B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T

2019 ANNUAL REPORT

6130New

Business Assists

business visits in conjunction with

Completed

Created new partnerships with vendors to increase advertising efforts on social, digital and print to promote large events and key strategic campaigns like spring travel, Gather in the GreenSeam and winter packages

Mankato Marathon announced new courses for 2019 for the Full, Half and 10k races

G

ATHER

IN THE

Helped to attract the Aussie Peppers, Olympic contenders, to play their season here in Mankato

Business Connections

made

Conducted a vacancy analysis for the cities of Mankato, North Mankato, and Saint Peter

Provided tour of community to President of the

GreenSeam was instrumental in helping

Revol Greens move forward with a multimillion-dollar

expansion creating24

3Conducted focus group sessions with partners

37Conducted

business walks in 2019

Secured a Cornhole Tournament at the City Center Hotel that was just about to go out of town with 125 participants and an economic

impact of $63,800

196 jobs were added in the Manufacturing Sector, which is a growth of

790 followers on Instagram at year’s end

The Regional Economic Development Alliance (REDA)

celebrated 10 years of partnership and signed to continue their

agreement for the next three years

GreenSeam co-hosted the MN Chamber Supplier Round Table focused on Agriculture and Food

213

Registration for the 2019 Mankato Marathon was up

Partnered with One Million Cups Mankato, which celebrated its 2 year anniversary with

compared to2018.

Hosted a Digital Marketing Workshop for

The Business Awards and Hall of Fame was SOLD OUT, having

474 attendees

NEW JOBS

20%

Complying with Minnesota’snew wage theft lawUnderstanding Minnesota’s new tax law Recapping the 2019 legislative session.

Held multiple forums on key issues of concern for

members including:

Articles in Minnesota Valley Business Magazine interviewing partners4

Met with 29 partners and reviewed updates

15 awards presented

What MN can learn from Germany on Energy Policy featuring a German energy policy expert and Senators Senjem, Rosen and Frentz

50 local businesses

2%

A D V O C A C Y & V I S I B I L I T Y

The

was held in December and had a record

275people in attendence

RURAL FORUM

Held a roundtable discussion with our legislative delegation to discuss key community

priorities for 2020

Surveyed Greater Mankato Growth members to get their take on what key legislative issues are important to them in 2020

GMG helped generate hundreds of letters

in support of a federal grant

Interacted with several key state off icials including

the Gov. Tim Walz, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flannigan, and several

commissioners and legislators at MN Farmfest . GreenSeam had many shout outs by Gov.

Walz during his speech

Hosted a roundtable discussion with

Rep. Jim Hagedorn on key business

issues in our region

GreenSeam successfully secured off icial state recognition and

in legislative support

A delegation of business leaders travelled to Washington DC for

the MN Chamber Fly-In. Met with members of our Congressional

Delegation and Trump Administration on key issues.

Successfully partnered with the Minnesota Chamber to block several proposed workplace mandates at the Legislature.

75,000

President of Visit Mankato testified at a Legislative Committee hearings on Minnesota Tourism as an industry expert

Presented Public Affairs program as a best practice at the MN Chamber of

Commerce Executive Conference

60+ MN Chamber Executives were in attendance

Mankato hosted a field hearing of the MN House Transportation

Committee. Greater Mankato Growth and several area

businesses testified in support of finalizing Highway 14

14

B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T C O N T I N U E D

Worked on the Comprehensive

Plan update with

Hosted new DEED Commissioner, Steve Grove, visit with community leaders

Sports Commission Director attended the National Sports Commission Association conference, making 10 strong connections with national organizations

Mankato had the strongest growth in Average Daily Rate in the state, with a

6% 4

% 9

%

increased by increased byLODGING REVENUEHOTEL ROOM DEMAND

in 2019

Co-hosted training presentation to provide

support for employers in navigating the work

authorization process for hiring immigrants, refugees

and asylees

Entrepreneurs First (E1) was created and we are partnering with a number of southeast MN startup/

coworking spaces to provide them with additional support.

GreenSeam was at the table as the ag expert

Brought Greater Mankato delegation to state Opportunity Zone Summit

Director of GreenSeam

participated in a panel in Saint Peter

for the Minnesota Business First Stop

Tour, which included eight Minnesota State

Commissioners

Economic impact from events that Visit Mankato assisted with

increased

2% 19.9 millionwith$

$

increase in 2019

L I V A B I L I T Y

T A L E N T

$22k

Aesthetics & Livability committee chose

activating Washington Park as the focus of

Phase II of INFUSE Artists on Main Street and

selected two placemaking projects, one of which was

The Unity Totem,

which has the word

“Welcome”inscribed in over

30 languages

Collaborated with local community partners to help garner funding support for arts programming through grants in the amount of

26

37 businesses

participated in the Adopt-a-Planter

program

new sculptures were installed

for the 9th annual

Free to the People Theatre performed

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in

Washington Park as part of the INFUSE:

Artist on Main Street program.

City Center Partnership hosted 4 installments of the free summer concert series, Alive After 5

A record of

50

businesses participated in Shop Small in

the City Center on Saturday, November 30

was raised in 2019 for the 2020 CityArt Walking Sculpture Tour, which will bring 26 new sculptures in May 2020

$62,000

Ag Students

Agribusiness and Food Innovation Minor added to

Minnesota State University, Mankato - College of Business

Undergraduate Programming in Fall of 2019.

GreenSeam assisted.

ISD #77 announced two new ag classes at Mankato East and West High Schools (30

students each).

60

45 individuals were selected from 52 applications for the 2019-20 Greater Mankato Leadership Institute class.

44 individuals graduated in the 2018-19

Greater Mankato Leadership

Institute class.

to support and onboard new community members

Launched in June:

Mankato Area Public Schools (MAPS) hired

FULL-TIME AG TEACHER at Mankato East and

Mankato West High Schools

1,170

participants at 21YP events in 2019

Started the Fall/Winter YP Mentor Program with 4 Mentors and

32 YP’s participating.

1230

Newcomers enrolled in the program.

community members serving as Navigators.

43 class members volunteered at 9 local nonprofit organizations as part of the Community Trusteeship Session

for a total of 86 hours

The YP Annual Meeting

had 80 YP’s in attendence as well as

several Greater Mankato Growth Board members

7 YP Officers were elected for 2020

Hosted 3 installments of

C O M M U N I T Y M A R K E T I N G

954+M E M B E R S

O R G A N I Z A T I O N

Greater Mankato Growth, Inc. (GMG) is comprised of four business units; Greater Mankato Growth, the regional chamber of commerce and economic development organization serving the regional marketplace; Visit Mankato, the local convention and visitor’s bureau; City Center Partnership, a downtown development organization; and GreenSeam, which utilizes agriculture to build on the region’s extensive agribusiness assets to develop the ag economy.

2019 ANNUAL REPORT

EXECUTIVES�nding Board

Started the

cohorts of the new Executive Sounding Board pilot

program with 17 participants

VOLU NTEER S

Made 140 visits welcoming new businesses or staff to our community in 2019

Made 87 visits welcoming new Greater Mankato Growth members in 2019

(That’s an average of 3 visits a week!)

(That’s an average of 2 visits a week!)

1st & 2nd

moremankato.comIncreased Pageviews by

Greater Mankato Growth launched the new monthly video series for members called Business Focus. It was SOLD OUT by March.

Q1.2019 up 10,265 as compared to Q1.2018

255%

OPPORTUNITY. LIVES. HERE.

moremankato.com

Greater Mankato Growth TOTAL MEDIA

EXPOSURE UP

Exhibited at the Minnesota Speaker Showcase for over 100 plannersKey initiative:

50 personalized meeting gift boxes mailed to top prospects

120%

Awarded a Service Industry Association Awards (SIAA) Silver Award for new logo

in April

GREATERMANKATOBLOG.COM

BUSINESSF O C U S

8,328pageviews in 2019

Business Focus Videos in 2019 gathered a combined 35,000+ Reach

Wander the Map: Travel Writer Social Media Campaign

34,843 Reach

1,971 Post Clicks

677 Total Engagement

284 shares on blog post

Posted the “Invest With Confidence” video, highlighting our region’s economic strengths and growth potential, in collaboration with the Regional Economic Development Alliance >> greatermankatobusiness.com

Views: 4,748+ |Shares: 30+ |Impressions: 9,631+

Reach: 2,096+ | Comments, Shares: 68+

in Q2

at year-end

Organic media exposure up 92%

Intent to Travel up

Facebook Likes

Instagram Followers

4%all compared to 2018

10%

25%(Based on inquiries and website visits from non-residents)

Greater Mankato Growth Followers:

GreenSeam Followers:

at the end of 2019

5,009626