2023-03-07 VI. D. Added Item Exhibit 4 Exh bl'± q
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0i of (KFFcy�` CITY OF OKEECHOBEE Okeechobee City Council _
o_ 55 SE THIRD AVENUE Mayor Dowling R. Watford, Jr.
• Vice Mayor Monica Clark
O• a OKEECHOBEE, FL 34974 Noel Chandler
�'� Phone: (863)763-3372 Bob Jarriel
;�sd.-' www.cityofokeechobee.com David McAuley
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor Watford and City Council
FROM: Gary Ritter, City Administrator
Re: Additional Agenda Items
DATE: March 7, 2023
Please add the following items to the agenda for the March 7, 2023, City Council
Meeting:
VI."D NEW BUSINESS
Motion to approve letter of support for the City of Okeechobee to partner
with the Okeechobee County Economic Development Corporation to bring
Enterprise Florida's Retail Recruitment program to Okeechobee.
ooKFF CITY OF OKEECHOBEE Okeechobee City Council
0�`c cya�� Mayor Dowling R. Watford, Jr.
m; 55 SE THIRD AVENUE Vice Mayor Monica Clark
•
qik0 V o OKEECHOBEE, FL 34974 Noel Chandler
%mos,r ° :' .: ,�� Phone: (863)763-3372 Bob Jarriel
04;10, �� www.cityofokeechobee.com
David McCauley
3/7/2023
Enterprise Florida
800 North Magnolia Avenue, Suite 1100
Orlando, FL 32803
To Whom It May Concern,
The City of Okeechobee is partnering with the Okeechobee County Economic
Development Corporation and Retail Strategies to bring their Retail Recruitment program to
the commercial corridor of the City of Okeechobee.
Retail builds up and supports all levels of community and economic development in
rural communities. Retail and restaurant businesses are the cornerstone of communities by
adding jobs and quality of place. In rural communities, retail businesses can often be the
largest employers and economic drivers. According to the National Retail Federation, in
Florida, the 306.1k retail establishments directly created more than 2.2M jobs and indirectly
support 3.7M jobs. Retail makes up $104.2 million of the Florida GDP.
One in five jobs comes from retail and a large percentage of the municipal budget
comes from property tax and income tax. Primarily, retail adds quality of life which is critical
to the housing and job growth in a community.
The goal for this project is to increase jobs, economic activity, and economic
awareness through retail development and analysis in Okeechobee. Because this
partnership also includes the implementation of the plan we are eager to see the
connections and effort Retail Strategies will bring to the table. Through the funding provided
by this grant, our goal is to create 100 or more jobs in Okeechobee, however the proposed
project has endless potential for job creation, retention, and assistance.
By partnering with Retail Strategies, Okeechobee will receive critical market
intelligence and site-specific data needed to market the community to desired businesses.
Key components delivered are briefly described:
• Retail Trade Area
• Psychographic Analysis
• Retail Leakage Analysis
• Peer Analysis & Retailer Void
• Real Estate analysis of best sites for development, redevelopment, and
better/best use for viable retail brands
• Retail prospect list with site selection criteria
• Retail Recruitment Plan
• National recruitment included in the larger initiative
• Trade show representation included in the larger initiative
Retail Strategies will then identify retail, restaurants, hospitality, entertainment, and
healthcare businesses that should locate at the sites identified. There are many pieces to
this puzzle, as each retailer has a specific set of criteria they seek when opening a location.
Retail Strategies will provide a list of prospects that have the best potential to locate to the
specific sites.
Furthermore, Okeechobee will receive a dedicated team of retail real estate
professionals who will pitch sites in the market to the best retail prospects in hopes to get
that retailer to open their doors next in Okeechobee.
Sincerely,
Dowling Watford, Mayor