete
this survey on the web and provide valuable input to
the City. Please visit the consulting firm’s website
at
http://www.ams-online.com/, click
on the Community Forum tab, and then on the Lee’s
Summit Cultural Plan Resident Survey link. The
survey takes about 5-10 minutes to complete.
The development of a
cultural plan is a significant step towards
maintaining the livability and quality of life for
residents of Lee’s Summit. Arts and culture
contribute not only to the esthetic of our
community, but to the economic viability and
vitality of the city overall. |
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Community Image
Has Steadily Increased In Site Selection Importance |
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Site selection guru Bob Ady’s
January 2007 newsletter affirms the importance of one of
LSEDC’s goals: Community Image Enhancement.
Bob’s newsletter
states: "In a typical site location checklist, 50 to 100
factors may be evaluated before selecting a final location
for a new facility. Of course, the relative importance of
each location factor varies according to time, company, and
type of operation. But general trends have always been
discernable, especially to those in the site selection
business. Generally, tight labor market conditions swung the
location criteria pendulum to quality of life factors and
global competition to cost containment.
However, there is one location criterion today that defies
the macro-pendulum swing described above - the importance of
community image on site selection. Based on Ady
International experience, this location factor has steadily
increased in importance in recent years. This has been
caused by a more critical assessment of community image by
relocating transferees and the high level of global labor
market competitiveness.
How exactly is community image measured? There is no simple
answer. It is difficult to identify and even more difficult
to quantify. Currently, it represents a mix of traditional
factors and new factors. Among the traditional factors are
quality of education, crime rates, and various lifestyle
considerations. Newer evaluative yardsticks include the
physical appearance of the community, after-hour activities,
and ease of newcomer assimilation, especially foreign
nationals.
In addition, image is now being more closely evaluated at
the corporate level. The image that a community projects is
intrinsically linked to the image that the company projects.
This also drives the increasing importance of image as a
site location factor.
Never discount the importance of 'community image' in the
site selection process. It is increasingly the tie- breaker
among finalist locations." |
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New Business
Portal for Small and Start-up Businesses |
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It is an axiom in
economic development that the majority of new jobs are
created by small business. Governor Blunt and Secretary of
State Carnahan recently launched the Missouri Business
Portal, a new Internet site to help entrepreneurs in
Missouri start their own small business. The new business
portal is a one-stop-shop for Missourians looking to start
their own business or grow their existing business. It
combines state resources making it as easy as possible for
entrepreneurs and business owners to get the information
they need to start or grow their business in Missouri. Visit
the Missouri Business Portal Internet site at
http://www.business.mo.gov. In the
near future, LSEDC will be adding some links for small
businesses and entrepreneurs as well. |
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Investor Focus |
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The Zimmer Company: A
Kansas City Real Estate Institution With Strong Ties in
Lee's Summit |
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Each
quarter we highlight an LSEDC Investor company in our E-Newsletter. If
you would like to be featured, attend our Quarterly Investor Meeting and
drop your business card in the box. If your card is drawn, you will be
featured in an upcoming e-newsletter.
Since its founding in 1948, Zimmer has been
providing commercial real estate service to its clients in
the Midwest, across the country and throughout the world.
Zimmer began business as A.W. Zimmer & Company, an
industrial real estate brokerage firm, and has evolved into
an interrelated group of commercial real estate companies
offering brokerage, development, project management,
property management, corporate services and consulting
services to its broad base of corporate and governmental
clients. Zimmer has helped shape the skyline of Kansas City
and has made major contributions to the economic growth of
its metropolitan area and surrounding communities like Lee’s
Summit. Zimmer has been responsible for the development of
over 2,500 acres of planned business parks and over
28,000,000 square feet of commercial buildings.
Clients look to Zimmer for solutions to their
real estate problems. Today, Zimmer Real Estate Services,
L.C. is operating with the third generation of its founding
family active in the company and with business units in the
industrial, office, retail and urban residential fields.
Recent major projects include acting as Owners'
Representative of the 4,000,000 square foot Sprint World
Headquarters Campus, as well as the new Federal Reserve Bank
of Kansas City Headquarters, co-developer of the 630,000
square foot office tower at 2555 Grand Boulevard, Master
Developer of the 400-acre Village West Tourism District, and
developers of the 100-acre Beacon Hill Residential
Neighborhood Redevelopment area. As it looks forward with
confidence to the future, Zimmer offers years of experience
and technical prowess to its many clients, both large and
small.
Gary O’Dell is Zimmer’s representative in
Lee’s Summit. He offered these comments on the LSEDC.
Why did you join the LSEDC?
Zimmer has been active in Lee’s Summit for
many years. In our business you have to know what is
happening in the communities you’re working in, and the
LSEDC is one of the best organizations in the area in the
economic development business. It has been a great place to
meet people and to stay in touch with what’s going on in
Lee’s Summit. The Zimmer organization has always been very
impressed with the LSEDC.
What have you gained from your investment in
the LSEDC?
The contact with other members. The LSEDC
members and staff are just good people to know. The Lee’s
Summit business community is very impressive and being
involved in LSEDC it makes us all better.
What
projects are you currently involved with in Lee’s Summit?
Zimmer has a wide range
of experience in Lee’s Summit. We started in the city
working with Aquila with the development of the Lee’s Summit
North Business Park and the Lee’s Summit South Business
Park. Other development projects include the Blue Parkway
Business Center and Rollins Meadows. We have had success
partnering with John Ivey in the lease-up of the Lakewood
Business Park, and our current projects include the
marketing of the Eastside Business Park, the available
office space at 3350 NE Ralph Powell Road and 255 NW Blue
Parkway,
which are two of the finest office buildings in Lee’s
Summit.
Zimmer is located at 1220 Washington Street,
Suite 200, P. O. Box 411299
Kansas City, Missouri 64141-1299
Phone: 816-474-2000 Fax: 816-421-6666
www.zimmercos.com
Gary’s direct line is 816-268-4218, e-mail
godell@zimmercos.com.
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