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Board supports bigger economic development budget and a marketing video to recruit businesses
Summary
Staff proposed raising the economic development budget to about $503,000 for 2026 and showed example marketing videos; the board endorsed investing in targeted marketing and site‑selector outreach to generate leads and retail interest.
Caitlin and other staff presented the office's proposed 2026 budget and sample marketing materials, asking the board to weigh tradeoffs between in‑house production and hiring a specialized firm. The current 2025 budget was cited at $385,700 and the preliminary 2026 proposal at $502,900 — an increase of about $117,000.
"We have a meeting with the city manager and 12 people from finance… we're making a substantial request on our budget," Economic Development Director Weathers said. Staff previewed two vendor videos and estimated a fully produced economic development video at roughly $20,000; lower‑cost options and in‑house alternatives were discussed.
Board members recommended prioritizing a short, data‑driven video that shows traffic counts, parcel sizes and regional amenities (airport, beaches) for site selectors, and suggested allocating part of a proposed lead‑generation line (staff cited $125,000 in the draft) for targeted retail and site‑selector outreach. Staff said sample vendor proposals ranged from about $8,000–$25,000 depending on production scope.
Why it matters: Board members framed marketing as a key complement to investment policy: targeted outreach and visuals can accelerate recruitment and give the city leverage when negotiating investments.
What happens next: Staff will refine budget requests and vendor scopes and seek approval through the city budget process; board members encouraged traffic and parcel data to be embedded in any marketing assets.
