The monthly EDC (Economic Development Council) will meet tomorrow, September 23, at 5:30 at City Hall. The board is expected to hear from competing firms that specialize in providing demographic data to cities looking to recruit retailers and businesses to their towns. The firms can also help with the direct recruitment process if a city does not want to handle that process on it’s own. One firm, Buxton Retail Solutions, has already presented to the EDC at an earlier meeting and two more companies are expected to present their strategies tomorrow.
One of the firms presenting tomorrow is Retail Strategies, a Birmingham, AL corporation. The other firm is The Retail Coach, which has two locations. One location is in Tupelo, MS, and the other is in Austin, TX. Each of the companies claims they can help Lakeland identify its strengths and weaknesses, which will help in the business recruitment process.
Once all the presentations have been heard, board members will decide at a future meeting if they would suggest moving forward with their services.
