The City of Brownwood will consider a recommendation made by the Retail Advisory Committee (RAC) to hire a retail consultant in an effort to bring new business to the area. According to city officials, the regularly scheduled city council meeting that would normally be held next Tuesday at 10am has been cancelled, and a special meeting is now planned to hear a presentation from retail consulting firm, The Retail Coach. The presentation will be given in a joint meeting for the Brownwood City Council, Brownwood Economic Development Corporation, and the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors
A city briefing sheet for the meeting states that the retail committee has been researching the benefits, costs, and success rates of hiring a retail consultant for the city. After meeting with and/or researching several consulting firms, the committee voted to recommend the hiring of The Retail Coach as a retail consultant for Brownwood at a cost of $45,000. The committee suggests this cost be split three ways by the City of Brownwood, the Brownwood Economic Development Corporation, and the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce.
Officials state that the committee felt that The Retail Coach offered a more well rounded and proactive service above the other firms researched. The Retail Coach would help the city not only actively recruit retail, but will offer support services to existing small businesses in Brownwood, conduct a downtown analysis, and a Howard Payne University student spending survey.
The joint meeting between the city council, BEDC Board, Chamber of Commerce board, RAC and The Retail Coach will provide an opportunity to discuss the proposal and ask questions. The meeting is scheduled for noon on Tuesday, May 10 at city hall. The city council, BEDC, and chamber will each put the issue up for a vote at their next regularly scheduled meetings later this month.
The City’s Retail Advisory Committee was formed by the City in October of 2010 and is made up of seven appointed members including Mayor Stephen Haynes, City Councilman Jerry DeHay, Ed Talley, Jamie Munson, Julie Moore, Ray Tipton, and Michael Richardson.
The mission of the Retail Advisory Committee is to study what other communities are doing successfully and make recommendations to the city council on what cost-effective measures may be employed by the city to encourage and promote retail growth.
