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Economic development manager says strategic plan and new CRM will boost outreach and business retention
Summary
Economic Development Manager John Mason told council the department has implemented Salesforce, loaded roughly 850 local businesses and is using data tools to target retention and attraction efforts; staff proposed expanding a small revolving loan fund and leveraging state listing services to promote available properties.
John Mason, Greenbelt’s Economic Development Manager, told council the department is implementing a strategic plan and new customer-relationship management (CRM) tools intended to increase business outreach, retention and investment.
Mason said staff have put about 850 local businesses into Salesforce and are using the platform to track meetings, sector data and follow-up. He described early analytics showing the health-care sector accounts for a substantial portion of local businesses and said the department is using that insight to target outreach and support. Mason also said the department is exploring Esri for spatial infographics and is coordinating job fairs, industry events and targeted emails to expand business engagement.
Council discussed the city’s small economic-development revolving loan fund, which currently shows $25,000. Staff said prior recommendations called for building the fund to $800,000–$1 million so it could operate sustainably; staff noted that at current levels the administrative cost of operating a revolving loan fund would outstrip the revenue it could generate.
Mason said the city is using state property-listing services at no cost to catalog available commercial properties and is planning a dedicated tab on the city website showing a local sites inventory.
Councilmembers encouraged staff to refine measurable goals for marketing and retention and to return with options for how to scale the revolving fund, including possible program design changes (microloans, façade grants, small-business capital assistance).
