A STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR THE CITY OF FERNLEY, NEVADA FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2020

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1 TECHNICAL REPORT UCED 2016/17-02 A STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR THE CITY OF FERNLEY, NEVADA FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2020 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO

2 A STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR THE CITY OF FERNLEY, NEVADA FOR FISCAL YEAR 2018 THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2020 Frederick A. Steinmann and Richard Bartholet and Brian Fogarty and Angelo Sisante Frederick Steinmann is an Assistant Research Professor with the University Center for Economic Development, College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. Richard Bartholet is the Director of Research for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research with the Nevada Small Business Development Center, College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. Brian Fogarty is a Graduate Student Research Assistant with the University Center for Economic Development, College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. Angelo Sisante is a Graduate Student Research Assistant with the University Center for Economic Development, College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. February 2017 A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year /17/2017 ii

3 This publication, A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, was published by the University Center for Economic Development in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. This publication's statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and/or data represent solely the findings and views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the City of Fernley, the University of Nevada, Reno, or any reference sources used or quoted by this study. Reference to research projects, programs, books, magazines, or newspaper articles does not imply an endorsement or recommendation by the authors unless otherwise stated. Correspondence regarding this document should be sent to: Frederick A. Steinmann, DPPD University Center for Economic Development University of Nevada, Reno The College of Business Mail Stop 204 Reno, Nevada Phone: UCED University of Nevada, Reno University Center for Economic Development The College of Business A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year /17/2017 iii

4 Received by the City of Fernley, Nevada City Council on September 6, 2017 Mayor, Roy Edgington, Jr. Councilmember, Ward One, Shari Whalen Councilmember, Ward Two, Dan McCassie Councilmember, Ward Three, Stan Lau Councilmember, Ward Four, Susan Siedl Councilmember, Ward Five, Fran McKay City Manager: Daphne Hooper Received by the City of Fernley, Nevada Planning Commission on September 13, 2017 Chairperson, Jan Hodges Vice Chairperson, Sue Gill Member, Paul Unterbrink Member, Sue Gill Member, Angela Lewis Member, Jenni McCullar Member, Cody Wagner City of Fernley Strategic Planning Community Workshops Workshop No. 1: Saturday, November 7, 2015; City Council Chambers, City of Fernley Workshop No. 2: Saturday, January 23, 2016; City Council Chambers, City of Fernley Workshop No. 3: Friday, February 26, 2016; City Council Chambers, City of Fernley Workshop No. 4: Saturday, July 30, 2016; City Council Chambers, City of Fernley A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year /17/2017 iv

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables v vii viii City of Fernley, Nevada Strategic Plan for FY 2017 through FY Executive Summary Introduction Situational and Community Assessment and Analysis Identification of Primary and Secondary Audiences Community Needs and Issues Analysis and Identification a Community Assessment b Evaluating the Impacts of Growth c Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats Analysis Assessment of the City of Fernley s External Environment including 26 Current Community Needs and Issues 2.4 The Media Market of the Western Nevada Development District a Traditional Print, Radio, and Television Media within the Western 28 Nevada Development District 2.4.b Social Media Existing Organizational Communication Assets a City of Fernley Website b City of Fernley Facebook Page c City of Fernley Twitter Feed d Other Uses of Social Media Existing Community Communication Resources and Opportunities a Fernley Chamber of Commerce b Lyon County c Lyon County School District 46 A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year /17/2017 v

6 2.6.d University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County e Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada f Western Nevada Development District g State of Nevada Governor s Office of Economic Development h University of Nevada, Reno i Western Nevada College j Truckee Meadows Community College Strategic Measures, Deployment, Implementation and Measurement Strategic Communication Measures a Community Goal No b Community Goal No c Community Goal No d Organizational Goal No e Organizational Goal No Strategic Communication Deployment Efforts a Brand Management b Media Relations Tactics c Public Relations Tactics d Direct Communication Tactics e Marketing and Advertising Tactics f Social Media Strategy Tactics g Customer Relationship Management h Citizen Engagement Tactics i Internal Communication j Issue Management and Crisis Communications k Emergency Communications l Departmental Outreach m Cross-Channel Promotion Strategic Communication Implementation and Measurement Efforts a Strategic Communication Implementation Time Frame, 84 Fiscal Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019, and Fiscal Year b Strategic Communication Measures 88 Appendix A 93 A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year /17/2017 vi

7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 City of Fernley s Website 34 Figure 2 Agendas & Minute Page 35 Figure 3 Business Page 36 Figure 4 Government Page 37 Figure 5 How Do I?... Page 38 Figure 6 Our Community Page 40 Figure 7 City of Fernley Facebook Page 41 Figure 8 City of Fernley Twitter Feed 43 A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year /17/2017 vii

8 LIST OF TABLES 2.1 Weaknesses City of Fernley, Identified on November 7, Total Population, Fernley, Silver Springs, Yerington, Lyon County, State of 26 Nevada, 2000 and Median Age, Fernley, Silver Springs, Yerington, Lyon County, State of Nevada, and Where Workers within the Western Nevada Development District Work and 28 In by County, Total Monthly Number of Facebook Posts, City of Fernley s Facebook Page, 42 February 2016 through February 2017 A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year /17/2017 viii

9 City of Fernley, Nevada Strategic Plan for FY 2017 through FY 2021 Preamble In service to the public, and united by the basis of tradition and leadership, the City of Fernley values, at its core, trust, innovation, and engagement through communication in the achievement of the City s Mission and Vision and the community goals and organizational goals outlined in this strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year Core Values Trust, Innovation, and Engagement through Communication Mission It is the mission of the City of Fernley to provide all municipal services in a proactive, innovative, and fiscally responsible way in order to continue to enhance the community s quality of life, provide a high level of responsive local government services, and promote future prosperity and the balanced growth of the community. Vision It is the vision of the City of Fernley to deliver and provide public services in a way that is fiscally stable and results in a safe, responsive, forward-thinking, and collaborative community. The City of Fernley strives to be an organization that is responsive to change and public needs by being proactive rather than reactive and to aspire and excel at providing enhanced and excellent municipal services. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 1 of 93

10 City of Fernley, Nevada Strategic Plan for FY 2017 through FY 2021 Community Goals Community Goal Number 1: To explore and promote opportunities for economic development and planned redevelopment in ways that are consistent with the community s historical and current identity. The City must provide clear and consistent policies and procedures to support our growing and dynamic community while keeping Fernley a great place to live, work and play. The City must strive to encourage sustainable job growth and expansion and create opportunities for growing local businesses. Community Goal Number 2: To promote citizen engagement and build strong alliances with other government entities, private sector partners, and members of the community. Citizen engagement means developing and maintaining the interest of the community s citizens to participate in the structure and operations of the City. The City should encourage the community s citizens to participate in City Council meetings and attend public events. Community Goal Number 3: To preserve and maintain a quality of life enjoyed by the community s residents and visitors and enhance the continued maintenance and reconstruction of the City s infrastructure with an emphasis on sustainability. In a fiscally stable and responsible manner, the City of Fernley should continue to prioritize and fund infrastructure projects that require the greatest attention in-terms of maintenance and reconstruction and communicate openly with the community s citizens about how each project will continue to preserve, maintain and enhance the community s quality of life. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 2 of 93

11 City of Fernley, Nevada Strategic Plan for FY 2017 through FY 2021 Organizational Goals Organizational Goal Number 1: The City of Fernley must strive to maintain and improve overall fiscal integrity, stability, and equality of the City s financial planning. The City of Fernley must continue to strive to identify and create new revenue sources. The City of Fernley should explore the possibility of using redevelopment, the use of a room tax, impact fees, business license fees, special assessment districts, different public and private partnerships, and federal, state, and non-profit private sector grants as possible alternative sources of funding for projects and programs identified as essential by the City and the community. The City must strive to educate the community and engage residents regarding the City s financial position and the possible need and potential benefit of pursing and implementing different funding sources. To achieve this goal, the City of Fernley should strive to recruit and retain new and existing businesses as a way of broadening and expanding both the community s economic base and tax base. Controlled growth, designed to promote balance for both businesses and residents, is needed and the City will need to develop and implement a stable and fair business license fee structure. Organizational Goal Number 2: The City of Fernley, as an employer, must strive to create and maintain a successful and efficient work environment. The community recognizes and appreciates the dedication of the City of Fernley s workforce and understands that the City s existing staff provides our community will excellent public services that makes Fernley a great place to live, work, and play already. Together, with the citizens of the City, we enhance the safety, friendliness, aesthetics, and quality of life of our community. While taking into account the financial resources available to the City, the City of Fernley must strive to make sure that all available positions are filled with highly trained and competent employees. The City should provide ongoing training and recertification of its employees and employees should be encouraged to complete ongoing training and recertification. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 3 of 93

12 City of Fernley, Nevada Strategic Plan for FY 2017 through FY 2021 Implementation Measures The City of Fernley will continue to employ three primary implementation measures for this strategic plan beginning in Fiscal Year 2017 and running through Fiscal Year Implementation Measure Number 1: The City of Fernley and the City s current and future staff will continue to interact and engage with the community s citizens, business community, and visitors to the City in ways that are Polite, Professional, and Performed consistent with the City s Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 Strategic Plan. Implementation Measure Number 2: The City of Fernley and the City s current and future staff will continue to commit themselves to the service of the public by emphasizing trust, innovation, and engagement through communication. Implementation Measure Number 3: The City of Fernley and the City s current and future staff will continue to build and develop an organizational culture that respects and values both individual and group differences and encourage the productive potential of every employee. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 4 of 93

13 Executive Summary In 2015 and 2016, the City of Fernley undertook a comprehensive organizational strategic planning initiative. The initiative, which resulted in a strategic plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021, established a set of core values, a strategic mission, a strategic vision, three separate strategic community goals, two separate strategic organizational goals, and three strategic implementation measures. These elements of the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 are presented above and used to develop the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year The City of Fernley s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 is divided into a series of possible policy and administrative recommendations for each of the three years, Fiscal Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019, and Fiscal Year 2020, covered by this plan. Fiscal Year The following presents a list of possible policy and administrative recommendations related to implementation of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Year 1 (Fiscal Year ) of this plan: Establishment of the Community Relations Advisory Board: Comprised of City officials (one elected official, one member of the City s Planning Commission, one member of the Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority Board, with staff representation), a media relations representative, a public relations representative, a marketing representative, a branding representative, a design representative, and an advertising professional representative, would meet regularly (monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly) to advise the City government on matters related to the implementation of this strategic communications plan. Establishment of the Sustainability Counsel: Comprised of internal City of Fernley staff to advise the City of Fernley Planning Commission and/or the City of Fernley City Council on the merits of new infrastructure projects or existing infrastructure maintenance initiatives in regards to each proposal s overall sustainability. Establishment of the Legislative Counsel Bureau: Comprise of internal City of Fernley staff designed to track items of interest being considered by the U.S. federal government, the Nevada state government, and other local governments located throughout northern Nevada. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 5 of 93

14 Establishment of an internal Customer Service Team: Comprised of City officials and staff that could regularly assess the degree of customer satisfaction that individuals have when consuming certain services provided by the City. Explore the feasibility of and potentially recruit a Community Liaison Officer and/or Government Information Officer: This individual would be a part-time or full-time staff position to be incorporated into the City of Fernley s existing administrative structure and would report directly to the City Manager. Explore the feasibility of and potentially recruit a Public Relations Intern and/or Marketing Intern from the University of Nevada, Reno s College of Business or Reynold s School of Journalism (or other Nevada System of Higher Education institution): This individual would be a part-time staff position that would be responsible for media tracking and development and implementation of any official City of Fernley marketing and communication efforts. Establish formal City administrative policy regarding official media inquiries. Establish formal City administrative policy regarding use of social media by City of Fernley officials, staffs, and other official representatives. Begin development of a comprehensive Citizen Engagement Plan. Begin development of a comprehensive Consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan: This plan should be developed cooperatively between the City of Fernley, Lyon County, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District. Establish communication training opportunities for City of Fernley elected and appointed officials, staff, and other official City of Fernley representatives. Fiscal Year The following presents a list of possible policy and administrative recommendations related to implementation of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Year 2 (Fiscal Year ) of this plan: Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Community Relations Advisory Board. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Sustainability Counsel. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Legislative Counsel Bureau. Complete development and begin implementation of the City of Fernley s Citizen Engagement Plan. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 6 of 93

15 Complete development and begin implementation of the City of Fernley s Consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan in partnership with Lyon County, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District. Continue providing communication training opportunities for City of Fernley elected and appointed officials, staff, and other official City of Fernley representatives. Expand City of Fernley social media presence: This will include increased use of the City s existing Facebook page, the City s existing Twitter feed, and develop a City of Fernley LinkedIn page, a City of Fernley Instagram page, a City of Fernley Flickr page, and a City of Fernley YouTube channel. Development of a monthly or quarterly City of Fernley newsletter: The City of Fernley should explore the possibility of producing this official newsletter and explore different channels and approaches for distribution of the newsletter. Conduct a minimum of four Community Workshops on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Community Workshops should be staff led. Conduct a minimum of two Town Halls on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Town Halls should be led by the elected officials who currently comprise the City of Fernley s City Council. Conduct a minimum of four Business Update meetings. These Business Updates should be staff led. Conduct a minimum of two City Manager Brown Bag Sessions. These City Manager Brown Bag Sessions should be led by the City Manager of the City of Fernley. Complete monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly monitoring and reporting to the proposed Community Relations Advisory Board, City Council, other appropriate appointed officials, and staff. This reporting should include a review of the results from the strategic communication metrics collected and analyzed by City of Fernley staff as outlined in the next part of this strategic communications plan as well as a review of any relevant communication, branding, and marketing efforts undertaken by the City of Fernley. Fiscal Year The following presents a list of possible policy and administrative recommendations related to implementation of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Year 3 (Fiscal Year ) of this plan: A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 7 of 93

16 Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Community Relations Advisory Board. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Sustainability Counsel. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Legislative Counsel Bureau. Develop and implement local public affairs programming with City of Fernley elected and appointed officials and department heads and regional media organizations and groups. Explore the potential and possibly develop a City of Fernley billboard or news ticker: This can take the form of a physical billboard or news ticker placed on City property or online using the City of Fernley s website and/or various social media sites. Explore the potential and possibly develop a direct marketing campaign(s) either internally or in partnership using various cross-channel promotion and communication activities with the City of Fernley s potential strategic communication partners. This may also include, but is not limited to, application for various awards recognizing excellence in community and economic development, planning, and municipal and local government administration. Continue implementation of the City of Fernley s Citizen Engagement Plan. Continue implementation of the City of Fernley s Consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan in partnership with Lyon County, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District. Continue providing communication training opportunities for City of Fernley elected and appointed officials, staff, and other official City of Fernley representatives. Continue to expand City of Fernley social media presence: This will include increased use of the City s existing Facebook page, the City s existing Twitter feed, and develop a City of Fernley LinkedIn page, a City of Fernley Instagram page, a City of Fernley Flickr page, and a City of Fernley YouTube channel. Continue development and publication of a monthly or quarterly City of Fernley newsletter: The City of Fernley should explore the possibility of producing this official newsletter and explore different channels and approaches for distribution of the newsletter. Conduct a minimum of four Community Workshops on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Community Workshops should be staff led. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 8 of 93

17 Conduct a minimum of two Town Halls on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Town Halls should be led by the elected officials who currently comprise the City of Fernley s City Council. Conduct a minimum of four Business Update meetings. These Business Updates should be staff led. Conduct a minimum of two City Manager Brown Bag Sessions. These City Manager Brown Bag Sessions should be led by the City Manager of the City of Fernley. Complete monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly monitoring and reporting to the proposed Community Relations Advisory Board, City Council, other appropriate appointed officials, and staff. This reporting should include a review of the results from the strategic communication metrics collected and analyzed by City of Fernley staff as outlined in the next part of this strategic communications plan as well as a review of any relevant communication, branding, and marketing efforts undertaken by the City of Fernley. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 9 of 93

18 1.0 Introduction and Overview Overview The City of Fernley, as a community, is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing communities in northern Nevada. Continued improvement and recovery from the Great Recession of 2008 through 2010, combined with the continued growth and expansion of nearby major regional employment centers such as the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center located in adjacent Storey County, have led to significant growth pressures that the City of Fernley, as both an organization and as a community, continue to adjust to. Despite the significant increase in service demand that the City of Fernley is now experiencing at the time of this University Center for Economic Development technical report, the City, as an organization, has not seen a significant increase in new resources that the organization can use to meet the growing demand for new or expanded service delivery. Part of this increase in the demand for public services is a growing insistence from area residents, property owners, and businesses that they be made aware of policy actions taken by the City and how those policy actions are implemented and administered by City staff. Residents, property owners, and businesses that participated in the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016 also have urged the City, as part of its organizational strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 and as part of this strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, to engage in additional communication activities designed to bolster and improve overall civic engagement throughout the community and improve its communication ties with other external organizations and other government agencies. Complicating the demand of improving communication across the organization and between the organization and other external stakeholders, the City of Fernley, as a municipal organization, is responsible for communicating a wide variety of various and differing key messages to an equally wide variety of internal and external stakeholders. The role of any Government Information Officer, defined generally as an individual public sector employee who spends the majority of their time facilitating the flow of information across a public organization and between the organization and other stakeholders, is to, on behalf of their organization, monitor media coverage of public affairs concerning the organization, brief and advise the political officials of the organization, manage media relations, inform the public directly, share information across the organization, formulate communication strategies and campaigns, and research and asses public opinion. Not only must the organization and any Government Information Officer manage and execute a number of functions, but they must do so by working with a diverse target audience, be it the organization s elected and appointed officials, the organization s upper management and staff, community and area residents, property owners, A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 10 of 93

19 businesses, the media itself, other government entities (federal, state and local), and other key stakeholders. This strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 was developed with these various concerns in mind and with the input collected from the participants of the four City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and The strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 is built upon the organizational strategic plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 presented at the start of this University Center for Economic Development technical report. The City s current strategic vision, strategic mission, core values, organizational goals, community goals, and implementation measures are incorporated throughout this strategic communications plan. Given the limited resources currently available to the City of Fernley, this strategic communications plan employs an Integrated Marketing Communications framework that will enable the City to leverage existing communication assets with the communication assets of the community and other external organizations while maintaining the City s sovereignty and the community s existing identity. Based upon the results of the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops conducted in 2015 and 2016, a series of nine guiding principles were developed to help shape and guide development, implementation, and administration of the City s future internal and external communication activities. These principles, identified in section two and listed in section three of this technical report, include: As the City of Fernley continues to pursue and develop strategic public-private partnerships, the City of Fernley should strive to communicate the advantages and benefits of these partnerships with existing residents, property owners, and the existing business community. The City should complete a cost-benefit analysis of each proposed public-private partnership and communicate the results of this analysis in its strategic communication efforts to its various primary and secondary audiences. Future City of Fernley initiatives and programs designed to support growth should be communicated to its various primary and secondary audiences. In considering future initiatives and programs designed to support growth, the City of Fernley should strive to collect resident, property owner, and business input regarding each new initiative and program through its communication efforts while also communicating the rationale for the development and possible adoption and implementation of each new initiative and program. Primary and secondary audience members indicated a high degree of support for familyoriented development programs, youth sports, and the development of the City s parks and other recreational facilities. The City of Fernley, through its strategic communication efforts, should strive to solicit community input into the development of these types of programs and should further make communication of these types of programs a priority in its communication efforts. While generally supportive of new commercial, manufacturing, and even residential development, the City of Fernley should strive to communicate to area residents, property A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 11 of 93

20 owners, and existing businesses how new commercial, manufacturing and residential development will impact future urban sprawl and what efforts the City will take to minimize the impact new development may have on the City s ability to maintain existing infrastructure or how the City will attempt to mitigate the need for new infrastructure to support new development. During the November 7, 2015 strategic planning community workshop, workshop attendees and participants identified a number of important values and goals that the City should strive to live up to and achieve when pursuing new growth strategies. Future strategic communication efforts focusing on new growth strategies should attempt to explain how these strategies will improve community amenities, will create new jobs, will help expand existing business, and will help to create workable living wages. The City of Fernley, in communicating new growth strategies to existing residents, property owners, and businesses, should strive to illustrate how these strategies will help conserve the community s existing natural resources (especially water), how existing private property rights may be impacted, how these strategies are consistent with generally accepted proper planning principles, and how the community s overall beautification and existing aesthetics will be impacted. The City of Fernley should strive to communicate to area residents, property owners, and existing businesses how each of these groups can participate in community activities including opportunities for civic engagement, volunteerism, improved community buy-in, and general engagement in community and organizational decision making activities. This strategic communication effort should be done collaboratively with different strategic partners including, but not limited to, various volunteer and fraternal organizations that currently operate within the City, business associations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations and entities that offer civic engagement and volunteer opportunities. The City of Fernley should strive to communicate with outside organizational partners and stakeholders such as the members of Nevada s federal congressional delegation, the State of Nevada s constitutional officers (i.e. Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, and the State Attorney General), members of the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate, representatives of various federal and state agencies, and elected and appointed officials and government executives from other local government entities (i.e. Lyon County, the Lyon County School District, Storey County, Churchill County, Washoe County, etc.). The City of Fernley should strive to communicate and explain different aspects of the municipal government s operations with external stakeholders including area residents, property owners, and new and existing businesses. The City may choose to partner with organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce (that currently administers the Citizens Leadership Academy of Fernley) or the Nevada Leadership Program (part of the University Center for Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Reno). Continued development and expansion of the City of Fernley s Citizens Academy should A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 12 of 93

21 also be used in communicating different aspects of the municipal government s operations with key external stakeholders. Section two of this strategic communications plan presents a situational and community assessment and analysis for the City of Fernley. Part one of this section presents an identification of the City s primary and secondary audiences. Primary audience members for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 include current community residents, current business owners and operators, and the media. Secondary audience members for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 include regional residents located throughout northern Nevada, visitors to the community who do not currently live in Fernley, potential corporate interests and partners, and other government entities. Part two of this section presents an assessment and identification of the City s and community s communication needs. A review of the City of Fernley strategic planning community workshop held on November 7, 2015, in which the nine guiding principles listed above are drawn from, is also presented. Part three of section two of this strategic communication plan presents an assessment of the City s external environment including a discussion of the community s current needs and issues. This discussion is largely built upon information presented during the four City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and Part four of section two presents a summary of the media market of the Western Nevada Development District. As a primary audience member for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, a comprehensive inventory of various traditional television, print, and radio media outlets, as well as various online media organizations, is presented. Part five of section two of this strategic communication plan presents a summary of the City of Fernley s current organizational communication assets including the City of Fernley s current website and use of social media. Part six of section two of this strategic communications plan presents a summary of the various community communication resources and opportunities managed by other organizations and entities located in northern Nevada including the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, Lyon County, the Lyon County School District, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the Western Nevada Development District, the Governor s Office of Economic Development, the University of Nevada, Reno, Western Nevada College, and Truckee Meadows Community College. Section three of this strategic communications plan presents the various policy and administrative recommendations for the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year Part one of this section presents a series of policy and administrative communication recommendations for the City of Fernley tied to each one of the City s organizational goals and community goals found in the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year Part two, using the Integrated Marketing Communications framework, presents a series of recommendations for 13 critical areas including Brand Management, Media Relations, Public Relations, Direct Communication, Marketing and Advertising, Social Media, Customer Relationship Management, Citizen Engagement, Internal Communications, Issue Management and Crisis Communications, Emergency Communications, A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 13 of 93

22 Departmental Outreach, and Cross-Channel Promotion. Part three presents a year-by-year set of actions that the City of Fernley should strive to complete for each year of the three-year period, Fiscal Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019, and Fiscal Year 2020, covered by this strategic communications plan. The policy and administrative recommendations outlined in this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 do not represent a definitive set of actions that the City of Fernley must or will take over the next three years. Ultimate responsibility for establishing formal organizational public policy and allocating organizational resources is the sovereign domain of the elected officials of the City Council of the City of Fernley. City of Fernley staff is ultimately responsible for providing the City Council with information and recommendations regarding the establishment of public policy and for ultimately implementing these policy decisions. The ability to implement the policy and administrative communication recommendations outlined in this strategic plan will hinge upon the availability of organizational resources and the willingness of other organizations to partner and collaborate with the City. However, the policy and administrative communication recommendations outlined in this strategic communications plan provides both the elected and appointed officials and staff of the City of Fernley with guidance and input provided by the internal and external stakeholders that attended the various strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 14 of 93

23 2.0 Situational and Community Assessment and Analysis The situational and community assessment and analysis for the City of Fernley consists of an identification of the City of Fernley s primary and secondary communication audiences, an assessment of the community s current needs and issues, an assessment of various local, regional, and national media trends, a review of existing City of Fernley existing communication assets and efforts, and an identification of other community resources and opportunities. This situational and community assessment also includes a summary of the key findings related to the City s overall communication and outreach efforts identified during the four separate strategic planning community workshops facilitated by faculty from the University Center for Economic Development in 2015 and This situational and community assessment, in addition to the input provided by participants of the various strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016, will be used to build the City of Fernley s strategic communication plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 presented in the following section of this University Center for Economic Development technical report. This situational and community assessment should also be updated on an annual basis as part of the City s annual evaluation of both the strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 and for the City of Fernley s Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year Identification of Primary and Secondary Audiences During the City of Fernley s strategic planning initiative undertaken and completed in 2016, participants of the City s various strategic planning community workshops identified a number of primary and secondary audiences for the City s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year The City of Fernley s primary audience of its strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, based upon the results of the various strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016, include the following groups: Residents of the City of Fernley. The City of Fernley s total residential population reached an estimated 19,418 individuals in Compared to the rest of Lyon County, the City of Fernley has an increasingly diverse residential population that consists of both property owners and renters, a number of households with children living in the household, a growing percentage of individuals who live in the City of Fernley but may commute outside of Fernley and even Lyon County for employment, and a residential population that is statistically younger than other communities located in Lyon County. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 15 of 93

24 Business Owners and Operators located in the City of Fernley. Existing business owners and operators currently located in the City of Fernley interact with the City as both a consumer of municipal services (police and fire protection, use of critical infrastructure such as roads, and other related municipal services) and as regulated entities regulated by the City of Fernley, Lyon County, and the State of Nevada. Business owners and operators currently located in the City of Fernley are also represented by various stakeholder groups including, but not limited to, organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce. The Media. The media was also identified as a primary audience of the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan as part of the various strategic planning community workshops held in Fernley in 2015 and In addition to the various media outlets located throughout the Western Nevada Development District, several media outlets are currently developing in the City of Fernley. These new media outlets, such as the Fernley Reporter ( provide news directly to the City s residential population. The media, both regionally and locally, provides information directly to the City s other primary audience members and members of the City s secondary target audience. The media also provides and generates commentary and criticism of the City and the City s adoption, implementation and administration of public policy. The City of Fernley s secondary audience of its strategic communication plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, based upon the results of the various strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016, include the following groups: Regional Residents of Northern Nevada. The regional residential population living within the immediate area of the City of Fernley was approximately 438,000 individuals in Of these 438,000 regional residents, an estimated 230,000 individuals comprised the region s workforce. While a significant portion of this workforce resides and works within a single county, a measurable number of individuals live in one county but commute to work in another county. An estimated 5.81 percent of the workforce that lives in Storey County works in Lyon County. An estimated 4.69 percent of the workforce that lives in Churchill County works in Lyon County and an estimated 4.04 percent of the workforce that lives in Carson City works in Lyon County. Continued growth and development of the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, located approximately 18 miles west of the City of Fernley along U.S. Interstate 80, will likely increase the number of individuals that either live in Fernley but work in another adjacent county or work in Fernley but live in another adjacent county. These individuals, however, still consume municipal services and, as a result, the City of Fernley will need to develop communication strategies designed to communicate important information to this target secondary audience. Visitors to the City of Fernley. Like many communities located throughout northern Nevada, the City of Fernley hosts many visitors on an annual basis. The City s central location, located at the intersection of U.S. Interstate 80, U.S. Highway Alternate 50, and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 16 of 93

25 U.S. Highway Alternate 95, ensures a high visitor count of people either choosing to visit Fernley or traveling through Fernley in route to other parts of the state. The City of Fernley has an opportunity to deliver key messages to these visitors as a way of enhancing the City s already strong reputation, spur additional use of City recreational and visitor-oriented facilities and programs, and promote the City of Fernley throughout the rest of the region, state, and country. Potential Corporate Interests and Partners. For Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021, the City of Fernley has made business recruitment, retention, and expansion a primary community goal. New businesses, businesses in need of being retained, and current businesses looking to expand their current operation but remain located in Fernley, each have different needs of the City government. As a result, the City of Fernley must develop clear communication policies and strategies designed to meet the needs of each business group. Business communication needs also differ based on the overall size and scope of the business operation. Small businesses, start-ups, and entrepreneurial efforts may require more basic information from the City (for example, how to obtain a business license, etc.) while larger corporate businesses may require additional information regarding regional and local market forces, existing zoning and land use regulations, and other related pieces of information. As a result, the City of Fernley will need to carefully craft its messages and how it communicates these messages for different businesses of different sizes. State-wide and regional organizations such as the Nevada Governor s Office of Economic Development, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the Western Nevada Development District, the Nevada Small Business Development Center, and other similar organizations can assist the City in its communication efforts with various businesses and corporate interests. Other Government Entities. The members of Nevada s federal congressional delegation, the State of Nevada s constitutional officers (i.e. Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, and the State Attorney General), members of the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate, representatives of various federal and state agencies, and elected and appointed officials and government executives from other local government entities (i.e. Lyon County, the Lyon County School District, Storey County, Churchill County, Washoe County, etc.) are secondary audience members that the City of Fernley has a vested interest in communicating with. The City of Fernley should strive to communicate honestly and openly with these and other government entities on matters of shared importance and interest while ensuring and protecting the interests of the citizens, residents, property owners, and business owners who live and work in Fernley and those future citizens, residents, property owners, and business owners who may one day live and work within the City s limits. Each of these primary and secondary audiences has a unique set of communication needs and, when crafting, developing, and communicating key messages, the City of Fernley should strive to ensure that the needs of each of these audience groups are met. The City of Fernley may have to craft, develop, and communicate specific messages for each audience member regarding the specifics of key issues the City of Fernley wishes to communicate. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 17 of 93

26 2.2 Community Needs and Issues Analysis and Identification Four strategic planning community workshops were held in Fernley, Nevada during the City of Fernley s recent strategic planning initiative. During Strategic Planning Community Workshop No. 1, held on Saturday, November 7, 2015, workshop attendees and participants had the opportunity to collectively complete an eight-question community assessment, a four question evaluation of potential future growth, and a comprehensive Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. While the various needs and issues identified in the community assessment, evaluation of potential future growth, and SWOT analysis tended to focus on specific issues facing the community and the City as an organization, the City s future communication efforts should focus on how the organization is attempting to address these issues through implementation of the City s current strategic plan. 2.2.a Community Assessment (From the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley Strategic Planning Community Workshop) Workshop participants who attended the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley Strategic Planning Community Workshop were asked to answer eight questions as part of the community assessment developed by Steven G. Koven and Thomas S. Lyons for the International City/County Management Association. The results of this assessment are presented here. Is the community generally supportive or antagonistic toward business interests and growth? Why? In general, workshop participants indicated that the community is generally supportive toward business interests and growth but is also cautious regarding those interests and growth. Workshop participants also indicated that the City of Fernley could be more efficient in the way that it manages growths and should serve the interests of both the business community and the residential community. The presence of a Not In My Back Yard, or NIMBY, ideology was also noted by some workshop participants. Although the public may support business interests and growth that lead to the creation of new jobs and employment opportunities, some elements of the community may oppose new development and growth located in the immediate proximity of existing and established neighborhoods. Is the community generally supportive or antagonistic toward government programs and initiatives? Why? Workshop participants indicated a mix of support and antagonism within the community toward government programs and initiatives that could support future growth and development. Workshop participants identified a general conservative community view held toward government programs and initiatives. This view tends to favor private sector and individual action as opposed to government sponsored programs and initiatives. Several workshop participants further stated that general antagonism for government programs and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 18 of 93

27 initiatives exists within the community because there is no good way to share information between government and the public. What types of programs do residents generally support redistributive programs or development programs? Why? Workshop participants almost unanimously indicated that community residents have and will continue to support development programs. Family-oriented development programs, youth sports, and the development of city parks garnered support from several workshop participants. Workshop participants also indicated that a general distrust of government-led redistributive programs exists within the community and in Nevada in general. A lack of community involvement adds to this general distrust of government-led redistributive programs Redistributive-oriented programs, more commonly understood as general welfare programs, have not historically been supported and will likely remain unpopular with the majority of the public currently living in Fernley. Programs that are redistributive and not developmental are unlikely to attract support from the community in general. Does the community have a history of public-private collaboration? Recent examples? In general, workshop participants indicated a general lack of historical public-private collaboration. A few workshop participants did indicate that the City of Fernley has engaged in a number of public-private collaborations in the past and that these collaborations have met with mixed results. In the past, public-private collaborations have been used to expand infrastructure, build roads, and open new parks. While historical public-private collaborations have largely been ad hoc, workshop participants did indicate general community support for future public-private collaborations with more formal structure and better defined goals and objectives. Is the community willing to sacrifice some of its quality of life to either promote or curtail growth? While workshop participants indicated that maintaining the community s existing quality of life and current community identity are important to current community residents, community residents may be willing to sacrifice some of its quality of life today in order to promote new growth and development which may actually result in a higher quality of life in the future. Workshop participants indicated that the City of Fernley and community leaders will need to properly and clearly communicate the potential benefits of sacrifice in the shortterm in exchange for long-term gains in economic growth and job creation. While growth is generally supported, workshop participants further indicated that future residents are likely to be even more supportive of growth and new development. Are the elite members of the community willing to share power with others? Workshop participants generally indicated a lack of current elite members in the community. While there may be influential people who want to have power and may not want to share that power if and when they achieve it, the community currently does not have A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 19 of 93

28 an existing elite group with inequitable influence over the direction of the community. This may suggest an opportunity for the community to engage all its residents in the way in which future growth and development is shaped and managed. While workshop participants did indicate that it is sometimes difficult to get existing residents engaged in community-oriented planning activities, having to mitigate an unequal distribution of power and influence may not be a barrier to developing policies and programs designed to support growth while maintaining the community s existing identity and quality of life. Are the citizens generally accepting of change, or do they resist it? Examples of both? Workshop participants indicated a general mix in-terms of the level of acceptance and resistance that community residents may have toward change. While some residents are generally resistant to change and will continue to want to maintain the community s existing small town, family, rural, and safe identity, workshop participants also indicated that change may be inevitable given larger regional socio-economic and demographic changes. Workshop participants further indicated that the community s younger population may be more accepting of change while the community s older population may remain resistant to change. Where do residents and businesspeople stand on issues of environmental sustainability? For Fernley, workshop participants indicated a general mix in-terms of the support residents and businesspeople in the community may have for different aspects of environmental sustainability. While workshop participants indicated that rural Nevadans may not have much support for issues such as reducing or reusing and recycling waste, workshop participants did indicate that community residents and the business community are acutely aware and conscious of water quality and supply concerns. Community residents and businesspeople understand that water is a primary asset to the community s overall stability and future economic growth and that the City of Fernley and other public and private entities should work collaboratively to manage this resource in a way that balances environmental concerns with economic growth concerns. Workshop participants indicted that this balance, between environmental protection and economic growth, is needed and that the community must be creative in developing and implementing policy regarding environmental issues and sustainability. Based upon the results of this community assessment, the City of Fernley should strive to incorporate the following guidelines into its current strategic communication efforts: As the City of Fernley continues to pursue and develop strategic public-private partnerships, the City of Fernley should strive to communicate the advantages and benefits of these partnerships with existing residents, property owners, and the existing business community. The City should complete a cost-benefit analysis of each proposed public-private partnership and communicate the results of this analysis in its strategic communication efforts to the various primary and secondary audiences identified above. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 20 of 93

29 Future City of Fernley initiatives and programs designed to support growth should be communicated to the various primary and secondary audiences as identified above. In considering future initiatives and programs designed to support growth, the City of Fernley should strive to collect resident, property owner, and business input regarding each new initiative and program through its communication efforts while also communicating the rationale for the development and possible adoption and implementation of each new initiative and program. Primary and secondary audience members indicated a high degree of support for familyoriented development programs, youth sports, and the development of the City s parks and other recreational facilities. The City of Fernley, through its strategic communication efforts, should strive to solicit community input into the development of these types of programs and should further make communication of these types of programs a priority in its communication efforts. Primary and secondary audience members indicated a mixed level of support for change but would view any change as negative if it threatened the current quality of life current City of Fernley residents, property owners, and businesses currently enjoy. In future communication efforts, the City of Fernley should strive to demonstrate how different actions taken by the organization may impact that quality of life. By incorporating these guidelines into this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley, the organization can potentially prevent possible misunderstandings between the City and area residents, property owners, and businesses while also informing area residents, property owners, and businesses how the City s decisions could potentially impact them. 2.2.b Evaluating the Impacts of Growth (From the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley Strategic Planning Community Workshop) Once workshop participants completed the initial community evaluation, attendees of the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley Strategic Planning Community Workshop were asked to answer four additional questions pertaining to the evaluation the impacts of future growth may have on the community. The results of this assessment are presented here. How strongly does the community want growth? Workshop participants indicated the community will generally support growth and that there is a desire for new commercial, manufacturing and even residential development. However, workshop participants did indicate general opposition toward unrestricted urban sprawl, favoring infill development over the creation and development of new subdivisions that could potentially stress the City s ability to develop new supportive infrastructure and current levels of natural resources such as water. Workshop participants generally expressed community support for new development that would create new employment opportunities and would reduce the overall need to commute to other communities for employment or to satisfy retail and recreation needs. However, workshop participants stressed the importance that this new development should be managed in such a way that is both diversified and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 21 of 93

30 steady and complements surrounding regional development such as continued growth of the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. What impact will new development and growth have on the community s way of life? Several impacts of new development and growth were identified by workshop participants. Increased traffic and congestion, increased demand on scarce natural resources such as water, increased need for new public safety and social services including healthcare and law enforcement, and the need to expand and improve on education services were the primary impacts of new development and growth workshop participants identified. Several workshop participants also indicated that new development and growth, if poorly managed and not properly planned for, would have a detrimental effect on the community s current quality of life and general identity. The desire to protect open spaces through higher density new development was identified as a possible way for the City to protect the community s current quality of life and existing identity while also minimizing the need to expand and enlarge public services. What strategies will the community support and outright oppose to foster and support new development and growth? Participants indicated that current community residents will outright oppose any strategies that result in increased costs to the citizenship, residents and business owners alike, in the form of new taxes or fees. Any strategy that supports dirty industries that have an adverse effect on the community s current quality of life or the health and safety of the community s residents would also be opposed by community residents. Rapid and unplanned growth, especially rapid and unplanned growth that would exploit the area s open spaces, land, and natural resources, would also not be supported by community residents. Workshop participants did indicate a number of strategies that the community would likely support including the redevelopment and revitalization of the community s downtown core. Strategies that increase community amenities, create new jobs, expand existing businesses, and create workable living wages would likely garner the support of community residents. The use of mass transit, especially if linked to regional employment centers such as the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, and development strategies that generally mitigate the impact of increased traffic, improve the landscaping of publicly owned spaces, and improve the quality of existing roads and other elements of the City s infrastructure, would also likely receive the support of community residents and business owners. What values will the community prioritize in choosing a strategy? Workshop participants identified a number of different values that the community would prioritize when selecting a strategy to manage growth in the community for the foreseeable future. The importance of water conservation, the protection of property rights, the value of proper planning, and the importance of beautification and improving and maintaining the community s aesthetics were all identified as important priorities in selecting a future strategy. Workshop participants further indicated that it would be important to clearly illustrate and identify how specific businesses might impact different community values and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 22 of 93

31 new businesses and industries that are recruited by the City should complement existing community values. Additional support was indicated for sustainable growth that promotes local businesses and balances the community s general desire to protect the community s existing rural lifestyle and access to the area s natural resources with new development and growth. Based upon the results of this evaluation of the impacts of potential future growth, the City of Fernley should strive to incorporate the following guidelines into its future strategic communication efforts: While generally supportive of new commercial, manufacturing, and even residential development, the City of Fernley should strive to communicate to area residents, property owners, and existing businesses how new commercial, manufacturing and residential development will impact future urban sprawl and what efforts the City will take to minimize the impact new development may have on the City s ability to maintain existing infrastructure or how the City will attempt to mitigate the need for new infrastructure to support new development. During the November 7, 2015 strategic planning community workshop, workshop attendees and participants identified a number of important values and goals that the City should strive to live up to and achieve when pursuing new growth strategies. Future strategic communication efforts focusing on new growth strategies should attempt to explain how these strategies will improve community amenities, will create new jobs, will help expand existing business, and will help to create workable living wages. The City of Fernley, in communicating new growth strategies to existing residents, property owners, and businesses, should strive to illustrate how these strategies will help conserve the community s existing natural resources (especially water), how existing private property rights may be impacted, how these strategies are consistent with generally accepted proper planning principles, and how the community s overall beautification and existing aesthetics will be impacted. By incorporating these guidelines into the strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, the City can potentially prevent additional possible misunderstandings between the City and area residents, property owners, and businesses as the City pursues new growth strategies. 2.2.c Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis (From the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley Strategic Planning Community Workshop) Table 2.1 summarizes the various weaknesses participants of the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley strategic planning community workshop identified as part of the completed Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis completed as part of the City s organizational strategic planning initiative. Those weaknesses pertaining to or impacted by the City s communication efforts are highlighted. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 23 of 93

32 Under-educated workforce or irrelevant education (undertrained) obstacle to new high paying jobs in our community. Money / Tax Revenue / Utility Rates we can t implement positive changes b/c of revenue constraints (especially roads). Lack of Community Involvement and Sense of Community: lack of informed decision making by government (silent majority); also not enough volunteers. Poor relationships with sister agencies (TCID, Lyon County, State of Nevada) makes it hard to navigate regional issues b/c we don t have influence. Table 2.1 Weaknesses City of Fernley Identified on November 7, 2015 Bedroom community: Folks live in Reno & sleep in Fernley... export all resources and are too tired to get involved in our community. Public Transportation obstacle to get resources outside of Fernley; also not green (commuting with 1 guy in SUV). Leanest Municipal Government (per capita) in the state... we can only meet basic needs, not implement improvements. WTP Debt $150 million with interest sucks up City resources. No CTAX lack of funds. Unskilled workforce some businesses will not come in. Lack of water controls growth, agriculture. Lack of alternative arterial street access. Tax revenue. Size of Fernley government staff. Preventative maintenance to infrastructure. Internet access. Transportation of employment. Lack of professional employees. Lack of State officials. Only City hosed by current CTAX legislation shortfall of $5 million to $8 million annually. Lack of community communications (no local Potential water shortage/canal shortage restricts radio/television/print media). growth. Neighboring Tribal relations water war. Control (lack of) Truckee Canal. Financial resources/revenue difficult to invest in Contentious relationship with Lyon County. new programs/maintenance. Ability to streamline the development planning Limited revenue impact on services, streets, and process current process discourages growth. infrastructure. CTAX we do not get any. Residents have to commute outside of Fernley to work. Skilled workforce. Limited water (use of surface water). Aging infrastructure. Downtown needs revitalization. Communication mediums there not Lack of medical care (hospital) residents may have any newspaper, radio, TV local. to leave or have to go to Reno. Limited partnerships. Limited staff. No funding for streets or parks. Need a vision we need to know where we are going. Need more citizen involvement/civic engagement Constant change (priorities). need to build future leaders. Unskilled/less skilled workforce. Limited water for development. Transient community and workforce tough to Lack of community buy-in. garner volunteers/participant and more crime. No City police/fire forces City to rely on County. High City Hall turnover leads to inexperience/lack of leadership and knowledge. CTAX enough said, not enough money for Lack of parks and recreation department does not services. serve the youth of the community. Bedroom community to Reno/Sparks not many jobs in Fernley. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 24 of 93

33 Participants and attendees of the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley strategic planning community workshop identified a number of weaknesses either directly impacted by the City s current communication efforts or could be improved through changes in the way the City strategically communicates with area residents, property owners, and existing businesses. Based upon the results of this evaluation of existing organizational and community weaknesses, the City of Fernley should strive to incorporate the following guidelines into its future strategic communication efforts: The City of Fernley should strive to communicate to area residents, property owners, and existing businesses how each of these groups can participate in community activities including opportunities for civic engagement, volunteerism, improved community buy-in, and general engagement in community and organizational decision making activities. This strategic communication effort should be done collaboratively with different strategic partners including, but not limited to, various volunteer and fraternal organizations that currently operate within the City, business associations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations and entities that offer civic engagement and volunteer opportunities. The City of Fernley should strive to communicate with outside organizational partners and stakeholders such as the members of Nevada s federal congressional delegation, the State of Nevada s constitutional officers (i.e. Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, and the State Attorney General), members of the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate, representatives of various federal and state agencies, and elected and appointed officials and government executives from other local government entities (i.e. Lyon County, the Lyon County School District, Storey County, Churchill County, Washoe County, etc.). The City of Fernley should strive to communicate and explain different aspects of the municipal government s operations with external stakeholders including area residents, property owners, and new and existing businesses. The City may choose to partner with organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce (that currently administers the Citizens Leadership Academy of Fernley) or the Nevada Leadership Program (part of the University Center for Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Reno). Continued development and expansion of the City of Fernley s Citizens Academy should also be used in communicating different aspects of the municipal government s operations with key external stakeholders. The City of Fernley has already developed a number of programs and initiatives designed to enhance community participation and engagement in policy development and general administration of organizational resources. However, area residents, property owners, and businesses may not currently be aware of these engagement and participation opportunities. By incorporating these guidelines into the strategic communication plan for the City of Fernley, the City could potentially mitigate the impacts of these perceived weaknesses. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 25 of 93

34 2.3 Assessment of the City of Fernley s External Environment including Current Community Needs and Issues The City of Fernley is located in northern Lyon County at the intersection of U.S. Interstate 80, U.S. Highway Alternate 50, and U.S. Highway Alternate 95. The City itself is centrally located in northern Nevada, located approximately 35 miles east of the City of Reno and the City of Sparks along U.S. Interstate 80; located approximately 45 miles north of the City of Yerington along U.S. Highway Alternate 95; and located approximately 28 miles west of the City of Fallon along U.S. Highway Alternate 50. Including the City of Fernley s total estimated residential population of 19,418 individuals, the region s total residential population in 2015 was approximately 438,000 individuals which includes an estimated 337,539 individuals living in the City of Reno and the City of Sparks combined, an estimated 54,521 individuals living in Carson City, and an estimated 14,514 individuals living in the Dayton-Silver Springs area. The City of Fernley itself, relative to the rest of Lyon County and the rest of the State of Nevada, has seen considerable residential population growth over the past two decades. Table 2.2 presents the change in total residential population for the City of Fernley, Silver Springs, the City of Yerington, Lyon County and the State of Nevada for the past two decennial censuses for 2000 and Table 2.2 Total Population Fernley, Silver Springs, Yerington, Lyon County, State of Nevada 2000 and 2010 Category Fernley Silver Springs Yerington Lyon County State of Nevada 2000 Total 8,543 4,708 2,883 34,501 1,998,257 Population 2010 Total 19,368 5,296 3,048 51,980 2,700,551 Population Total Actual 10, , ,294 Growth Total Percentage Growth 126.7% 12.5% 5.7% 50.7% 35.1% Source: US Census Bureau; 2000 US Decennial Census; 2010 US Decennial Census Between 2000 and 2010, the City of Fernley s total residential population increased by an estimated percent, increasing from just 8,543 individuals in 2000 to an estimated 19,368 individuals in This rate of growth was considerably larger than the rate of growth for Silver Spring s total residential population, for the City of Yerington s total residential population, and for all of Lyon County s total residential population between 2000 and The median age of the City of Fernley between 2000 and 2010, while increasing, has remained relatively young when compared to the median age for Silver Springs, the City of Yerington, and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 26 of 93

35 for all of Lyon County. Table 2.3 presents the change in median age for the City of Fernley, Silver Springs, the City of Yerington, Lyon County, and the state of Nevada for 2000 and Table 2.3 Median Age Fernley, Silver Springs, Yerington, Lyon County, State of Nevada 2000 and 2010 Category Fernley Silver Springs Yerington Lyon County State of Nevada 2000 Median Age 2010 Median Age Total Actual Growth Total Percentage Growth 4.3% 10.2% 17.2% 7.1% 3.7% Source: US Census Bureau; 2000 US Decennial Census; 2010 US Decennial Census The City of Fernley is also located within the nine county economic development region known as the Western Nevada Development District. The Western Nevada Development District consists of Carson City, Churchill County, Douglas County, Humboldt County, Lyon County, Mineral County, Pershing County, Storey County, and Washoe County. While each county and individual community within the Western Nevada Development District retains a high degree of political, social, and economic independence, there is a considerable amount of interdependence within the region itself. Major employment centers, including the continued growth and development of the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center, will likely increase this level of interdependence for the foreseeable future. As Table 2.4 below demonstrates, a significant portion of the workforce currently residing and working throughout the Western Nevada Development District, resides in one county but commutes to and works in another county within the District. In 2016, only percent of the total workforce that currently resides in Lyon County also works in Lyon County. Approximately percent of the workforce that lives in Lyon County currently works in Washoe County and approximately percent of the workforce that lives in Lyon County currently works in Carson City. An estimated 5.81 percent of the workforce that currently lives in Storey County works in Lyon County and estimated 4.69 percent of the workforce that currently lives in Churchill County works in Lyon County as well. These live-work commuter patterns for the Western Nevada Development District indicates a significant amount of interdependence between the City of Fernley and other communities located throughout the entire Western Nevada Development District. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 27 of 93

36 Table 2.4 Where Workers within the Western Nevada Development Work and Reside In by County 2016 Carson Churchill Douglas Humboldt Lyon Mineral Pershing Storey Washoe Carson 74.15% 0.44% 21.16% 0.21% 19.90% 0.00% 0.00% 8.38% 1.94% Churchill 0.04% 88.21% 0.30% 0.08% 3.58% 2.00% 0.00% 0.78% 0.14% Douglas 9.14% 0.00% 61.25% 0.00% 3.24% 0.00% 0.00% 2.16% 0.27% Humboldt 0.00% 0.00% 0.03% 93.13% 0.29% 0.00% 15.69% 0.00% 0.09% Lyon 4.04% 4.69% 1.35% 0.00% 47.94% 1.33% 1.41% 5.81% 0.64% Mineral 0.00% 0.36% 0.00% 0.60% 0.13% 92.19% 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% Pershing 0.00% 0.37% 0.00% 1.31% 0.38% 0.79% 77.92% 0.00% 0.06% Storey 0.29% 0.00% 0.12% 0.00% 1.01% 0.00% 0.00% 28.74% 0.08% Washoe 10.89% 2.93% 5.53% 0.48% 20.93% 0.42% 3.51% 53.71% 93.12% Rest of 0.07% 2.13% 0.26% 3.68% 0.52% 0.36% 1.27% 0.00% 0.20% Nevada RUS or ROW 1.38% 0.87% 9.99% 0.52% 2.08% 2.91% 0.19% 0.42% 3.46% Source: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts Dataset As employment opportunities throughout the Western Nevada Development District continue to grow, as major regional employment centers such as the Tahoe Regional Industrial Center continue to be built out, and as major new transportation networks are developed throughout the region, the degree of mobility of the area s workforce will likely continue to increase. The City of Fernley will likely experience an increase in the number of individuals who live within the City but work in a neighboring community as well as an increase in the number of individuals who work within the City but live in a neighboring community for the foreseeable future. As a result, the City will have to tailor its strategic communication efforts to account for this degree of mobility and increased economic interdependence with neighboring jurisdictions and communities. 2.4 The Media Market of the Western Nevada Development District The media market of the Western Nevada Development District can be divided into two general categories: (1) traditional print, radio, and television media, and (2) social media. This section contains a general outline and inventory of the various media outlets currently operating within the Western Nevada Development District. 2.4.a Traditional Print, Radio, and Television Media within the Western Nevada Development District Several traditional print, radio, and television media outlets currently operate throughout the Western Nevada Development District. Each of these traditional media outlets represents a possible way in which the City of Fernley can communicate with its primary and secondary audiences. A basic inventory by county for each of the nine counties within the Western Nevada Development District is presented here. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 28 of 93

37 Carson City: CarsonNow (Online News Website): Owned by NowTown. Covers Carson City. Nevada Appeal (Newspaper): Owned by Swift Communications, Inc. Covers Carson City and Churchill County. Tahoe Daily Tribune (Newspaper): Owned by Swift Communications, Inc. Covers the larger South Lake Tahoe region. Churchill County: Lahontan Valley News (Newspaper): Owned by Swift Communications, Inc. Part of the Nevada Appeal but specifically covers Churchill County. Douglas County: Carson Valley Times (Newspaper): Owned and presented by RE/MAX Realty Affiliates of Gardnerville, Nevada. Serves the larger Carson Valley region. Record Courier (Newspaper): Owned by Swift Communications, Inc. Serves the communities of Minden and Gardnerville and Carson Valley. Humboldt County: News4Nevada (Online News Website): Owned and operated by Winnemucca Publishing. Serves all of Humboldt County including the City of Winnemucca. Lyon County: Fernley Reporter (Online News Website): Part of the Biggest Little Radio network. Serving Fernley, Nevada and the immediate surrounding area of northern Lyon County. KNEZ (Radio Station): Owned by Times Shamrock Communications KNEWS is licensed to Fernley, Nevada. Serving Fernley, Nevada and parts of northern Nevada. Mason Valley News (Newspaper): Part of the Reno Gazette Journal. Serves most of Mason Valley and central Lyon County. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 29 of 93

38 Mineral County: Mineral County Independent News (Online News Website): Owned by Battleborn Media, LLC. Serves Mineral County and the town of Hawthorne. Pershing County: Lovelock Review Miner, (Newspaper): Part of News4Nevada and owned and operated by Winnemucca Publishing. Serves Pershing County and the City of Lovelock. Storey County: Virginia City News (Newspaper): Independently owned and operated by Virginia City News. Serves the communities of Virginia City, Silver City, and Dayton, and Storey County and Lyon County. Washoe County: Bonanza Sierra Sun (Newspaper): Owned by Swift Communications. Serves Truckee, Tahoe City, Kings Beach, and Incline Village. KKOH (Radio Station): Owned by Cumulus Inc. Serves, primarily, communities in northern Nevada. KNBP (PBS Radio Station): Owned by PBS. Serves central and northern Nevada and northeastern California. KOLOTV (Television): Owned by ABC. Serves, primarily, the communities of Reno, Sparks, and Carson City and other parts of northern Nevada. KRNV or MyNews4 (Television): Owned by Sierra Communications, LLC. Serves, primarily, the communities of Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Virginia City, Silver City, Stagecoach Silver Springs, Sun Valley, Cold Springs, Spanish Springs, and Fernley, Nevada as well as Truckee and Tahoe City, California. KRXI (Television): Owned by Fox News. Serves the communities of Reno, Sparks, Carson City, North and South Lake Tahoe, Donner Lake, Tahoe City, Kings Beach, Crystal Bay, Truckee, Verdi-Mogul, Sun Valley, Cold Springs, Lemon Valley, Spanish Springs, Fernley, Fallon, Virginia City, Carson City, Kingsbury, Zephyr Cove, Round Hill, Glenbrook, Stateline, Incline Village, and Mt. Rose. KTVN (Television): Owned by SARKES TARZIAN, INC. Serves, primarily, the communities of Reno, Sparks, Carson City, South Lake Tahoe and Crystal Bay and other parts of northern Nevada. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 30 of 93

39 KUNR (Radio Station): Part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting family, KUNR is supported by National Public Radio (NPR), the BBC, American Public Media, and PRI. Serves primarily northern Nevada and northeastern California. Reno Gazette Journal (Newspaper): Part of the USA Today Network of publications. Serves the larger northern Nevada region. Sparks Tribune (Newspaper): Owned by Nevada Central Media, LLC. Serves, primarily the community of Sparks, Nevada. ThisIsReno (Online News Website): Owned by Conrad Communications, LLC. Serves the communities of Reno, Sparks, Carson City and other parts of northern Nevada. Each media outlet listed in this section is tailored toward specific audiences within their respective service areas. As the City of Fernley crafts, develops, and communicates different key messages, the City of Fernley should consider using a variety of these media outlets depending upon the specific primary and secondary audience the City is targeting. 2.4.b Social Media In a July 13, 2012 article in ADWEEK, a leading national source of news for marketing, media, and advertising professionals, Shea Bennett compared the pros and cons of social media versus traditional forms of television, print, and radio media. In a nationwide study, Bennett found that social media tends to be significantly less expensive in communicating an organization s message to targeted audiences versus traditional television, print, and radio media. Social media also tends to be more interactive and engaging and more measurable in determining the size, scope, and characteristics of the audience the organization is reaching. Comparatively, Bennett found that traditional forms of television, print, and radio media tends to be much most costly, generally one-way or non-reciprocal with the targeted audience, and hard to measure in-terms of its effectiveness. However, Bennett did state that using social media as a primary communication media outlet is often time consuming and that messages in need of specificity and deeper understanding by the target audience is often disseminated rapidly, whereas traditional forms of media tend to be better for short-term results and for achieving more permanent and tangible results. Bennett, in his July 13, 2012 article, further found a 65 percent increase in the overall effectiveness of reaching a targeted audience during a communication initiative when social media was used as the primary communication avenue and only an 11 percent decrease. Comparatively, Bennett found just an 11 percent increase in the overall effectiveness of reaching a targeted audience during a communication initiative when traditional media was used as the primary communication avenue and a significant 43 percent decrease. Using a Cost Comparison Model to ascertain how much an organization pays per 1,000 people to deliver a communication initiative, Bennett compared the relative costs of using direct mail, newspapers, television, radio, billboards, and social media. Bennett found that direct mail A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 31 of 93

40 typically costs the organization approximately $58.00 per 1,000 people, newspaper advertisements or articles cost the organization approximately $29.00 per 1,000 people, television advertisements or stories cost the organization approximately $9.00 per 1,000 people, radio costs the organization approximately $6.00 per 1,000 people, and billboards cost the organization approximately $3.00 per 1,000 people. Comparatively, social media costs the organization less than $1.00 per 1,000 people indicating that the use of social media was a far more cost effective communication devise than more traditional media forms and outlets. Bennett further explored the affect social media has in building trust between the organization engaged in a communication initiative and its target audience. Bennett found that 92 percent of targeted audience members trusted the communication message provided by friends of the target audience member (or by word-of-mouth). An estimated 70 percent of targeted audience members trusted consumer posted opinions and an estimated 58 percent of targeted audience members trusted information presented to them on websites either maintained and operated by the communicating organization or through the organization s social media webpage. Only 47 percent of targeted audience members trusted television-based messages, 47 percent of targeted audience members trusted messages communicated to them via billboards, and only 42 percent of targeted audience members trusted messages communicated to them via radio. Unlike traditional forms of television, print, and radio media, that are often geographically limited in their scope, the web-based format of social media outlets provides a communicating organization with a potentially larger audience that is not necessarily restricted due to their geographic location. Statista, a leading global Internet statistics company with over 250 statisticians, database experts, analysists, and editors, published approximate total global membership counts for the 22 largest social media websites in January The results of their published January 2017 study, in order of most subscribed to least subscribed, are presented here: Facebook: approximately billion subscribers. WhatsApp: approximately 1.0 billion subscribers. Facebook Messenger: approximately 1.0 billion subscribers. QQ: approximately 877 million subscribers. WeChat: approximately 846 million subscribers. QZone: approximately 632 million subscribers. Instagram: approximately 600 million subscribers. Tumblr: approximately 550 million subscribers. Twitter: approximately 317 million subscribers. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 32 of 93

41 Baidu Tieba: approximately 300 million subscribers. Snapchat: approximately 300 million subscribers. Skype: approximately 300 million subscribers. Sina Weibo: approximately 297 million subscribers. Viber: approximately 249 million subscribers. LINE: approximately 217 million subscribers. Pinterest: approximately 150 million subscribers. yy: approximately 122 million subscribers. LinkedIn: approximately 106 million subscribers. BBM: approximately 100 million subscribers. Telegram: approximately 100 million subscribers. VKontakte: approximately 90 million subscribers. Kakaotalk: approximately 49 million subscribers. Each of these 22 social media outlets offers a unique social media experience for its subscribers and members and may not necessarily be appropriate for the City of Fernley and its future communication initiatives. However, the City of Fernley routinely has different communication messages that it attempts to communicate with unique target primary and secondary audiences at different times. For example, the City may be considering a change to its current land use and/or masterplan. In this case, property owners would be more affected than potential future businesses the City is attempting to recruit to its jurisdiction. As a result, a City of Fernley Twitter feed might be more useful in communicating this message to Fernley residents and property owners than another social media site. However, if the City was attempting to show community participation at a public workshop, a post on the City s Facebook page or Instagram page may be more appropriate than a post on the City s LinkedIn profile. As the City of Fernley implements its new strategic communications plan, the City will have to consider matching the appropriate social media outlet to its targeted primary and secondary audience(s) based upon the message that it is attempting to communicate. Despite the amount of time needed to customize messages and develop content for different social media outlets the City of Fernley may choose to employ, the City of Fernley could potentially reach a much wider and broader audience using social media in conjunction with traditional media outlets available to the organization. The City will also have to further A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 33 of 93

42 consider who their target primary and secondary audience(s) are for each individual message that it crafts and attempts to communicate with in order to determine which social media outlet is appropriate for use. 2.5 Existing Organizational Communication Assets The City of Fernley currently manages a wide variety of communication assets. In addition to a variety of printed material, the City of Fernley s website ( serves as the organization s primary direct communication asset. The City of Fernley also currently has its own managed Facebook page ( and Twitter feed ( A summary of these primary organizational community assets is presented here. 2.5.a City of Fernley Website The City of Fernley s website is divided into a number of topical sections. On the City of Fernley s website homepage ( a number of menu options are presented. Figure 1 City of Fernley s Website In addition to a number of links to other pages, including Agendas & Minutes, Business, Government, How do I?..., and Our Community, the City s website homepage includes direct A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 34 of 93

43 links to the City s Twitter feed and Facebook page as well as links to a direct notification system (Notify Me), instruction on electronic bill and payment information (Bill Pay), a customer satisfaction survey (Survey), contact information of City officials and departments (Contact Us), and information regarding the City s existing ordinances and municipal code (Municipal Code and Fiscal Accountability) that provides additional direct links to the Municipal Code, Fiscal Accountability, Emergency Contacts, and Creating Opportunities. The City s website home page also provides visitors with a quick link to the City s event calendar (Calendar) which also includes a summary of upcoming key events such as City Council meetings, Fernley Planning Commission meetings, and meetings of the Fernley Convention and Tourism Board. A general search tool is also provided on the City s website homepage. This search tool allows visitors to search the City s website using key words and phrases. The Agendas & Minutes secondary page ( allows visitors to download, read, and print the agendas for upcoming City Council and other advisory board meetings and download, read, and print the minutes of past City Council and other advisory board meetings. Figure 2 Agendas & Minutes Page In addition to providing the most recent meetings at the top of Agenda Center s archived list of meetings, visitors can also search current and past City Council and advisory board meetings using the page s own search engine tool. Visitors can search by Time Period, specifying a start date and end date, by selecting a category (All Categories, Audit Committee Meeting Agenda, Fernley City Council Agenda, Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority Agenda, and/or A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 35 of 93

44 Planning Commission Meeting Agenda), or by using a Word or Phrase. This enables visitors to keep informed about key policy decisions made by the City of Fernley at City Council meetings or administrative decisions taken by the City s various advisory boards. The Business secondary page ( provides visitors with information regarding the City s current approaches to business retention, expansion, and recruitment and the City s various business regulatory and licensing policies. Figure 3 Business Page The Business secondary page is divided into four main groups titled: (1) We re Open for Business, (2) Are you doing business in Fernley?, (3) Planning and Development, and (4) Building Permits. The We re Open for Business section of the Business secondary page provides visitors with some basic and general information regarding the advantages of locating a business in Fernley. This section also provides a direct link to the City s Business License Guide that provides visitors and users of the website a step-by-step outline for successfully obtaining a City of Fernley business license. The City s Business License Guide also provides additional information on meeting any additional state and/or county business license requirements. The Are you doing business in Fernley? section of the Business secondary page provides contact information for the City and key City officials if the visitor to the page has questions regarding a business license or other City business regulatory and licensing processes. A direct link to the City Clerk s webpage is provided as well as a phone number and the physical address to City Hall. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 36 of 93

45 The Planning and Development section of the Business secondary page provides additional links to the City s Planning and Development department including a direct phone number. A direct link to the Lyon County Assessor s Real Property Inquiry page is provided in this section as a zoning link. A direct link is also provided to the City s Document Center that, in addition to several other folders, contains links to the City s ordinances and land use plan. The Building Permits section of the Business secondary page provides an additional direct link to the Building Department webpage as well as a direct phone number. Again, a direct link is also provided to the City s Document Center that, in addition to several other folders, contains links to the City s Building Department folder where a Building Permit Application can be found, downloaded, and completed. The Government secondary page ( provides visitors with information regarding how the current municipal government in Fernley operates, links to various government departments and divisions, a history of the City of Fernley s government and community, and an overview of the State of Nevada s code of administrative ethics. Figure 4 Government Page The How Your Local Government Works section of the Government secondary page provides a brief summary of how the City of Fernley s municipal government is organized. In addition to this summary, this section also provides direct links to webpages of key municipal officials and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 37 of 93

46 offices, including the City Attorney, City Clerk, City Council, City Manager, City Treasurer, and Mayor. The Government History section of the Government secondary page provides a direct link to the View City government history page. On this additional page, a brief overview of the community s history is provided. In addition to this summary, direct links to various Lyon County departments and agencies is provided, including Canal Township Justice Court, Social Services, Fernley Branch Library, Community Health Nurse, and Senior Center. The Ethics section of the Government secondary page provides an overview of the Nevada State code of administrative ethics including a direct link to The Nevada Ethics Commission and additional contact information for the Nevada Ethics Commission including the Commission s physical address in Carson City, office hours for the Nevada Ethics Commission, and a contact telephone number. The How Do I?... secondary page ( provides visitors with information about other municipal services and answers to general questions that visitors may have. Figure 5 How Do I?... Page The How Do I?... secondary page has six separate bullet points that directs visitors to other municipal departments and services based upon frequently asked questions the City of Fernley routinely has encountered. These bullet points include: A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 38 of 93

47 How do I get a business license? This link directs visitors to an additional page that outlines the City of Fernley s Business License Application Packets which includes information regarding the City s business license application process and various State of Nevada and Lyon County business license and regulatory requirements. How do I apply for a Special Event Permit? This link directs visitors to an additional page that outlines the City of Fernley s processes for applying for a Day Use Permit, information regarding City requirements for special events, and the City s policy regarding the expiration of special event permits. How do I find out about meetings or other activities? This link directs visitors to the City of Fernley s online meetings and event calendar. How do I report a street light or traffic signal outage? This link directs visitors to the City of Fernley s online Traffic Signals/Street Lights Complaint Form that visitors can fill out and submit online. How do I report a chuck hole? This link directs visitors to the City of Fernley s online Report a Chuck Hole Form that visitors can fill out and submit online. How do I report graffiti? This link directs visitors to the City of Fernley s online Report Graffiti form that visitors can fill out and submit online. The How Do I?... main menu item also contains a drop down menu that can be accessed by placing the cursor over the How Do I?... menu item on the City of Fernley s main page. Items listed in the How Do I?... drop down menu include Apply for, Find, Pay, Report, Request, View Council Meeting, and View Previous Council Meetings. Several of these drop down menu items leads to additional expanded menu items as well as additional pages on the City of Fernley s website where visitors can access additional information regarding various municipal services. The Our Community secondary page ( provides visitors with information regarding other municipal services and information visitors may have questions about. In addition to directing visitors to the Our Community secondary page, a drop down menu can be accessed by placing the cursor over the Our Community menu item on the City of Fernley s main page. Items listed in the Our Community drop down menu include Ambulance & Fire, Business License, Emergencies Be Prepared and Safe, History, Justice Court, Library, Neighborhood Watch, Police, Previous Agendas & Minutes, Schools, Senior Services, Social Services, Swimming Pool, Veteran Resources, Water/Sewer Service, and Water Treatment Facility History. Several of these drop down menu items leads to additional expanded menu items as well as additional pages on the City of Fernley s website or websites maintained by various State of Nevada government agencies, Lyon County government agencies, Lyon County School District agencies, or to websites maintained by other A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 39 of 93

48 external organizations that may contain useful information for visitors to the City of Fernley s website. Figure 6 Our Community Page The Our Community secondary page is divided into five sections including: (1) Quality of Life, (2) Population & Demographics, (3) Climate, (4) Major Employers, Opportunities for Thriving Industries & Major Industries, and (5) Things to do. Each section provides additional information about the City of Fernley, the community and the surrounding region. The Quality of Life section provides visitors a general description about the community as well as some of the natural and built amenities the community offers. The Population & Demographics section provides a general summary of key socio-economic and demographic characteristics reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in the 2010 Decennial Census. The Climate section provides average climate estimates of summer temperature, winter temperature, annual rainfall, wind speed, solar days, and an estimated elevation of the community. The Major Employers, Opportunities for Thriving Industries & Major Industries section provides a brief description of the benefits of locating a business in Fernley and a list of some of the major companies currently located and operating in Fernley. The Things to do section provides visitors with a brief overview of some of natural and built amenities and recreational facilities located throughout the community and in the immediate surrounding region. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 40 of 93

49 2.5.b City of Fernley Facebook Page The City of Fernley currently manages its own Facebook page The City s Facebook page is currently the City s most used social media outlet and the page itself was created on July 1, Since then, the City of Fernley has relied on its Facebook page as its primary social media tool. As of March 14, 2017, the City of Fernley s Facebook page had a total of 2,146 likes and had an average rating of 3.9 stars out of 5.0 possible stars. Figure 7 City of Fernley Facebook Page The City of Fernley s Facebook page, like many organizational Facebook pages, provides visitors with general information regarding the organization including the City of Fernley s primary telephone contact number and a link to the City of Fernley s webpage. On the About secondary page of the City s Facebook page, the City of Fernley has provided a directory of important telephone numbers for City Hall and various departments, agencies, and divisions within the City government. In addition to general information about the City of Fernley, the City has typically used its Facebook page feed to disseminate important information regarding the organization, current policy actions and decisions made by the City Council and the City s administration, and upcoming special events that area residents, property owners, and even businesses may be interested in participating in or learning more about. The City of Fernley has also used its Facebook page to communicate emergency information during natural disasters as a way of A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 41 of 93

50 keeping residents, property owners, and area businesses up-to-date on quickly changing situations and first responder activities. Table 2.5 presents the total number of Facebook posts posted by the City of Fernley to the City of Fernley s Facebook page by month for the past 12 months between February 2016 and February Total Monthly Number of Facebook Posts City of Fernley s Facebook Page February 2016 through February 2017 Month Total Number of Posts +/- Monthly Average Number of Posts February March April May June July August September October November December January February Total Number of Facebook 50 - Posts Average Number of Facebook Posts per Month Approx Source: City of Fernley Facebook Page ( Between February 2016 and February 2017, the City of Fernley generated a total of 50 separate Facebook posts on its Facebook page. On average, the City of Fernley generated, on average, a total of just four Facebook posts on its Facebook page per month over this 12-month period. There were only four months, January 2017, November 2016, October 2016, and September 2016, where the monthly number of total Facebook posts exceeded the average monthly number of Facebook posts. The relatively high frequency of Facebook posts in January 2017 (18 total posts) focused mostly on emergency information regarding localized and area flooding that had occurred in the Fernley area and throughout northern Nevada. As previously mentioned, the City of Fernley s Facebook page currently, as of March 14, 2017, has an average rating of 3.9 stars out of 5.0 possible stars. However, only one rating was received between February 2016 and February 2017 with a rating of 5.0 starts out of 5.0 possible stars. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 42 of 93

51 The relatively low frequency of Facebook posts made by the City of Fernley on its Facebook page, along with the generally infrequent feedback provided by visitors to the City s Facebook page, suggests that the City s Facebook page is a currently underutilized communication tool. In order to drive usage of the Facebook page by external stakeholders and internal City elected and appointed officials and staff, it is important that new content for the city s Facebook page is generated on a regular basis. The City s Facebook page can be an effective, generally low cost, communication tool used to better connect the City to its targeted primary and secondary audiences. 2.5.c City of Fernley Twitter Feed The City of Fernley currently manages its own Twitter feed ( and a link to the City s Twitter feed is provided on the City s webpage. The City of Fernley Twitter feed itself was created in December Since its creation, the City of Fernley has generated a total of 1,708 total tweets, and, as of March 14, 2017, currently has a total of 643 total followers Figure 8 City of Fernley Twitter Feed The City of Fernley s last official tweet made on its official Twitter feed was made on December 6, Since then, it does not appear as though the City of Fernley has used its official Twitter feed as a direct communication tool with its targeted primary and secondary audiences. While the City of Fernley s official Twitter feed can be used as an effective communication devise, it A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 43 of 93

52 appears as though this social media outlet is significantly underused by the City of Fernley and has been underused since d Other Uses of Social Media A review of various other social media sites indicated that the City of Fernley does not currently manage or operate any other official City of Fernley social media site outside its current Facebook page or Twitter feed. A LinkedIn City of Fernley page does exist but no posts and a very small number of followers makes this particular social media site largely underutilized. The general lack of social media usage by the City of Fernley presents the City with an opportunity to expand its social media presence to other social media outlets such as LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Tubmlr. Enhanced and expanded usage of the City s official Facebook page and Twitter feed should also be part of the City s future strategic communications plan efforts and is discussed in further detail in the next section of this University Center for Economic Development technical report. 2.6 Existing Community Communication Resources and Opportunities There are a number of other public-sector organizations and private-sector for-profit and nonprofit firms and entities that already have some type of relationship with the City of Fernley. During the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016, various workshop participants indicated a strong desire to see the City of Fernley develop a stronger relationship with these organizations, firms, and entities. This section contains a list of various organizations and entities that already have some type of communication presence in Fernley. As part of the City of Fernley s future strategic communications plan efforts, discussed in further detail in the next section of this University Center for Economic Development technical report, the City of Fernley should explore potential collaborative communication efforts with each of these organizations. 2.6.a Fernley Chamber of Commerce The Fernley Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit membership organization created by the community to assist in the advertisement, promotion and referral of business members in the community and surrounding area. The Chamber sponsors events that help bring the spotlight into the area to boost revenue opportunities for local business members. The Fernley Chamber of Commerce currently operates two primary online communication tools, including: A website, A Facebook page, The City of Fernley should work with the Fernley Chamber of Commerce to develop marketing and promotional materials that promote the community s business community and other A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 44 of 93

53 messages that could be jointly distributed through shared traditional forms of television, print, and radio media as well as independently operated online and social media sources. 2.6.b Lyon County Lyon County, as a county government, is responsible for providing a number of public services to the citizens of Lyon County. The county, as of the 2010 U.S. Decennial Census, had a total residential population of 51,980 individuals. There are two cities in Lyon County, the City of Fernley in northern Lyon County and the City of Yerington in southern Lyon County. There are five U.S. Census Bureau designated places including Dayton, Silver City, Silver Springs, Smith Valley, and Stagecoach. Lyon County current operates a number of primary online communication tools, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, The Lyon County Sheriff s Office also operates a number of online communication tools, including: A website (part of Lyon County s website), A Facebook page, / A Twitter feed, wgr%5eauthor Lyon County and the Lyon County Sheriff s Office each uses these online communication tools, in addition to other traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, to notify area residents, property owners, and businesses about County and Sheriff s Office services, upcoming special events, and emergency information that may impact public health and human safety. Both the County and the Sheriff s Office also use their online communication tools as a way of highlighting community resources and advertising the area s potential to prospective new residents and businesses. Given the number of shared local government services between the City of Fernley, Lyon County, and the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, the City of Fernley should work with both Lyon County and the Lyon County Sheriff s Office to develop shared communication messages designed to inform the public about shared government services, special events, and emergency information that could benefit local and area residents, property owners, and businesses in a time of crisis. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 45 of 93

54 2.6.c Lyon County School District The Lyon County School District, with over 8,500 students and 1,100 staff members, is the fourth largest school district in the state of Nevada. The Lyon County School District is currently comprised of 18 schools located in five separate attendance areas located throughout Lyon County including Dayton, Fernley, Silver Springs, Smith Valley, and Yerington. In Fernley, the Lyon County School District operates five separate schools, including Cottonwood Elementary School, East Valley Elementary School, Fernley Elementary School, Fernley Intermediate School, and Fernley High School. The Lyon County School District operates a number of primary online communications tools, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, The Lyon County School District also operates a number of independent websites for each of the elementary schools, the intermediate school, and the high school located in Fernley, including: Cottonwood Elementary School website, East Valley Elementary School website, Fernley Elementary School website, Fernley Intermediate School website, Fernley High School website, The Lyon County School District uses each of these online tools, in addition to traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, to communicate important information about the School District and each school within the district to parents, the study body, and existing faculty and staff as well as the general public, property owners, and businesses located throughout Fernley and all of Lyon County. Special events, emergency information, and general information about the School District and each of the District s schools are all communicated through these various channels on a regular basis. Given the important role that the Lyon County School District and its various schools play in maintaining and improving on the overall quality of life in Fernley, the City of Fernley should work closely with the Lyon County School District to develop collaborative communication protocols and initiatives centering on key messages of equal importance to both the City of Fernley and the Lyon County School District and their shared constituents of parents, students, and other interested stakeholders. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 46 of 93

55 2.6.d University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office is part of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, part of the University of Nevada, Reno. As part of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office offers a variety of educational programs to the residents of Lyon County. As part of the University s outreach college, the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office is responsible for bringing information to the attention of Lyon County residents in order to solve problems and deal with critical issues. The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office offers non-degree educational programs in six primary programming areas including: (1) agriculture, (2) children, youth, and families, (3) community development, (4) health and nutrition, (5) horticulture, and (6) natural resources. The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office, as part of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension and the University of Nevada, Reno, has two direct and primary online communication tools, including: A website, An online blog, The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office uses both online communication tools, in addition to using traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, to communicate specific educational programming and special event activities to the residents of Lyon County including individuals living and working in Fernley. The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension also operates its own set of online communication sites, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, A YouTube channel, In addition to these online communicate sites, the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension also operates and maintains 22 additional Facebook pages, two additional Twitter feeds, two Pinterest pages, and two additional online blogs. Each one of these additional social media sites presents general information and special events and programming information on specific topics such as the Eat Healthy Be Active, Nevada State 4H, and Child Care Provider Training Facebook pages. A complete list of all social media sites operated and maintained by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension can be found online, at A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 47 of 93

56 Given the breadth and scope of various non-degree educational programming that the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office and University of Nevada Cooperative Extension in general provides, the City of Fernley should work with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office to develop a process by which events, activities, and educational opportunities for Fernley s residents, property owners, and business owners are notified. The City of Fernley can, in partnership with the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County office, develop communication processes and opportunities to enhance civic engagement and maintain and improve on the community s existing quality of life. 2.6.e Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada is a private/public partnership established in 1983 and is committed to adding quality jobs to the region by recruiting new companies, supporting the success of existing companies, and assisting newly forming companies, to diversify the economy and have a positive impact on the quality of life in the greater Reno-Sparks area. The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada provides a variety of services including, but not limited to, in-depth research, statistics, and regional business data, industrial and office real estate searches and connections with the local brokerage community, specialized reports in workforce availability and industry presence, connectivity with local government representatives and business leaders, troubleshooting regulatory issues and hindrances to business success, and representation at the state level for incentives, workforce training, and other funding opportunities. The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, in addition to utilizing existing regional traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, currently operates and manages a number of online and social media communication tools, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, A YouTube channel, A LinkedIn page, As a member of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, and given the importance of business expansion, recruitment, retention and overall development placed in the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021, the City of Fernley should actively partner and work with the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada to develop shared marketing and advertising material focusing on the key benefits and incentives of doing business in Fernley as part of the City s efforts to encourage job creation and wage growth throughout the community. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 48 of 93

57 The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada also uses it various traditional and online and social media communication outlets to communicate and disseminate a large amount of general information and special events information to the general public and the business community. The City of Fernley should also identify opportunities to work with the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada to communicate generally shared key messages across shared and independent communication outlets operated and administered by both the City of Fernley and the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. 2.6.f Western Nevada Development District The Western Nevada Development District is the only U.S. Economic Development Administration s recognized economic development district in the state of Nevada. The Western Nevada Development District was created in November 1983 and currently comprises a ninecounty region in north-western Nevada including Carson City and the counties of Churchill, Douglas, Humboldt, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Storey, and Washoe counties. In addition to striving to promote and enhance regional collaboration towards the goal of the development of workforce and infrastructure assets within the nine county region of the Western Nevada Development District, the District also currently provides a variety of services to its member organizations including economic development planning, a Business Microloan Program, training and development, annual update and evaluation, and overall implementation of the region s U.S. Economic Development Administration s approved Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The Western Nevada Development District, in addition to using a variety of traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, operates and administers a number of online and social media pages, including: A website, A Facebook page, A LinkedIn page, a0/ As a member of the Western Nevada Development District, and given the importance of business expansion, recruitment, retention and overall development placed in the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021, the City of Fernley should actively partner and work with the Western Nevada Development District to develop shared marketing and advertising material focusing on the key benefits and incentives of doing business in Fernley as part of the City s efforts to encourage job creation and wage growth throughout the community. This effort should further be tied directly to the successful implementation and administration of the Western Nevada Development District s current Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and elements of the strategy that apply directly to the City of Fernley, the community, and the immediate surrounding area. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 49 of 93

58 The Western Nevada Development District also uses it various traditional and online and social media communication outlets to communicate and disseminate a large amount of general information and special events information to the general public and the business community, most notably the recently developed annual Nevada Economic Development Conference. The City of Fernley should also identify opportunities to work with the Western Nevada Development District to communicate generally shared key messages across shared and independent communication outlets operated and administered by both the City of Fernley and the District. 2.6.g State of Nevada, Governor s Office of Economic Development The Governor s Office of Economic Development was created during the 2011 session of the Nevada State Legislature through a collaboration of the Nevada Governor s Office and the leadership of the Nevada State Senate and the Nevada State Assembly. The Governor s Office of Economic Development promotes a robust, diversified and prosperous economy in Nevada, stimulating business expansion and retention, encouraging entrepreneurial enterprise, attracting new business and facilitating community development throughout the state. The Governor s Office of Economic Development strives to serve as the state s economic platform that is driven by human ingenuity along with collaboration and strategic alliances with the broader community throughout Nevada. The Governor s Office of Economic Development, in addition to using a variety of traditional television, print, and radio media outlets, currently operates and manages a number of online and social media tools, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, A YouTube channel, A LinkedIn page, The Governor s Office of Economic Development uses each of these online and social media tools, as well as press releases and other media communications with traditional communication and media outlets, to communicate information about the Office s various programs and resources, including Rural Community Development, Procurement Outreach, the Nevada Film Office, Incentives, Financial Resources, Higher Education Resources, and Emerging Small Businesses. During the City of Fernley s recent strategic planning initiative held in 2015 and 2016, organizational and community members and leaders indicated that the community and its economic base could benefit from additional resources invested in each of these various economic and community development areas. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 50 of 93

59 Given the overall importance of business expansion, recruitment, retention and overall development placed in the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021, the City of Fernley should actively partner and work with the Governor s Office of Economic Development to develop shared marketing and advertising material focusing on the key benefits and incentives of doing business in Fernley as part of the City s efforts to encourage job creation and wage growth throughout the community. 2.6.h University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno, located in Reno, Nevada, is the state s only recognized Tier-1 and land grant university. The University of Nevada, Reno offers a variety of degree and nondegree educational opportunities across each of its nine separate colleges including the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources, the College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science, the Division of Health Services, the Graduate School, and the Reynolds School of Journalism. The University of Nevada, Reno engages in a number of community-oriented outreach programs through each of its colleges and departments as well as Extended Studies and the aforementioned University of Nevada Cooperative Extension. In addition to communicating with the public through a variety of traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, the University of Nevada, Reno currently operates a number of online and social media outlets, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, A YouTube channel, A Flickr page, An Instagram page, A LinkedIn page, The various colleges, departments, research and outreach centers, programs and other academic and outreach divisions of the University of Nevada, Reno also operate and manage their own websites and social media pages that are too numerous to properly list in this University Center for Economic Development technical report. However, these various websites and social media pages can be accessed through the University of Nevada, Reno s main webpage. During the City of Fernley s strategic planning initiative in 2015 and 2016, participants and attendees of the various strategic planning community workshops identified a need to better partner and work collaborative with the various institutions of higher education in the area. The A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 51 of 93

60 City of Fernley should work collaboratively with relevant University of Nevada, Reno colleges, departments, research and outreach centers, programs and other academic and outreach divisions of the University of Nevada, Reno to jointly communicate key messages of shared interest between the two organizations. Highlighting University of Nevada, Reno activity in Fernley, students of the University of Nevada, Reno from Fernley, and other similar activities through shared and independently operated communication outlets operated and administered by the City of Fernley and the University of Nevada, Reno is one approach in which the City of Fernley can help communicate important organizational key messages to area residents, property owners, and businesses as well as a larger external audience. 2.6.i Western Nevada College Since 1971, Western Nevada College has helped students prepare for careers, earn a college degree, and get started on the road to success. Western Nevada College offers high quality and affordable college education, in a caring environment that respects the individual. Many Western Nevada College graduates become leaders in their communities and excel in their professions. Western Nevada College strives to reach out to everyone with multiple campuses, learning centers, and online classes. Western Nevada College currently has three primary academic divisions, including Career & Technical Education, Liberal Arts, and Nursing & Allied Health and provides educational opportunities through two additional areas including Community and Continuing Education and Performing & Visual Arts. A total of seven degree and certificate areas of study are currently offered at Western Nevada College including the Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Arts, Associate of Business, Associate of General Studies, Associate of Science, Bachelor of Applied Science, and 14 separate Certificates of Achievement. Western Nevada College also provides a number of certification and licensing preparation programs designed to prepare students to take state or other certified licensing programs. In addition to communicating with the public through a variety of traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, Western Nevada College currently operates a number of online and social media outlets, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, A YouTube channel, Similar to other Nevada System of Higher Education institutions, the various divisions, certificate and training programs, outreach centers, and programs of Western Nevada College also operate and manage their own websites and social media pages and are too numerous to list in this University Center for Economic Development technical report. However, these various A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 52 of 93

61 websites and social media pages can be accessed through Western Nevada College s main webpage. As previously mentioned, participants who attended the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops in 2015 and 2016 indicated a strong desire for the City and the community to build stronger collaborative ties with the various higher education institutions located in northern Nevada. It should be noted that the City of Fernley already engages in a number of collaborative efforts with various Nevada System of Higher Education institutions and agencies already. However, the City of Fernley should work collaboratively with Western Nevada College and its various divisions and educational and outreach programs to jointly communicate key messages of shared interest between the two organizations. Highlighting Western Nevada College activity in Fernley, students of Western Nevada College from Fernley, and other similar activities through shared and independently operated communication outlets operated and administered by the City of Fernley and Western Nevada College is one approach in which the City of Fernley can help communicate important organizational key messages to area residents, property owners, and businesses as well as a larger external audience. 2.6.j Truckee Meadows Community College Truckee Meadows Community College is a comprehensive community college located in Reno, Nevada and is part of the Nevada System of Higher Education. The College serves more than 25,000 students annually in credit and non-credit programs across all five of the College s existing educational sites and in more than 20 separate community locations. Considered one of Nevada s job colleges, Truckee Meadows Community College prepares qualified students for employment opportunities in industries currently operating throughout the state. Offering academic and university transfer, occupational training, and career enhancement workshops, Truckee Meadows Community College is one of the fastest growing colleges in northern Nevada. In addition to communicating with the public through a variety of traditional television, print, and radio communication outlets, Truckee Meadows Community College currently operates a number of online and social media outlets, including: A website, A Facebook page, A Twitter feed, An Instagram page, A YouTube channel, A Flickr page, An itunes U page, A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 53 of 93

62 Similar to other Nevada System of Higher Education institutions, the various divisions, certificate and training programs, outreach centers, and programs of Truckee Meadows Community College also operate and manage their own websites and social media pages and are too numerous to list in this University Center for Economic Development technical report. However, these various websites and social media pages can be accessed through Truckee Meadows Community College s main webpage. Stronger more collaborative ties with the various higher education institutions located in northern Nevada was a consistent theme mentioned by workshop participants who attended the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and While the City of Fernley already has strong ties with various Nevada System of Higher Education institutions throughout northern Nevada, the City of Fernley should work collaboratively with Truckee Meadows Community College and its various divisions and educational and outreach programs to jointly communicate key messages of shared interest between the two organizations. Highlighting Truckee Meadow Community College activity in Fernley, students of Truckee Meadows Community College from Fernley, and other similar activities through shared and independently operated communication outlets operated and administered by the City of Fernley and Truckee Meadows Community College is one approach in which the City of Fernley can help communicate important organizational key messages to area residents, property owners, and businesses as well as a larger external audience. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 54 of 93

63 3.0 Strategic Measures, Deployment, Implementation and Measurement Based on the City of Fernley strategic planning community workshop held on November 7, 2015, workshop participants identified nine separate guidelines (three from the completion of the completed community assessment, three from the completed evaluation of the potential impacts of future growth, and three from the completed Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis) that will be used to develop the strategic measures of the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year These nine guidelines include: As the City of Fernley continues to pursue and develop strategic public-private partnerships, the City of Fernley should strive to communicate the advantages and benefits of these partnerships with existing residents, property owners, and the existing business community. The City should complete a cost-benefit analysis of each proposed public-private partnership and communicate the results of this analysis in its strategic communication efforts to the various primary and secondary audiences identified above. Future City of Fernley initiatives and programs designed to support growth should be communicated to the various primary and secondary audiences as identified above. In considering future initiatives and programs designed to support growth, the City of Fernley should strive to collect resident, property owners, and business input regarding each new initiative and program through its communication efforts while also communicating the rationale for the development and possible adoption and implementation of each new initiative and program. Primary and secondary audience members indicated a high degree of support for familyoriented development programs, youth sports, and the development of the City s parks and other recreational facilities. The City of Fernley, through its strategic communication efforts, should strive to solicit community input into the development of these types of programs and should further make communication of these types of programs a priority in its communication efforts. While generally supportive of new commercial, manufacturing, and even residential development, the City of Fernley should strive to communicate to area residents, property owners, and existing businesses how new commercial, manufacturing and residential development will impact future urban sprawl and what efforts the City will take to minimize the impact new development may have on the City s ability to maintain existing infrastructure or how the City will attempt to mitigate the need for new infrastructure to support new development. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 55 of 93

64 During the November 7, 2015 strategic planning community workshop, workshop attendees and participants indicated a number of important values and goals that the City should strive to live up to and achieve when pursuing new growth strategies. Future strategic communication efforts focusing on new growth strategies should attempt to explain how these strategies will improve community amenities, will create new jobs, will help expand existing business, and will help to create workable living wages. The City of Fernley, in communicating new growth strategies to existing residents, property owners, and businesses, should strive to illustrate how these strategies will help conserve the community s existing natural resources (especially water), how existing private property rights may be impacted, how these strategies are consistent with generally accepted proper planning principles, and how the community s overall beautification and existing aesthetics will be impacted. The City of Fernley should strive to communicate to area residents, property owners, and existing businesses how each of these groups can participate in community activities including opportunities for civic engagement, volunteerism, improved community buy-in, and general engagement in community and organizational decision making activities. This strategic communication effort should be done collaboratively with different strategic partners including, but not limited to, various volunteer and fraternal organizations that currently operate within the City, business associations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations and entities that offer civic engagement and volunteer opportunities. The City of Fernley should strive to communicate with outside organizational partners and stakeholders such as the members of Nevada s federal congressional delegation, the State of Nevada s constitutional officers (i.e. Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Controller, and the State Attorney General), members of the Nevada State Assembly and Nevada State Senate, representatives of various federal and state agencies, and elected and appointed officials and government executives from other local government entities (i.e. Lyon County, the Lyon County School District, Storey County, Churchill County, Washoe County, etc.). The City of Fernley should strive to communicate and explain different aspects of the municipal government s operations with external stakeholders including area residents, property owners, and new and existing businesses. The City may choose to partner with organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce (that currently administers the Citizens Leadership Academy of Fernley) or the Nevada Leadership Program (part of the University Center for Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Reno). Continued development and expansion of the City of Fernley s Citizens Academy should also be used in communicating different aspects of the municipal government s operations with key external stakeholders. Future development, implementation and measurement of the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 should be evaluated with A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 56 of 93

65 each of these nine separate guidelines in mind. In addition to these nine guidelines, the City of Fernley adopted three core values as part of the City s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 including: (1) trust, (2) innovation, and (3) communication. These core values are used in the development of the City s strategic communication measures, communication deployment efforts, and communication implementation and measurement efforts. 3.1 Strategic Communication Measures The City of Fernley should incorporate seven critical questions into the development of any future communication activity taken on behalf of the City by any individual in an official capacity: Was the City s official key message included in the communication activity? Does the message support the City Council s current priorities including implementation of the City s existing community and organizational goals as outlined in the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021? Does the message uphold the City s Mission, Vision and Core Values as outlined in the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021? Was the appropriate primary and/or secondary target audience(s) taken into consideration during development of the communication activity? Is the message in the communication activity clear and direct? Has the City selected the appropriate traditional and/or social media outlet for the communication activity? Has the City included opportunities for feedback and participation by the targeted primary and/or secondary audience(s)? These questions should be asked during the development of each separate communication activity. If the City cannot answer in the affirmative for all seven questions, the communication activity should be reassessed and improved so that further evaluation of the communication activity results in an affirmative assessment for each of the seven questions listed above. The City of Fernley s strategic communication measures are divided amongst the three community goals and the two organizational goals developed as part of the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year These three community goals and two organizational goals were developed using input from the workshop attendees that participated in the four separate City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 57 of 93

66 3.1.a Community Goal No. 1: To explore and promote opportunities for economic development planned redevelopment in ways that are consistent with the community s historical and current identity. Community members have expressed a desire for the City of Fernley to pursue and promote new opportunities for improved job creation and wage growth through the use of redevelopment and revitalization of existing properties within the City s municipal boundary. However, community members, including residents, property owners, and existing businesses, desire that the community s historical and current identity be preserved while pursuing new opportunities for improved job creation and wage growth. The City of Fernley s City Council, the City of Fernley s Planning Commission, and the City s Planning and Development Department are each responsible for reviewing and approving new development within the City s municipal boundaries. In considering new projects, the City Council, the Planning Commission and the City s Planning and Development Department should consider the impact each proposed new development will have on job creation and wage growth opportunities within the City and how each proposed new development may impact the community s historical and current identity. In reviewing and recommending specific action on new proposed developments, City staff should identify the potential impact these new proposed developments may have on job creation, wage growth, and on the community s historical and current identity. Proper evaluation of these conditions should be noted, as appropriate, in staff reports provided to both the City s Planning Commission and the City Council. During public hearings of both the Planning Commission and City Council, staff should state the potential impact of each new proposed development on job creation, wage growth, and the community s historical and current identity. Both the Planning Commission and the City Council, in their deliberations of any new proposed development, should state, for the record, their potential assessment of the new proposed development on job creation, wage growth, and the community s historical and current identity. It should be noted that staff, members of the Planning Commission, and members of the City Council consider various aspects of a new proposed development beyond job creation, wage growth and the impact on the community s historical and current identity. However, this strategic communications plan calls for the incorporation of these three criteria (job creation, wage growth, and impact on the community s historical and current identity) in the assessment and deliberation of new proposed developments reviewed by staff and evaluated by the Planning Commission and City Council. When appropriate, and when the size and scope of the new proposed project merits expanded community discussion, City of Fernley staff should incorporate other methods in order to communicate potential impacts on job creation, wage growth, and impact on the community s historical and current identity, along with other details and considerations, to the public using a variety of avenues. Public community workshops and town hall discussions provide direct faceto-face interaction with interested members of the public and representatives of the private sector. However, the City of Fernley could also employ other techniques including the use of social media, including Facebook, Twitter and online polls in order to assess and measure the A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 58 of 93

67 degree of support community members and representatives of the private sector may have for new proposed developments. 3.1.b Community Goal No. 2: To promote citizen engagement and build strong alliances with other government entities, private sector partners, and members of its community. The City of Fernley uses a number of communication devices to promote citizen engagement. The City of Fernley employs the use of the City s website to post current agendas of the City Council, Planning Commission, the Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority and other boards subject to the State of Nevada s open meeting law (found in Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 241). These agendas are also posted in public meeting places including City Hall and in other locations throughout the City. The City s website is also used to archive the minutes and related staff reports for the City Council, Planning Commission, the Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority and other boards subject to the State of Nevada s open meeting law. Notification of upcoming public hearings and community workshops and events are also posted regularly on the City of Fernley s existing Facebook page. In addition to these efforts, the City of Fernley should work directly with various community partners, including for-profit firms, non-profit organizations, and other public sector agencies, to develop and advertise opportunities for the residents, property owners, and existing businesses of Fernley to engage in civic-oriented activities. In 2014, students of the University of Nevada, Reno s College of Business completed a Rebranding Study of the City of Fernley (provided in Appendix A of this technical report). The Rebranding Study of the City of Fernley identified a number of activities that the City of Fernley could employ in order to enhance community and citizen engagement, including: Modify the City of Fernley s existing website to include an Events link. This link would take visitors to the City s website to a separate page that would educate individuals on various activities occurring in the community. This separate page should be updated regularly with details regarding various upcoming events outside of those events and activities hosted directly by the City of Fernley. The City of Fernley s website currently has a Calendar function but the calendar generally only has information regarding upcoming public hearings of the City Council, Planning Commission and other public boards. This calendar should be used to provide information about upcoming community events and even events and activities hosted and sponsored by other public agencies including, but not limited to, Lyon County and the Lyon County School District. Increase the number of supported and advertised cultural and special events. The Rebranding Study of the City of Fernley identified four possible new or revised events that the City of Fernley could potentially sponsor or support as a way of enhancing community and civic engagement, including: o Burning Man: This would require the City of Fernley to develop a relationship and partnership with the Burning Man Arts Foundation. New tag-along events that the City of Fernley could sponsor or assist in developing include: (1) Art Map a large geographic map of the City of Fernley showing all artistic, historic, and unique A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 59 of 93

68 aspects of the City, (2) Fourth of Juplaya offer opportunities for travelers attending the Fourth of July mini-event held in the Black Rock Desert opportunities to supply themselves and enjoy the amenities offered by the community, (3) Trash Collecting offer financial incentives to area residents, property owners, and even existing businesses to engage in community clean-up activities associated with the Burning Man event, and (4) Dust-Off Event provide returning visitors from the Burning Man event opportunities to clean their belongings, themselves, and their vehicles. This event could also feature and include a showcase of local artists. o Fernley Day: The Rebranding Study of the City of Fernley suggested that the City of Fernley, in partnership with various for-profit and non-profit entities, develop a special event designed to highlight and feature the community s history and culture. Based upon the results of several community focus groups conducted by the University of Nevada, Reno students in 2014, community members indicated that one of the community s primary strengths was its small town, close-knit community feel. However, community focus group members felt that the community had failed to fully celebrate this tradition in a manner similar to other surrounding communities such as Fallon, Yerington, and Virginia City. A Fernley Day could include a Fernley Jr. Rodeo, a Fernley High School craft fair, a Nevada gun fighters event, a Fireman s Ball, Rail Days (a past event previously sponsored by the Fernley Preservation Society), and even a Fernley Golf Classic. o Showcase Local Art: To improve the art culture throughout the community, the City of Fernley may choose to showcase local artists and their work in existing public spaces including City Hall and other public facilities and spaces. Paintings, photographs, sculptures and other forms of art produced by local area artists should be featured and any showcase should be regularly updated with new pieces. The City of Fernley should strive to communicate, through traditional media outlets and online and social media outlets each local artist featured when new pieces of art are placed on display. The City of Fernley will, however, have to develop guidelines to ensure that acceptable and appropriate pieces of art, designed for general consumption by the general public, are displayed. Several municipalities throughout the United States have developed similar guidelines and these guidelines should be developed in consultation with the City s legal counsel. o Surrounding Area Event Tie-Ins: Northern Nevada is home to a number of special events throughout the calendar year. Events such as the Reno Air Races, Hot August Nights, Rib Cook-Off, Balloon Races, Street Vibrations, and Artown are celebrated throughout the region and individual communities such as Fallon, Sparks, Virginia City, and Yerington hold a number of events unique to their community. As a centrally located community in northern Nevada, located at the intersection of U.S. Interstate 80, U.S. Highway 50 Alternate, and U.S. Highway 95 Alternate, the City of Fernley could consider the development of separate tie-in events with each of these communities and in partnership with representatives of the private sector including the Fernley Chamber of Commerce. The City of Fernley should use its existing A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 60 of 93

69 traditional and social media outlets to advertise these events and report on them postevent. Community Goal No. 2 of the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 also emphasized the need to build stronger alliances with other government entities. The City of Fernley could consider developing its own internal legislative counsel bureau designed to track items of interest being considered by the U.S. federal government, the Nevada state government, and other local governments located throughout northern Nevada. While the City of Fernley routinely engages federal government departments and agencies, state government departments and agencies, and other local governments, the City of Fernley could formalize this process in partnership with area private for-profit and non-profit organizations. This legislative counsel bureau could produce a monthly or quarterly newsletter (print and/or electronic) outlining the City s position (for, against, or neutral) regarding key legislative, regulatory, or administrative actions taken by other government agencies. This newsletter could then be provided, through the City s existing traditional and social media outlets to area residents, property owners, and existing businesses as well as other government agencies. While it is critical that the City of Fernley maintain its sovereignty, the City of Fernley may also choose to convene regular summits or retreats with other government agencies to discuss matters of shared interest. Various regional economic development organizations, such as the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada and the Western Nevada Development District, educational institutions such as the University of Nevada, Reno and Western Nevada College, or non-profit business associations such as the various Chambers of Commerce located throughout Northern Nevada, may be able to serve a facilitation role to develop these summits or retreats, the results of which should be communicated to the public using the City s traditional and social media outlets. 3.1.c Community Goal No. 3: To preserve and maintain a quality of life enjoyed by the community s residents and visitors and enhance the continued maintenance and reconstruction of the City s infrastructure with an emphasis on sustainability. Similar to Community Goal No. 1, regarding economic development and planned redevelopment, Community Goal No. 3 of the City of Fernley s strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 may require the City of Fernley to incorporate new communication devices and tools into its decision making process. Community members, during the various strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016, expressed a desire for the City of Fernley to pursue new infrastructure projects that were designed to preserve and maintain area resident quality of life. The City of Fernley s City Council, the City of Fernley s Planning Commission, and the City s Public Works and General Services Department are each responsible for reviewing and approving new infrastructure projects and initiatives within the City s municipal boundaries. In considering whether or not to pursue new infrastructure projects and initiatives or in prioritizing annual and long-term existing infrastructure maintenance projects and initiatives, the City Council, the Planning Commission and the City s Public Works and General Services Department should consider how each new or maintenance infrastructure project may impact the A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 61 of 93

70 community s existing quality of life and whether or not the project or initiative is sustainable from an economic, environmental, or societal perspective. In regards to sustainability, the City Council, Planning Commission, and the City s Public Works and General Services Department, and other related parts of the City government, should consider three general aspects. First, from an economic perspective, the infrastructure project or initiative must be funded and must not create an additional funding liability to be supported by other parts of the City s funding lines. Second, from an environmental perspective, the infrastructure project or initiative must be designed in a way to maintain or enhance aspects of the community s natural environment. Third, form a societal perspective, the infrastructure project or initiative must, at a minimum, preserve the community s overall quality of life. Several municipalities throughout the United States have developed internal sustainability counsels designed to assess the merits of new infrastructure projects or existing infrastructure maintenance initiatives using this three legged stool of sustainability. If the City of Fernley chooses to do so, a similar sustainability counsel for the City of Fernley could be established as an advisory board to the Planning Commission and/or the City Council. This counsel could provide both the Planning Commission and/or the City Council with recommendations and scoring of each new proposed infrastructure project or existing infrastructure maintenance initiative. In reviewing and recommending specific action on new infrastructure projects or existing infrastructure maintenance initiatives, City staff should identity the potential impact(s) these projects or initiatives may have on the community s existing quality of life as well as the degree of sustainability associated with each proposed project or initiative. Proper evaluation of these conditions should be noted, as appropriate, in staff reports provided to both the City s Planning Commission and the City Council. During public hearings to both the Planning Commission (as needed) and the City Council, staff should state the potential impact(s) of each new project or initiative on quality of life and sustainability. Both the Planning Commission and the City Council, in their deliberations of new infrastructure projects or existing infrastructure maintenance initiatives, should state, for the record, their potential assessment of the new infrastructure project or of the existing infrastructure maintenance initiative on the community s quality of life and the project s or initiative s level of sustainability. It should be noted that staff, members of the Planning Commission, and members of the City Council consider various aspects pertaining to new infrastructure projects or existing infrastructure initiatives beyond the impact each project or initiative will have on the community s quality of life or its degree of sustainability. However, this strategic communications plan calls for the incorporation of these two criteria (impacts on quality of life and sustainability) in the assessment and deliberation of new infrastructure projects or existing infrastructure maintenance initiatives reviewed by staff and evaluated by the Planning Commission and City Council. When appropriate, and when the size and scope of the new infrastructure project or existing infrastructure maintenance initiative merits expanded community discussion, City of Fernley staff should incorporate other methods in order to communicate potential impacts on the community s quality of life and assess the degree of sustainability associated with each new project or initiative. Public community workshops and town hall discussions provide direct faceto-face interaction with interested members of the public and representatives of the private A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 62 of 93

71 sector. However, the City of Fernley could also employ other techniques including the use of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and online polls in order to assess and measure the degree of support community members and representatives of the private sector may have for any new infrastructure project or existing infrastructure initiative. 3.1.d Organizational Goal No. 1: The City of Fernley must strive to maintain and improve overall fiscal integrity, stability, and equality of the City s financial planning. A critical element of this first organizational goal of the City of Fernley s organizational strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 was the City s stated commitment to educating the community and engaging community residents regarding the City s financial position and the possible need and potential benefit of pursuing and implementing different funding sources. As part of this process, participants who attended the City of Fernley s strategic planning community workshops in 2015 and 2016 expressed a strong desire for the City, including elected and appointed officials and government executives, to identity clear funding needs, revenue sources, and the potential costs and benefits of selecting different policy options that impact the ability of the City to provide and fund various public services. As part of the City s requirement to follow the state s open meeting laws, as outlined in Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 241, and the state s local financial administration laws, as outlined in Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 354, the City of Fernley is required to conduct a series of public budget hearings. These public budget hearings generally consist of individual departments within the City of Fernley presenting a summary of expenditures made during the previous fiscal year and identifying continuing or new expenditure needs for the coming fiscal year. These public budget hearings are properly noticed according to the requirements of Nevada s open meeting laws and are open to the public. This, however, represents the minimum requirement that the City must meet in communicating budgetary and financial decisions to the public. The City of Fernley may choose to expand on this communication process by incorporating a series of community-based workshops, Town Halls, or community surveys in order to identify resident, property owner, and/or business concerns regarding the budgetary and financial decisions the City routinely makes in the development, adoption, and execution of its annual budget. In addition to preparing their annual budgets for consideration by the City Council, department and division heads may be encouraged to develop short fact sheets outlining expenditure priorities for each department that can then be shared with community residents, property owners, and businesses alike through traditional print forms of media communication or online or social media outlets. As part of the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, the City of Fernley must make the communication of the City s current financial position, as well as future budgetary and financing decisions, a top priority. The City should also strive to incorporate budgetary and fiscal impacts of all public policy decisions made by the City s elected officials in its communication with area residents, property owners, and businesses. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 63 of 93

72 3.1.e Organizational Goal No. 2: The City of Fernley, as an employer, must strive to create and maintain a successful and efficient work environment. City of Fernley elected and appointed officials and staff that attended the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016 indicated that the organization already maintains a relatively high level of morale among City officials and staff. Generally, these elected and appointed officials and staff indicated that the City, as an organization, maintains strong lines of communication across all departments and divisions and all levels of the organization. Organizational goals, objectives, strategies and initiatives are well communicated and when new strategies and initiatives are undertaken, those responsible for its implementation are generally given the resources they need in order to successfully implement them. From a communications perspective, the City of Fernley should continue to strive to maintain the already strong, efficient and effective lines of communication that already exist throughout the organization. One area of potential improvement, outlined in the next section, strategic communication deployment efforts, of this University Center for Economic Development technical report and strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, should be the enhancement of available training and recertification of its employees with a specific focus on organizational internal and external communication. Professional associations such as the American Planning Association, the American Society for Public Administration, and the International City/County Management Association all provide varying levels and types of formal training for elected and appointed officials and government executives regarding the development and management of media relations between their organization and the media. The University of Nevada, Reno s Reynolds School of Journalism also provides varying levels and types of formal and informal training regarding media relations for members of both public-sector and private-sector organizations. Formal training policy regarding media relations training for elected and appointed officials and government executives, including senior management and staff, should be considered by the City of Fernley and should be based on the availability of resources that the City can devote to this type of training. 3.2 Strategic Communication Deployment Efforts Due to the generally broad scope of the City of Fernley s strategic communication needs, an Integrated Marketing Communications framework was used in order to integrate and link the City s various communication activities in this strategic communications plan. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a standard industry communication and marketing approach designed to ensure that all forms of communication and messages produced by an organization are carefully linked together. The IMC framework employs approaches from various disciplines, including marketing, public relations, issue management, and others, to simultaneously link and distribute messages and information to outside stakeholders as well as to internal organizational members. The strategic communication deployment efforts outlined here will largely be evaluated on their ability to meet the following five conditions, including: A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 64 of 93

73 How well the deployment effort reflects the guiding nine principles outlined at the start of this section of the strategic communications plan and the Mission, Vision, and Core Values of the City of Fernley s organizational strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year How well the deployment effort supports the strategic community and organizational goals outlined in the City of Fernley s organizational strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year How well the deployment effort aligns with annual City Council priorities as expressed in the adopted City of Fernley annual budget. How well the deployment effort adheres to all legal and ethical considerations. How well the deployment effort adheres to key initiatives undertaken by the City of Fernley annually and over the long-term. The City of Fernley s strategic communication development efforts for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year 2021 are divided into 13 separate categories, including: (1) brand management, (2) media relations tactics, (3) public relations tactics, (4) direct communication tactics, (5) marketing and advertising tactics, (6) social media strategy and tactics, (7) customer relationship management, (8) citizen engagement tactics, (9) internal communication, (10) issue management and crisis communications, (11) emergency communications, (12) departmental outreach, and (13) cross-channel promotion. 3.2.a Brand Management The City of Fernley has, over the past several years, invested in developing its own unique brand as a way of differentiating itself from other communities in northern Nevada. As part of the City of Fernley s 2015 and 2016 strategic planning initiative, various workshop participants who attended the City s various strategic planning community workshops identified a number of unique characteristics that differentiate the community from other parts of northern Nevada and expressed a strong desire to maintain that historical and current community identity. Public policy decisions, set by the Fernley City Council, that reinforce existing historical and current community identity characteristics, i.e. the community s brand, should strive to ensure cross-channel alignment of the City s core messages. This will provide the organization an opportunity for extending and building upon existing strengths while mitigating existing weaknesses. As part of this effort, and as part of this strategic communication plan, the City of Fernley will employ a reputation management approach using the following tactics: Threading key messages throughout all official City communications, educational campaigns, and information releases. Reinforcing regional branding efforts through the City s various partners including, but not limited to, organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, the Economic A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 65 of 93

74 Development Association of Western Nevada, and the Western Nevada Development District. Explore and create new partnerships with other external community organizations and agencies in order to share existing communication channels. Use existing City communications vehicles (i.e. official City communications, educational campaigns, and information releases) across multiple communication platforms including traditional media outlets and social media. To maintain this brand image, it is recommended that the City of Fernley establish a Community Relations Advisory Board. This advisory board, comprised of City officials (one elected official, one member of the City s Planning Commission, one member of the Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority Board, with staff representation), a media relations representative, a public relations representative, a marketing representative, a branding representative, a design representative, and an advertising professional representative, would meet regularly (monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly) to advise the City government on matters related to the implementation of this strategic communications plan. The City of Fernley should invite specific members of the public with expertise in these areas to serve on this advisory board. The advisory board would have no legislative authority but would, instead, be able to monitor implementation of this strategic communications plan and determine whether or not City internal and external communications were deviating from the City s existing established brand and suggest opportunities to the City government for correction. This advisory board would also be able to comment on other related communication matters, including: Issue and crisis management. Reputation and brand management. Communication policies and procedures as considered by the City government. Implementation of the strategic communications plan including annual evaluation and updating as necessary. Programming and content. Accessibility. Design. Media Relations. Ultimately, the City of Fernley s new Community Relations Advisory Board would assist City staff and provide the elected City Council with an annual report of recommendations related to the strategic communications plan prior to the City s formal annual evaluation of its existing organizational strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 66 of 93

75 3.2.b Media Relations Tactics As previously identified, an increasing number of individuals, especially younger individuals, continue to shift away from traditional media outlets, such as television, print, and radio, and toward new social media outlets in their attempt to stay informed on important issues that impact them directly. While new social media outlets continue to augment, and in some cases directly replace, traditional media outlets, some form of professional journalistic presence is likely to remain focused on the activities and behavior of local government for the foreseeable future. An effective strategy for developing and deploying key organizational messages must take into account the use of both traditional media outlets and new social media outlets. Across the various forms of communication outlets, the City of Fernley should consider using the following traditional and nontraditional tools when developing and disseminating key organizational messages: Online newsroom. News releases. Press conferences. Tailored pitches targeting specific primary and secondary audiences. Editorial meetings. News director meetings. Media list management. The City of Fernley should approach media relations as a collaborative process in helping area reporters, in either traditional television, print, and radio media outlets or in new nontraditional social media and online newsfeed outlets, understand key issues regarding City of Fernley policy development, implementation, and administration. When appropriate, the City of Fernley should provide access to City topic experts and publically available data and information and facilitate a dialogue between the City s elected officials and members of the public through traditional and nontraditional media outlets. Another critical element of the City s media relations tactics should be developing key policy related to official media inquiries from either traditional television, print, and radio journalists or from nontraditional social media and web-based journalists such as bloggers. All media inquiries should be answered in a timely fashion with an initial response provided by an approved City representative within 24 hours of the initial inquiry. However, this response will need to be tailored based upon the degree of complexity associated with the media inquiry and the City should strive to provide accurate information in all media inquiry responses based upon A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 67 of 93

76 available data and information even if a final response to the initial inquiry takes additional time beyond the 24-hour initial reply. As part of the City s media relations tactics, any response to media inquiries should be viewed by the City as an opportunity to set and clarify the City s ongoing policy agenda and, as a result of this effort, the City of Fernley should work in collaboration with various media outlets to increase the frequency that key organizational messages appear and thus increase their salience and heighten their importance. One way to accomplish this is to make the City s elected officials and senior City staff and administrators available for local public affairs programming. Examples of these types of local public affairs programming include Face the State (KTVN Channel 2), Nevada Newsmakers (KRNV Channel 4), and It s Not Just Politics (KOLO Channel 8) on television. Comparable radio and print public affairs programming exists throughout northern Nevada. The City of Fernley, as part of its media relations tactics should also consider developing a formal training program for its elected officials, appointed officials, and government executives. Professional associations such as the American Planning Association, the American Society for Public Administration, and the International City/County Management Association all provide varying levels and types of formal training for elected and appointed officials and government executives regarding the development and management of media relations between their organization and the media. The University of Nevada, Reno s Reynolds School of Journalism also provides varying levels and types of formal and informal training regarding media relations for members of both public-sector and private-sector organizations. Formal training policy regarding media relations training for elected and appointed officials and government executives, including senior management and staff, should be considered by the City of Fernley and should be based on the availability of resources that the City can devote to this type of training. 3.2.c Public Relations Tactics Public relations tactics is how the City of Fernley will manage the City s reputation with the public, how the City will help targeted primary and secondary audiences understand current public policy development, implementation, and administrative approaches, and how the City will clarify the role of government in the community. As part of the City s set of public relations tactics, the City of Fernley will develop and implement the following set of activities: Schedule ceremonies such as ribbon cuttings and dedications (this should be in cooperation and collaboration with external organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, the Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the Western Nevada Development District, and other organizations). When appropriate, hold different community meetings that are topic-specific (such as discussing new developments, new infrastructure projects or initiatives, or other such topics). Town Hall meetings or a State of the City Address are examples of topic-specific community meetings that should be used as a public relations tactic. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 68 of 93

77 Leveraging recognitions, proclamations, and presentations at City Council meetings as well as at meetings of the Fernley Planning Commission and the Fernley Convention and Tourism Board. Using photography on the City s website and different City-managed social media webpages and related publications and stories that highlight aspects of key organizational messages. Apply for awards that demonstrate the quality of success of the City of Fernley s various programs and policies. Organizations such as the Nevada Chapter of the American Planning Association and the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada routinely recognize excellence in a variety of public-sector fields including planning, economic development, and public administration. Continue to develop and execute public educational campaigns such as the Citizens Leadership Academy of Fernley sponsored by both the Fernley Chamber of Commerce and the City of Fernley. The University of Nevada, Reno s Nevada Leadership Program also offers a unique opportunity to develop community-specific educational programs designed to educate elected and appointed officials, government executives, and members of the public about the functions of local government in Nevada. Use of Public Service Announcements (PSAs) through traditional television, print, and radio media outlets as well as nontraditional social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Exchange event and luncheon sponsorships for in-kind services with organizations such as the Nevada Chapter of the American Planning Association and the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. Continue to develop uniquely branded and themed promotional material such as brochures and fliers. City officials, including duly elected officials and senior staff, should continue to seek out opportunities to make community group presentations. Participate in charity or cause-related community events (while ensuring that the City of Fernley remains compliant with all federal and state laws regarding the relationship between a public entity and any religious or sectarian charitable group). Manage any existing City trademarks and/or logos. In developing and implementing these public relations tactics, the City of Fernley should, first, strive to make the often complicated and complex decisions made, implemented, and administered by the City easier to understand by the public and other external stakeholders. Second, the City should further strive to use its public relations tactics to build trust between the City as an organization and the public and other external stakeholders. And, third, the City of A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 69 of 93

78 Fernley should strive to identify immediately and offset any negative perceptions regarding the organization or the community as soon as possible using its public relations tactics. 3.2.d Direct Communication Tactics Direction communication tactics refers to the ways in which the City of Fernley directly communicates with the public and other key external stakeholders without relying on a secondary traditional television, print, or radio media outlet or a nontraditional social media outlet such as Facebook or Twitter. Use of the City of Fernley s website, direct mailers, and personal interactions between City elected officials and government executives and the public and other key external stakeholders constitute the bulk of the opportunities the organization has to directly communicate with the City s targeted primary and secondary audiences. The City of Fernley currently operates and maintains a City website ( The website, as previously discussed in the previous section of this University Center for Economic Development technical report, provides visitors to the website with information regarding upcoming and past City Council, Fernley Planning Commission, and Fernley Convention and Tourism Board meetings. The City s website also provides direct information regarding the City s business development and licensing process, information regarding the City s operational organization, and with information regarding key visitor inquiries and about the community in general. As part of the City s website, the City of Fernley also operates an electronic News Center. The City of Fernley should continue to develop and maintain these functional aspects of the City s website. During the various strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016, workshop participants suggested a number of additional direct communication tactics the City of Fernley should explore during the implementation of this strategic communications plan including development of City billboards or news tickers and the possible development of a City newsletter mailed to residents, property owners, and businesses as part of the City s existing regular mailings sent to key external stakeholders. These direct communication tactics may, however, represent an additional expenditure of resources that the City may not necessarily have at this time. However, the City of Fernley should explore potential cost-saving alternative strategies to develop and implement these additional direct communication tactics. Organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce or the Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority may be willing to share costs in the development and implementation of these tactics. Other public sector organizations, such as Lyon County and the Lyon County School District, may also be willing to share costs in the development and implementation of new direct communication tactics designed to inform and educate the public on key messages of shared importance between the City, County, and School District. 3.2.e Marketing and Advertising Tactics Cost is a major factor in determining the degree and scope of marketing and advertising tactics a local government may choose to employ. These marketing efforts, at least for local governments, are also typically limited to the promotion of fee-based activities and programs, recreation services for example, and are typically funded by the revenues those fee-based A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 70 of 93

79 activities and programs generate. Outside the marketing of fee-based activities and programs, the City of Fernley employs a number of existing marketing and advertising tactics designed to encourage attendance and participation at public hearings, in special events, and other opportunities for community engagement as well. While general marketing and advertising tactics are typically useful in advertising general municipal government functions and community activities, the City of Fernley should also consider developing more targeted marketing and advertising tactics focused on either specific key messages or specific community activities designed to enhance civic engagement and community participation. For example, the City of Fernley currently, as part of its website, operates a Business page. Here, visitors can learn more about the City s formal policies that support and regulate business activity within the City of Fernley. However, this tactic is fairly general and broad. In addition to these general efforts, the City should identity key industry sectors that it wishes to target with its existing business retention, expansion, and recruitment efforts. These efforts should be focused on leveraging the City s and community s existing core strengths as identified during the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats analysis completed during the November 7, 2015 City of Fernley strategic planning community workshop. In partnership with organizations such as the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the Western Nevada Development District, and the University Center for Economic Development, the City of Fernley should design, develop, and implement directed and targeted marketing campaigns designed to retain and expand existing businesses and recruit new businesses in the targeted industry sector(s). As initially mentioned, these marketing and advertising campaigns and tactics can result in significant costs. While the City of Fernley may not have the initial resources to dedicate to these marketing and advertising campaigns by hiring an external marketing and advertising consulting firm or by hiring its own in-house marketing and advertising staff, various (relative) low-cost alternatives do exist. First, the City of Fernley may choose to share these costs with other local government jurisdictions in northern Nevada that share similar marketing and advertising needs. Second, the City of Fernley may choose to employ student interns who are currently studying marketing, advertising, and communications at the University of Nevada, Reno (in the College of Business or the Reynolds School of Journalism), Western Nevada College, and/or Truckee Meadows Community College. As previously mentioned, the marketing students from the University of Nevada, Reno s College of Business recently completed a Rebranding Study of the City of Fernley in 2014 (Appendix A). A paid internship for students in marketing, advertising, and/or journalism may be a relative low-cost alternative approach to developing and implementing a more comprehensive and targeted marketing and advertising campaign. Third, the City of Fernley, as part of its paid membership to organizations like the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, and the Western Nevada Development District, may choose to develop a targeted marketing and advertising campaign with these, as well as other, external organizations. 3.2.f Social Media Strategy Tactics Continued expansion and development of many of the social media tools outlined in section two of this University Center for Economic Development technical report means that the implications A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 71 of 93

80 and best practices for their use by municipal and other government organizations continue to develop and evolve. While the development of content and routine management of these social media tools require some dedication of organizational resources, the use of social media in reaching targeted primary and secondary audiences can be an effective and cost-efficient approach to both internal and external communications when compared to the development and use of traditional television, print, and radio communication approaches. To best begin using these social media tools, the City of Fernley has already begun to use different social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. The City of Fernley, however, has not yet fully deployed and earmarked resources to maintain or leverage those tools. In order to prepare the organization for a more robust online and social media presence, a presence that can better take advantage of the relative low cost usage of social media as a primary communication tool, the City of Fernley should consider the following questions in developing its formal social media policy and administrative guidelines: How will the City of Fernley choose which social media sites and tools or new media opportunities to leverage for official organizational communications? What services will the City of Fernley s targeted primary and secondary audiences be most likely to use and what are their needs and expectations for them? What is the appropriate level of employee access to the City of Fernley s official social media sites? How will the City of Fernley differentiate between personal use of social media and professional use of social media using City of Fernley property (computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.) or during official work hours? What criteria are appropriate and relevant in answering this question? How will the City of Fernley encourage and train the City s official representatives (i.e. elected officials, appointed officials, staff, etc.) to appropriately and properly use social media while interacting with other internal stakeholders, community residents, property owners, businesses, and other external stakeholders? These questions are designed to inform the development of different customer service policies and official and staff training policies to be developed, adopted, implemented and administered by the City of Fernley. The answers that the City of Fernley must, as a matter of public policy and administrative oversight, develop for these questions will also have implications for the City s operating procedures. In answering these questions, the City of Fernley should use the City s recently developed strategic vision, strategic mission, core values, community goals, organizational goals, and implementation measures developed as part of the City s recently adopted organizational strategic plan for Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year Based upon the input received from the various participants who attended in the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops in 2015 and 2016, the City of Fernley s social media tactics, as part of this strategic communications plan, is divided into three general areas, A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 72 of 93

81 including: (1) online photo, video, and podcasting, (2) web-based publishing, and (3) social networking sites. An overview of each area are presented here. Online Photo, Video, and Podcasting Currently, the City of Fernley operates and maintains, in any meaningful way, two official social media accounts including an official City of Fernley Facebook page and an official City of Fernley Twitter feed. Many of the City of Fernley s potential strategic communication partners, including the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, Lyon County, the Lyon County School District, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the Western Nevada Development District, the Nevada Governor s Office of Economic Development, the University of Nevada, Reno, Western Nevada College, and Truckee Meadows Community College, operate a significantly wider array of official social media sites. Many of the official social media sites maintained and operated by these potential partner organizations are designed specifically to support online posting of photos and videos and support some degree of podcasting. The City of Fernley should consider developing its own Flickr, YouTube, Instagram, and potentially itunes podcast sites. Flickr and Instagram are excellent social media sites to disseminate photographs produced by City officials during official City functions and YouTube is an excellent social media site to disseminate user-generated video content that, again, can be produced by City officials during official City functions. Content generated by the City of Fernley for these pages can also be linked to existing City of Fernley official social media sites including the City s Facebook page and Twitter feed. This content could also be developed jointly with any number of the possible strategic communication partners identified above and jointly disseminated through the City s official social media sites and the official social media sites of the aforementioned possible strategic communication partners. Web Publishing Several participants during the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016 indicated a strong desire for the City of Fernley to develop, publish, and disseminate a monthly or quarter City of Fernley Newsletter designed to inform the public about upcoming policy issues, special events, and opportunities for civic engagement. Given the costs associated with production, printing, and distribution of a physical monthly or quarterly newsletter, the City of Fernley could opt to produce a monthly or quarterly web-based newsletter or blog that could cover topics such as upcoming policy issues, special events, and opportunities for civic engagement in a low-cost approach relative to a physically produced and distributed newsletter. Social Networking Sites As outlined in section two of this University Center for Economic Development technical report, the City of Fernley s current use of social media, including use of its official Facebook page and Twitter feed, is fairly limited. An expanded use of existing official sites, including the City s Facebook page and Twitter feed, combined with the development and use of new official City A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 73 of 93

82 social media sites, including a possible City of Fernley LinkedIn page, City of Fernley Instagram page, City of Fernley Flickr page, and/or even a City of Fernley YouTube channel, could provide the City of Fernley with an expanded array of communication and media outlets designed to communicate key messages to key internal and external stakeholders and identified primary and secondary audiences with relatively low levels of needed resources. The use of an expanded social media presence by the City of Fernley can also be used to encourage additional and realtime feedback and input from the City s key internal and external stakeholders and from the City s identified primary and secondary audiences. In addition to these three areas, the City of Fernley should also consider developing a series of action steps in three additional areas, including: (1) online reputation management, (2) search engine optimization, and (3) building engagement through conversations. An overview of each of these three additional areas are presented here. Online Reputation Management As the City of Fernley expands its online and social media presence as part of its wider strategic communications efforts, City staff responsible for community and public relations must continue and increase their monitoring and measuring of the communication that is being disseminated about the City of Fernley through its various online and social media outlets. Since the City s primary interest is local, City community and public relations staff should focus on several areas including using Fiscal Year 2018 (the first year of this strategic communications plan) as a benchmark year that will include observation of local discussion forums, comments posted on posts made by the City of Fernley on its various online and social media outlets, and comments and provided feedback on future web-based published newsletter articles and stories. The City of Fernley should strive to develop positive working relationships with key influencers, or those external parties that generate a significant amount of content regarding the City of Fernley and the community. These key influencers include, but are not necessarily limited to, the primary and secondary audience members and the list of potential strategic communication partners listed in section two of this University Center for Economic Development technical report. The City of Fernley should strive to provide these key influencers with information that they can use to generate content covering the City of Fernley and the community and also provide them feedback regarding how the City of Fernley viewed the coverage. There are a number of online resources and tools that the City of Fernley could potentially employ to track trends in online discussions and social media usage. Official social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Flickr, and YouTube for example, each have built-in statistical analysis tools designed to show the site administrator how many times people commented or shared a post, how many times a particular post was viewed or liked or even disliked, and other statistical estimates valuable in determining whether or not the City is effectively reaching its targeted primary and secondary audiences. Other online statistical analysis tools, such as Trendpedia, can be used by the City of Fernley to better estimate and ascertain the scope and scale of the City of Fernley s online social media reach. For whatever mix of online and social media tools the City of Fernley opts to employ, City staff should prepare A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 74 of 93

83 monthly and/or quarterly reports using the results of these types of statistical analytical tools and report the results to the suggested Community Relations Advisory Board, the City s top administrative staff, and the City s elected officials and other relevant appointed officials. Search Engine Optimization Regarding search engine optimization, the goal of the City of Fernley should be to ensure that information, of any nature, that is purposefully communicated and disseminated by the City of Fernley through its eventual mix of online and social media tools, is made easily discoverable by its various targeted primary and secondary audiences. There are over one trillion websites in Google s existing online database and roughly two billion searches are conducted by visitors to Google s search engine website daily. As a result, it often proves difficult for a single organization to achieve a high ranking on search engine results and to thoroughly disseminate its key messages to a wide target audience. In order to optimize the City of Fernley s results on key word searches, City staff and officials engaged in using online and social media sites should load key words into official online and social media posts made on behalf of the City of Fernley. This is generally done using a hashtag, #, in front of the key word. For example, if the City of Fernley was hosting or advertising for one of the Fernley Chamber of Commerce s Citizens Leadership Academy workshops on its Facebook page, the words #leadership, #civicengagement, #Fernley, as typed here, could be used to increase the number of individuals reached through this post. Building Engagement through Conversations The uniqueness of social media usage is that it enables the City of Fernley, and its elected and appointed officials and staff, to have more two-way conversations with the community s residents, property owners, businesses and other primary and secondary targeted audience members. In addition to the use of social media to elicit audience member feedback and input, the City of Fernley should continue to use and build upon its existing online Customer Satisfaction Survey ( available online through the City of Fernley s webpage. The survey itself is currently divided into six questions with several questions having multiple parts and survey respondents are encouraged to provide other comments via a text box as well as their contact information if the survey respondent wishes to be contacted by City officials as a follow-up. The results of this survey should be collected and summarized monthly or quarterly and presented to any future Community Relations Advisory Board potentially established as part of this strategic communications plan, the City s top administrative staff, and the City s elected officials and other relevant appointed officials. City staff should use the summarized monthly or quarterly results of this survey to identify potential trends that the City could potentially capitalize on in future communication initiatives. These trends could also enable the City to mitigate and manage any concerning trends that have been identified as a lapse or failure in the City s overall communication initiatives. 3.2.g Customer Relationship Management In several ways the City of Fernley is a provider of services to a broad and diverse customer market. While it is inappropriate to classify all the of the City s service provider activities in this A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 75 of 93

84 manner due to the special nature of providing a public good to a constituency, planning services, business license and other regulatory services, and certain recreation services are delivered in a similar manner to how a private sector firm or non-profit organization would provide those services. As a result, the City of Fernley must strive to maintain and improve upon its existing relationship with customers that consume a variety of municipal services provided by the City. Gathering feedback from existing and potentially new uses of online and social media, including the continued use and analysis of the City s online Customer Satisfaction Survey, are valuable ways in which the City of Fernley can routinely and frequently evaluate the relationship it has with customers that directly consume various municipal services. The City of Fernley can also work collaboratively with its various possible strategic communication partners to design, develop, and report on different aspects of overall customer satisfaction in the provision of municipal services. For example, the University Center for Economic Development, part of the University of Nevada, Reno, recently completely a food regulatory roadmap of the entire Western Nevada Development District (UCED Technical Report 2016/17-03) that included an assessment of various food and general business regulatory standards and requirements that each local county and municipal government in the Western Nevada Development District, including Lyon County and the City of Fernley, has and the impacts these regulatory requirements have on general business activity. As of the time of this University Center for Economic Development technical report, the University Center for Economic Development is currently working on a general business survey with the Western Nevada Development District to measure business satisfaction by jurisdiction within the District regarding licensing requirements and processes. The City of Fernley, as part of this strategic communications plan, should explore the possibility of forming some type of internal Customer Service Team comprised of City officials and staff that could regularly assess the degree of customer satisfaction that individuals have when consuming certain services provided by the City. This assessment, which could be completed monthly or quarterly, should be presented, on a regular basis, to any future Community Relations Advisory Board potentially established as part of this strategic communications plan, the City s top administrative staff, and the City s elected officials and other relevant appointed officials. City staff should use the summarized monthly or quarterly results of this assessment to identify potential trends that the City could potentially capitalize on in future communication and administrative initiatives. These trends could also enable the City to mitigate and manage any concerning trends that have been identified from a communications or administrative perspective. 3.2.h Citizen Engagement Tactics During the various City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops held in 2015 and 2016, workshop participants indicated that the City of Fernley, as part of its future communication efforts, should make citizen and civic engagement one of its top priorities. The City of Fernley has already engaged in a number of highly visible citizen and civic engagement programming including support and participation in the Fernley Chamber of Commerce s Citizen Leadership Academy of Fernley and the use of the City s online Customer Satisfaction Survey. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 76 of 93

85 Despite these initiatives, however, workshop participants during the 2015 and 2016 City of Fernley strategic planning community workshops still felt that the City should strive to improve citizen and civic engagement as part of its future strategic communication efforts. Workshop participants suggested using more traditional media outreach tools such as the use of billboards, reader boards, and even development, publication, and dissemination of a City newsletter that could be produced monthly or quarterly and distributed through a variety of channels including having printed versions available in public places (i.e. City Hall, the Fernley Branch Library, and both fire stations including the one at 195 E Main Street and the one at 1300 Red Rock Road), mailed to residents and property owners using the City s existing resident and property owner database, and through web-based and online sources such as and through the City s official webpage. Unlike other municipal governments in the United States that are comparable to the size of the City of Fernley, the City of Fernley has not yet developed a comprehensive plan or set of programs designed to encourage and support community-based citizen and civic engagement. This strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 calls upon the City of Fernley to develop a Citizen Engagement Plan. This Citizen Engagement Plan should consider and contain the following items: A determination of the appropriate level of organizational engagement by the City of Fernley for projects, programs, and/or public policy development designed to encourage citizen and civic engagement. An assessment of the overall effectiveness of current citizen and civic engagement efforts currently being maintained and operated by the City of Fernley. Development on an engagement plan to meet the City of Fernley s organizational and community needs. A matching of appropriation projects, programs, and/or public policy that the City of Fernley could potentially development, implement, and administer to enhance citizen and civic engagement. Development of an implementation plan designed to build the City of Fernley s organizational capacity to effectively and practically involve the community s residents, property owners, and business owners in community decision making. Development of an implementation plan designed to build the community s capacity for construction engagement with the City s elected and appointed officials and government staff. A strategy on how the City of Fernley s staff can work with the City s elected and appointed officials to build their confidence in and appreciation for the full benefit(s) of effective citizen and civic engagement. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 77 of 93

86 A list of benchmarks for all projects, programs, and/or public policy initiatives designed to enhance and increase citizen and civic engagement against established best practices as defined by professional organizations such as the American Planning Association, the American Society for Public Administration, and the International City/County Management Association. A strategy for fostering improved leadership infrastructure that supports constructive citizen and civic engagement. Once the City of Fernley s Civic Engagement Plan has been developed and approved, key messages from the plan, regarding support programs, projects, and/or public policy initiatives, can be incorporated into the cross-promotional channel tactics outlined in this strategic communications plan. The City of Fernley, as part of its Civic Engagement Plan and part of this strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 should further consider the development of a Community Liaison Officer position that would be part of the City s existing organizational and administrative structure. While the availability of resources may not yet support or merit the creation of a separate Community Liaison Officer position, this position could be combined with the development of a Government Information Officer positon. The Community Liaison Officer/Government Information officer would serve as an ombudsman with the responsibility of identifying and taking steps to solve certain constituent problems, working with various community groups and targeted primary and secondary audience members, and other key internal and external stakeholders on neighborhood projects, and providing access to the City s elected and appointed officials and the City s senior management and administration. This Community Liaison Officer/Government Information Officer would also be responsible for assigning individual government administrators and department managers within the City s existing organizational and administrative framework as main points of contact for niche audiences such as senior citizens, youth, and other specific audience members. This individual would be responsible for making monthly and/or quarterly reports regarding ongoing citizen and civic engagement activities undertaken by the City of Fernley to any subsequently created Community Relations Advisory Board, the City s existing set of elected and appointed officials, and senior City of Fernley administrative and managerial staff. 3.2.i Internal Communication The City of Fernley should recognize that its existing administrative staff is the most immediate and direct way in which the City s primary and secondary target audiences receive information about the City. The City of Fernley employs a number of internal communication vehicles and these vehicles should be used as resources for informing the entire organization about the City s key messages and possible issues that may arise throughout the course of regular City activities. The desired outcome, regarding the City s handling of internal communications, should be for the City s administration and staff to understand the City of Fernley s strategic vision, mission, core values, organizational goals, community goals, and implementation measures that were developed and adopted as part of the City s recently completed organizational strategic plan for A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 78 of 93

87 Fiscal Year 2017 through Fiscal Year The City of Fernley s existing administration and staff should be encouraged to effectively and actively communicate these key strategic messages to the City s primary and secondary target audiences. At the same time, the City of Fernley must strive to keep the City s administration and staff, as well as the City s various elected and appointed officials, informed regarding ongoing and future City initiatives and activities including the development, implementation, and administration of public policy. This effort has the double benefit of maintaining and improving organizational morale and in heading off and mitigating any potential sources of misinformation that may be circulated both internally and externally by rumor and false assumptions. In order to improve internal organizational communications, a number of existing and potential future communication tools may be employed, including: All-City internal s. Team meetings. Departmental meetings. Business Update meetings. Phone broadcast announcements. Reverse Internal City Hall Paging System. Newsletters. Council briefings. Fliers and posters. City Manager Brown Bag Sessions. Project Tracking. This is not an exhaustive list of potential internal communication assets but should serve as a list of possible suggested activities that the City of Fernley could employ in order to enhance and improve the City s existing internal organizational communication approaches. 3.2.j Issue Management and Crisis Communications Issues, for the purposes of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, are defined as topics of concern to one or more of the City s primary and secondary targeted audiences that directly relate to one or more current or A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 79 of 93

88 possible City of Fernley public policies, projects, or initiatives. Over the course of a single fiscal year, many issues will arise and, as a result, a certain percentage of these issues may rise to the level of crisis. For the purposes of this strategic communications plan, those issues that may rise to the level of crisis can be either emergencies, such as floods, earthquakes, or fires, or general crises that may result in conflict among internal and external stakeholders. Any threat to public health and human safety should be considered an emergency and any threat to the organization s financial health or reputation should be considered a crisis. The following sub-section, Emergency Communications, addresses the former on how the City should approach its communications to primary and secondary targeted audience members. From a practical position, it will be impossible for the City of Fernley, as an organization, to predict every issue that will eventually rise to the level of crisis over the course of a single year nor is it desirable or feasible to attempt to prepare for every possible contingency. Instead, the strategic recommendations regarding issue management and crisis communications will focus on designing and developing key strategic messages that are designed to position the City of Fernley on a foundation of broad concepts that will allow for flexibility in addressing different situations as they arise. When an issue rises to the level of crisis, the first step for the City of Fernley, from a strategic communications perspective, is to determine what actions, if any, are appropriate for the City, as an organization, to take. The City of Fernley should keep in mind that there can be any number of unintended consequences associated with the development, implementation, and administration of public policy and, if the City is to attempt to proactively respond to every evolving issue, the City could likely waste scarce and precious resources, diffuse the City s key strategic messages, and potentially generate negative stories that might otherwise not have happened. The City should then, therefore, prepare itself through developing clear procedures and general strategies. As issues rise to the level of crisis, the City should first determine if: (1) the issue should be only monitored and no direct response should be made, (2) the issue requires a direct and immediate response, or (3) the issue has risen to the level of crisis. If the issue identified by the City of Fernley does not require a direct response but should instead be monitored, these issues are typically issues generated by the local media or during public comment at public meetings. In most cases, these issues and/or stories may pass without much community discussion or the individuals affected can be directly addressed to solve the problem(s) or have their questions answered. Issues of this type generally revolve around problems that have a very limited impact or a very short lifespan. Issues requiring a direct and immediate response typically are issues that impact a large number of individuals and have a generally longer lifespan, meaning that the issue(s) will continue to impact people over a longer time frame. The standard approach to resolving these issues are for the organization to research the issue and develop a list of specific talking points that describe the issue, outline the City s policy and/or administrative response, and describe the City s implementation plan for resolving the issue or mitigating the issue s negative impacts. In directly and immediately responding to this issues, the organization s elected (and appropriate appointed) officials and appropriate staff should be briefed on the issue. The City should then A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 80 of 93

89 publicly respond to the issue with an explanation on how the organization plans to fix the problem or avoid similar situations in the future. For those issues that reach crisis level, the approach is similar to addressing issues that require a direct and immediate response but in a more robust and organizationally comprehensive manner. Typically, in addressing crisis level issues, the organization should strive to respond publically within 24 hours, or not sooner, of the crisis emerging and being identified as a crisis by the City of Fernley. To promote the highest possible levels of transparency, accountability, and credibility, the City of Fernley pledges to always tell the truth about what has happened and how the City plans to resolve the problem. In order to effectively resolve matters that have reached crisis level, the City must assume any responsibility the City has in regards to the issue rising to the level of crisis, acknowledge its own actions, and move beyond the placing of blame to the development and implementation of a plan to resolve and address the crisis. To do this, the City of Fernley should, in addressing crisis level issues from a communications perspective, should implement the following three phase approach. First, the City should prepare to address the public and its primary and secondary target audience by internally answering three questions, including: (1) what has happened?, (2) what are the questions that people might have?, and (3) what will the City s related key message(s) be? The second phase is for the City of Fernley to construct and deliver an appropriate response. The key to this phase is that the City s key message(s) should explicitly identify what actions, from both a policy and/or administrative perspective, the City will take to address the crisis. The third phase, known as the recovery phase, requires the City to assess the results of its communication activity during the crisis. Here, the City of Fernley should proactively answer the following questions, including: (1) did the City reach its intended audience(s) during the crisis?, (2) was the City s key message(s) accurate?, (3) was the City s key message(s) credible?, (4) did the City solve the identified problem?, and (5) what can the organization learn from this crisis? These answers should be developed in cooperation with the potentially created Community Relations Advisory Board, the City s elected and appointed officials, and appropriate City staff and administrative personnel. 3.2.k Emergency Communications Emergency communications represents one of the most important and critical aspects of the City of Fernley s communication needs largely due to the seriousness of the key message or key messages that the City is attempting to communicate and disseminate to primary and secondary target audiences. These key emergency messages typically address matters of vital importance to public health and human safety and are usually time sensitive. The Nevada open meeting law, found in Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 241, specifically recognizes this time sensitive nature of emergency situations that may require a local government, such as the City of Fernley, to bypass the standard practice of ensuring open and properly noticed meetings. This exemption is found in Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 241 section that defines an emergency as any disaster caused by fire, flood, earthquake or other natural cause, or any impairment of the health and safety of the public (note that Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 241 does establish a procedure by which all local governments must follow in regards to policy decision making in times of an emergency). A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 81 of 93

90 The City of Fernley, as a municipal government in Nevada, is unique in that a large portion of its emergency services, primarily police and fire services, are provided by an entity that is generally autonomous from the general policy making and administrative framework of the City government. Currently, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office is responsible for providing municipal law enforcement and community policing services and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District is responsible for providing fire protection and firefighting services within the City s municipal boundary. Both have their own independently elected governing authority (the Lyon County Sheriff for the Lyon County Sheriff s Office and a Board of Directors for the North Lyon County Fire Protection District). Both entities are also part of Lyon County s overall policy making and administrative framework. However, both entities work collaboratively with the City of Fernley to provide emergency services when required. As of the time of this University Center for Economic Development technical report and development of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, it is unclear as to whether or not a current consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan, or similar document, between the City of Fernley, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District exists. The City of Fernley should, over the next three fiscal years, work closely with the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, the North Lyon County Fire Protection District, and Lyon County to develop a consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan that directly applies to the City of Fernley. This plan should identify various staff roles for staff members for all four organizations and their specific responsibilities during an emergency. Templates of such a plan are available through professional organizations such as the American Planning Association, the International City/County Management Association and the American Society for Public Administration. The State of Nevada s current 2014 State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan, available online at can provide the City of Fernley with additional guidance on developing a consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan that incorporates input and participation by the Lyon County Sheriff s, the North Lyon County Fire Protection District, and Lyon County. 3.2.l Departmental Outreach The value of establishing a permanent Government Information Officer position within the established framework of the City s current administrative structure is found in the ability to dedicate a staff member s time to supporting each of the City s various departments and divisions when it comes to external communications and special events. Each department and division within the City of Fernley is responsible for providing a unique set of public services to a wide variety of existing residents, property owners, and businesses. As a result, each department and division has its own unique set of targeted primary and secondary audience members and the professional training, expertise, and experience of each department administrator and staff member results in a different level of skill and comfort when it comes to public communication. While establishing a permanent Government Information Officer may not yet be feasible given the City s existing resources, the City of Fernley should routinely revisit the possibility of A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 82 of 93

91 creating such a position during each of the next three budget seasons that cover this strategic communications plan. In the interim, the City of Fernley may choose one of several low-cost alternatives. The establishment of an internal Customer Service Team comprised of existing City staff and a subsequent Community Relations Advisory Board could be used to provide communication assistance and support to the various departments and divisions within the City s existing administrative framework. The hiring of a media and/or marketing intern from one of the different Nevada System of Higher Education institutions in northern Nevada may also provide the City of Fernley with a needed individual or group of individuals that can make the City s communication and marketing efforts their sole priority. Of course, this intern would require both supervision and assistance from existing staff. Regardless of the approach taken, the demand for improved and increased communication by the City of Fernley to its various primary and secondary target audiences will likely increase over the next three fiscal years as the community and the region continue to grow. Over the next three fiscal years, the City of Fernley should develop a comprehensive Communications Handbook as part of its current inventory of staff-related training material. This manual or handbook should strive to clarify and communicate the expectations the City s elected and appointed officials and senior administration has for all staff members, regardless of position, regarding official communication between them, as official representatives of the City of Fernley, and various internal and external primary and secondary target audience members. This handbook, templates of which are available through organizations like the International City/County Management Association and the American Society for Public Administration, should include a variety of elements including media training, advice on how to leverage the City s existing communication assets, standards and policies regarding publication and reproduction of City materials, logos, and possible trademarks, and a graphic design style manual to be used in all official City communications. 3.2.m Cross-Channel Promotion Section two of this strategic communication plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 outlined a number of potential strategic communications partners, including, but not limited to, the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, Lyon County, the Lyon County School District, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Lyon County, the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, the Western Nevada Development District, the Nevada Governor s Office of Economic Development, the University of Nevada, Reno, Western Nevada College, and Truckee Meadows Community College. Section two also provided a detailed inventory of various traditional television, print, and radio media outlets operating throughout the nine county region of the Western Nevada Development District as well as a review of the City of Fernley s existing online and social media communication outlets (a webpage, a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed). The City of Fernley, as part of the implementation of this strategic communications plan, must strive to identify opportunities with its potential strategic communication partners and other key internal and external stakeholders, to cross-promote key City messages in ways that maximize potential dissemination of those messages to the City s target primary and secondary audience members. By employing this strategy, the City may be able to substantially leverage its existing A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 83 of 93

92 limited resources dedicated to external and internal communication with the leverages of other organizations and entities. However, the potential of key messages becoming distorted or misrepresented increases as the frequency of cross-promotional activities increase. One single key message may be interpreted by target audience members one way through one channel and interpreted another way through another channel. This distortion may create misunderstanding and confusion amongst the target primary and secondary audience members. This will require the City of Fernley to routinely monitor key messages as they are communicated through various channels and outlets and clarify key messages as they become distorted. The appointment of a Government Information Officer within the City s existing administration structure, or the development of a Customer Service Team and subsequent Community Relations Advisory Board with regularly required reporting and oversight, are just a few of the ways the City can ensure that key messages remain intact while using a cross-channel promotional approach. 3.3 Strategic Communication Implementation and Measurement Efforts This part of the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020, includes a general strategic communications implementation time frame from each of the three fiscal years covered by this strategic communications plan and a list of potential metrics the City should collect and analyze over the three fiscal year time frame covered by this strategic communications plan. 3.3.a Strategic Communication Implementation Time Frame, Fiscal Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019 and Fiscal Year 2020 The following priority action plan for each of the three fiscal years covered by this strategic communications plan, for Fiscal Year 2018, Fiscal Year 2019, and Fiscal Year 2020, outlines key steps the City of Fernley should undertake as part of its implementation of this strategic communications plan. While a year-by-year set of action steps is presented here, fiscal, budgetary and staff resource constraints may need to be taken into consideration as the City attempts to implement this strategic communications plan. Ultimately, the City of Fernley City Council and the City s senior management will have to decide how scarce resources are allocated to the implementation of these suggestions priority action items. Fiscal Year The following presents a list of possible policy and administrative recommendations related to implementation of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Year 1 (Fiscal Year ) of this plan: Establishment of the Community Relations Advisory Board: Comprised of City officials (one elected official, one member of the City s Planning Commission, one member of the Fernley Convention and Tourism Authority Board, with staff representation), a media relations representative, a public relations representative, a marketing representative, a A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 84 of 93

93 branding representative, a design representative, and an advertising professional representative, would meet regularly (monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly) to advise the City government on matters related to the implementation of this strategic communications plan. Establishment of the Sustainability Counsel: Comprised of internal City of Fernley staff to advise the City of Fernley Planning Counsel and/or the City of Fernley City Council on the merits of new infrastructure projects or existing infrastructure maintenance initiatives in regards to each proposal s overall sustainability. Establishment of the Legislative Counsel Bureau: Comprise of internal City of Fernley staff designed to track items of interest being considered by the U.S. federal government, the Nevada state government, and other local governments located throughout northern Nevada. Establishment of an internal Customer Service Team: Comprised of City officials and staff that could regularly assess the degree of customer satisfaction that individuals have when consuming certain services provided by the City. Explore the feasibility of and potentially recruit a Community Liaison Officer and/or Government Information Officer: This individual would be a part-time or full-time staff position to be incorporated into the City of Fernley s existing administrative structure and would report directly to the City Manager. Explore the feasibility of and potentially recruit a Public Relations Intern and/or Marketing Intern from the University of Nevada, Reno s College of Business or Reynold s School of Journalism (or other Nevada System of Higher Education institution): This individual would be a part-time staff position that would be responsible for media tracking and development and implementation of any official City of Fernley marketing and communication efforts. Establish formal City administrative policy regarding official media inquiries. Establish formal City administrative policy regarding use of social media by City of Fernley officials, staffs, and other official representatives. Begin development of a comprehensive Citizen Engagement Plan. Begin development of a comprehensive Consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan: This plan should be developed cooperatively between the City of Fernley, Lyon County, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District. Establish communication training opportunities for City of Fernley elected and appointed officials, staff, and other official City of Fernley representatives. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 85 of 93

94 Fiscal Year The following presents a list of possible policy and administrative recommendations related to implementation of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Year 2 (Fiscal Year ) of this plan: Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Community Relations Advisory Board. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Sustainability Counsel. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Legislative Counsel Bureau. Complete development and begin implementation of the City of Fernley s Citizen Engagement Plan. Complete development and begin implementation of the City of Fernley s Consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan in partnership with Lyon County, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District. Continue providing communication training opportunities for City of Fernley elected and appointed officials, staff, and other official City of Fernley representatives. Expand City of Fernley social media presence: This will include increased use of the City s existing Facebook page, the City s existing Twitter feed, and develop a City of Fernley LinkedIn page, a City of Fernley Instagram page, a City of Fernley Flickr page, and a City of Fernley YouTube channel. Development of a monthly or quarterly City of Fernley newsletter: The City of Fernley should explore the possibility of producing this official newsletter and explore different channels and approaches for distribution of the newsletter. Conduct a minimum of four Community Workshops on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Community Workshops should be staff led. Conduct a minimum of two Town Halls on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Town Halls should be led by the elected officials who currently comprise the City of Fernley s City Council. Conduct a minimum of four Business Update meetings. These Business Updates should be staff led. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 86 of 93

95 Conduct a minimum of two City Manager Brown Bag Sessions. These City Manager Brown Bag Sessions should be led by the City Manager of the City of Fernley. Complete monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly monitoring and reporting to the proposed Community Relations Advisory Board, City Council, other appropriate appointed officials, and staff. This reporting should include a review of the results from the strategic communication metrics collected and analyzed by City of Fernley staff as outlined in the next part of this strategic communications plan as well as a review of any relevant communication, branding, and marketing efforts undertaken by the City of Fernley. Fiscal Year The following presents a list of possible policy and administrative recommendations related to implementation of this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Year 3 (Fiscal Year ) of this plan: Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Community Relations Advisory Board. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Sustainability Counsel. Hold monthly or quarterly meetings of the City of Fernley s Legislative Counsel Bureau. Develop and implement local public affairs programming with City of Fernley elected and appointed officials and department heads and regional media organizations and groups. Explore the potential and possibly develop a City of Fernley billboard or news ticker: This can take the form of a physical billboard or news ticker placed on City property or online using the City of Fernley s website and/or various social media sites. Explore the potential and possibly develop a direct marketing campaign(s) either internally or in partnership using various cross-channel promotion and communication activities with the City of Fernley s potential strategic communication partners. This may also include, but is not limited to, application for various awards recognizing excellence in community and economic development, planning, and municipal and local government administration. Continue implementation of the City of Fernley s Citizen Engagement Plan. Continue implementation of the City of Fernley s Consolidated Emergency Incident Communications Plan in partnership with Lyon County, the Lyon County Sheriff s Office, and the North Lyon County Fire Protection District. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 87 of 93

96 Continue providing communication training opportunities for City of Fernley elected and appointed officials, staff, and other official City of Fernley representatives. Continue to expand City of Fernley social media presence: This will include increased use of the City s existing Facebook page, the City s existing Twitter feed, and develop a City of Fernley LinkedIn page, a City of Fernley Instagram page, a City of Fernley Flickr page, and a City of Fernley YouTube channel. Continue development and publication of a monthly or quarterly City of Fernley newsletter: The City of Fernley should explore the possibility of producing this official newsletter and explore different channels and approaches for distribution of the newsletter. Conduct a minimum of four Community Workshops on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Community Workshops should be staff led. Conduct a minimum of two Town Halls on specific issues and topics of immediate importance to the citizens, residents, and property owners of Fernley. These Town Halls should be led by the elected officials who currently comprise the City of Fernley s City Council. Conduct a minimum of four Business Update meetings. These Business Updates should be staff led. Conduct a minimum of two City Manager Brown Bag Sessions. These City Manager Brown Bag Sessions should be led by the City Manager of the City of Fernley. Complete monthly, quarterly, and/or yearly monitoring and reporting to the proposed Community Relations Advisory Board, City Council, other appropriate appointed officials, and staff. This reporting should include a review of the results from the strategic communication metrics collected and analyzed by City of Fernley staff as outlined in the next part of this strategic communications plan as well as a review of any relevant communication, branding, and marketing efforts undertaken by the City of Fernley. 3.3.b Strategic Communication Metrics The communication metrics for this strategic communications plan for the City of Fernley for Fiscal Year 2018 through Fiscal Year 2020 are divided into four general categories, including: (1) reach and penetration, (2) level of engagement, (3) experience and opinion, and (4) media tracking. These metrics should be collected monthly and/or quarterly and reported to the proposed Community Relations Advisory Board and to the City s elected and appointed officials and appropriate senior administration and management. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 88 of 93

97 Reach and Penetration A basic measure of the success of the City of Fernley s strategic communications plan s initiatives is the number of people who see the various media and key messages produced, operated, and disseminated by the City. A number of metrics can be used in order to determine if the City is reaching its primary and secondary targeted audiences. The City of Fernley will strive, when the data is available, to collect the following data points in order to determine the City s reach (or breadth) and penetration (or depth): Monthly, quarterly, or annual number of City of Fernley survey respondents. Number of online video views of videos posted to the City s website, potential future YouTube channel, or other online media and/or social media sites. Number of RSS subscribes to the City s website. Blog and/or newsroom visits (City s website). Traffic source. Raw author contributions to future blogs (posts per month, characters per post, videos, photos, etc.). Document downloads. Unique website visitor counts. Duration of stay to the City s website and other online pages. Incoming and redirect links. Website transaction volume. In-kind value of ad and public service announcement (PSA) placements. These metrics can also be duplicated for any cross-channel promotion and communication activity the City of Fernley may engage in with its various potential strategic communication partners. Level of Engagement One way to measure engagement is to measure the reach of particular key messages through individual communication channels and the actual participation by targeted primary and secondary audience members and then to compare the various communications methods employed to determine which method yielded the highest levels of participation. This approach is difficult for live events and, as a result, this measurement of effort will be limited to those A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 89 of 93

98 types of events and activities that this type of participation data can be collected from and properly analyzed. For certain types of events, the City of Fernley should strive to collect the following types of information: Attendance at events, forums, community meetings, workshops, and Town Halls collected by use of a sign-in sheet. Participation on citizen advisory boards and committees (either permanently established boards and committees or ad hoc boards and committees used as needed). Conversion or click through rates on the City of Fernley s online and social media communication tools. Participation in online polls and voluntary surveys. Citations or shared content by users who access messages and stories posted by the City of Fernley on the City s various public online and social media tools. These metrics can also be duplicated for any cross-channel promotion and communication activity the City of Fernley may engage in with its various potential strategic communication partners. Experience and Opinion One of the more challenging aspects of the changes in media is that while there is now more subjective feedback available directly from constituents and target primary and secondary audience members, it is often difficult to compile and analyze this feedback in a meaningful way that provides actionable recommendations. One way to collect useful feedback that is meaningful is to collect comments and feedback from various sources and conduct an affinity analysis on the provided and collected feedback to determine general tones or directions those comments are taking. In order to conduct this type of affinity analysis, the City of Fernley should strive to collect the following information and data from its various communication tools: General satisfactions levels with the City s communication efforts (collected from the use of online surveys or annual community updates to the City s organizational strategic plan and this strategic communications plan). User ratings generated by the City s social media sites including Facebook and Twitter and potential other social media sites that the City may choose to develop including Instagram, Flickr, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Mentions of the City of Fernley by online users who follow and use the City s Facebook page and Twitter feed and other potential mentions on other social media sites that the City may choose to develop including Instagram, Flickr, LinkedIn, and YouTube. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 90 of 93

99 Comment tone when the City of Fernley is mentioned on other sites managed by the City s various potential strategic communication partners. Another area that is evolving and will require some attention by the City of Fernley in the future is the realm of online reputation management. This is a type of media tracking that is done through subjective analysis of user comments on blogs, social networking sites, and various discussion groups. The City of Fernley, in partnership with its various potential strategic communication partners, can collect this information and develop appropriate responses to the targeted primary and secondary audience members as needed. Media Tracking One of the ways to determine the effectiveness of attempting to communicate key messages to targeted primary and secondary audience members is to measure the number of times messages appear in the media, be it in traditional forms of media including television, print, and radio or in non-traditional online media outlets. As part of the City of Fernley s efforts to measure the overall breadth and depth of its communication efforts, the City should attempt to track, on a monthly or quarterly basis, news stories featuring either the City of Fernley as an organization or stories pertaining to events, activities, and news related issues pertaining to the community. Tracking media news stories, in either traditional forms of media or non-traditional online media outlets, can often be a time consuming activity. Assigned staff must regularly follow relevant media outlets and assess the news story for relevance, accuracy, and tone. While budgetary considerations may limit the effectiveness of this approach, the City of Fernley should attempt to collect the following data in regards to its media tracking efforts: Number of stories, both in general and on specific topics, generated by various traditional and non-traditional media outlets that were not provided by the City of Fernley. Number of stories, both in general and on specific topics, generated by various traditional and non-traditional media outlets that were provided by the City of Fernley. Tone of the stories identified and assessed by the City of Fernley ranging from positive to neutral to negative. Value of the coverage in-terms of how the City s key message(s) were effectively and accurately covered by the media outlet(s). Building a positive working relationship with the various media outlets located and operating throughout the Western Nevada Development District as outlined in section two of this University Center for Economic Development technical report can significantly improve the ability of the City of Fernley to track media coverage of the organization and the community. The City of Fernley can also work with its various potential strategic communication partners to more effectively track coverage of the City and the community in non-traditional online and A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 91 of 93

100 social media outlets that these various potential strategic communication partners currently operate and maintain. A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 92 of 93

101 Appendix A Rebranding Study of the City of Fernley By the Students of the University of Nevada, Reno s College of Business 11 April 2014 A Strategic Communications Plan for the City of Fernley, Nevada for Page 93 of 93

102 By the Students of the University of Nevada, Reno s College of Business 11 April 2014

103 Table of Contents 1. Introduction and Scope of Work Executive Summary Situation Analysis Brand Development... 5 Community New Business Existing Business 5. Community Recommendations... 6 Communication City Beautification Cultural and Event Enhancement Education 6. New Businesses Recommendations Entry Process for Businesses New Business Opportunities Workforce Relationships with State Government Advertisements to Outside Businesses 7. Existing Businesses Recommendations City and Business Partnership Improvement 8. Epilogue Appendix Figure 1. Recommendations Figure 2. Newsletter Figure 3. Websites Figure 4. Logos Figure 4. Solar Foundation

104 Introduction and Scope of Work In October 2013, officials from the City of Fernley met with a group of University of Nevada, Reno students and presented the challenge to develop a marketing plan to rebrand the city in order to achieve its business and population growth goals. The group of 12 students from the College of Business brings varied skill sets, experience and fields of expertise, allowing them to work effectively toward obtaining a shared objective: to rejuvenate the image of the City of Fernley to its residents, businesses and potential businesses. As part of the rebranding, the group determined it was necessary to take a holistic approach; encompassing city s overall resources, opportunities and challenges. As with any project such as this, it is necessary to gather a vast amount of data to attain an in-depth understanding of the internal situation facing the City of Fernley. To begin the research, the students sent out surveys, analyzed data, conducted focus groups, and met with community members as well as local businesses. From the research phase, it was determined that the marketing plan would focus on three main areas: to improve the community, expand existing businesses and attract new businesses. Task 1: Research Survey Focus group Personal interview Community Members Business Stakeholders Task 2: Plan Development Set Objectives and Goals Brand Recommendations Visual Identity Messaging Product Development Marketing Evaluation - 2

105 Executive Summary On October 1, 2013, the City of Fernley formally presented an opportunity to rebrand the City to a group of students at the University of Nevada, Reno in the College of Business. The City asked for specific items to be included into the plan including brand development, product development, public relations, organizational support and measuring success. The students began a comprehensive analysis surveying the City s history, demographics, past and current marketing strategies, and a current assessment of the business environment. An online survey was distributed to local businesses and a focus group was administered in February, 2014, with 13 business owners and participants. From the analysis and research, the class found 3 areas of specific focus to improve. These areas can be divided into Attracting New Businesses, Existing Business Relations, and Community Perception and Engagement. Complimentary and creative recommendations were developed to address these challenging sectors. The goal of these recommendations is to make Fernley more attractive to business looking for relocation, increase connectivity within the community and improve the perceived image of Fernley to internal and external stakeholders. The data uncovered Fernley s current reputation is tarnished in several areas. This is partly due to lack of connectivity and communication throughout the city. This vulnerability hampers business efforts, event planning and trust. However, Fernley s distinct strengths: friendliness and community, still thrive and is a resources that will rebuild the City s image, brand and infrastructure. Key recommendations to accomplish this task include the renovation of the City website, beautification of the City, development of City-wide events, workforce development and pursuit of state financial incentives. Given the successful implementation of the recommendations over a three year period, the City of Fernley is predicted to improve economic activity, increase its business population and become a competitive city in northern Nevada. - 3

106 Situation Analysis The City of Fernley s current situation is wrought with many challenges that once overcome, will give way to opportunity and prosperity. Some of the major challenges are disconnects between the community, businesses and city officials. After data collection, the group developed a SWOT analysis, which provided a snapshot of the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external opportunities and threats faced by Fernley. Looking at the internal aspects, some of the strengths include a positive environment in which to live, available flat open land with close proximity to rail and Tahoe Reno Industrial Complex (TRIC) allowing great potential for business growth and employment. In contrast, some of the weaknesses include lack of a skilled labor force and education/training institution to produce one. Furthermore, there are many financial challenges and inconsistent business practices and the city faces competition from Reno as well as other smaller surrounding communities such as Fallon and Yerington. A snapshot of the SWOT analysis is presented below: Strengths Flat Land and Available Friendly Affordable Close to Rail and Freeway Family Friendly Safe Small Low Traffic Proximity to Tahoe Reno Industrial Complex Weaknesses Education/Labor Force Communication Aesthetics Pricing of existing property too high Water too expensive, not plentiful Permit process inconsistent Limited choices for consumers Funding challenges within city No focal point, meeting place Process to open business in city not streamlined Attracting new businesses Opportunities Access to transportation Proximity to Burning Man Outdoor recreation Business Friendly for Nevada Capitalizing on Reno/Sparks event Building a vibrant downtown district Young workforce Threats Competition from neighboring areas for residents Freeway through TRIC to Silver Springs, potentially bypassing Fernley Margins Tax Other smaller cities with more known reputations Fallon, Yerington WNC potential shutdown - 4

107 Brand Development Fernley is a small town with an eclectic group of people who genuinely care about their community and who believe that their city should be viewed as friendly and welcoming, as said in the focus group and the online survey. Fernley has open land, close access to numerous cities via railway or road, and a variety of activities available, including four-wheeling, hunting, fishing, and hiking. Preservation of the city s history is imperative. Therefore, the brand elements of Fernley, should emphasize friendliness, cohesiveness, community, and business growth opportunities. To accomplish this, unique recommendations were developed (Appendix, Figure 1). Community The City of Fernley will construct a cohesive community where visitors and residents can experience an attractive, relaxing, and family oriented atmosphere. The people of Fernley should have strong communication channels and be well informed of what is happening in their community. The town should have a small-town feel, though it should be inviting to new companies, arts, and varied lifestyles. As a result, Fernley will become a stronger community with a support system for their Fernley pride. New Business The Fernley brand will be critical for attracting new businesses for potential relocation to the Fernley area. In order to attract new business, the city must first recognize the opportunities it has available, including proximity to rail, interstate freeway, buildable flat land, affordability of housing, and opportunity for company growth. A Sherwin Williams Human Resources representative said that after eight successful years in Fernley, the company plans to expand operations within the next five years. This demonstrates economic growth and success are attainable in Fernley. Existing Business The existing businesses within the City of Fernley should have a central focus on open communication and engagement with city officials, other businesses, and community organizations such as The Chamber of Commerce. Existing businesses are critical stakeholders in the community and have the ability to generate rapid, positive change by implementing key recommendations. Improving communication with businesses, city government and residents will promote cohesiveness among the stakeholders. - 5

108 Recommendations Community Recommendations Fernley s community is unique and should be fostered and encouraged so visitors can more easily see the benefits of living and working in Fernley. The suggestions below should help to strengthen Fernley s small-town feel by increasing communication between residents, city government, and business with improved city websites, newsletters, and the utilization of social media. The introduction of cultural events, such as Burning Man and Fernley Day, and additional city beautification efforts will help engage the community and encourage new visitors and potential residents. Improving education through workforce development will help ensure Fernley has the resources for long term growth. Communication Community was the #2 most favored feature of Fernley in a focus group. However, lack of communication and connectivity within the community was also cited as a problem by the focus group and online surveys. To facilitate communication between the business sector, government, and citizens of Fernley, the following is recommended: a newsletter, a renovated website, usage of social media, and a new logo for the city. All of these efforts can be achieved through an internship run by the city, a local business, with assistance of the University of Nevada, Reno. An intern will be able to work on all aspects of the following recommendations for minimal cost. Newsletter As reported in the preliminary survey and focus group, a key weakness within the City of Fernley was communication. Business owners, community members, and government officials believed that there was a disconnect between the three segments that make up the city. To facilitate communication, the City of Fernley should develop a newsletter (Appendix, Figure 1). The newsletter, Fernley Focus, will be printed with the water bill to reduce costs and ensure delivery to every home and business location. Broken into three sections, the newsletter will feature a page for government commentary, a page featuring Fernley businesses and an outstanding citizen, and a final page with a community calendar. The calendar will also have links to the new online community calendar. Produced on a monthly basis, the newsletter will provide a better form of communication between businesses, the city government, and citizens of Fernley. Website Communication can be better facilitated in the City of Fernley with a renovated website that is more user-friendly, informative, and welcoming. The goal of the website should be to inform locals and attract perspective businesses and residents. Examples of similar websites for cities can be found in the Appendix, Figure 2. An example of the renovated Fernley website can be seen in Figure 3 of the Appendix. An easy way to begin the website renovation would be by updating the existing tabs on the home page to: Our Community demographic and historical information with pictures of the town. - 6

109 Residents welcome message to new residents, opportunities to get involved for new and existing residents (community engagement program), as well as, any public services and emergency practices in the city. Business what makes Fernley attractive, start a business, job opportunities, economic and community development. Make Silver Flume prominent and easy to identify. Government leadership, departments, agendas and minutes. Events what is happening in the city? Include pictures of events and residents, add up-to-date calendar that shows all community events. This will also feature a new calendar that features events throughout the city. Local businesses can submit new events that will be added to the calendar. Online services utilities, fees/fines, permits. This section will also include an online forum and suggestion area where current Fernley residents can submit concerns about the city and/or recommendations for improvement. Social Media With the advent of technology and social media, the City of Fernley can take better advantage of Facebook and Twitter. Currently, the city s Facebook page has 1,900 likes (approximately 10% of the population). The city could use Facebook as a tool to attract future businesses and residents. This can be done by promoting the activities and events available in Fernley. Additionally, current Fernley residents can be engaged. Residents can post reasons why they love their town, share pictures, promote community events, and job opportunities. Any negative comments on Facebook should not be ignored or deleted, but should be addressed and resolved. These tactics for Facebook can also be utilized for the city s Twitter page. Frequent updates, posts, and tweets of at least once day will keep the community engaged and maintain Fernley s online presence at little-to-no cost. New Logo Included in the Appendix, Figure 4, there are 6 available logos to symbolize simplicity. Based on polling and audience review, the most favored logo is #3. The logo design was implemented into several mock advertisements and promotions to demonstrate the logo s versatility. Additionally, several taglines were developed to support the logo. Favored phrases were The Gateway to Nevada and Great Companies, Greater Communities. Both taglines emphasize Fernley s importance in Nevada and fosters the image of camaraderie. When chosen, the new logo and tagline should be featured in all ancillary items distributed from the city government. Additionally, it should be included in all marketing, promotional, and business-related materials, which includes packets, stationary, business cards, recruiting documents, newsletters, signs, etc. City Beautification The feedback provided during the focus groups and surveys was that Fernley needed more of a centralized down town and that the current Main Street needed an overhaul. While Fernley has a current endeavor to beautify Fernley, the recommendation is that it s taken further to ensure that the efforts involve the community and that the efforts continue and become something people look forward to participating in year over year. - 7

110 To ensure that the current beautification effort lasts and attract visitors and future businesses the following yearly events are suggested: Extreme Makeover: Fernley Edition i. Take part in 150 years of Nevada and show Nevada pride by improving the city ii. Kickoff event for annual (semi-annual) community cleanups iii. Get news organizations Mason Valley News/RGJ, media iv. Involve high school (for grade incentives), churches, and local businesses Annual, city-sponsored clean-up day with BBQ i. Promote involvement of business teams ii. Team with most poundage of trash wins free catered lunch/ice cream iii. Get local sanitation/garbage involved for pickups Annual Repair Downtown Fernley Day i. Day of fixing downtown with paint and toolboxes It s also suggested that the City of Fernley starts a nonprofit, similar to or a possible extension of Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, to help fund and continue ongoing efforts to keep the area attractive. A community garden run by the public schools is suggested to be placed along historic Main Street. This effort will help beautify the Main Street area and will involve school children in the overall effort. To engage the business community, sponsorship could be requested for the events. Cultural and Event Enhancement Burning Man The Burning Man event, which brings in more than 68,000 people, is an economic driver for the state of Nevada and more prominently, northern Nevada. The City of Fernley currently has a connection to the Burning Man event through the festival s Board of Directors, but could benefit more from the travelers. To create a better connection with Burning Man, it is recommended that the City of Fernley create a partnership with the Burning Man Arts Foundation. Any of the following recommended events would bring in money for Fernley as Burning Man attendees travel through the city. A portion of event proceeds could be donated to the Burning Man Arts Foundation. In return, the foundation will help advertise associated events in Fernley with their newsletter that is distributed to over 100,000 readers, entitled, The Jackrabbit Speaks. The following are recommended events that the City of Fernley could put on with the Burning Man Arts Foundation: Art Map The art map would be a large geographic map of the City of Fernley showing all artistic, historic, and unique aspects of the city. This map can be part of the new art piece installations from prior Burning Man festivals. Prior art pieces from Burning Man can be featured as part of - 8

111 the map, but its prevalent feature will be the various destinations throughout Fernley. This should be located on either side of Fernley where the most Burning Man attendants will be able to see it. Fourth of Juplaya Every Fourth of July, Burning Man attendants from the local and surrounding areas have a small get-together in the Black Rock Desert. The City of Fernley can take advantage of this by offering opportunities for travelers to stock up on supplies, rest, and/or eat before or after their time in the desert. Also, this is an opportunity to collaborate with Reno s Artown, since it will be occurring in July as well. Trash Collecting When attendants are finished with the events of Burning Man, their city laws mandate the removal of all trash. The City of Fernley can attract a sizeable crowd by offering to dispose of this trash for the attendants at $5 per bag. As aforementioned, a portion of the proceeds from the trash collection will go to the Burning Man Arts Foundation, while the rest would supplement the City of Fernley. With this partnership, Burning Man would encourage their participants to dispose of their trash in Fernley instead of the other locations. This will also bring more people into the City of Fernley following their event. Dust-Off Event The Dust-Off Event will allow Burning Man attendants to clean up, dust off, and enjoy what Fernley has to offer. The event will take place following Burning Man and allow visitors to clean their belongings, themselves, and their vehicles for a small fee. A showcase of local artists and food can also be set up at the event to entertain visitors as their belongings are cleaned. Fernley Day Fernley Days would be an event that is unique to Fernley and to the surrounding areas that celebrates Fernley s history and culture. The goal of this event is to draw business, residents, and community leaders together and to attract visitors to see all that Fernley has to offer. The findings from the focus group indicate that one of Fernley s strength s is that Fernley has the small town, close community feel, however a weakness it lacks one large city sponsored event that would allow the community to more easily gather and celebrate together. The surrounding communities all have unique and distinct events that draw crowds. Fallon has the Cantaloupe Festival, Yerington has Night in the Country, and Virginia City has the Rocky Mt Oyster Festival and Camel Races. The recommendation is to create an event that is unique to Fernley and one that celebrates its history and culture. The event is suggested to last over a week and should expand on a currently successful event, i.e. July 4, and should combine some of the current yearly events. By combining multiple events into one and allowing the event to be over a week, creates multiple options for attendees and vendors, and could attract additional residents and visitors from surrounding communities. Suggested current/past events to include in Fernley Days: - 9

112 Fernley Jr Rodeo - Could involve the local 4H clubs at the high school and the local Fernley Rodeo Association. Fernley High school craft fair. This could help to attract the local artists to participate in the function. Nevada gun fighters. Previously presented during a multicultural fair in Fireman s ball at the Firehouse a previous event that was successful in raising money for a non-profit organization. Rail days a past event (sponsored by Fernley Preservation Society) to include tours of the Fernley Railway Depot and the old one room school house on Main Street Fernley Golf Classic New events to incorporate that revolve around the Western Fernley Theme: Farmers market/flea Market Cowboy poetry night have local country singers as a precursor to Yerington s Night in the Country late July an event that includes the Fernley race track Wigwam and Native American artifact museum To help market the event and give the event an identity, a mascot that is unique to Fernley is suggested: a Railroader since the story goes that Fernley was founded by someone from the railroad. Because there are already funds allocated for the current event additional costs could be kept low. However, business sponsorships could provide additional needed funding. Funding possibilities Grant through -The Fernley Convention & Tourism Authority Lyon County Room Tax Board- (To advertise the resources of Lyon County related to tourism) Currently funding Yerington s night in the country. Local Business sponsorship Fernley Preservation Society current sponsor of Rail Days Fernley Rodeo Association Showcase Local Art To improve the art culture within the community the City of Fernley should showcase art from locals within the official buildings around the city. Showcasing the local artists will show anyone visiting official buildings within the city that Fernley is proud of its residents and the artwork they are producing. The artwork showcased should be all different forms of artwork including paintings, photographs and sculptures. To be showcased local artists should apply through the city and if selected their artwork should be displayed for at least three months at a time. If not enough artists are applying to have their art showcased rotating where the artwork is within a building will work to gain more exposure for the artwork. - 10

113 Surrounding Area Event Tie-Ins Fernley s close proximity to Reno, Fallon, Sparks, Yerington, and other local towns is a great opportunity for the city to capitalize on their events. For example, the City of Fernley can use Reno s Air Races, Hot August Nights, Rib Cook-off, Balloon Races, Street Vibrations, and Artown, as an opportunity to bring tourists to their city. Associated Fernley events should be planned before or after the ongoing event in another city. Examples can include the Fourth of Juplaya, which draws crowds from the Burning Man Event, or a Chili Cook-Off to pull crowds from the Sparks Rib Cook-Off. Education One of the recommendations for the City of Fernley is to better develop the education at the high school level, so that the city is able to better provide educated, skilled employees to both work and live in the city. In order to provide more skilled employees, the City of Fernley can provide more support towards the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program at Fernley High School. In order to fund this and better network students to employers in the city, Fernley High School, in conjunction with the City of Fernley can develop a corporate sponsorship program. This program would ask for a $1,000 donation from companies in Fernley to develop the CTE career cluster of their choice, as well as provide 10 hours of instruction, or company engagement to the students. Currently, there are many career clusters that the CTE program has to offer; however, there is potential to sponsor the creation of three new programs. The first program is a small business or entrepreneurship development career cluster. This career cluster would feature courses including "Introduction to Economics," "Small Business Accounting," "Management," and "Marketing and Buyer Behavior." These courses would allow students to better understand entrepreneurship and small business development. This cluster could seek corporate sponsorships from the Nevada Small Business Development Center, the Fernley Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Association of Western Nevada, as well as Entrepreneurship faculty and students from the University of Nevada, Reno's College of Business. Another career cluster to be developed would be a technology cluster. This technology cluster would allow students at the high school level to be involved in courses including "Database Systems," Network and Community Security," and "Cybersecurity." Allowing the technology career cluster to partner with companies such as EE Technologies or International Game Technology would promote connections between students and local businesses, as well as allow the companies to train students to work directly for a technology company upon graduation. The final career cluster that Fernley High School can develop is a supply chain management or logistics career path. This cluster would include classes that would help develop a student's understanding of supply chain or logistics planning and it would incorporate "Introduction to Supply Chain Management," "Master Planning," and "Scheduling and Planning." The supply chain management and logistics planning career cluster would have the opportunity to seek sponsorships from major companies including Amazon.com, UPS Worldwide Logistics, or Ozburn Hessey Logistics (OHL). Apart from growing the Career and Technical Education program at Fernley High School, the City of Fernley would help bring Fernley businesses and guest presenters into the high school to promote business in Fernley and explain the benefits of working and living in Fernley. Apart from bringing in guest speakers, the City would also help host multiple career - 11

114 fairs at the high school for graduating seniors and juniors to learn more about the opportunities that exist in the City of Fernley. 1. Education- The goal is to develop a more experiential workforce with targeted skills Apply CTE classwork to future jobs i. Develop 3 new CTE Career Clusters for Fernley High School 1. Small Business / Entrepreneurship Development a. Courses to include i. Introduction to Economics ii. Small business Accounting 1. Work with current Accounting CTE cluster iii.management iv. Marketing Behavior b. Business Partners i. Small Business Development Center ii. Fernley Chamber of Commerce iii.economic Development Association of Nevada (EDAN) iv. Entrepreneurship faculty from the College of Business 2. Technology b. Courses to include v. Database Systems vi. Network & Communication Security vii. Cybersecurity c. Business Partners i. International Game Technology ii. EE Technologies 3. Logistic / Supply Chain Operations c. Courses to include iii.introduction to Supply Chain Management iv. Master planning v. Scheduling and planning d. Business Partners i. Amazon.com ii. UPS Worldwide Logistics iii.ozburn Hessey Logistics (OHL) ii. Develop a Corporate Partners program to sponsor CTE programs 4. Corporate Partner Membership d. $1000 donation to Fernley High School OR, e. 15 hours of volunteer service towards benefiting the CTE programs of Fernley High School 5. Possible Corporate Partners f. Amazon.com g. International Game Technology h. Lowes - 12

115 i. Sherwin Williams j. Trex Inc. k. UPS Worldwide Logistics l. Wal-Mart iii. Guest speakers 6. Mayor LeRoy Goodman 7. Small Business owners of the City of Fernley 8. University of Nevada, College of Business Faculty Career fairs for high schoolers - 13

116 New Businesses Recommendations At the core of any economic development plan is the need to attract new enterprise to the city. The following sections will highlights the current issues with the entry process based on survey results of existing businesses. This section also identifies roadblocks that are hindering the ability of the city to attract businesses, specifically with regard to the available workforce. Several potential businesses and industries have been identified as potential recommended for the cities consideration. Entry Process for Businesses In the effort to attract new business, the City of Fernley must take a closer look at the entry process for new businesses. The Fernley website references Business Support Services and an Economic Development Team to proactively meet the needs of the business community, providing a one stop service guiding businesses through the regulatory process. Based on the survey information collected from Fernley business owners, the entry process is not as friendly as the city website states. From focus groups conducted during our research participants said, Businesses have wanted to locate in the past, but the spaces were priced too high for employers to rent. They also believe that the process to enter is too difficult. The last area of concern is communication. Communication between the city and local business is a critical process that must be improved to support not only existing businesses but new businesses as well. Cities deter businesses when they have excessive site costs, a slow review process, and when they rely too heavily on subsidies as a means to attract investment rather than as a tool to close deals. In order to attract additional businesses to the Fernley area, it is critical to streamline and standardize the entry process for all businesses, big and small. Building and permitting processes need to be simplified and turnaround time should be decreased. The Fernley Economic Development team truly needs to become a one stop shop, championed by the city and the Chamber of Commerce and dedicated to the big picture of economic development. As the pilot city for the SilverFlume, Nevada s business portal, Fernley can be the first to simplify the business entry process and use it as a selling point when courting potential businesses. New Business Opportunities The business potential in Fernley is extensive based on its location, geography and Nevada s beneficial tax structure. Several new business opportunities have been identified as potential matches for the City of Fernley, including wind and solar power, logistics/distribution and recreation. The amount of land available in and around the city provides a critical asset for companies. Not only does this resource provide affordable options, but also the possibility for companies to expand as their business grows. Renewable energy is a market where large areas of land, especially flat land, are required and where federal assistance is offered to public and private entities. The city should capitalize on this available market directly or by partnering with a private entity. Due to the budget constraints of the city at this time, a public private partnership would be the best course to develop this potential market. The Solar Foundation, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (see Appendix, Figure 5) provides guidance for cities and municipalities to determine if their site is suitable for solar energy. The City of Fernley should investigate the acreage it has available to dedicate to green energy project. - 14

117 According to the Solar Foundation, once a municipality has a clear understanding of which sites under their control are appropriate for solar development, the next step is to solicit bids by issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a developer who will develop, install, finance, interconnect, operate, and maintain the solar energy system and related equipment. In addition, developers should be responsible for identifying and negotiating a power purchase agreement with the entity that will buy the electricity produced by the system. Kingman, Arizona is an example of a city that has utilized this method as an economic development tool. Boulder City, Nevada had approved a plan with a solar partner, which according to city officials was estimated to contribute $12 million dollars in revenue annually. This deal recently fell through for the city when the selected solar partner failed to secure funding but could have been a significant economic driver had an appropriate partner been selected. The City of Fernley should further investigate the several state and federal resources available to assist in the development of green energy. The accessibility to road and rail makes Fernley a natural choice for logistics and distribution. The presence of companies like Amazon, Sherwin Williams and others in Fernley is a testament to this. In order for the city to attract new business and compete with the Reno area and the logistics center located at USA Parkway, Fernley must differentiate itself. As mentioned in the entry process section above, Fernley must make it easier than its competitors to setup and do business. A real understanding of the state s SilverFlume program will be a valuable asset. The additional pieces of the puzzle required to build Fernley s logistics and distribution capabilities and compete with other locations are focusing on the development of a more qualified workforce. This idea will be expanded upon in later sections. By creating an educated and business friendly environment and leveraging the cost benefits of the more rural landscape, companies will be more willing to consider Fernley. A consistent theme encountered during our research was the addition of a movie theater to the City of Fernley. While this would be a great step toward economic development, the close proximity of Fernley to Reno and the grand opening of a new IMAX theater at the Legends facility in Sparks make this an unlikely possibility given the city s current population. If the city does wish to pursue this option, the best way to proceed would be to request an RFP to determine the interest level of different companies to open a small two or three screen movie theater in Fernley. While a movie theater may not be built in the near future, this does create an opportunity for the city government to connect with the local community. The city could organize and provide a movie theater experience at city hall or at a local public venue once a month or as they see fit. The University of Nevada adopted a similar idea a number of years ago where new movies would be screened on the lawn at no cost to students or the public. Whether the city decided to provide this service for free or charge a small fee, this could be a relatively inexpensive opportunity to meet the needs of citizens and connect with the community. Lastly, recreational tourism provides a potential for economic growth for the city. Fernley is located in the heart of the west, renown for outdoor activities, and only minutes from Pyramid Lake, a location known for world class fishing of the Lahontan Cutthroat trout. The city should investigate partnering with local business and conservation groups to creating an atmosphere that caters towards outdoor enthusiast. Many small Nevada cities have embraced these possibilities and infused their local economies. Battle Mountain has created an annual chukar hunting competition, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has a large banquet in Ely every year. Fallon has an annual Duck s Unlimited dinner. While these events may be small at first, they provide a platform to promote Fernley and attract people to the town. - 15

118 Workforce Throughout the research, local businesses commented that the lack of a qualified workforce was one of the main downfalls to being located in Fernley. If new businesses come to Fernley, it is vital that they have a qualified workforce. One participant of the focus group noted that while the quantity of workers is available in Fernley, they could not find enough workers that had the potential to be trained and succeed in their company. In order to improve the quality of workers, significant enhancements to workforce development will have to be made in Fernley. In a case study conducted by the University of North Carolina, the city of Morrilton, Arkansas, was similar to Fernley in many ways. Morrilton was close to a large urban center, 50 miles from Little Rock, Arkansas, and it was only 2 miles from the interstate highway. The city was founded in the late 1800s and its economy was based in farming and industry. However, when the two largest employers in the city shut their doors, the city was faced with high unemployment and an unskilled labor force. In response, Morrilton established a training program that taught the laid-off workers basic computer software and technology skills. Within six months of the training centers opening, the town had recruited a banking call center and then, within a year of the two large companies closing, they had recruited two other businesses (Telex Communications with 200 employees and Semco with 135 employees). Another great initiative Morrilton took was partnering with the Fort Smith Branch of the University of Arkansas to develop a basic management training program. The program helps train current employees and gets them ready for management positions so the companies are not forced to hire outside of Morrilton. These activities are all things that Fernley can do. In many instances, Fernley is ahead of the competition. For example, Fernley already owns a computer lab within City Hall and with the new initiative to apply for grants; the City of Fernley can truly make the computers a vital training tool for its residents. Investing in Fernley s workforce is really what will help drive new businesses to Fernley. One of the large businesses interviewed as part of the focus group mentioned that they like being in Fernley and want to expand, but without the guarantee of a skilled labor force, they fear that they may not be able to. The City of Fernley needs to work with either the University of Nevada, Reno or the community colleges to identify regional workforce training needs and develop a training program in partnership with existing and new businesses in order to cater the program to the needs of the employers. Relationships with State Government While the City of Fernley does not have a vast array of economic development resources, the city can work closer with the Governor s Office of Economic Development. There is a large, untapped fountain of resources at the State level that Fernley needs to help educate potential businesses about. The resources for the state are also resources for Fernley. There are several resources and programs being offered by the Governor s Office of Economic Development, including rural community development, procurement outreach, Nevada film office, incentives, and financial resources. Each of these resources offer financial assistance to Fernley and will bolster the economy. - 16

119 The Rural Community Development Division of the Nevada Governor s Office of Economic Development (GOED) helps community development throughout rural Nevada and is tasked with enhancing the quality of life in rural Nevada. The Rural Community Development Division administers the State and Small Cities Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program and Fernley is one of the local government agencies that can apply of the State CDBG funds. These funds can be used for activities such as acquisition of property for public purposes, demolition, construction or reconstruction of streets, neighborhood centers, recreational facilities, public services, assistance to nonprofit entities for community and economic development activities and assistance to private, for-profit entities to carry out economic development activities, including assistance to micro-enterprises. In the past Fernley has applied for these funds and should continue to use them as a resource. The Governor s Office of Economic Development also offers procurement outreach through its Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC). The PTAC can help businesses with education, marketing, technical assistance, support documentation, ecommerce, and networking assistance when applying for state contracts. The PTAC offers all of these services without charge. The City of Fernley can use these as a recruitment tool for new businesses to show all of the resources a business could have at its disposal. Fernley also needs to educate its existing businesses about these unique resources. The Nevada Film office is another unique part of GOED and while it is not new, there has recently been some new legislation passed that has made this office even more effective. In the 2013 Nevada Legislative Session, a film tax credit bill was passed. The bill was passed to help attract the film industry to Nevada and one of the great features is that it offers higher incentives when filming takes place in a rural area. The incentive is a transferable tax credit on 15% of the cumulative qualified production costs, 12% on wages, salaries and fringe benefits to non-resident above the line personnel and 12% on wages, salaries and fringe benefits to nonresident below the line personnel through December 31, 2015 (reduced to 10% in 2016, and 8% in 2017). There is also a plus 2% bonus of the cumulative qualified production costs if below the line residents are more than 50% of the total below the line personnel and another 2% of the cumulative qualified production costs if more than 50% of the filming days occurred in a Nevada county in which of each of the two years immediately preceding the date of application, qualified productions incurred less than $10 million of direct expenditures which will benefit the rural counties in the state, including Fernley. The State, through the Governor s Office of Economic Development can also offer a wide array of incentives. These incentives include sales and use tax abatements, modified business tax abatement, personal property tax abatement, real property tax abatement for recycling, Train Employees Now (TEN-matching grants of up to 75% for training programs for eligible employees), and Silver State works employee hiring incentive. In addition to the incentives, there are also financial resources available to companies in Nevada including industrial development revenue bonds, the Silver State Opportunities Fund, Nevada Microenterprise Initiative, Nevada Small Business Development Center, and the State Small Business Credit Initiative. All business can apply for these incentives and financial resources, and they are a great addition to the recruiting plan for Fernley to use. Advertisements to Outside Businesses Two recommendations for advertising to potential businesses are to develop a brochure that can be sent out along with a feature online that people can look at for more information. The - 17

120 second is to sponsor meeting events to bring in business to explore Fernley. A brochure is suggested because it is small, accessible, and easy to read. It is easier to catch the attention of an employer and they are more likely to read it. After being engaged with the brochure, they may want to know more and go online to find out more information. This is where having a feature online with more details comes into play. It is easy to access and most people will do their research online before going anywhere else. Sponsoring meeting events can help seal the deal. Organizing a tour of what the town has to offer along with going over business details is a nice touch that shows companies Fernley is there to help. This way people get a first-hand experience and letting them get a feel for the town can help them make a decision. This meeting event can involve anything; it is up to the person organizing it and can be changed and altered to fit the potential company. This can even become a large event where more than one company can attend and see all that Fernley has to offer. Billboards One way to increase the city s attractiveness to visitors and current residents is through billboard advertisement. Examples of this can be seen in other rural Nevada cities, such as Elko and Winnemucca. Companies to contact in pursuit of billboard advertisement include YESCO from Reno. - 18

121 Existing Businesses Recommendations Continued communication and involvement between existing business and city government is vital to foster the current business community to ensure long term growth. City and Business Partnership Improvement Recommended actions for this partnership will be to create an open forum with business on the new website and develop a recommendation box for the city. An open forum will facilitate communication between all businesses along with community officials. This can be a blog with open comments. A blog allows people to spread the word about events, ask for help or volunteers, or express any concern that they may have. Other people will be able to see this and can easily respond to any comments. The development of a recommendation box for the city can show the people that Fernley is working towards making things better. What can help make this successful is to pick a one recommendation per month and implement that recommendation. This will show people that their voices are being heard and that action is being taken. A way to keep track of these requests is through GoogleDocs. On this document they can list concerns, create recommendations, and demonstrate action. - 19

122 Epilogue Throughout this economic development plan, key recommendations have been made to accomplish the task of renovating and revitalizing the City of Fernley. These recommendations include renovation of the city website, the beautification of the city, development of city-wide events, education development, and pursuit of new business and financial incentives. No one recommendation alone will provide the sought benefit for the city, but with commitment and a long term goal of economic development, the City of Fernley over the next three to five years is predicted to garner more finances, increase its business population, bolster itself economically, and become a competitive city of Northern Nevada. Year 1 Overhaul the City Website, Logos, brochures, etc. Research the current business entry process and ensure that ongoing communication occurs during the SilverFlume Pilot program Pursue business sponsorship for CTE, events and beautification efforts. Begin workforce and education overhaul by utilizing the cities current resources Investigate possible tax incentives to attract new business Year 2 Continue ongoing efforts for SilverFlume program Further develop continuing education plans and workshops for workforce Introduce Fernley Days with new events Introduce beautification events Begin pursuing new business Year 3 Aggressively pursue new business opportunities through city office, Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada and GEOD - 20

123 Appendix Figure 1 - Recommendations Community 1. Improve communication and connectivity of community 2. Clean and beautify city 3. Improve culture, arts, and entertainment district 4. Improve education New Businesses 1. Analyze entry process into city for new businesses 2. Actively seek out new business opportunities 3. Educate workforce 4. Improve relationship(s) with state government 5. Advertise to future potential businesses Existing Businesses 1. Improve partnerships between city and businesses to increase involvement of businesses in local events - 21

124 Figure 2 - Newsletter - 22

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128 Figure 3 - Websites

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131 Figure 4 - Logos Logo #1 Logo #2 Logo #3 Logo #4 Logo #5 Logo #6-29

132 Figure 5 - Solar Foundation - 30

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