City hopes free app helps people 'Discover Savage'

People are glued to their smartphones.

As they gaze at the devices, the City of Savage wants to be sure they can find information about what's happening nearby, what businesses can offer, a map to the nearest park.

Next month, the city will launch a community and business-focused mobile app, Discover Savage. The free app will be available for both Apple and Android phones on May 15.

Before the launch, the city will also host meetings with local business owners to talk about how the app works and how to be included and its benefits.

The goal of the Discover Savage app is to connect the community with information not only about the area, but also about local businesses, said Amy Barnett, city communications manager.

Yet finding a mobile application that would accomplish those goals wasn't easy, Barnett said. The search for the right app initially started more than a year ago.

"The city started looking at apps and determining whether there was anything that could help the city serve its citizens better," she said. "What we found is that most of the apps that are already out there for cities mostly focus on specific services, like reporting a pothole."

Savage is among of CityCenter's first projects, so the company is building it for the city for free.

"It is difficult for a city to invest a considerable amount of money before they really know how it is going to perform," Barnett said.

Though CityCenter's product is new, the free offer, paired with how comprehensive the app is compared to other options, convinced the city to take a chance.

"The biggest thing that we tried to focus on when we were designing this [technology] was not to just have a city app, but a community app," said Dan Evans, president of CityCenter and a Minnesota native.

Discover Savage aims to make it easy to spend time in the city, Evans said. That means creating a central location with a calendar that outlines all events in the area, a listing for every business in Savage and information about city parks and public pools. The app will also include an option to report problems like potholes.

"I've watched people own small businesses, trying to get the word out that they exist," he said. "The marketing and technology is really in the hands of the bigger businesses. We wanted to take the technology and put it in the hands of smaller businesses."

Those who can't make it to the scheduled meetings will still have a chance to learn about the application. CityCenter is offering one-on-one meetings with business owners in an effort to get every single Savage business listed on the app.

Businesses have to opt-in — at no cost — to be included in the app. Companies will also have the option to purchase advertising through the application.

"Everything that makes a business or a city grow is exposure," Evans said. "We use GPS and beacon technology to know where people are. Then we can interact with a user's phone."

Some targeted advertising may include notifying app users when there is a sale, or of a coupon for a store in the area, Evans said. Users will also have the option to turn the targeted messaging on or off.

Hopkins created a photo contest, where residents and visitors can take pictures of themselves in local shops for a chance to win prizes.

"CityCenter has been great to work with it because they are a small company, so they are very flexible," she said. "I think we've stretched even their imagination on things we can do with it."