Geofencing is city’s latest tool aiding economic development

George Bormann will be the first to admit that he’s a nerd.

But he’s also proud of his city and its economic development potential.

Wednesday he told those at the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce monthly membership luncheon about the latest “nerdy” digital application that’s another “tool in our toolbox” bolstering his economic development efforts.

As the city’s economic development director since 2017, Bormann has utilized collaborative efforts from throughout the community to help spur unprecedented growth. That growth includes the addition of more than 1,000 new jobs and $350 million in investments, which Bormann cautions “are all conservative numbers.”

George Bormann

“When we start talking about the success of our area, that’s not lip service. If we wouldn’t have had the partners at the table from the very beginning, we wouldn’t have economic growth,” he told business and community leaders.

Bormann pointed out the many business leaders who wrote letters of support that helped Sallisaw become the location of the Sallisaw Veterans Center. He also praised the support of the Cherokee Nation.

“The numbers we’re talking about — 1,000 new jobs and $350 million in investments — those are all conservative numbers. If we’ll just keep on the current track, if we’ll keep working together” and pulling in the same direction, then Sallisaw can accomplish a lot of great things, he said.

Geofencing — which establishes a virtual and defined boundary using GPS- and RFID-enabled software to digitally track targeted consumer activity — is the city’s latest and greatest tool.

“It helps tell our story,” he said.

This is where Bormann, comfortable in his economic development element, presented everything his audience might want to know about “nerdy data that’s probably more interesting to me than it is y’all.”

Through a partnership with the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), Sallisaw is utilizing the software platform Placer.ai, which provides mobility data “which uses cellular data and an aggregate of a whole bunch of other sources to give a user tool to show a whole lot of information,” Bormann explained.

While the mobility data collected shows past audience performance — which Bormann pointed out is available “as fresh as three days” rather than weeks, months and even years — the information, more importantly, helps with future planning and indicates where future marketing efforts should be directed.

“Placer has a whole bunch of information,” Bormann said, “unfortunately it’s really expensive. That’s why we’re proud of our partnership with GRDA. They stepped up and paid for the first year. If we get a good return on our investment — which leads to more rooftops, more electric meters, more places of business, better quality of life — we’ll continue to invest.”

Placer.ai is a location analytics company that studies visit trends, trade areas and demographics. Its product is based on location insights for big box stores to look at brand dominance, consumer visitation and demographic insights, competitive benchmarking and industry trends, among other things. Placer.ai also works with its municipal partners, such as GRDA, to use these data streams to analyze migration trends, event performance, seasonal customer trends, routes usage and the study of retail, grocery and dining recovery.

“We can tell through this data how many people have been there, what their sales are per square foot,” Bormann said, noting that the data collection is particularly useful for national chains and national brands. But he emphasized that the data is applicable to local businesses, and is vital to planning and marketing efforts associated with events such as Diamond Daze and Cruizin’ 64.

Bormann showed luncheon attendees at the Wheeler Event Center a digital presentation of data collected over a specific period for particular locations as well as for actual days, such as Diamond Daze and the Lion’s Club Rodeo, to show the amount of traffic and the number of visitors. The data also provides demographic information, such as household income, education level, age group, ethnicity, etc.

Bormann also said data can also be collected not only about those traveling through or to Sallisaw, but to places of interest or locations most frequented. The mobility data can also provide information as to where the visitor was before coming to Sallisaw, and then where they went after leaving to Sallisaw.

“A good use for that tool for the traffic, you can draw a point of interest or you can ask the company to map out a location, and that is very useful for your events and festivals where people will collect, what roads are most frequently traveled, which will help you plan which roads to shut down,” added Shelldon Miggletto with GRDA. “It’s useful for the city as far as utility replacements or construction road maintenance for the street department. That’s really good insight for the city to have when they make those decisions as far as scheduling goes.

“For your events, how are they getting to your event and what’s the most frequent tracking? What is the least impact to a neighborhood or to the city operations or emergency services?” Miggletto continued.

But how accurate is the data?

Bormann said the information-gathering software is designed not to misrepresent visitors to a location, and said that just driving past a location does not trigger data.

“They can’t just drive by and it be listed as a place visited, because it takes time into consideration,” Bormann said, indicating that a visit requires proximity of five minutes or more.

“The data is precise up to 30 feet, and it has to have a dwell time of five minutes to capture that,” Miggletto explained. “Placer is helpful in telling the story of Sallisaw. It’s hard and it’s a challenge and something you all have been very successful at, from the outside looking in, drawing businesses, national chains and looks to the area. This helps tell the story and helps drive economic impact.”

And that’s why Bormann is sold on Placer.ai.

“This is just a piece of a puzzle. It’s just a tool in our toolbox that we can go get this in front of the right people and show them that we’re a worthwhile investment,” Bormann said of the mobility data, which he hopes will counter objections from potential economic growth targets, such as the city not meeting a population threshold so often used when national chains expand.

While Bormann’s information-packed presentation may have seemed like sensory overload — “I know it’s kinda like taking a drink from a fire hydrant” — he appealed to community and business leaders to meet with him to investigate how the data can be useful in their business pursuits.

“Let’s collaborate,” he encouraged.

Javen and Alex Scoggins of Taylor Rental are presented a plaque by Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce president Nikki Garrett on Wednesday, honoring the business as the chamber’s October Member of the Month.

Member of the Month

The Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce announced Taylor Rental as its October Member of the Month.

Taylor Rental is a local family-owned, general equipment rental and sales company that has served Sallisaw and the River Valley since 2007. For more than 15 years, the business has provided essential tools to build the Sallisaw community. The family works hard to research and try out new products so it can offer the best equipment in the industry. Taylor Rental has worked with several dealerships, and has brought those products to Sallisaw.