February 9 2022 Economic Development Advisory Board Minutes

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MINUTES OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD OF THE CITY OF CHANDLER, 
ARIZONA, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2022, HELD VIRTUALLY VIA WEBEX. 
 
Board Present: 
 
 
Ryan Nouis, Chairman 
 
Micah Miranda, Secretary 
Cecilia Ashe, Boardmember 
Aric Bopp, Boardmember 
 
Chase Farnsworth, Boardmember 
 
Terry Locke, Boardmember 
 
Karla Moran, Boardmember 
 
Brent Menzel, Boardmember  
 
David Moss, Boardmember 
 
Ryan Smith, Boardmember  
 
Mike Spangenberg, Boardmember 
Larissa Spraker, Boardmember 
 
Julie Trujillo, Boardmember 
Nick Woodruff, Boardmember 
Kari Zurn, Boardmember 
Terri Kimble, Ex-Officio 
Joshua Wright, Ex-Officio 
 
Board Absent: 
Jonvieve Bryant, Vice-Chairman  
 
 
 
 
 
Others Present  
Kevin Hartke, Mayor  
 
Kimberly Janes, Tourism Program Manager   
 
Chelsey Faggiano, Economic Development Specialist   
 
Michael Winer, Economic Development Specialist 
 
Odette Moore, Economic Development Research Analyst 
 
Kristen Williams, Tourism Marketing Coordinator 
 
Stephanie Romero, Public Information Officer  
 
 
 
1. 
Call to Order/Roll Call 
Mr. Ryan Nouis called the meeting to order at 8:33 a.m. 
 
2. 
Approval of Minutes 
Ms. Cecilia Ashe made a motion to approve the minutes from Wednesday, 
September 15, 2021. The motion was seconded by Mr. Chase Farnsworth. Minutes 
approved unanimously. 
 
3. 
Unscheduled Public Appearances 
None 
 
4. 
Scheduled Public Appearances 
None

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5. 
Briefing Items 
 
A. City of Chandler 21-23 Strategic Framework 
Mayor Kevin Hartke provided the board with an overview of the Mayor and 
Council 2021-23 Strategic Framework. 
 
Mayor Hartke briefly touched on what the City is doing to make progress in 
each of the focus areas, which include: Economic Vitality, Innovation and 
Technology, Mobility, Neighborhoods, and Quality of Life. 
 
B. West Chandler Branding and Marketing Initiative  
Micah Miranda provided an overview of the West Chandler Branding and 
Marketing Initiative.  
 
Mr. Miranda began by providing high-level information on the West Chandler 
employment corridor, stating it is a 7 square-mile area that contains 636 
businesses, 29,090 jobs, 9,685 housing units and 23,183 residents.  
 
He continued by sharing more detailed information on West Chandler’s 
employment base, commercial real estate market, and opportunities for 
continued growth within the area. 
 
Mr. Miranda noted the I-10 Broadway Curve Project – a multi-year road 
improvement project – will impact business activity in the area. He said the 
Economic Development team is coordinating with the Arizona Department of 
Transportation and Chandler businesses in the area to ensure they have the 
resources needed to operate effectively during all phases of construction.  
 
He then shifted to the West Chandler place branding initiative, which started 
in Fall 2020 with outreach to key stakeholders. Meetings were held to discuss 
the area, benefits of place branding and ways to distinguish the area from 
Tempe and Phoenix.  Mr. Miranda said the stakeholder group’s feedback was 
that signage and focused marketing would be impactful ways to promote 
and distinguish the West Chandler area. 
 
He said the City decided to install West Chandler signage, working with 
custom sign builder YESCO. To date, seven of nine planned signs have been 
installed at major intersections throughout the area. He mentioned that the 
signs won the Arizona Sign Association’s 2021 Monument Sign Design award. 
  
Mr. Miranda then asked Chelsey Faggiano to provide the board with an 
update on the West Chandler marketing action plan and how it connects to 
the place branding efforts.  
 
Ms. Faggiano started by sharing the marketing action plan goals, including:

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• 
Maintaining an attractive, viable employment corridor through bi-annual 
area updates/tours with real estate brokers and community partners.  
• 
Developing a brand identity to help position the area to attract new 
employers in targeted industries through digital marketing campaigns 
and key messaging focused on the advantages of doing business in the 
West Chandler area. 
• 
Strengthening the area’s image among residents, workers, and visitors by 
publishing informative content to dedicated social media platforms.  
 
Ms. Faggiano then described marketing activities that have taken place since 
the launch of the West Chandler Branding initiative:  
• 
Establishing a West Chandler landing page on the City website and Visit 
Chandler website, which received more than 720 visits over two months. 
• 
Digital billboard ads on I-10, which were displayed from November 29th 
to January 9th and generated more than 4 million impressions.  
• 
Print Ads in local publications to encourage their readers to make a stop 
in West Chandler.  
• 
Geo-targeted and boosted social media posts promoting the advantages 
of doing business in West Chandler.   
• 
Editorials in City-owned media, most notably the CityScope newsletter 
which reaches a total of 84,947 Chandler households.  
• 
Online social media giveaways to encourage residents to patronize West 
Chandler businesses. The three giveaways featured gift cards to 16 
different businesses and received over 890 entries, reaching over 8,200 
Instagram accounts. 
 
Ms. Faggiano opened the discussion up for questions. 
 
Mr. Chase Farnsworth asked how the City assesses the potential impacts of 
business attraction and expansion projects. Mr. Miranda said the City looks 
at capital investment, job creation, and wages. He added that staff uses this 
information to conduct an economic and fiscal impact analysis, which 
provides a summary of estimated benefits to the City. 
 
Mr. Nouis asked about infrastructure/utility upgrades in West Chandler that 
would be needed for continued growth. Mr. Miranda responded that the City 
is evaluating upgrades to aging utility infrastructure to best support existing 
and planned projects. 
 
Mr. Miranda concluded by saying the City is open to feedback on the West 
Chandler branding initiative. He asked that board members email himself or 
Ms. Faggiano if they would like to share any thoughts or recommendations. 
 
C. Tourism Update  
 
Kimberly Janes, Tourism Manager, provided an update on Tourism activity in 
Chandler.

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Ms. Janes shared the following information:  
• 
There is a total of 3,872 total hotel rooms in Chandler; 
• 
A quarter million additional hotels room nights were booked in 2021 
compared to 2020. She said 2021 outpaced 2019 in total rooms sold. 
• 
Visit Chandler performance measurements: 
▪ 
Visit Chandler met with over 200 meeting planners 
▪ 
A summer campaign through Expedia resulted in 5,900 rooms 
booked across 30 Chandler hotels 
▪ 
Visit Chandler was recognized as a reader’s choice award recipient for 
Smart Meetings 2021 Platinum Choice CVB awards  
▪ 
VisitChandler.com website traffic in 2021 nearly doubled compared 
to 2020 and was 54.8% higher than 2019. 
• 
Visit Chandler applied for the Visit Arizona Initiative Grants Program in 
collaboration with Chandler hoteliers. The application was focused on 
supporting Chandler hotels by broadcasting messaging to meeting 
professionals and potential visitors via digital campaigns, videos, blogs, 
social media, and direct business outreach. Visit Chandler’s application 
was approved, and one-time funding will be provided by the Arizona 
Office of Tourism to execute the marketing initiative. 
 
Ms. Janes then gave an overview of a 360/3D virtual tour experience that 
will be implemented as part of the campaign to help showcase Chandler.  
 
6. 
Action Items 
None 
 
7. 
Advisory Boardmember Comments 
None 
 
 
8. 
Next Meeting 
Mr. Nouis announced that the next meeting date has not been determined and that 
City staff will follow up to inform the board.  
 
9. 
Adjournment 
Mr. Nouis adjourned the meeting at 9:31 a.m. 
 
 
Respectfully Submitted, 
 
 
________________________________ 
Ryan Nouis, Chairperson 
 
________________________________ 
Micah Miranda, Board Secretary