Zachary City Council again questions work of company hired to recruit new businesses

When members of the Zachary City Council recently received a report updating them on the progress being made toward bringing more businesses to town, they were disappointed to see the names of companies that have been approached blacked out.

The redacted report from Retail Strategies, an Alabama-based retail recruitment firm the city has been paying for the past few years, was the subject of several minutes of discussion at the council’s Feb. 27 meeting.

The council members received the report — which is marked “public-friendly version” at the top — a few days before.

Council member John LeBlanc brought up the issue, saying he and his colleagues are city officials who should have access to the same information as Mayor David McDavid and staffers who are working with the firm on the recruitment effort.

He said the city has spent $353,000 with Retail Strategies in recent years.

“I expect a lot more … than a redacted version of an activity report,” LeBlanc said. “This means absolutely nothing.”

LeBlanc questioned what the harm would be in publicizing the names of the companies. But City Attorney John Hopewell noted that shielding such information is a typical practice in the world of private business, where nondisclosure agreements and trade secrets are commonplace.

Retail Strategies was first hired under former Mayor David Amrhein in 2017. As that initial, six-year contract came to a close last year, council members criticized the firm’s accomplishments.

McDavid decided to give the firm another chance, however. The coronavirus pandemic had interrupted recruitment work, and the company had brought new staff on board, he said then. He renewed the contract for just one year at a cost of $40,000; it will end in June.

McDavid signed the deal without a council vote. He described it at the time as a “day-to-day operation” that doesn’t require the approval of council members.

Though they won’t have the final word on whether to extend the Retail Strategies contract this summer, council members raised concerns about the firm’s performance and a lack of accountability measures.

“How do we prove they’re doing the work?” said Council member Brandy Westmoreland.

When its contract was up for renewal last year, Retail Strategies representatives promised better communication with council members. Council member Ambre DeVirgilio feels they haven’t delivered.

She said she and her colleagues were supposed to get access to a platform called Basecamp that would give them detailed information about what the company is working on and make it easier to contact its staff. That hasn’t happened, she said.

A copy of the activity report provided by LeBlanc says the firm is “actively working toward gaining retailer interest in the market.” The one-page document highlights the company’s work with “a preferred developer for a national hotel group” that is “wanting to expand and develop in Louisiana.”

The report goes on to list 11 businesses — whose names are redacted — that Retail Strategies reps have contacted and whether they’re open to coming to Zachary.

Seven companies expressed interest in opening locations in Zachary, and the report states Retail Strategies is “working closely with these retailers to match them with suitable sites by understanding their needs and preferences.” Four companies contacted by the firm said they’re not interested in Zachary.

City planner Bryant Dixon defended Retail Strategies at the council meeting.

“They do work very hard,” he said, adding that it can take a long time to get retailers to commit.