Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Finance Department

 

TO:

Tom Markus, City Manager

CC:

Bryan Kidney, Director of Finance

FROM:

Nate Blum, Senior Accountant/Fiscal Analyst

DATE:

March 27, 2017

RE:

Mini-Bond Marketing Campaign

 

 

Background

Neighborly Securities, a public finance startup and underwriting firm from San Francisco, held a national bonds challenge in September. The challenge was open to public entities from across the country who submitted community projects wishing to finance them through local bonds. Neighborly specializes in issuing mini-bonds in lower denominations and marketing them directly to individuals in the community.

 

The winning projects were chosen based on innovation, impact on the community, credit rating and community engagement. The winners will have their bond issuance fees waived by Neighborly and be given access to Neighborly’s technology-based platform which includes a bond counsel opinion from an outside firm, investor marketing assistance, pricing, sale and closing services, investor relations and continuing disclosure.  

 

Fire Apparatus Project

City staff selected the purchase of a new fire apparatus as the project submitted to Neighborly for the Bond Challenge. The winning projects were announced by Neighborly at the annual California Bond Buyer Conference and the fire apparatus was one of five winning projects from around the country.

 

Bond Issuance and Marketing Campaign

On May 2nd, the City will issue an estimated $642,000 in $1,000 mini-bonds for the purchase of the fire apparatus. Leading up to the bond sale, the City and Neighborly will be launching a marketing campaign to target investors in the local community. Several different avenues will be used to reach investors and they include:

         

  1. Social Media-Facebook, Twitter
  2. Websites-City of Lawrence, Neighborly, Bondlink
  3. Local radio, television and newspapers
  4. Banners and flyers
  5. Community networking

 

Here is a short video for more information on Neighborly.