Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 07/12/2018

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Community Development Director Gladhill provided background information on the RCP program, noting that the students worked across many departments to provide ideas for the community. Yuan stated that Ramsey is situated within 15 minutes of two existing restaurant nodes but noted that most of the options in those nodes are fast food options. He stated that north of Ramsey has limited access to the restaurant nodes. He stated that the market size for this area is 110 to 155 restaurants in total. He stated that the finalized report will be sent to the City within the next few weeks. He stated that 650 national incubators were survived, with response from about 25 incubators. He stated that it is very difficult for an incubator to make a profit. He stated that they have maps and visual representations that will be provided at a later date because of technical issues. He provided information on the market assessment for Ramsey, stating that the majority age group in Ramsey spends a large amount of money on food outside the home. He stated that there are attraction points within The COR which can draw people to the location and would benefit the market in general. He reviewed the market barriers including the Mississippi and Rum Rivers. He stated that people living on the other side of those rivers would have to travel through an established restaurant node before reaching Ramsey. Saikat Banerjee provided information on market competition within a 15-minute drive from The COR. He stated that there were close to 342 restaurants within that radius. He stated that currently the densest nodes for restaurants would be Coon Rapids and Anoka. He provided details on the different categories of food service available in the nearby radius, noting that there is a lack of full service restaurants. Yuan stated that overall there is opportunity for Ramsey to pursue an incubator. He reviewed the different options for an incubator including a local restaurant/caterer, food trucks, culinary school graduates, and co -packagers. He stated that they did survey food truck owners and although the results were limited, they were able to obtain very complete information on why the locations are chosen. He explained that food trucks choose their location based on food traffic and licensing abilities. He stated that a survey was also done of students and instructors at culinary schools, also getting a limited response. He noted that they were able to gather a list of potential equipment that would be needed. Banerjee stated that a food incubator is a new concept, about one decade old. He stated that there are many types of food incubators. He noted that the key takeaway point from those surveyed include that there is a high capital start-up cost and it is difficult to make a profit. He stated that surveys of local restaurants were also done, in the hope that perhaps one of those would want to be a future tenant but noted that they received very limited response. Yuan reviewed the short-term and long-term recommendations. He noted that the report would include the full list of information discussed today. Community Development Director Gladhill noted that the City does not have any intention of building a brick and mortar incubator space, but this project has provided the City with talking points that could be used when talking with potential restaurant users and also when explaining the challenges of attracting a restaurant to residents of the community. Economic Development Authority/June 14, 2018 Page 4 of 10