During their December 9 meeting, Duluth City Councilors approved a contract between the city and Madden Media for tourism marketing.

With the current contract expiring, the city put out a request for proposal (RFP) for agencies wanting a chance to promote the city to prospective visitors.

One contentious point for some is the fact that Madden Media is based out of Tucson, Arizona. Other Duluth and Minnesota based firms did submit proposals, and city officials did give local agencies an advantage when it came to scoring, however, Madden came out on top.

Several Councilors expressed disappointment at the fact that local firm didn’t win, but they did honor the results.

“I’m not personally happy with the outcome of the firm that was selected based on their geographic status,” said Councilor Arik Forsman, “I can’t argue with their qualifications though.”

Council President Roz Randorf was particularly vocal about an out-of-town agency being awarded the contract saying that it “undermines local expertise and siphons money and jobs away.” However, as Madden did win the proposal process, the city’s legal team advised the council that rejecting their winning bid could result in legal action – a fact Randorf said effectively tied the hands of the council.

“I don’t feel I can sit here and have the luxury to say no, even though I’d want to. We can’t because we are officers of the city to do this and do this work right.” President Randorf said.

The council approved the contract on a 8-1 vote, with Councilor Wendy Durrwachter voting against the measure, citing concerns with the fairness surrounding the RFP procedure.

The contract will be in effect for 2025-2026, and is worth up to $3.6 million.