Dick King of the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. goes to bat in St. Louis for Missoula economy

Pitching Missoula, low-budget style, is Dick King’s mission at the International Economic Development Council in St. Louis this weekend and early next week.

"It’s a chance to put our name in front of a lot of people, including a lot of businesses. It’s a marketing move, and they’re paying part of my expenses," said King, head of the nonprofit Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. http://maedc.org/

By ROBERT STRUCKMAN of the Missoulian

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/09/17/news/local/news03.txt

King has been invited to speak on a panel at the conference about the strengths of Missoula, recently named one of the best 25 cities to do business in America by Inc. Magazine. He’ll also attend workshops and network, he said. It’s all part of a broad and low-cost agenda to encourage businesses to consider starting and expanding in or moving to Missoula.

"We don’t budget for significant marketing," King said.

So King tries to get as much as he can from the freebies, such as the frequent listings by various national periodicals and interest groups that praise Missoula as a top-notch town. Missoula has been high on the lists in Forbes http://www.matr.net/article-6794.html , Men’s Journal http://www.matr.net/article-10917.html and those who track bike-friendly towns, green space and the arts.

"When you’re recognized by a national publication, people pay attention to that," he said.

King plans to speak about Missoula’s transition from a resource-based economy to a diversified economy with an emerging technology sector. He’ll also talk about the town’s strong job growth and its unique quality of life.

It’s also important, he said, that the Missoula work force tends to be well-educated and loyal. He will mention the oft-cited quote that the town is "10 minutes from a trailhead to a wilderness area."

The flip side of employee loyalty, he acknowledged, is that the city is hard on young professionals looking for work.

"It’s hard to break in," he said.

All the more reason for the trip to St. Louis, which will cost about $1,800, with King’s organization footing about half the bill. His yearly marketing budget is about $3,000. By comparison, Great Falls Development has raised more than $3.5 million for its marketing efforts, all to bring businesses to town.

"It’s a targeted approach," said John Kramer, president of the Great Falls nonprofit. His organization will work 12 trade shows this year and spend $400,000 on marketing. The group sets up booths, puts together data-heavy packets of information and sponsors events at trade shows – and not just any trade shows. The nonprofit maintains its own databases on companies and hires the services of other research organizations to pinpoint the specific industries and, within those industries, companies that are compatible with Great Falls’ strengths and weaknesses.
http://www.matr.net/article-7203.html

"We don’t shotgun our approaches," Kramer said. About $2.5 million of the group’s funding came from the private sector and another $1 million came from the city. http://www.matr.net/article-10922.html

On Missoula’s part, King said, he doesn’t want to throw dollars away.

"If I was to try to sell that, go out with hat in hand, I wouldn’t get anywhere," King said.

Nevertheless, he constantly hears from the community the cry, "Let’s find companies and bring them to Missoula," he said.

The town is full of highly qualified people who can’t find a decent job, he said. But luring companies is hard. It’s a competitive market.

"You’ve got 32,000 economic development professionals trying to get 12,000 companies," King said.

With Missoula’s great qualities, King said, the sell shouldn’t be too hard.

"We do need to get our message out. This opportunity in St. Louis is one way to do it," he said.

One point of commonality between Great Falls and Missoula is the Inc. Magazine article that ranked Missoula so well.

Joel Kotkin, an author, professor and longtime writer for Inc. Magazine, cited Fargo, N.D., in its list along with Missoula. Several years before coming to Great Falls, Kramer ran the economic development center in Fargo.

Kotkin said quality-of-life issues don’t really factor into his ranking. A lot of editors like to base rankings on any range of subjective notions, but he compares "apples and apples," he said. The main thing he looks at? Consistent, strong job growth.

"Frankly a lot of the best cities’ lists are just garbage. Hipness is not a big factor in job growth of this kind. It has to do with affordability and opportunity," he said. http://www.matr.net/article-11439.html

As a whole, some places in the intermountain West did well, he said, as did the Southeast.

"Fargo did well on the list. I don’t think that people move to these places predominantly because they are hip. We used the least subjective criteria we could," he said.

That doesn’t dampen King’s enthusiasm for Missoula.

"It’s a factor, but it won’t clinch the deal," King said. That’s why he encourages representatives from visiting companies to go downtown.

"What sets Missoula apart, what conveys our economic viability, is our vibrant downtown," King said.

King knows that money can’t buy a spot for a city on the top of Inc. Magazine’s 25 best cities.

"Missoula pops up on people’s radar screens," he said. Other cities have to spend more, in efforts to overcome lower profiles, he said.

King’s flight leaves Saturday, so he can take advantage of the cheaper airline ticket rates by including a Saturday night stay.

Reporter Robert Struckman can be reached at 523-5262 or at [email protected]