Contact: Michele Frisby, Director, Public Information; mfrisby@icma.org; 202-962-3658

WASHINGTON, D.C.—ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, welcomes The Retail Coach, the national trade association of the shopping center industry, to its Strategic Partners Program as a general partner.

For more than 16 years, The Retail Coach has provided customized retail business development strategies to cities, counties, and economic development organizations seeking practiced advice on retail strategy, property development, redevelopment, and urban revitalization. The company’s Retail:360® Program is tailored to each client’s goals and opportunities and includes metro research, community core analysis, marketing and branding, retailer recruitment, developer recruitment, urban/downtown revitalization, and supportive retail coaching to ensure clients gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.  

“The Retail Coach is an excellent fit for the ICMA Strategic Partners Program,” said ICMA Executive Director Robert J. O’Neill, Jr. “The firm’s expertise and experience in developing and implementing unique retail economic development strategies will provide invaluable resources to help our members improve and grow their communities.”

"This alliance is a result of our commitment to the many cities and counties we serve throughout the U.S. and our drive to continue to offer the highest level of expertise regarding retail economic development strategies, property development, redevelopment, and urban revitalization," said C. Kelly Cofer, CCIM, President/CEO of The Retail Coach. "We look forward to supporting ICMA and its membership in any way that we can."

ICMA created its Strategic Partners Program in 1996 as an access point for private sector participation in the organization’s programs and activities. ICMA Strategic Partners gain opportunities to help professional local government managers and their staffs by showcasing leading practice solutions and providing thought leadership.

About ICMA
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association advances professional local government management worldwide. Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and advancing professional management to create sustainable communities that improve lives worldwide. ICMA provides member support and other resources to roughly 10,000 city, town, and county experts and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA's members affect millions of individuals living in thousands of communities, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas. 

About The Retail Coach
Since 2000, The Retail Coach has provided the research, relationships, and strategies necessary to achieve the retail recruitment and development results that have helped more than 400 communities throughout the U.S. become better, stronger places to live and work. As the first consulting firm in the United States to incorporate the actual recruitment of retailers and developers into retail economic development plans, studies, and strategies, The Retail Coach has assisted in the leasing, selling, development and redevelopment of millions of square feet of freestanding, urban, strip center, mixed-use, and mall projects throughout the U.S.