Janeth M

MPEDC LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE NEW WEBSITE SERVICE DESIGNED TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES

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MPEDC website provides free market research and business intelligence to help small businesses & foster entrepreneurship

Mount Pleasant, TX, – September 16, 2021 – Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation launched SizeUp Mount Pleasant on its website during National Small Business Week (September 12-18, 2021), making powerful market research and business intelligence available to local businesses and entrepreneurs.

MPEDC is also partnering with the Mt. Pleasant/Titus County Chamber of Commerce to provide an onboarding SizeUp webinar on September 29, 2021. The webinar will be recorded and provided as an evergreen link for future use.

Local businesses can now access industry-specific and hyperlocal information to help them grow and make smarter decisions using Big Data analysis. The research is individually customized for each company. By using the website service, local businesses are able to:

  1. Rank their business performance compared to industry competitors
  2. Discover potential customers, suppliers, and better understand their competitive landscape
  3. Optimize advertising to target ideal customer segments
  4. Validate or reject their assumptions about their business performance based on objective local, regional, and national industry data.
  5. Analyze the characteristics and spending of consumers in the area.

SizeUp Mount Pleasant provides powerful market research and business intelligence that is both industry specific and hyperlocal. SizeUp helps to level the competitive business playing field by providing small businesses with similar market research that typically only large corporations can afford to access.

“In today’s information economy, if you don’t have access to information your business is at a significant disadvantage. With the launch of SizeUp on the MPEDC website, we are empowering our small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs to be able to make more data-driven decisions to better operate, succeed, and grow,” said Nathan Tafoya, Executive Director, MPEDC.

In the USA, over 99% of all companies are small businesses and small businesses create the majority of all net new private sector jobs (Source: US Small Business Administration and US Bureau of Labor Statistics). From 1993 to 2015 small businesses created 425% more net new jobs than large companies (Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics). In addition, locally-owned businesses create a larger economic impact on the local economy because more money spent with them is re-spent locally.

A national entrepreneurship boom is occurring as entrepreneurs starting new businesses has reached historic highs. This is a positive sign for the future of the economy and welcome news as an economic boost to replace economic activity and businesses lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every month in 2021 resulted in the highest number of new business starts compared to the same month for the past 15 years.

As this large group of new entrepreneurs enters the marketplace, they need data and market research to create solid business plans.  

SizeUp uses big data, cloud computing, and computer algorithms to deliver custom analysis for local businesses. The data comes from hundreds of public and proprietary data sources covering firmographic, demographic, geographic, labor, wage, cost, consumer spending, transportation, and more.

“Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation wants the businesses that open in Mount Pleasant to succeed and grow. An important way to support our entrepreneurs is by starting them off with a solid foundation to make successful decisions and reduce the risk of failure,” said Tafoya. “We love the concept of providing multi-sourced big data in an easy-to-use technology resource like SizeUp and offering it to our community. If small businesses win, we all win.”

This new service provided by the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation is completely free to local businesses and available anytime through the MPEDC website at www.mpedc.org.

About MPEDC

The City of Mount Pleasant, Texas Industrial Development Corporation, dba Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation’s (MPEDC) mission is to promote economic development in the City of Mount Pleasant and Titus County by supporting initiatives designed to increase jobs and private investment primarily in the manufacturing and economic base sectors through real property development, workforce education, and infrastructure extension.

MPEDC exists to promote Mount Pleasant as a premier location for business, targeting key industries that provide high wage jobs, and future sustainability and resilience for the community. MPEDC is the primary point of contact for existing businesses and prospective businesses, site selectors, developers, and community stakeholders to obtain technical expertise and support services necessary to properly evaluate business opportunities in the city.

About SizeUp, Inc.

SizeUp is a Fintech (Financial Technology) Internet service company dedicated to providing powerful business intelligence. SizeUp helps its clients better serve their small business customers by providing high-quality market research and business insights. SizeUp enables small businesses to make better decisions through big data. As a result of SizeUp’s disruptive model of small business intelligence it has established itself as a leading Fintech company winning awards, being profiled in the media, and being invited to present at conferences around the world. SizeUp won the 1st Place award from the US Department of Commerce for a business app that helps American businesses be more competitive, improve their success, foster prosperity, and create more jobs.

Cox Concrete Pipe Co. Receives Assistance Package for Expansion

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July 6, 2021- City Council approved assistance package for Cox Concrete Pipe Co. (dba Cox Concrete Products) for expansion.

Cox Concrete Pipe Co. is experiencing significant growth and subsequent operational expansion. This family-owned company is under new management with the next generation taking the reigns. New management is moving the firm beyond traditional markets and increasing both marketing and design initiatives. The company has identified MPIDC assistance as critical to their ability to reach expansion goals.

The MPIDC board approved an assistance package of $40,000.

Cox Concrete Pipe Co. has made a commitment of more than half a million dollars in investment, additional manufacturing space, and job creation.

$25,000 Workforce Development Grant Awarded Towards CDL Training

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July 6, 2021- At the July 6th City Council meeting, MPEDC received the final approvals needed to award a $25,000 Workforce Development Grant it co-developed with NTCC for its CDL training academy.

In late 2020, Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC) launched its Professional Driving Academy, an educational training program intended to funnel students towards CDL licensing.

In 2021, NTCC reached an important milestone and became a certified testing/driving site for CDL licensing. Students in the region can now drive to Mount Pleasant to take their driving tests on a physical course.

The Mount Pleasant Industrial Development Corporation (also IDC or MPEDC) staff and board have created and approved a workforce development grant. The grant will be specific to the Professional Driving Academy and will be geared towards training community members for the logistics industry. MPIDC believes the grant will benefit both constituents and regional industry in addition to promoting NTCC as a quality institution. The grant will be made to NTCC and available to the community in the form of scholarships and financial assistance. The grant will only be available to constituents of Mount Pleasant and Titus County. MPIDC has a rich history of partnering with NTCC to meet industry needs. With all of Mount Pleasant’s local industry logistic activity and a national distribution center in a neighboring county, MPIDC believes this workforce development grant is a pragmatic, relatively simple, and next logical step towards increasing the skill set of our existing workforce for both current and future industry. The grant also supports one of NTCC’s newest and industry-relevant programs. 

Professional Driving Academy Information

MPEDC Hosts Mike Grella on a 3-day Listening Tour

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Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation Hosts Mike Grella on a 3-day Listening Tour

Mount Pleasant, TEXAS- Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) hosted Mike Grella, former Amazon executive, on a 3-day familiarization and listening tour from July 13-16, 2021. The MPEDC partnered with Grella Partnership Strategies to help structure an economic development-specific strategic plan, provide ongoing project support, and assist with marketing efforts for Mount Pleasant.

Mr. Grella met with various community leaders and stakeholders, including elected officials, manufacturing CEOs, education leaders, the city’s department heads and development team, and the Chamber of Commerce and economic development board of directors, to better understand Mount Pleasant’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Mr. Grella also toured four major manufacturing facilities in the city and attended dinners with financial institutions, real estate brokers, and community leaders.

Mr. Grella’s listening tour culminated in a community stakeholder debrief and feedback luncheon held July 16, 2021, at the Civic Center. At the debrief, Mr. Grella said he was impressed by the community’s ubiquitous support during the 3-day listening tour. Mr. Grella said, “Every time I’ve had a meeting, frankly, the bar has gotten a little bit higher.”

Mr. Grella noted Mount Pleasant’s ability to “punch above its weight class” and added that he was impressed with the city’s ~100,000 population retail trade area and positioning as a trade hub along Interstate 30. Mr. Grella said he especially loved Mount Pleasant’s strong coffee game and existing major industries presence. “Your existing industries are your biggest fans and third-party validators,” he said.

Mr. Grella emphasized how the world is changing and evolving rapidly, hence the importance of a strong partnership with the education sectors. Based on his conversations with K-12 and higher education leadership, Mr. Grella said Mount Pleasant is well-positioned to meet current and future workforce needs. Two noteworthy community assets and differentiators in Mount Pleasant were its excess water availability and electric reliability as one of the few areas in Texas connected to the Southwest Power Pool, not ERCOT, which has been the subject of significant criticism following a winter storm earlier in 2021.

With the increase in remote work, Mr. Grella noted that immediately identifiable drawbacks for the community were affordable workforce housing and better broadband service. These drawbacks, he said, were common concerns voiced across all community sectors during his tour.

Mike Grella has over 26 years of economic development experience as an attorney and advisor, helping communities and companies locate, grow, and thrive.

Mike began the first 17 years of his career serving hundreds of clients, including dozens of the world’s most recognized brands on economic development strategy and expansion transactions providing tax, legal, and financing advice.

In 2012 mike was recruited as amazon’s first global head of economic development. During his seven-year tenure with amazon and its cloud computing division amazon web services where he also served as director of infrastructure, Mr. Grella forged public/private partnerships responsible for more than $10 billion in capital investments, over 50 million of square feet of new development, and 100,000 new jobs in dozens of states and fifteen countries. Mike was also involved in amazon’s original agreement to establish operations in Texas, siting the company’s first facilities in Haslet, Coppell, and Schertz. In 2019, mike formed Grella Partnership Strategies (GPS), an economic development advisory firm helping organizations and communities become more prosperous by embracing cutting-edge technologies, resiliency, data analytics, environmental stewardship, diversity & inclusion, placemaking, and attracting talent for in-demand industries & occupations.

Address- Temporary Office Location

302 North Jefferson Avenue, Suite 140  •  Mount Pleasant, Texas 75455

Phone

Office: 903.572.6602  •  Fax: 903.572.0631

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