Economic Dev. Committee delays decision on request for $18,000 for marketing study

By ED MERRIMAN

Baker City Herald

The Baker County Economic Development Committee tabled a request for $18,000 to cover one-third of the cost of a $73,000 analysis of the Base Camp Baker campaign as a tourism marketing and business recruitment tool.

Last week, members of the Transient Lodging Tax Committee chose Norstar to do the study.

The tax committee approved $55,000, leaving the fate of the study in the hands of the EDC, possibly in combination with other entities, to come up with the $18,000 balance.

During the EDC meeting Gene Stackle, Baker City’s business development director, Jennifer Watkins, assistant city manager and community development director, Don Chance, city planning director, and Andrew Bryan, the Transient Lodging Tax Committee’s contracted marketing director, all spoke in favor of funding the study.

They said the study is needed to fine-tune the Base Camp Baker strategy.

Bryan said the campaign is working well and he has heard comments from people out of Oregon, Washington and the Boise area about what a memorable branding strategy it is for promoting everything there is to do in Baker County.

 “The most common comment I get is ‘wow, I didn’t realize there was so much to do over there,’ ” Bryan said.

Stackle said the proposed $73,000 Norstar study would provide important data on where people who visit Baker County come from, what drew them here and what types of businesses are needed to fulfill their needs and interests.

“I think the report is required for development of the county. It will tell us who is looking for what we have to offer, where they are coming from, and how do I reach them,” Stackle said.

Watkins said the Base Camp Baker would continue even without the benefit of the proposed Norstar study.

However, she said forgoing the study would leave Base Camp Baker

operating in a sort of hit and miss fashion, where advertising and business recruitment or development would be planned and carried out without knowing whether it’s hitting the right targets.

“We can continue to throw darts, but is that the best way to do it,” Watkins said.

On the other side of the funding issue, Fred Warner Jr., chairman of the Baker County Board of Commissioners, pointed out that it’s early in the fiscal year (which started July 1) and the Economic Development Committee is looking at discretionary funds of between $45,000 and $50,000.

He opposed taking an $18,000 bite out of those funds with more than nine months left in the current fiscal year when the committee may be called on to put up some funding to assist with other, more direct economic development activities.

Warner said the Transient Lodging Tax revenues by county ordinance are divvied up with 75 percent going to the Transient Lodging Tax Committee for tourism marketing, while 25 is earmarked to the Economic Development Committee for other economic development activities.

“My concern is that September is not too far along into the budget year. We don’t know what might be coming along,” Warner said.

Some possible funding requests the committee may be asked to look at include putting up some matching money needed to get federal grant funds to subsidize regular scheduled airline service, or to pay for infrastructure improvements at the Baker County Airport. Warner said there may also be a need for matching funds to secure a federal grant to expand biomass processing at Elkhorn Biomass in Baker City.

“There’s Elkhorn Biomass and other industries I don’t want to abandon,” Warner said.

Warner also questioned whether funding a study is the best use of the limited resources of the Transient Lodging Tax Committee and the Economic Development Committee.

While the Base Camp Baker marketing effort may have done a good job of educating potential tourists about everything there is to do in Baker County, Warner questioned whether the businesses and organizational structure is in place so people who come to visit will find what they come here for.

 “We’re giving them the recognition that there is plenty to do in Baker, but is it accessible?” Warner asked.

Bryan said there’s some work under way and more is needed to produce recreational maps and other information needed to direct visitors and help them find and make use of bicycle routs, hiking trails and other area recreational opportunities.    

After reviewing the committee’s financial resources and discussing the pros and cons of spending the money on the Norstar study or other economic development activities, Jeremy Gilpin moved to table the funding request until March. That motion passed unanimously.

Tim Collins, acting city manager serving on the EDC pointed out that passing the motion will give both committees time to see what other funding requests surface over the next six months, but it doesn’t preclude the TLTC from securing part of the $18,000 from the city, the county’s four chamber of commerce groups or other entities, and coming back to EDC between now and March with a request for a smaller amount.