How best to promote Town biz: FBA’s new MOU or Farragut networking?
A proposed Memorandum of Understanding change between Shop Farragut/Farragut Business Alliance and Board of Mayor and Aldermen authored by FBA leadership has a critical phrase that — if rejected by BOMA at its Thursday, July 27, meeting — might severely impact how it promotes Town businesses.
‘Surrounding communities” is the key phrase added by the Alliance, as advocated by its exeuctive director, Stephen Krempasky, and chair Candace Viox, during the board’s regular second Wednesday morning meeting July 12 at Viox’s Water into Wine bistro & lounge restaurant.
Alliance members ultimately approved the change, which would allow them the freedom to solicit businesses outside of Town limits if approved by BOMA.
However, after Viox read the entire revised MOU aloud with the “surrounding communities” addition, “the proposed change to the organization’s purpose may be problematic for the Town,” said Trevor Hobbs, assistant to the Town administrator.
“And the drafting of the proposed MOU was drafted without (Town government) knowledge of this change,” he added. “And it was not drafted with the understanding that the FBA would be serving the community at large, but that the FBA would be serving the Farragut business community. So just know that if you were to adopt this change, it may impact the approval of the MOU.”
To clarify his position, “I am not here saying these words as a threat,” Hobbs said. “I am here as a representative of the Town. I consider myself to be liaison and friends to the Business Alliance. This is just my understanding of the opinions and feelings of members of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.”
Also in attendance was Town Mayor Ron Williams, an Alliance member who weighed in with the key phrases “salesmen” and “networking” in the apparent attempt to reduce pressure on the Alliance in having to reach beyond Town limits to financially support its objective of promoting Farragut businesses. (More from Williams later in this story).
“The reason that this was brought up was in order so we could look toward the county and other businesses to help support our bottom line,” Krempasky said. “It’s all about going, reaching out where we can to get some funding for the organization. And frankly, the organization has not grown over the past six, seven years because we’ve relied so heavily on the funding from the Town itself.
“The funding this year under the MOU that is up for renewal today is a 30 percent decrease in what we received previously,” he added. “We have to find ways to make money.
“I think in the new MOU, we’re looking at having other events where we can solicit from outside the Town. But we also had to commit to certain events, a certain number of events that are only Farragut-centric. … The old MOU is we get $70,000 a year flat out and do our thing.”
However, “we’re looking at funding that, for this year, they (would) give us $35,000 for Shop Farragut (inside Farragut only), which is our core mission, which includes our website and business directory, our monthly Town Sampler contest, all the grand-opening sign programs, all the one-on-ones I do with Farragut businesses only,” Krempasky said.
“... What we discussed, $35,000 is for our core one-on-one Farragut-centric activity, and then two community events much the same way as Knox County gave us a grant for our Harvest Fest event,” he added.
The Board of Mayor and Aldermen last spring voted to allow the Alliance two $10,000 grants to fund events where businesses outside of Town have been solicited.
“They were going to give us $10,000 for Dog Days because they knew that I couldn’t support it without outside interest,” Krempasky said.
The other $10,000 grant would likely go toward Harvest Fest, “which once again is a costly event,” Krempasky said. “If a car dealership wanted to be a sponsor under the umbrella, therefore, under the new MOU those are called community events, which allows me to go out and solicit any business, not just Farragut businesses.”
However, “This is what basically what I’m hearing. If we vote for (the MOU change), that means we all have to step up because the Town will probably cut our funding,” he said.
With the departure of two former members with sharply different views about allowing business participation in Alliance-sponsored events outside of Farragut — saying it caused the Alliance “to kind of splinter,” Viox added, “That’s why Steve and I have been scrambling and why I’ve been asking all of you guys, because we need the Town’s help and we need their support to continue and our businesses do, too.
“But we don’t have car dealerships and we don’t have some large sponsor dollars to be able to help our events, and our (former) Taste of Farragut events bring in the money,” she added.
“So we’re trying to figure that out with the booth idea: if you are a Farragut business, you’re free, maybe you’re sponsored by the Town, but if you’re not a Farragut business, your booth fee is $200.”
“We had operated under an MOU that ran from 2019 to 2023 without any issues until about seven months ago when all of this came up,” Krempasky said with a laugh.
“And again, what constitutes a business in Farragut?” Viox asked. “Do they have to have a business license? Does the lady who makes jewelry in her garage that lives in Farragut, but she sells downtown (in Knoxville) at Market Square, is she a Farragut business or not Farragut?
“That’s where all the cloud and the mud and everything just kind of gets sucked in.”
“We have food trucks here now that make most of their money outside of Farragut,” Krempasky said.
Williams has his say
“As far as Town funding, we actually put out over half a million dollars,” Williams said about funding non-profits similar to the Alliance. “A lot of people don’t realize that.”
In addition to Farragut schools and Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce, “we’ve got seven or eight other people that come to us, the fire department, the rescue squad, all the different (Second) Harvest groups that have food pantries,” he added.
About those promoting Town business with success inside Town limits, “… When you look at how this group was started back years ago with the people that founded (the Alliance), they were boots-on-the -ground, salesman,” Williams said. “You don’t have that opportunity now like what you had back then.
“... Only Steve can do that, and he’s part time.
“But I think there’s an opportunity here with the potential members you have, and networking is how it gets started,” he added. “It’s how it will grow, it’s how the Chamber grows. … You look at the event where they had all the different Chambers involved, that’s a sales opportunity to me.
“So I guess what I’m getting at is the growth potential that you have. When you see that happening, then you can burn us down dollar-wise as far as what we contribute, then how you write things and all that does not matter any longer.”
