Subject: Phoenix Business Outreach Date: Thursday, September 07, 2006 12:19 AM _____ From our Friends at METRO. You will note they have been busy assisting business along/near the light rail route and should be applauded for their proactive approach. However, if you hear of any additional areas they should be focusing their efforts.or have ideas on ways to improve, please let us know and we will share with them. David _____ Good Afternoon, The following is an update of business outreach activities for the month of September. Phoenix Business Outreach Construction in Line Section One (LS1) through Line Section Four (LS4) is well underway. If you would like more information regarding construction, contact the appropriate Area Coordinator. Their contact information is: LS1 - Cristina Lenko, 602-744-5565 or clenko@valleymetro.org LS2 - Amy Bratt, 602-495-8217 or abratt@valleymetro.org LS3 - Monica Hernandez, 602-322-4427 or mhernandez@valleymetro.org LS4 - Gary Flunoy, 602-322-4457 or gflunoy@valleymetro.org The City of Phoenix (COP) provides valuable technical assistance through the ASU Business Honors Program (see attached) and the METRO Management Technical Assistance (METRO MTA) Program (see attached). Business owners who need help with marketing, advertising, technology, and employee development, just to name a few areas, can enroll in either program at any time. In fact, business owners now have the option to receive a marketing-only assessment from ASU that includes customer and competitor demographics. Following an ASU assessment, business owners can turn to METRO MTA for implementing the recommendations. METRO MTA consultants can also assist with developing financials and packaging loan requests for expansion and/or operating capital. These consultants are experienced, private-sector consultants who are business owners themselves. Private consulting rates for similar services in the Phoenix market average $150/hour and, even though the city pays them a fraction of that rate, METRO corridor business owners get this high-level of expertise absolutely FREE. The average amount of time business owners in the METRO MTA program have spent working with consultants is 20 hours, but there is really no limit so long as progress is being made. About half of the business owners currently using the program have even benefited from more than one consultant. If you do the math, that's $3,000 or more in market-rate services per business owner! Results have included new marketing brochures, ads, interactive Websites, professional loan packages, production line improvements and lots more. All for FREE! Additionally, the city is in its third printing of the very popular "thank you for your support" postcards. These direct mail postcards are available in any quantity to corridor business owners and they can be easily personalized and printed to promote specific products, services and sales or just to let customers know how to navigate through construction. A template is provided for easy personalization and printing. An e-mail format is available too. Finally, COP just launched a new ad campaign designed to reach new business owners and consumers. Monthly postcards and Arizona Republic City Page ads are featuring testimonials from corridor business owners who have successfully used METRO MTA services. Other feature stories are appearing in city publications such as Water Notes and they are urging consumers to support businesses along the METRO line during construction. The goal - to keep corridor businesses Happy, Healthy & In Phoenix. If you are interested in taking part in any of the COP programs, please contact Ruben Landa, Business Outreach Coordinator - Phoenix at 602-495-8230 or rlanda@valleymetro.org . Tempe / Mesa Business Outreach Traffic by the Tempe Canal Bridge has been switched to the North side of Main Street. In Tempe most construction activity is taking place on Veteran's Way.. If you have any questions about construction in Tempe or Mesa please contact you community outreach coordinator: LS5 (Mesa) - Erin Seibel, 602-495-8212 or eseibel@valleymetro.org LS5 (Tempe) - Carla Reid, 602-744-5552 or creid@valleymetro.org Businesses in Tempe, along the light rail route, are eligible for up to a $20,000 credit line from Tempe Schools Credit Union. This program was created for the businesses by the City of Tempe and the Tempe Chamber of Commerce. If you are interested in this program please contact: Erin Seibel, East Valley Business Outreach Coordinator, 602-495-8213 or eseibel@valleymetro.org METRO Construction Signage Program Businesses affected by construction qualify for a free A-frame sign or a banner. These signs and banners are designed to let the public know that businesses are open during construction. They can also be used for directional purposes. The program is temporary and will be available to businesses along the 20-mile alignment. To date 326 signs and 241 banners (567 total) have been issued in the five line sections. If you are interested in learning more about the program, or would like to place an order, please contact the Area Coordinator or Business Outreach Coordinator in your respective city. METRO MAX Program METRO MAX brochures have been mailed to every business and resident within a ¼ mile radius of the 20-mile alignment, which equals to approximately 45,000 hits. In additional, METRO is in the process of distributing 50,000 more brochures throughout the region. Organizations and groups that will receive the brochures during the coming months will be employees of Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Maricopa County to name a few. We will also mail information and a METRO MAX card to all water bill customers in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. In regards to our efforts to communicate the program to everyone, keep eyes and ears open for METRO's media blitz aimed at educating the public on how the program works and how to locate all of the METRO MAX participating businesses. We will also listing all of the METRO MAX participating businesses on our project website. You can access this list at www.valleymetro.org/metromax . If you are interested in more information about the program, please contact your Business Outreach Coordinator. Miscellaneous Information The second edition of the Business Outreach Handbook is available. Copies have been sent to all businesses along the 20-mile alignment and to business outreach partners. If you are interested in receiving additional copies, please contact Ruben Landa at rlanda@valleymetro.org or Erin Seibel at eseibel@valleymetro.org . Please note that a third edition of the Business Outreach handbook is scheduled for publication in the third quarter of 2006. Stay tuned for more details. Contact Information If you have any questions, please contact your Business Outreach Coordinators. Ruben Landa Business Outreach Coordinator - Phoenix 602-495-8230 - office 602-292-1493 - cell rlanda@valleymetro.org Erin Siebel Business Outreach Coordinator - Tempe/Mesa 602-495-8213 - office 602-214-6454 - cell eseibel@valleymetro.org Thank you and have a pleasant September. Ruben I. Landa Business Outreach Coordinator - Phoenix METRO 101 North 1st Avenue, Suite 1300 Phoenix, Arizona 85003 602-495-8230 Direct 602-292-1493 Cell 602-262-2682 Fax rlanda@valleymetro.org