ELY- The International Wolf Center and the Ely Tourism Bureau both reported successful outreach endeavors that have drawn people to Ely during separate presentations at the Feb. 6 meeting of the city council here.
The Ely Tourism Bureau executive director, Cindy Smyka, gave a recap of the bureau’s 2023 efforts to market Ely and extend its brand awareness, using almost every advertising and outreach channel imaginable.
Smyka reported the bureau’s specific marketing attack and results for:
• A collaborative endeavor with the U.S. Forest Service and the “Forest Service for All Project” which includes outreach to traditionally marginalized communities.
• Online and print guides to the Ely area for both summer, fall, and winter.
• A new quarterly email newsletter, which may become a monthly newsletter in the future.
• Facebook and Instagram outreach, including video and static postings.
• Real time coverage of Ely events like the 2023 Ely Film Festival.
• EffecTV ads.
• Print ads.
• News media coverage.
• Three podcast programs which the bureau will start to cross post to its YouTube Channel.
Smyka gave statistics on the success rate of the different advertising and outreach channels, most of which were impressive.
The EffecTV ad campaign for promoting Ely was so effective in generating interest for the area, said Smyka, that the EffecTV representative for Ely was asked to do a case study of the community as a success story for the EffecTV advertising product.
Smyka also reported on the tourism bureau’s efforts to ensure that the Joint Powers Lodging Tax Board (JPLTB) was receiving its fair share of Ely Area Lodging Taxes collected by Lake County. Lodging taxes go to fund the tourism bureau whose efforts benefit not only Ely, but also surrounding communities.
“The JPLTB is working with our legal team to pursue the entirety of the lodging tax that Ely is entitled to,” Smyka said, adding, “The taxes collected by Airbnbs are collected by Lake County, but are not getting out of Lake County to Ely.”
International Wolf Center
The wolf center’s executive director Grant Spickelmier and Krista Woerheide, the center’s interpretive center director offered the council highlights from 2023, including the opening of a new exhibit in 2023 on the habitat for arctic wolves. Another new feature was a medical enclosure for the center’s wolves and new security cameras, some of which can be viewed by the public on the center’s webcam display on the internet. The new webcam coverage has gotten air time in both the Duluth and Twin Cities television markets, said Woerheide.
Woerheide also outlined the wolf center’s educational outreach to schools around the country called the WolfLink Virtual Learning Program. She said the educational outreach has already brought people to Ely. “We had a family that called, just yesterday actually, and said their kid had seen the WolfLink program and had been so excited about it that they made the trek to Ely, stayed in Ely for a week, visited the wolf center, and had a great time.”
Other notable highlights included the installation of a new AC unit for the center along with improvements to the front garden of native plants and the installation of a new sign. Woerheide also reported on the center’s accessibility efforts, including recording American Sign Language video for the center’s media inhouse presentations and the donation of a scooter for those who are mobility impaired.
A new roof
Spickelmier asked the council for its support in the wolf center’s quest for a new roof. “We’ve asked the Legislature for a new roof for the last two years running,” he said, explaining that the center’s building, owned by the Minnesota DNR and leased by the wolf center is now 30 years old.
The wolf center’s request to the Legislature is $2.1 million to reroof its building. Spickelmier noted that he has the support of Rep. Roger Skraba and Sen. Grant Hauschild for the $2.1 million project but he was asking for the city’s backing as well.
“I just have to say,” city council member Al Forsman remarked, “that it’s hard not to get behind this.” The city council voted unanimously to support the wolf center’s funding request for a new roof.
In other business, the city council:
• Approved the recommendation from Ely Utilities Commission (EUC) to purchase new lab equipment as recommended by the state Dept of Health at a maximum cost of $17,473. “Some of the equipment we’re using dates back to the 1970s, when the EPA built the tertiary (treatment) plant,” said clerk-treasurer Harold Langowski. Al Forsman added, “We’re the last (water treatment) lab in the state that’s doing things the old (but still approved) way, and it’s time to move forward.”
• Approved the recommendation from EUC to move forward with posting the Water/Wastewater Operator II Position internally for 7 days.
• Approved the recommendation from EUC to increase Mick Shusta’s contract by $350 per month due to additional duties at the Water and Wastewater facilities.
• Approved the recommendation from EUC to move forward with the Solar Interconnection Agreement with Steve Piragis at 105 N Central Avenue.