Officials Tout City at Trade Show

By Ed Richter, Middletown Journal, Ohio

May 20–LAS VEGAS — Among the nearly 50,000 people attending the annual RECon convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Middletown’s delegation worked its way through to spend some time with potential retailers and share some information about the city.

Middletown Mayor Lawrence P. Mulligan Jr. likened the delegation’s job to that of planting some seeds about the city and taking the time to network with a number of companies.

Mulligan said the city is taking the approach to be proactive and to work with businesses to come to Middletown.

“It’s been very productive so far,” said Bill Murphy, the city’s economic development director. “We’ve received very positive reactions from the companies that we have met with so far today. They have also been appreciative that the city is taking the time to communicate what it has to offer.”

Because of the large number of attendees, a company representative and potential client might get five minutes or so to talk about the possibilities. Murphy said some of the companies the delegation met with have been impressed with the amount of information the city gave them to consider Middletown as a place to do business.

Among the companies that the delegation met with were Sports Cuts, Einstein Brothers Bagels, Cambria Suites Hotel and Chipotle.

In addition, the delegation met with a representative from Horne Properties, Inc., which is developing the Commons on Towne, a retail commercial development to be located south of Wal-Mart on South Towne Boulevard between Hendrickson and Lefferson roads.

That project was one of several that Horne prominently displayed as part of their booth at the convention center.

In addition to Murphy, the Middletown delegation also included City Manager Judy Gilleland, Ken Cohen, president of Moving Middletown Forward, Kimm Coyner, Warren County’s economic development director and Candace Klein, a consultant with Property Advisors who is assisting the city in building its retail recruitment strategy.

Late Monday, the delegation is slated to meet with representatives of Paran Management Co. that operates the Middletown Shopping Center on South Breiel Boulevard.

The ReCon convention is one of the largest conventions on the continent. In 2007, more than 50,000 people attended the convention with 42 percent of them being shopping center owners or developers and 33 percent being retailers.

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