Popular Articles

Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

read more
by Andrew Tellijohn
December 2003

Related Article

Operations

Read more

Cambridge Community Spotlight: Behind the scenes


Behind the scenes

Resources in Cambridge belie size of city

by Matt Krumrie  

Kathi Schaaf believes that in order for a chamber of commerce to succeed, it must give the members of the organization value. She also knows that in order for businesses to succeed, they need ample resources to grow. She works to see that the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce meets those challenges.

“People who join the chamber want a return on their investment,” says Schaaf, executive director. “It’s no longer acceptable for a company to join the chamber just to say they’re involved with the community. If they join, they want programs that can benefit their business.”

As the largest city in Isanti County, Cambridge is the hub of regional business activity. With more than 250 area businesses as members, the chamber has an important role in the local business scene. It’s a role the chamber staff relishes, Schaaf says. The chamber offers a full menu of business-related programs.

“They’ve done some really good things to give business owners the chance to network with other business owners and get involved,” says John Sullivan, economic development director with the city of Cambridge. “I think with a growing community like Cambridge, it’s something business owners need and appreciate.”

The chamber sponsors numerous events throughout the year. Among its many programs are:

 • Chamber First Friday:  A program designed to facilitate open dialogue between private business and city of Cambridge staff.

•  Chamber Quarterly Business Luncheons: Networking luncheons featuring local business tabletop resource booths, speakers on current business issue topics. Event allows for marketing to business peers and their employees.

• Chamber Small Business Focus: A program dedicated to the success and sustainability of the Cambridge and Isanti County area small-business sector. 

• Customer Service Excellence Training: Eight-hour course taught in the classroom by private businesses to high school students.  Program focuses on preparing students to be successful as they enter their first work experience.

George Johnson, president of Cambridge Properties, says business leaders in the Cambridge area are serious about using each other as resources. He heads the Cambridge Business Development Co., a collaboration of business owners and resources that get together to provide and discuss business opportunities and developments in the area.

“The city of Cambridge is changing, evolving faster than ever,” says Johnson. “It’s important for business leaders to talk about these issues, and work together. It’s been a positive and a lot of good things have developed from these meetings.”

Room for tech growth
One area where business leaders would like to see improvement within the city business landscape is in the technology sector. The city has 23 manufacturing industries in the town that offer good paying jobs with benefits, but business leaders say one goal is to attract more high-tech firms.

Helping lead the way is an organization called the Northern Technology Initiative, an East Central Minnesota regional economic development initiative geared to enhance the region’s profile to attract high-technology companies.  NTI is located at Pine Technical College in Pine City.

“We’ve done a good job of attracting manufacturing, retail and professional services to the area, but it hasn’t been a hotbed for tech companies,” says Schaaf. “We’re trying to change that.”

One program that has succeeded is called Community as a Classroom, which is a partnership between Cambridge-Isanti High School and community businesses focusing on the learner through career and technical education. Students are taught basic skills such as customer service, how to handle themselves in an interview, and what to expect in their first jobs. The idea is that these students will someday become members of the Cambridge work force, eventually helping solve  business owners’ employment needs and issues. Over 100 students have completed the program.

Cambridge High School, with an enrollment of  about 1,200 students, also has a program in welding that is recognized statewide for its success, and a new National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation program that is gaining interest.

Patrick Johns, president of the Cambridge branch of Anoka Ramsey Community College, knows the value education plays in a community’s success.

“I think the area has shown its commitment to education,” says Johns “We have a lot of great things going on that add to the community that people might not realize.”

An economic impact assessment done two years ago shows the college had an indirect impact of $20.8 million annually to the city of Cambridge. It was broken down like this, according to a fall 2000 enrollment of 1,436 students:

• Indirect impact: $10.8 million is attributed to those persons visiting the college and/or students and student local expenditures.

• Induced impacts: $5.8 million is attributed to the re-spending of money in the local economy.

• Direct impact: $4.2 million is attributed to the college’s payroll, capital and operations.

“For every $1 of public money invested into a Cambridge Campus student, there is a $19 return of economic activity placed back into the local economy,” says Johns.

The college also offers business and professional services such as meeting facilities and a place to hold continuing education and customized training courses for businesses, as well as a place to hold community or business-related events..

Henry Fischer, business and community development manager with East Central Energy (ECE), offers behind-the-scenes services to businesses. Established in 1936, ECE is Minnesota’s oldest and third largest customer-owned electric cooperative, now serving more than 52,000 homes, farms and businesses across east central Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

ECE offers free walk-through audits of commercial buildings, and cost-shared audits of large facilities that may involve industrial process engineering. With its power supply cooperative Great River Energy, ECE partners to offer $250,000 in below-market financing for land, buildings and electrical machinery and equipment, in correlation with a businesses lead lender.They also offer up to $1.5 million in financing through its membership in the Minnesota Community Capital Fund.

Twice each month ECE produces an e-mail newsletter for business customers, alerting them to new programs and resources that help them use energy wisely, take advantage of new technology and facilitate business growth. Cambridge is the largest load center in ECE’s region.

“People think of the energy company as the place that sends your electric bill,” says Fischer. “But we’re an advocate for the business community and work hard to provide businesses in our region with low-cost alternatives.”

Laying cable
Competing with the incumbent telephone company (Qwest), NorthStar Access offers residents in Cambridge a choice for local telephone service. It combines high-tech communication services with a strong local presence in each community, including hometown-based employees and local offices. It also offers Internet access and long-distance service.

Maureen O’Neill, vice president with Northstar Access, says a local office is “a distinct advantage for customers because it offers a level of personal service that is unheard of in the telecom industry.”

Cambridge is in the heart of the geographic area that NorthStar Access serves; and as one of five communities (others include Elk River, Mora, North Branch and Princeton), it is where NorthStar is experiencing its fastest growth. NorthStar Access currently serves over a third of the customer base in Cambridge, and plans to double that in two to three years.

To make all these services a reality for consumers, NorthStar Access has invested a substantial amount in the Cambridge.

"We have taken the unique approach of building our own network in the ground," says O'Neill. "To date, the amount invested in infrastructure is approaching $5 million in the city of Cambridge alone."

Sullivan heads the Cambridge Development Alliance, an action group comprised of city, chamber, utility organizations and the Cambridge Business Development Co., that is dedicated to the future economic development and vitality in the Cambridge area. He has worked closely with Fischer on numerous initiatives at the local, state and national level.

These types of programs have helped attract businesses to the Cambridge area, he says.

“Behind the scenes there is a lot going on for business owners,” says Sullivan. “But we are seeing the results of that behind-the-scenes action, because the community is growing and thriving.”

Schaaf agrees. “We have a lot of resources here,” she says. “We still may be considered a small town, but we big-time opportunities for businesses. As the community grows, these resources have been and will be important.”

Mayor Marlys Palmer sums it up. “The community is growing fast. It really has become the center of activity for the region. It’s actually been kind of fun to see this happen.”