The Blue Earth Economic Development Authority (EDA) gathered for a meeting on Thursday morning, March 14.

The board discussed the potential benefits of a location analytics platform called Placer.ai, which sources data from mobile devices to track their location and drive economic success in communities.

The program, which costs $15,000 for a year-long subscription, has been presented to the City Council, EDA and Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) as a potential investment.

“We’re looking for the EDA to say, ‘Yes,’ they would support the city in pursuing this, and some potential cost share, or, ‘No, we’re not interested,'” city administrator Mary Kennedy summarized.

EDA specialist Amy Schaefer provided some examples of how the data could be used to bolster economic development in Blue Earth.

“One of the communities (Placer.ai) worked with had a location, and they didn’t know what to put there – they needed some kind of restaurant,” Schaefer said. “They tracked every car that went past there, and figured out where they went – how many people who went past went to McDonald’s, or Chick-fil-A.”

She continued, “They figured out that all of these people wanted to go to Chick-fil-A, and they had enough proof to show that people would go to this restaurant.”

Schaefer said the community ended up building a Chick-fil-A at that location, and it is now one of the more successful Chick-fil-As in the area.

She enumerated other ways the program could be used as well, such as tracking when customers visit a business to see whether it needs to be open during a certain time frame.

The data can also be used to track when people are coming to or going from a certain town to determine how many residents commute to or from that town for work.

“If we see a bunch of people coming in from Fairmont, then maybe we need to market more to Fairmont,” Schaefer suggested.

Although individual businesses would not have access to the program, they would be able to request data from Schaefer if they were looking to track a specific trend.

“There are endless ways you could use the data to keep people in town, and bring them back,” she concluded.

The EDA approved a motion expressing its support for the city to pursue Placer.ai further.

Kennedy said she will bring the EDA more information about the program next month, at which point the Blue Earth City Council will have reviewed it further.

In other business, the Blue Earth EDA:

• Discussed the city’s need for stock photos of Blue Earth for advertising campaigns.

Schaefer said she has approached Blue Earth Area Schools about the possibility of collaborating with students who are studying photography.

“There is a photography class, and they will do stock photos for us,” Schaefer shared.

The project would come at no cost to the city, although the art department would accept a donation in recognition of the students’ work.

“We can bring the students in to do a presentation, and then give them a check,” suggested mayor Rick Scholtes. “I think it would be a good project for the kids.”

• Discussed the possibility of engaging a certified exit planning advisor (CEPA) to conduct a presentation about succession planning for the community.

“We are having trouble with succession planning – I think there are some misconceptions about what it is,” Schaefer said. “I’m really struggling to change the narrative.”

EDA board member Chase Brandt suggested engaging a CEPA might not be the best route to educate the public about succession planning.

“CEPA designations have existed to give advisors another way to market the services they offer,” Brandt explained. “I think it would be fine to have someone come, but I don’t know if I would be as excited about paying someone.”

Schaefer said she will continue brainstorming other ways to encourage the Blue Earth business community to consider succession planning.

• Learned that the Faribault County EDA has invited representatives from Faribault and Martin County EDAs and cities to attend a meeting on April 2 to discuss potential marketing opportunities.

“We’re going to see if there are ways we can better promote this area as a whole, or just bring it more attention,” Schaefer explained.

• Approved a Commercial Improvement Forgivable Loan request from Legacy Trees and Gardens in the amount of $5,000.

The funds will be used to replace the business’s exterior doors and construct a new entrance on the north side of the building.

• Approved a Training Financing Forgivable Loan request from Camryn McNichol, in the amount of $499.50.

McNichol, a Blue Earth Drug employee, will be taking a pharmacy technician certification course through Pharmacy Technician University.

• Was informed that the City Council has agreed to cover the $5,000 cost of airing the Live, Work, Play commercials to promote Blue Earth.

• Learned that Schaefer attended a Leading Economic Transformation Course offered through the U of M Extension. The course centered on economic transformation.

“It was a very worthwhile course. I learned lots of strategies,” she said.

• Voted not to waive the statutory tort liability limits for liability coverage obtained through the League of Minnesota Cities.