The Minot City Council acted Monday to approve a contract with Visit Minot that allows for the appropriation of $300,000 in MAGIC Fund money toward development of a One Brand marketing strategy for 2019-21. A committee selected Odney as consultant on the project.

Council member Stephan Podrygula noted the MAGIC Fund allocation is a change from the types of business activities supported by the economic development fund in the past.

“I think it’s a good change,” he said, tying it to the city’s efforts to grow local businesses by setting up a revolving loan fund with MAGIC Fund dollars. However, he spoke to marketers to encourage them “to be mindful of the unique characteristics of taxpayer-supported programs and to be very accountable.”

The contract includes a requirement for performance measures. City Manager Tom Barry said the city and Visit Minot have met to discuss those measurements.

“It is, to me, a bigger piece than just economic development, but also an image piece that we’re sending out to not only Minot, not only to North Dakota but to the rest of the world, that we are a business friendly community,” Mayor Shaun Sipma said. “We are also inviting people to move to Minot. We have 2.1% unemployment rate, and selling our community to those who might be looking for somewhere to move for a great job is an important piece – as some others in the states have jumped out of the starting gates well ahead of us. But to me, this is a significant piece of what we need in our community to continue moving forward.”

– Jill Schramm