Details: The UMVRDC worked with the City of Benson on their Comprehensive Plan in 2000. In 2010, the city again worked with the UMVRDC to update the plan with a Comprehensive Plan Addendum. While working on that process, Benson City Manager Rob Wolfington identified a need to have a marketing collateral piece for the city.
Wolfington worked with UMVRDC planners Michelle Bouta and Jacki Anderson to determine what the marketing piece should be. Bouta and Anderson identified key pieces of information that needed to be included. The planners then brought in the UMVRDC Communications assistant, Jenifer Fadness, to organize the information and design the marketing piece.
The end result is a full-color brochure that is filled with photos to give a visual impression of what makes Benson a great place to work and live. The brochure highlights demographics, assets, resources, and successes from Benson. It also includes citizen comments that were gathered during a community survey.
Results: The Benson City Council is very pleased with the end result, and City Manager Rob Wolfington said “It’s great to have a marketing piece ready and available at any given time.” The city will explore different ways to use the piece to market Benson as a place where people will want to bring their business for development, and come to live and raise a family.
Many of our counties and cities in the region could benefit from a similar marketing piece to use as a recruiting tool, an informational piece, or to complete your community’s “brand”. Each of our communities has something unique to offer, and a customized marketing piece is a very effective way to do that.
