Wednesday, August 15, 2007

No. 1 Wired City seeks best plan to attract capital

America’s No. 1 Wired City once captured the fancies of journalists around the globe looking for places with a fresh story to tell. Tacoma’s story got told and retold more than 200 times. Not anymore.

The world went wireless. Today, America’s No. 1 Wired City finds itself obsolete technologically, irrelevant to journalists and relegated to a past chapter in the Tacoma saga.

So, this spring, the City of Tacoma made a public plea for expert help with an ambitious goal – instigate a new surge of local and national media coverage that persuades developers, business owners and commercial real estate investors to pour private capital investments into Tacoma.

Four companies – two from Tacoma, two from Seattle – say they can do it and want the contract to identify Tacoma’s next story and share it with the world

However, don’t expect a new brand slogan and logo from this venture, said Ryan Petty, director of the city’s Community and Economic Development Department.

“The time will come again when it makes sense to create some kind of a (new) catchphrase,” Petty said. “This assignment is about helping us increase the flow of private capital into town.”

Later this month, leaders from all four companies looking for that assignment will give their best in-person pitches to City Hall evaluators who will pick the powerhouse public relations team best able to sell Tacoma. Read more here.

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