Lee Ann Walling is finishing up Laurel’s comprehensive plan. She offers continuing thoughts on major findings and themes. 

We have a brand, Laurel, and we need to start using it. It’s “Laurel: Great Things Come Naturally.” More on that in a minute.

This weekend I finished up the Economic Development section of the plan. My overriding goal is to produce a plan that gives Laurel useful information and recommendations that are doable given the size and capacity of the town. While I have to check required items off a checklist provided by the Office of State Planning Coordination, you can actually complete the checklist and produce a document that is not very useful to a local government or, frankly, boring. So I have included tables, photos, maps, sidebars and infographics that I hope will make the plan more readable to the non-planners out there – which is just about everyone.

Based on my observations and research, survey results, and many interviews with town and business leaders, other consultants, and regular citizens, I developed a six-part economic development strategy:

1. Encourage existing businesses and potential newcomers to access the Downtown Development District tools and incentives to rehabilitate, expand and improve their properties, including within The Ramble footprint;
2. Ensure that the Laurel Redevelopment Corporation’s strategic redevelopment goals are communicated to and supported by town government;
3. Implement the nature/heritage tourism strategy accepted by Town Council in 2016 and develop this unique niche that differentiates the town within the region;
4. Provide incentives to encourage annexation of key parcels along US 13 to fill in gaps and increase the number of highway parcels with water and wastewater access;
5. Proceed with recommendations for business park strategic market plan prepared by the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration; and
6. Incorporate Laurel’s new brand more thoroughly across organizations, marketing efforts, community events and other opportunities.

I explain these six elements in detail and provide supportive data, but let’s focus on #6 for now. In 2016, the Delaware Economic Development Office gave us access to Ben Muldrow of Muldrow, Arnett and Associates. Ben has managed to combine marketing, planning and graphic design savvy to work all over the country and the world to help communities determine and communicate their unique niches. Ben is a genius at observing and listening to a community and distilling the essence of a place into a brand. He happens to live in Milford, Delaware.

You hear a lot about companies and governments paying ridiculous amounts to wind up with some inscrutable logo (like a green rectangle, in the case of Hewlett-Packard) that makes you go, “huh?” We got Ben for $8,000 – paid for via DEDO by a USDA Rural Development grant.

After a few days of listening, visiting, observing and contemplating, Ben presented Laurel with the well received brand “Laurel: Great Things Come Naturally.” He produced an entire manual on how to use the brand and developed complementary logos for the town, the Laurel Redevelopment Corporation and other local organizations such as the Laurel Historical Society, Chamber of Commerce and Laurel Alumni Association. He showed examples of signage and how the brand would look on merchandise such as shopping bags, bike helmets and T-shirts.

He suggested events for celebrating Laurel’s unique heritage. One of his suggestions led to last July’s community painting of a watermelon bus.

The detailed brand guidance is available here, or at right by clicking on the cover photo.

Unfortunately, the brand is not being used that widely. The town adopted the new logo, and so did the LRC. As Laurel develops a more focused economic development strategy, hopefully with an engaged group of stakeholders who steer the effort, that guidance should be referenced and put to use. Signage, community events, Laurel-based organizations, marketing and advertising materials, letterhead and gear should all use the brand.

All these uses of the brand will combine to send a consistent and repetitive message about Laurel and its story. Gradually, it can transform what may be negative perceptions of Laurel. Your organization or event or business should put it to use; it will have a unifying effect.