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MPEDC EXTENDS ITS CONTRACT WITH NAT’L RETAIL CONSULTANT

October 7, 2017 by admin

The Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) board on Oct. 3 approved extending its contract with a professional consulting firm that assists in marketing the city to prospective retail businesses.

The firm, The Retail Coach, describes itself on its website as “the first name in retail recruitment,” offering “a fully customized system of products and services that better enable communities to maximize their retail development potential.” This includes market research and consulting.

The city has been under contract with the firm for a year already, with the current term expiring this month. Last week’s vote extended the arrangement for an additional 12 months, at a cost of $25,000.

“This will maintain continuity in our retail study and allow The Retail Coach to continue to work on projects in our area,” MPEDC staff wrote in materials prepared for the board prior to last week’s meeting.

The market research the firm provides the city is available to existing businesses as well, board members said. Over the period the city has been working with The Retail Coach, the firm’s services have evolved beyond such research, to also include making contact with potential retail businesses.

Some of the businesses the firm has worked with in the past include Petsense, Schlotzky’s and Dairy Queen, MPEDC Executive Director Charles Smith said.

Those companies now do business in Mount Pleasant.

In other business last week, the board:

-Approved forwarding to the Mount Pleasant City Council a tax abatement application from Priefert Manufacturing/PMCI Properties. All such applications must be approved by the council.

-Approved authorizing Smith to sign an Educational Cooperative Agreement. A cooperative agreement between the MPEDC, Mount Pleasant Independent School District and Northeast Texas Community College has been in existence for five years. Following staffing changes at some of the entities involved, this was considered a good time to renew the partnership’s shared goals and objectives.

Mount Pleasant Tribune

Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation Supports Major Grants for Training

August 4, 2017 by admin

The Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) has supported grant applications with a pledge of matching funds to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The Texas Workforce Commission has conducted three rounds of grants designed to encourage additional career training capacity in the State. The program allows a Workforce Area to submit a grant application for a maximum of $75,000. The application requires matching funds from a Community Type A Corporation.

In the past two years, the MPEDC support of grants from TWC has enabled the school to add CNC training and robotics training to their curriculum. CNC refers to computer numeric controlled machining which can be two dimensional or three dimensional. The robotics control curriculum will teach students how robotics are used in manufacturing today and allow them to learn both the programming of these robotic arms and the maintenance of this type machinery. In selecting CNC and robotics equipment is was important to the college to find controlling software which was actually used in industry today and both these new curriculums meet that goal.

In a recent tour conducted by Dr. Kevin Rose and Dr. Brad Johnson, the MPEDC Board was able to see the equipment they had helped to purchase and learn more about current offerings at the ITTC.

The Northeast Texas Workforce Solutions Office has four potential participant corporations and the MPEDC has agreed to participate in all three rounds with the goal of bringing additional industrial training to the Industrial Technology Training Center in Mount Pleasant ITTC). MPEDC was one of three original partners who came together to create and fund the Industrial Technology Training Center. The original partners were Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC), Mount Pleasant Independent School District (MPISD) and the MPEDC. Initial monies were used to purchase the building suitable to house the training facility and the training modules designed to train students in Industrial Maintenance. MPISD located their existing electrical trades program to the facility as well. The first classes held at the ITTC was in 2011 and served 20 adult students. Since that time the program has grown steadily to over 200 high-school and adult students.

Representative Cole Hefner Visits Industrial Technology Training Center

July 14, 2017 by admin

Representative Cole Hefner and his staff visited the Industrial Technology Training Center on July 13th. The Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation (MPEDC) partnered with Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC) in 2009 to proceed with the development of the Industrial Technology Training Center (ITTC). The ITTC has allowed for NTCC to expand its job training capacity. Today over 200 persons are receiving advanced training in a wide range of industrial fields of study.

Newly Weds Food partners with NTCC

July 12, 2017 by admin

Newly Weds Food and Northeast Texas Community College have partnered together for job-training. The job-training will be provided due to a $170,267 Skills Development Fund grant that was approved by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The grant will be used for specialized training that will benefit workers in the Northeast Texas area. Training is a priority at Newly Weds Foods and it shows. When the Newly Weds facility was initially built in Mount Pleasant, a room was already designated specifically for employee training.

NTCC has greatly expanded its job training capacity over the past eight years with the development of the Industrial Technology Training Center (ITTC). Today over 200 persons are receiving advanced training in a wide range of industrial fields of study. The ITTC is a cooperative effort between NTCC, MPEDC and the Mount Pleasant ISD.

To learn more about the Newly Weds Food and NTCC partnership, visit TWC.

MPEDC Welcomes New Board Member

November 2, 2016 by admin

Press Release

Release Date: November 2, 2016

MPEDC WELCOMES NEW BOARD MEMBER

The Mount Pleasant City Council appointed a new member, Jason Snodgrass, to the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation Board. Members of the Board are appointed by the City Council and serve a term of two years. Council may, at their pleasure, reappoint Board Members for successive terms.

Jason Snodgrass, co-owner of Stansell’s City Cleaners, had a background in banking before purchasing the Cleaners. He has served on the Board of the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce and served as Chairman of that Board in 2012. Jason has also served on the Board of the Mount Pleasant Rodeo Association since 2013 and currently serves as President. Jason and his wife, Marie, have three children and live in the Hearts Bluff area. They are members of Northridge Church of Christ where Jason serves as a Deacon.

MPEDC Partners with Retail Coach

October 27, 2016 by admin

(Tupelo, Miss.) — Mount Pleasant is looking to expand their retail by partnering with The Retail Coach, the nation’s leading retail recruitment firm. Centrally located in the heart of Northeast Texas, along primary transportation routes, Mount Pleasant is home to a variety of manufacturing facilities, as well as diverse shopping and culinary options. More than 32,000 residents call Mount Pleasant and Titus County their home. Often referred to as the economic hub of Northeast Texas, the city has served as the county seat of Titus since 1848.

Over the past 100 years, Mount Pleasant has seen strong growth and, as a rural commercial center, has prospered. The region employees approximately 90,000. “We employ a great many persons from the four counties around us- that enhances our retail footprint and it is hard to sell to a retailer without empirical data to back it up. The Retail Coach gives us that data,” said Charles L. Smith, Executive Director of the Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation.

The Retail Coach’s goal will be to work closely with Mount Pleasant to target and recruit appropriate retailers and developers to the area. The first step in this process is to determine the town’s retail trade area, and using that information, the team will create retail profile reports and marketing tools to prepare the team and the city to best represent Mount Pleasant nationally to retailers, restaurants, and developers. The Retail Coach’s team will be led by Aaron Farmer, Director-Retail Strategy, and Project Manager, Kimberly Allred.

“The Retail Coach organization has a proven track record of accurately portraying a community, providing the information needed to help prospective retailers see the community. They are well respected among retail chains and retail site locators. They take the time to visit the community- boots on the ground if you will and they will visit with retailers and learn all they can about the community before publishing their work. Another factor in this is the company is constantly seeking out new technology to improve their results- they have the tools and the talent,” said Smith.

For more information on Mount Pleasant, Texas, visit www.mpedc.org.

For more information on The Retail Coach, visit www.theretailcoach.net.