Utah Delegation Promotes Retail Economic Development at ICSC Convention

What do 2,500 public officials, 21 Utah cities, 47,000 attendees and EDCUtah have in common? The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) convention, held last week in Las Vegas.

One of the 10 largest conventions in the U.S., ICSC is a huge event with significant implications for retail economic development across the globe. Consequently, EDCUtah, the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) and delegations from 21 Utah cities and towns converged at the convention to pitch the home turf to retailers and shopping mall developers.

While retail economic development isn't EDCUtah's primary focus, Michael Flynn, vice president of public development, says it can't be ignored. Retail economic development and the associated sales taxes generated are the life blood of most cities and generally support the services the cities provide.

EDCUtah has been assisting Utah cities with their participation in the ICSC convention for the past six years and each year the group of participants gets bigger and the results get better.

“ICSC has developed into something with a lot of value and success for us,” Flynn adds. “This year we had prime exhibit space right next to the big retailers and developers.” And with the onsite meeting space the location was perfect for networking and one-to-one meetings with retailers and developers.

The Utah Pavilion always draws a crowd at the ICSC convention, thanks in part to the Utah Retail Property Book that EDCUtah publishes and the aerial map book that Commerce CRG prints for the convention. “The combination of these two books is a great package and many retailers deliberately come to the Utah Pavilion every year to obtain copies,” Flynn says. The retail property book features the specs on the various retail locations available within the participating cities, while Commerce CRG's aerial map book provides visual details for all of the locations in the retail property book.

In addition to the high profile location and the large crowds, the Utah delegation at the ICSC convention was treated to a reception hosted by GOED, where they were addressed by Jason Perry, GOED's executive director, networked together and shared best practices. “The reception was a fantastic networking opportunity,” Flynn adds.

“The Governor's Office of Economic Development was thrilled to participate in the ICSC convention for the second year in a row,” Perry says. “This convention produced significant opportunities for increased retail in the state of Utah. Job and population growth has sparked a statewide increase in the retail and service sectors. Our nation leading family income growth has not gone unnoticed by major retailers. As a consequence of this strong retail segment, local communities and the state are in a great position to improve our infrastructure. It was rewarding to see so many cities and counties working together to bring business to our state.”

While the ICSC convention is not necessarily the type of show where deals are cut, it is an important venue for Utah's cities, as they promote their pro-business environments, quality locations, incentives and resources. What's more, ICSC provides a one-stop location where the cities can arrange meetings in advance and sit down with multiple prospects in one convenient location.

Flynn says the ICSC convention was a great success and he anticipates being back again next year for a 7th round. Utah cities interested in participating may contact Flynn for more information, (801) 328-8824.