NORTHAMPTON — No one knows for sure what impact MGM Springfield will have on the local economies of the towns in its orbit. But Northampton, which has long had entertainment and nightlife as essential parts of its economy, isn’t waiting around for the verdict.
In September of last year, the city was awarded $100,000 by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission out of its Community Mitigation Fund. The money is designed to help mitigate the economic impact that casinos in Massachusetts have on their surrounding communities.
On Monday, Mayor David Narkewicz announced the first expenditure of this money, in the form of a $15,000 contract with Rhyme Digital, an Easthampton digital marketing firm, to help craft a marketing plan to attract the new customers the casino brings to the area to Northampton.
“I’m not a marketing expert,” Narkewicz said. “That’s why we’re hiring marketing experts.”
“We’re super excited,” said Blair Winans, president of Rhyme Digital.
After the city was awarded the funds, Narkewicz formed a committee to advise him on how to make use of them. The committee consists of Suzanne Beck, executive director of the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce and Hampshire Regional Tourism Council, John Bidwell, executive director of Hampshire County United Way, Tara Brewster, of Greenfield Savings Bank, Alan Wolf, co-chairman of the Downtown Northampton Association board of directors, Janet Warren, marketing director with Fazzi Associates, and Sara Gibbons, marketing director with the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts.
“It’s a really well-rounded committee,” Beck said.
The committee helped craft the request for qualifications for the contract, and interviewed a number of different firms that responded, including Rhyme.
Beck said a great pool of candidates responded but Rhyme described the nature of Northampton and its destination appeal the best.
“The committee was really impressed with Rhyme,” Narkewicz said.
The mayor asked three companies to come out with quotes for the project. Rhyme was the only one that did so, and it was subsequently selected.
Rhyme’s work will follow a 14-week schedule from now to early August and will include three phases beginning with data collection, analysis and community focus groups meetings. The next two phases will be to identify plan recommendations with a final report including the research data collected, along with a strategy and recommendations.
Once the marketing plan is complete, the remaining funds from the grant will toward initial implementation of the plan.
Narkewicz said Rhyme will work with the city and the committee to review and gather data for the plan, including with Economic Development Director Terry Masterson. Some of this data gathering will involve interviewing local people.
Winans said Rhyme is very invested in using data to make decisions, and the company will do a substantial amount of data gathering.
“We’re numbers people here,” he said.
Winans grew up in Sunderland, and he said Northampton has always been a hub for nightlife, entertainment and dining.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to showcase that,” he said.
He also noted that most of the team at Rhyme Digital, which has eight people counting himself, has western Massachusetts backgrounds.
“It means a lot to them,” he said, of getting to market Northampton.
Winans said everything is on the table in terms of what venues the message will be marketed in, but recommendations will be made based on the greatest impact.
Narkewicz said the city is under no illusion that the state funding is enough to sustain an ongoing marketing effort. As such, making sure others pick up the torch is an important part of the plan.
Beck said that sustaining the effort is a key part of the marketing plan, but that it’s hard to predict who will do so at this time.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.