Community & Business Development
Adirondack Museum Branding Research
Adirondack Museum Blue Mountain Lake (2005)
During the spring and summer of 2005, The Adirondack Museum (AM) reviewed its marketing plan and determined that a branding survey of visitors in various locations of the Adirondack Park would provide a new and contemporary understanding of how the Adirondack Museum is viewed by the visiting public. Holmes & Associates helped design the survey and trained 8 local research assistants in the four Adirondack Park communities of Lake George, Lake Placid, Old Forge, and Saranac Lake. Within 45 days, close to five hundred intercept surveys were completed with randomly chosen visitors in those communities. The Adirondack Museum staff and board had a brief timeline; within another 45 days Holmes & Associates delivered a complete data analysis and report to the Museum.
Wood Products Development
Adirondack North Country Association (2005)
Project Links: WEB 
During 2004, the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) provided wood products business planning services to 26 companies based in northern New York with the assistance of Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) in the region. ANCA administered the project in partnership with Holmes & Associates of Saranac Lake, CITEC based in Potsdam, and regional Workforce Investment Boards throughout the region. The primary purpose of the year-long project was to develop and strengthen business plans for small- and medium-sized businesses and solidify their base in the local economy. To that end ANCA offered one-on-one business planning assistance to the wood based businesses to develop, update, or modify their Strategic Business Plans.
Tourism Marketing Plan
Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce (2000)
Project Links: WEB
This Saranac Lake Tourism Marketing Plan was requested by Director of the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce for use in planning for best use of revenue derived from the Essex County Occupancy Tax. Most community forums identifying the unique characteristics of Saranac Lake have highlighted the Village's recreational opportunities, community spirit, history and small town atmosphere. Drawing on those insights, the business community has identified three main themes for future promotion of the Saranac Lake area, specifically: Healthy and Historic Saranac Lake, Take the Path of Least Resistance, and A Place for Families in the Adirondacks. The Plan elaborates on those themes and identifies four specific tourism marketing initiatives to be achieved in the first year of what is proposed as a five-year tourism marketing effort for Essex County funded in large part by the occupancy tax.
Working with Wood: Eight County Wood Products Development Strategy
Adirondack North Country Region (1997)
Project Links: WEB
The goal of this research in eight of the fourteen ANCA counties was a blueprint for the potential of wood-based manufacturing inclusive of an assessment of export markets, value-added processing and company networks. The Strategic Plan helped direct ANCA in how to best expand its current Wood Products program, which provides technical assistance, business planning, and marketing assistance to companies in the six northern ANCA counties. A total of 129 wood products companies were surveyed with the detailed questionnaire.
Port Henry Lakeshore Campground Development Feasibility Study
Port Henry, Town of Moriah (1996)
Project Links: WEB
Holmes & Associates assisted Port Henry citizens and local government officials in evaluating possible futures for the two lakeshore campgrounds. The goal of the project was to develop a 'best scenario' for the campgrounds that will improve their appearance and function, maximize the economic return to the municipality, and to redevelop the campgrounds into a community asset that village residents can be proud of.
Clinton County Marinas Facility Assessment, Economic Analysis, and Business Opportunities
Clinton County Marinas on Lake Champlain (1995)
Project Links:
Tim Holmes researched and analyzed the marina industry in Clinton County by use of a variety of socio-economic research techniques, including a focus group session, telephone survey, and site visits. The report provides the Chamber with previously unavailable data on the county 's marinas, and a series of recommendations for improving the link between marinas and the tourism economy of Clinton County.
