Summit Talk and Strategy

Have had a couple of folks ask about Wednesday morning's Retail and Service Sector Summit. Here's a quick FAQ

1. Can anyone attend? Yes, we've invited member and non-member business representatives to meet on Wednesday morning at the Golf Club.

2. Do I need to make reservations? Nope! Just show up and be prepared to help shape the future of our community.

3. Can the general public attend? Sure. We're targeting business owners and managers though to get their take on what our community and immediate region needs to be doing to preserve and enhance market share.

4. Are you going to talk about recruiting new retail businesses? That may be the agenda for one or two folks, but quite frankly, we need to be able to assess what we have and maximize those resources to effectively keep Marshall as a regional retail and service sector hub. We'll probably need a different meeting to identify those businesses and services that some folks believe we need to be recruiting.

5. Is this just a one-time meeting? We believe that in order for businesses in our community and region to continue to survive, there needs to be a general consensus of what direction we as a retail and service community need to focus upon. Without agreed upon priorities and focus, along with cooperative and targeted marketing programs we run the risk of loosing market share. Therefore, we believe that this will be the first meeting leading into that coordinated effort.

6. Is the chamber trying to run this thing? The chamber's board of directors sees the need to bring the retail and service industry sectors together to discuss strategies. The role of the chamber has yet to be defined. However, we do believe it is the chamber's role to help create partnerships and to initiate collaborative efforts.

7. So, what do you hope to accomplish? We hope that a majority of business owners and operators in the retail and service sector will choose to meet and work together during these difficult economic times. In order to work together, we must first work hard to understand each others focus and priorities and find common ground on which the majority of these businesses can work in partnership for the success of the entire community.

8. How will you know if the effort is successful? The true measurable will ultimately be in the area of sales tax collections. We know what taxable sales historically were for our community and region. If we can minimize economic downtrends, or even affect positive economic growth by working together, than we can hopefully declare success.

The bottom line is to invite and encourage local business owners and operators to attend Wednesday morning's meeting.