Yorktown Joins Growing List of Municipalities to Launch Marketing Campaign

YORKTOWN—Joining the City of Yonkers and the Town of Cortland, which recently inaugurated efforts to attract new business, the Town of Yorktown has launched a new marketing campaign that will promote the Northern Westchester municipality as a prime investment and relocation destination.

The campaign’s theme—Yorktown: Up where you belong!—is a nod to the town’s welcoming approach to businesses and its proximity to New York City, less than 40 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.

“Revitalizing Yorktown’s business centers is a commitment to both the present and the future,” Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater said. “In recent years we have been witnessing a sea change that’s brought dramatic and permanent changes to virtually every aspect of our economy. The changes in the world of retailing alone are having far reaching impacts on communities across the nation.”

He added, “As elected officials, it is incumbent on the Town Board to recognize that change is taking place and to seek new approaches to assure our town’s business sectors remain viable and vibrant. Destination Y is our clarion call announcing that we are ready to do business.”

The initial focus of the campaign targets business owners and executives seeking office and other workspaces in a socially distant environment; developers of mixed-use and other projects; small businesses looking to tap new suburban markets and developers interested in investing in downtown Yorktown Heights and the town’s four other business hamlets.

Yorktown officials have already begun instituting policies to facilitate a business revival including: pre-application meetings with developers to speed-up the review of applications; expedited building permit processes and quick permitting and waived fees for local businesses to operate outdoors this summer.

The next planned significant action step is a review and adoption of zoning overlay districts for the business hamlets: Crompond, Jefferson Valley, Mohegan Lake, Shrub Oak and Yorktown Heights. The new zone will enable the creation of live/work retail-residential spaces and encourage the construction of diversified housing options and new economic development opportunities. There will be a focus on pedestrian and bike-friendly streets that foster a downtown walkability. There are also trail linkage opportunities, notably in Yorktown Heights, where the popular North County Trailway passes through the center of the hamlet. The just re-opened landmark 1875 railroad station owned by the town serves as a focal point and is a highlight along the 50-plus mile trail.

“The zoning overlays are crucially important and will serve as templates for town officials, property owners and developers as we work to revitalizing and enhancing our commercial areas,” said Supervisor Slater. “Our Director of Planning, John Tegeder, and his staff have done a tremendous job developing the overlays and working with a tight timeframe to enable us to move forward as efficiently as possible. The time has come to adapt and be flexible in how we approach our commercial areas, particularly where former uses clearly are no longer economically viable.”

Citing an example of the intent of the zoning overlay district, Slater noted that it would allow for new uses at under-performing properties such as the Yorktown Green Shopping Center, where vacant big-box stores have become less attractive to national merchants as online shopping continues to surge.

The new campaign will initially run from August through November and will feature an all-digital media mix, including mobile and social media ads targeting business owners and executives, real estate developers and commercial real estate brokers. A DestinationY.org landing page has been created to enable quick response to inquiries and to capture leads.

An integrated social media campaign will utilize the #destinationY (hashtag) and include branded banners on light poles at key locations throughout the town. To further build campaign awareness and support in the community, in collaboration with the Yorktown Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Association of Yorktown, window and door decals promoting the new Destination Y brand, website and social media hashtag will be distributed to businesses, retail establishments and restaurants throughout the five hamlets.

The campaign was created by the Westchester-based communications, marketing, and advertising agency Thompson & Bender.