Nevada gains nationwide attention

Nevada is starting to come to the attention of people across the country.

The city has been working with Wilson, Chapman, Ré, a Kansas City public relations firm to develop a marketing plan for the area.

That plan is starting to get results with a new look and a number of stories in the media around the country about the new businesses that are coming to town.

During the Dec. 2 city council meeting Bruce Ré one of the principals of Wilson, Chapman, Ré, unveiled a new logo for the city, chamber of commerce, businesses and other organizations to use for marketing and other promotional efforts.

Ré told the council that a lot of study went into deciding on the color, look and tag line for the new logo.

It needs to communicate that Nevada is progressive, but still embraces its history and quality of life, he told the council.

"We wanted something new and vibrant, but we wanted it to include the history. The clock tower does that," he said.

Ré told the council that the swoosh, that encapsulates the logo -- Nevada. Genuine. Dynamic. Together -- conveys a sense of motion and forward momentum.

Nevada is definitely working together in one direction, he noted, saying,"We haven't seen that elsewhere, I'm really excited about what this logo will do for the community."

A second part of the marketing program includes having Wilson, Chapman, Ré write and distribute press releases about how Nevada has managed to attract several new companies with the potential of generating around 1,000 new jobs over the next two or three years.

So far there have been press releases sent out about Xtreme Products, Green Forest Engineered Products, LLC, local wireless network and most recently InSite, generating a number of stories about what is going on here.

They also spent two days in town during November shooting video that can be used by television stations that want to do stories on Nevada and what is happening here.

For example, the Oct. 28 issue of the Springfield News -Leader carried a story about Green Forest Engineered Products, LLC and an interview with Sam Foursha about how Nevada is pursuing development. This story is posted on the Nevada Area Economic Development Commission's Web site, www.naedc.com.

Other stories on this company appeared on Yahoo!, Hoovers Online, Kiplinger and in the November issue of Ingram's in Kansas City as well as the Joplin Globe. The most widely circulated story was by the Associated Presson NeighborLink and the city's wireless network which was in at least eight newspapers including the Miami Herald, the Denver Post, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Wichita Eagle.

Other stories based on this press release ran in the Joplin Globe and several Internet web sites including: www.wi-fiplanet.com.

Kathi Wysong, Nevada-Vernon County Chamber of Commerce executive director said that they have received several calls recently due to the stories these releases have generated. The city has also received calls.

"Most are people looking for employment and we refer them to Missouri Works," Craig Hubler, Nevada city manager said.

"I can't say that we have been inundated with calls," he said.

Up until now the city has been getting ready to answer queries that they expect to come when some major announcements come after the first of the year, Hubler said.

What is happening here is a very unusual story, he said.

There are currently about 1,300 manufacturing jobs in Nevada and these new companies will almost double that number.

"It's hard for people elsewhere to realize it's happening," Hubler said.

So the releases and the ensuing stories will help to explain why the development is happening as well as what is happening, he said.

While it is nice to let other people know what is going on here, that is not the reason for the city spending thousands of dollars to spread this news.

The ultimate goalis to build on the current influx of new businesses to attract other companies to consider Nevada as a place to locate a facility.

Hubler said success tends to bring more success and if other companies see what is happening here they may decide that Nevada would be a good place to locate a new facility.