Fairmont ED Partners With The Retail Coach to Actively Recruit Businesses to The Area

Successful economic development means bringing a variety of businesses to Fairmont, Minnesota. While the focus often falls on large employers and manufacturers, retail businesses can also improve the lives of residents. Not only do these companies hire Fairmont workers, but their products and services improve the quality of life in the region.

The Fairmont Economic Development Authority, along with the Martin County EDA recently established a partnership with The Retail Coach, a full-service retail recruitment firm that will bring businesses to the area. Fairmont is already benefiting from the insights provided by this organization and is preparing to support the firm as it brings new businesses to Martin County.

“We are excited to work with experts who specialize in bringing retail stores and restaurants to communities,” says Ned Koppen, Coordinator at Fairmont EDA. “Their efforts will make Fairmont a more desirable place to live, which will help businesses with retention and recruitment.”

Learn more about The Retail Coach and their impact on the Fairmont region.   

The Retail Coach Starts With a Market Analysis

Before the experts at The Retail Coach bring businesses to the area, they need to have a clear understanding of Martin County. Their team develops a series of reports they can share with prospective businesses, thus making a case for expanding to Fairmont. These reports analyze how far people are willing to travel in the region to work, dine, shop, and relax.

Fairmont EDA has published the reports by The Retail Coach so anyone can read them and gain insights from the data. As an example, The Retail Coach found only 23.40% of shoppers at the Walmart Supercenter are from Fairmont. Consumers drive from Blue Earth, Truman, Armstrong, and Winnebago to shop at this store. If a retail business or restaurant opened next to Walmart, it would support a larger population than just Fairmont residents – giving it a larger customer base and providing more value to the owners.

The Retail Coach makes a case that while Fairmont only has a population of 10,260, the city serves a population of 48,384, a much bigger impact.

The Next Step is to Recruit Businesses

Once The Retail Coach team has a clear understanding of the region, it can move forward with retail recruitment. The firm will consider what types of businesses are a good fit for the market while identifying which sites aren’t serving their highest and best use.

“When it comes to Economic Development, Municipalities know industrial, not necessarily commercial, recruitment,” says Kyle Cofer, Project Director at The Retail Coach. “They know how to bring big employers in, but aren’t sure where to start with recruiting national retailers. Our team helps these municipalities with the retail side to improve the quality of life for residents.”

The Retail Coach is not made up of brokers. Instead, it was founded by a former site selector who wanted to work with businesses, property owners, and brokers to support growing communities.  

Fairmont Embraces The Multi-Stage Recruitment Process

The team at The Retail Coach excels at recruiting businesses to communities because its staff has excellent relationships with retail decision-makers. However, the foundation of these efforts is still the market analysis. Without demographic reports and market data, it’s hard to make a strong case for why companies should move to a specific area. This is why Fairmont EDA chose to work with The Retail Coach. They have a proven process that drives results.

“We are happy with our partnership with The Retail Coach so far,” says Koppen. “Even though they are just getting started, we feel like they are headed in the right direction and understand what Fairmont needs.”

The feeling is mutual. Businesses are already expressing interest in Fairmont and Martin County as a whole, which will lead to development in the near future.  

“Fairmont is a good market. In the short time that we’ve been recruiting, we have had a lot of interest from national retailers and restaurants,” says Cofer. “We plan to bring new retail stores and restaurants to Fairmont residents.”

Explore the reports by The Retail Coach to learn more about Fairmont and follow the Fairmont Economic Development Authority news updates to learn about new businesses entering Martin County. Fairmont is already a wonderful place to live, but this partnership will bring in new companies and make the region even better.

##