Conclusion

After this project, I feel that I have a better understanding of the obstacles that cities and towns face when attempting to market itself.  About ten years ago everyone needed a website, now it all revolves around being visible on social media outlets. For many organizations the constant changes in technology can often be intimidating, over whelming, and not cost effective.  In many cases the old saying of “If you build it, they will come” does not always work. In these tougher economic conditions, you have to find a way to do more with less. I have learned so much about Hillsboro, and how it’s truly a special place.  Utilizing the internet provided me the opportunity to look at Hillsboro, and then compare it to cities similar in size to identify its strengths and weaknesses versus cities that would be viewed as competition.  Since there is not a “one size fits all” solution this assessment, I felt that was a way to provide answers to some of the questions of how did the town of …….create a new town center; it’s completely visible online.
 
 I feel that the blog provides the opportunity for an ongoing conversation without the expensive cost to maintain a website or with the creation of a position to do so. The blog if continued will give the community and the organizer a way to share ideas continuously without organizing a large community event or function.

 The city is well positioned at the center of it all. Just an hour from the Metroplex, and 2-3 hours from everywhere else (Houston, Austin, San Antonio, etc), the city is a true gem that has the potential to serve as the gateway to anywhere for any business or person that chooses to relocate there.  Hillsboro has the rare mix of being easily accessible, cost effective, friendly, and at the center of it all.

Main Street Program

In my earlier posts I discussed community marketing campaign's, internet visibility, and what I saw on a walking tour of downtown. I began to brainstorm for some options to strengthen the presence of the Main Street Program in Hillsboro.  After visiting, I realized that there have been projects undertaken by the city in an attempt to restore the square. There have been planters constructed, new benches, a redefined streetscape, and signage added to the streets that are considered to be within historic downtown Hillsboro. After reviewing a few other cities main street redevelopment programs, I concluded that the revitalization efforts of many of these cities were guided by the same basic principles. These principles are the adaption of uniform design standards, organization, promotion, and economic restructuring.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Center developed the Main Street Four Point Approach for commercial revitalization. Since that time, some communities have adapted an additional element that focuses on smart growth and sustainability.

As a result, these approaches emphasize the importance of working simultaneously in the following areas:
• DESIGN: Enhancing the physical appearance of the commercial district by rehabilitating historic buildings, encouraging supportive new construction, developing sensitive design management systems, and long-term planning
• ORGANIZATION: Building consensus and cooperation among the many groups and individuals who have a role in the revitalization process
• PROMOTION: Marketing the traditional commercial district's assets to customers, potential investors, new businesses, local citizens and visitors
• ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING: Strengthening the district's existing economic base while finding ways to expand it to meet new opportunities and challenges from outlying development
• CLEAN, SAFE, and GREEN: Enhancing the perception of a neighborhood through the principles of Smart Growth and sustainability

Although Hillsboro has a program adopted, I feel that the program is not marketed effectively and fails to offer information about the comprehensive strategy of the plan as well as the services that are available to potential businesses that are considering relocation.

Here is link to the State of Washington's guide for organizing a successful main street program.

Successful Downtown Revitalization

Listed below are three examples of  main street program sites that include many of the points that I addressed in the post.

Murfreesboro, TN.

Ripon, WI.

Grandview, MO.

Community Marketing Campaign

As I mentioned in an earlier post, image is everything.  How do you appear to the world?  I feel that communities must develop effective marketing campaigns in order to separate themselves from their competition. The mission is to collectively market the city of Hillsboro to recruit quality companies and diversify Hillsboro’s employment base. As with any successful company, Hillsboro needs to market itself as a place where opportunity, technology, and the quality of life is what makes this a premier place to relocate a company or a family. When companies or residents look at locating in Hillsboro, they look at the community as a whole: schools, parks, housing, amenities, higher education, public safety, health, and medical care. The goal is to collectively market our product, Hillsboro, in order make the area a prime destination.

Example marketing campaign to attract tourist, and residents

Throughout the area, Hillsboro should become a recognizable brand in order to promote a consistent image or identity that continuously builds on the areas location and the appeal of the community's residential, educational and business opportunities while positioning the community for future success. A theme captures the community, and the innovation and creativity of all the key stakeholders involved.

Here are a few sample city marketing sites:

Lowell, MA.

Mt. Vernon, WA.

Renton, WA.

Social Networking?

Where do you get local news and new ideas? Where do you share information? Will you get involved in our public conversations? The use of social media has become an increasingly more effective way to communicate with people throughout a community. After conducting a brief search, I concluded that a number of cities are using social media outlets such as tweeter and facebook to communicate keep the citizens informed of the local events and changes that occurring within their community.  Since both of these sites are free, they provide a cost effective way to communicate with a large number of people at the click of a button.  Over the course of time information regarding the events that took place in a community were posted at the local post office, town newspaper, local radio advertisement, or on a flyer posted at the community center.  The idea is to get people talking, and to keep them informed about “What’s going on in Hillsboro”.  Purposeful conversations would be started all over town, and ideas would be shared with everyone.

Check out this link for more on the discussion:


http://buzzmaster.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/cities-adopting-social-media/

Here are a few sample Facebook pages:

Education On The Square?

So after I visited downtown Hillsboro, I began to think about what types of businesses could possibly open or relocate to the Main Street Historic District. There seemed to be a mixture of businesses there that are thriving, but I feel that there needs to be something else that could increase foot traffic. I know that over on I35 there is a Starbucks, McDonalds, and a number of the large national chain fast-food and casual dining restaurants (Black-eyed Pea, etc.) so the possibility of them relocating to downtown is slim to none.  Huh….so I began to brainstorm and I came up with possibly of creating a downtown education center that would allow students to complete a bachelor or masters degree right there in Hillsboro. I mentioned this to a resident and she instantly said “it would conflict with Hill”. My response was no, you create an agreement with Hill that would allow students to complete their first two years at Hill, and the last two at the University Center.

Texas tech @ Junction

Texas A&M-Commerce - Corsicana

 I suggested that maybe the city could partner with one the universities in the general vicinity such as Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Central Texas, or maybe one of the smaller private universities in the area.  My thought process is if you bring students to the area, they are going to need books, food, and other services that can be provided by one of the other local business located downtown. This would also allow the city to market itself as place where a company could possibly relocate and their workforce would have access to training programs and facilities.  Since companies now want a smarter and more highly skilled workforce, this could serve as a recruiting tool as well as catalyst for the development of other businesses in the area. In my opinion, the infrastructure is there and one of the existing vacant buildings on the square could easily be converted to serve as the education center.

Example University Center Elevation

Attracting Business

After having a conversation with local a resident, I realized that the success of any community  relies upon its ability to sustain itself. I’m not talking about a community recycling program, or some type of “go green” campaign. I’m talking about its ability to have and maintain industry, its ability to recruit business and create jobs. After looking around I noticed that the city has an economic development department, but the website does not have its own address and most of the information on the site is not recent. While driving around Hillsboro, I visited the industrial park which is located just north of town, and has access to I-35 and is rail served. To promote this park, there should be some type of billboard on 35 that has some type campaign such as “You belong here” or Hillsboro is open for Business”.

Example of Billboard advertising the City of Hillsboro 

A well thought out attraction plan examines all aspects of the community’s needs and seeks input from a myriad of sources, including economic development professionals, local leadership, existing businesses, and residents. Your ability to focus on the types of businesses (manufacturing, retail, wholesale, energy, call centers, services, etc.) you are looking for will be critical to the overall success of the attraction program. Next you will need to ascertain whether or not your community is positioned to compete in those industry sectors.

A great place to begin that process is to ask the right questions.  Does your community have:
• Sufficient housing and infrastructure to recruit businesses?
• Available buildings or a build to suit program?
• Ample workforce numbers that will meet the company’s requirements?
• Appropriate workforce skills that might give you a competitive advantage?
• Proximity/Access to transportation networks that will allow the company to get their product to market?
• Sufficient population numbers to support the business?
• A local incentive package?
• Available land or Industrial Park to meet the company’s needs?
• Available resources such as water, electricity, natural gas, rail access, etc?
• Local financing mechanisms?
• A web site or other marketing presence to showcase the community and provide information?
• Up to date telecommunications access?
• Access to local data?
• A quality of life (QOL) that would entice a company to locate in your community?
• Access to higher education or training to support the company’s needs in that area?

In some cases, effective business recruitment can position your existing businesses for growth through economies of scale.  Locating ancillary businesses in your community can benefit your existing businesses in several ways.  Attracting vendor companies can enhance the viability of those businesses as the goods and services they supply become cheaper due to proximity and friction of distance which will reduce transportation costs.

In most respects, it is easier to recruit to the community’s strengths, be it available buildings, specialized/skilled workforce, natural resources, low cost of doing business, or geography.
One of the best places to begin is to look at what you currently have in your community, and assess what you have to build on.  For instance, if you have more than one metal fabricator in your community, you may have a skilled workforce in your community which may allow you to compete for other businesses in that sector.

Regardless of your size or the amount of your resources, it is important to understand that it is expensive to recruit businesses vs. growing your own, or assisting your existing businesses to expand.

Here are a few links for some communities that can be used as an example:

www.mpedc.org

http://www.paristexas.com/economic_development.php?mid=2

www.dedc.org

Community visibility

How do I look? This is a question that is asked time and time again. For businesses, schools, and a number of other organizations, this is the most important question of all. Your web presence is just as important as being open during your posted hours of operation. Since I began this project, I have looked around at a number of communities that would be considered to comparable to Hillsboro, and what I found was that many of them had one central website geared towards providing  information about the city or community.Usually they were there to promote tourism for that particular town, city or region. I noticed that many of the city departments or organizations such as the chamber of commerce, school district, and the city all have websites, but they are not in one central location.  They don’t seem to be interconnected at all, and there is a limited amount of information about the vibrancy of the community.  I know that Hillsboro prides itself on having a large number of historic structures in the city, yet  its not out there for the web or the world to see.  To improve their web visibility, they should create a website that provides everything you want to know about Hillsboro in one place. For example the site could be named visithillsboro.com  which could serve as the main site for the community. I have attached some sample sites from other cities that have similar sites.

Jefferson, Texas (visitjeffeson.com)

Galveston, Texas (visitgalveston.com)

Corsicana, Texas (visitcorsicana.com)

Cedar Hill, Texas(visitcedarhill.com

A Walking Tour

City Library

So earlier this week, I decided to drive over to Hillsboro to get a first-hand look at the community as a whole.  When I arrived on the town square, the first building that I noticed was the county courthouse. It’s hard to miss, plus it’s included in/on every piece of marketing literature regarding Hillsboro or Hill County Texas.  After driving around for a few minutes I realized that the city is not doing itself any favors by just showing images of the courthouse, and not displaying some of the other buildings on the square.  There are some great buildings in downtown Hillsboro that would be great for marketing the image of the city.

City Hall

One of the first buildings that immediately caught my attention was City Hall, which was originally a fire station, the police station, and the home of a resident ghost name Harvey.  The building has been completely renovated and it seemed to be one of the coolest structures in downtown.  Another was the city library, which was a converted post office that seemed to have character that you don’t find in new construction in 2012.  A number of the buildings on the town square have been renovated, but they lack proper signage or the landscaping needs upgrading to enhance the curb appeal. I also noticed that many of the buildings that had been renovated were now retail shops at street level and apartments or offices on top.  I stopped in some of the local shops to talk with some of the residents and business owners, and I realized that the square was once a vibrant town center until a major manufacturer located north of downtown closed.  “When it left, so did many of the visitors to the square”.  After walking around for a few hours and taking photographs, I realized that downtown Hillsboro has the potential to be something really special.

First Impressions

The city of Hillsboro is located in north central Texas about 50 miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on I-35. Often referred to as the “Antique Capitol of I-35”, the city is widely known for its Victorian houses, its historic courthouse, and the outlet mall. As I began to research I realized that although the city is known for its many tourist attractions; Hillsboro is now trying to position itself as commercial/industrial destination as well. Hillsboro was one of the original five members of the Texas Main Street program and is committed to the revitalization, preservation, and economic development of the Downtown Hillsboro commercial district.

The city has a number of informative websites that provide information on Hillsboro and its many advantages as a prime destination to live, work, or play.  After reviewing these sites, I noticed that underlying message is that many of these sites did not provide any images of the city. Upon further review I found that Hillsboro has a number of historic buildings that truly tell the history of the city, yet I didn’t see a site that has all of their history and images in one place.

  Hill County Courthouse downtown Hillsboro, Texas 

Historic Depot Sign (www.fl9.com)

Historic Katy Depot & Water Tower (www.trtdg.com)

Old corner Gulf (www.trtdg.com)

Cell Block Museum (www.trtdg.com)

Outlets at Hillsboro (www.snavi.com)

Historic MKT Katy Depot (www.trtdg.com)