Sunday, April 22, 2012

Olivia, Corn Capital



This Friday I am heading to the Minnesota Mayors’ Conference.  The speakers are excellent but I enjoy talking with other mayor about what is happening in other large and small cities.  A few months ago at the midwinter conference a mayor of a metropolitan suburban city was sharing with me the process and cost they were having in “branding” their city.  That is giving their city an identity.  They need a logo, a phrase, something to be identified with.  It was costing them thousands of dollars.  We chatted a while and then after exchanging businesses cards she said to me, “You are lucky, everyone knows about Olivia and the Corn Capital.  Your city may be small, but you have no branding issue.”  Olivia has no identity problem.  We know exactly who we are and where our strengths lie.  We are fortunate indeed.  No city is without its challenges.  Olivia is an agricultural city and always will be.  It is the Corn Capital because innovators of corn research recognized the area and chose to locate here years ago to advance that research.  It seems the multinational companies followed them.  The legacy continues.