MOUNT VERNON — City leaders have turned to Alabama-based Retail Strategies LLC for help in attracting retail and restaurant opportunities to Mount Vernon.
They started talking with the company about three months ago and signed a contract on Jan. 19.
Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers teased the deal at the end of the Feb. 9 city council meeting.
Referencing public comments about the “abundance of gas stations, oil change shops, and so forth,” Salyers said, “Contrary to popular belief, the mayor does not have a wheel in his office that he and I giggle and spin, with a very small sliver that says Chick fil A on it. It is very much market-driven. However, we hear you, Mount Vernon. We see you.”
Salyers encouraged those interested in contributing to the city’s growth to get involved.
“The city does not pick and choose things,” he said.
He added that as long as businesses meet zoning rules and are legal, they are welcome.
“We appreciate business being here. I don’t care if you’re a gas station. I don’t care if you’re an oil change, tire-and-lube place. Every business that I see complained about on social media ends up having somebody at the front door. They’re here for a reason.”
Mayor Matt Starr said Mount Vernon has long been recognized as a livable and innovative community.
“This partnership with Retail Strategies reflects our commitment to maintaining that standard,” he said. “We’re focused on filling key gaps in our retail mix and ensuring our residents can shop, dine, and gather right here at home.”
Salyers later elaborated on the partnership.
The need for a partner
The three-year contract costs $45,000 annually.
“Our goal is the city will cover the cost this year and then we will look at community partners for the next two years,” Salyers told Knox Pages.
“We don’t want to be seen as the entity out there soliciting businesses. There are other economic development entities in town; this is their bailiwick, and we want to let them do it. But right now, we see the need, and we feel that the community wants us to get involved in this, so we did.”
In 2023, the Area Development Foundation commissioned a study to determine how Intel’s Licking County expansion would affect Knox County.
The study reported Knox County “leaked” $3.67 billion to other counties because the jobs, retail, and commercial services were not available locally.
Leakage included $62.9 million in retail and $28.7 million in restaurants.
Retail Services will market the city, find retail and restaurant companies that want to come here, and play a “matchmaker role” with local real estate owners.
“Understanding our trade area, consumer spending patterns, and retail leakage is critical to recruiting the right businesses. This partnership gives Mount Vernon a clear road map and a systematic approach to outreach, ensuring our efforts are strategic and aligned with community priorities,” Mayor Starr said.
“If anyone who has land or interest in offering retail and commercial development in Mount Vernon is looking for an invitation to get involved, this is it.”
Retail Strategies will also train local development teams on how to handle recruiting for this business tier. Salyers said the trainees are whoever the city designates: the city, ADF, and/or the chamber.
“That way, once this contract’s over, there’s still somebody here that knows how to land the plane on a deal,” he said.
Quality of life: More than organic development
The city financially supports the ADF in its mission to offer workforce development and tax abatement strategies and recruit businesses that create high-quality jobs.
Salyers said there is no duplication of services because the ADF and Retail Strategies focus on different business tiers. As he puts it, the ADF recruits “generational, influential businesses that are going to come here and really make a change.”
“If we get an Applebee’s in town, that’s not going to be a massive boon to our income tax rolls. But if you land Becker [Mining] like the ADF does, that’s a big deal for the community,” the safety-service director said.
Retail Strategies addresses the quality of life after a generational business arrives.
“The type of businesses that Retail Strategies is pursuing are jobs that I don’t know that anybody’s going to move to Mount Vernon over,” Salyers said.
“But when you do move to Mount Vernon, it’s like what do I do here? You’re going to shop here, you’re going to eat here. It’s that quality of life, that missing piece of economic development that right now no one’s really doing anything with.”
Salyers said the city has been allowing that economic development to happen organically. However, he noted Mount Vernon is too close to larger cities such as Mansfield, Newark, and Columbus, where things are happening.
He said the city needs to ensure people know Mount Vernon is a growing community with colleges, manufacturing prosperity, and other attractions.
“That’s what Retail Strategies does: It puts all of that portfolio together, and it knows how to get out in front of people and show the data and say if you’re thinking about expanding, have you considered Mount Vernon? Right now, we don’t have anybody doing that on our behalf,” he said.
‘We’re not big enough’
Historically, population — or lack thereof — has played a role in Mount Vernon’s failure to attract larger retail or restaurant establishments.
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Salyers acknowledged that some companies might still use that criterion. However, population is not the sole parameter.
“People follow growth,” he said. “They look at the ever-changing world of economic development and spending. They’re looking at traffic flow and online sales, and they’ll use cell phone data and credit card data.”
“Contrary to popular belief, the mayor does not have a wheel in his office that he and I giggle and spin with a very small sliver that says Chick fil A on it. It is very much market driven.”
Safety-service director tanner salyers
Salyers said Mount Vernon is neither too small to compete for businesses that enhance the community’s quality of life nor too large to demand a specific establishment come to town.
“The missing piece is someone to advocate for us,” he said, noting that Retail Strategies’ data-driven approach is specific, forward-thinking, and hands-on.
City administration officials did not provide Retail Strategies with parameters for where growth should occur.
“We do want to see development downtown, but we’re not focused solely on downtown. We’re also looking at opportunities outside of the city to alleviate traffic,” Salyers said.
A Retail Strategies team will arrive in Mount Vernon in the next couple of months to start collecting information.
“A lot of public participation will be necessary,” Salyers said. “They will make recommendations, but there will be public participation. We feel this is a step in the right direction that the community wants us to take.”