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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft 02 28 2013 Economic Development Advisory Minutes�� Prior Lake, MN 55372 ' CITY OF PRIOR LAKE:, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES — February 28, 2093 1. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 a.m. in the Wagon Bridge Conference Room at City Hall. Members present: Bill Henry, Sandi Fleck, Kris Pauna, Lloyd Erbaugh, Wade Larson, Bernie Carlson, Mark Peterson, Mike Stout, James Ford and Thane Tande. Members absent: Greg Schweich and Michelle Choudek. Staff present: Casey McCabe. 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes. a. November 29, 2012 MOTION BY ERBAUGH and SE=COND BY FLECK to approve the November 29, 2012 meeting minutes as submitted. Motion adopted unanimously. b. January 24, 2013 MOTION BY FLECK and SECOND BY ERBAUGH to approve the January 24, 2013 meeting minutes as submitted. Motion adopted unanimously. 3. Old Business. a. Meet•N•Greet Event EDAC members discussed topics related to the 2013 Meet -N -Greet event, including: Date — After a brief discussion, MOTION BY FLECK and SECOND BY HENRY to establish April 25, 2013 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. as the date and time for the 2013 Meet -N -Greet event. Location — Possible locations, including The Wilds, Fong's Restaurant & Bar, The Pointe (formerly The Basement), Mystic Lake Casino and City Hall /Club Prior, were discussed. The committee would like to find a location and environment that encourages conversation. Staff contacted Fang's Restaurant, Bar & Convention Center, where the event was held in 2011, and their convention facility is available on April 25, 2013. Fong's will provide space for $12 /person; this cost includes facility rental, gratuity and hors d'oeuvres. Staff felt that Fong's was the best option as a local business establishment with its convention space and downtown location. Stout: recommended the committee consider rotating the location of the event so as to not favor a particular business. EDAC Members: were in favor of hosting the event at Fong's Convention Center in 2013 and considering alternate locations in future years. MOTION BY ERBAUGH and SECOND BY FORD to host the 2013 Meet -N -Greet event at Fong's Convention Center. Motion adopted unanimously. Partnership — Members discussed whether the event should 'be hosted solely by the EDAC or the potential value of partnering with another organization, such as the Chamber of Commerce and/or Economic Development Authority. Fleck: stated the Chamber would assist with marketing efforts but it is not necessary to list the Prior lake Chamber as a sponsor. EDAC Members: were in favor of a partnership with the EDA. MOTION BY FLECK and SECOND BY CARLSON to ask the EDA to co- sponsor the 2013 Meet -N -Greet event. Motion adopted unanimously. Attendants — In addition to business leaders in the community, staff anticipates inviting elected and appointed officials from the EDA and City Council. Additional suggested invitees included representatives from GREATER MSP, Scott County First Stop Shop and the Scott County Economic Gardening committee. Members will email staff with a list of additional names that should be invited. Marketing — Staff proposes to notify elected and appointed officials by direct invitation. Notice to businesses will be provided on the City of Prior Lake website and a notice in the Prior Lake Business Pages e- newsletter. The Prior Lake Chamber will also assist by sending an email blast and include the Meet -N -Greet information in an upcoming newsletter. EDAC Members: discussed direct calling and hand delivered invitations. Consensus was hand delivering invitations to businesses in the downtown and Deerfield/Welcome industrial park areas would be the most effective. Members also asked staff to consider placing an ad or public meeting notice in the Prior Lake American. Stout: recommended a first invitation is sent immediately with a second notice sent 30 days prior to the event and a final notice sent 10 days prior to the event. Personal invitations should be hand delivered two to four weeks before the event. Ford: recommended an Outlook appointment be sent along with the meeting notice so attendants enter the information on their calendar. Flyer — Members reviewed and commented on a draft event flyer completed by staff. Comments included the addition of EDAC member contact information, changes to the font, additional information in the event summary, change of the event name and addition of a tag line (purpose statement) describing the event. Staff: will make revisions to the event flyer and send electronically to all committee members for comment. Comments should be received by March 7, 2013 and the flyer will be finalized on that date. Meetino Formal — Previous events included a 30 minute networking time and a brief 15 minute presentation followed by 1 hour of opinion sharing. This year, staff could prepare a PowerPoint showing business activity over the past year as well as specific changes made since the last event that improved the local business climate (i.e., amending the industrial zoning regulations and repealing a fire suppression code requirement). EDAC members supported a similar format for the 2013 event. Larson: suggested each of the organizations invited to attend the event are provided with an opportunity to introduce their organization. Fleck: suggested an introduction of everyone in attendance. After committee discussion; MOTION BY FLECK and SECOND BY LARSON to support introductions of everyone in attendance. With Stout opposed and all other committee members in favor, the motion passed. Members agreed to discuss introductions during a future meeting when an estimated number of attendants are available. The committee discussed the need to develop a meeting format which encourages discussion and identifies specific issues which can be addressed by the EDAC and city staff throughout 2013. Members discussed how some of the comments received in previous years are not useful to staff or EDAC members because they are not specific enough to follow up on. Specific discussion topics at each table were offered as a way to keep the conversation moving. Members will identify discussion topics during a future meeting. Larson: suggested the committee make a survey available for business leaders to provide comments if they cannot attend the meeting. Training Session — EDAC members will be stationed at each table to facilitate discussion. Members discussed the potential value of a training session for EDAC members so they know what questions to ask and how to keep the conversation moving. Committee members will discuss this at a future meeting. b. Business Retention and Expansion (BR & E) Survey. McCabe: discussed the status of the BR & E surveys. Members previously determined they would like the surveys completed within the next couple months so the results can be presented at the Meet -N -Greet event in the April. Mr. McCabe shared the new BR &E reporting form developed by GREATER MSP and endorsed by SCALE. The EDAC will begin using the new BR &E form. Members: commented they would still prefer to have Prior Lake specific questions included in the survey. Members recommended the "Prior Lake as a place to do business" section of the previous survey be included in the new survey. The EDAC directed staff to draft a cover letter and include the OPrior Lake as a place to do business" questionnaire in the new survey form. Pauna: indicated that it is important for the cover fetter and iterviewer to inform the business why this information is being collected and how it will be used. The businesses should be strongly encouraged to complete the GREATER MSP questionnaire and not only the Prior Lake specific information. Members: discussed sending the cover letter and reporting form to the business, after the interview has been scheduled, for completion prior to the meeting. The °Prior Lake as a place to do business" section of the survey would be completed during the site visit. Staff will draft a cover letter and sent to all EDAC members for review along with the Prior Lake specific survey questions. 4. New Business, a, Prior lake Business Pages e•Newsletter McCabe: shared proposed articles for the spring 2093 issue of the Prior Lake Business Pages e- newsletter which were drafted by staff. Member comments included the addition of an article discussing the BR &E program and a link to the reporting form for businesses to complete if they are not in the DeerfieldMelcome Avenue industrial park area. Erbaugh: added the newsletter should highlight all new businesses in Prior Lake, not just Teresa`s Mexican Restaurant and also announce an open house event for the Technology Village program if a date has been scheduled. b. Economic Development Financing Tools /Incentives EDAC members: reviewed a sheet which identifies the Economic Development financing tools and incentives. The informational sheet was drafted by staff in response to an EDAC request to have this information available to businesses during the BR &E visits. McCabe: detailed a few of the financing programs and informed the committee that the programs are available to businesses at the discretion of the EDA or City Council and many of the programs have specific requirements that must be met by the business in order to be eligible. Henry: requested the form be updated with staff contact information and sent to all committee members so they can offer the information during BR &E visits. 5. Other Business. a. EDA Updates McCabe: provided an update of EDA activity from their February 19, 2013 meeting, including: • Consider Approval of the Preliminary 2012 Financial Report for the Economic Development Authority Special Revenue Fund • Election of Officers for 2013 • Sewer and Water Fee Deferral Program Policy and Budget • EDA Business Plan and 2030 Vision & Strategic Plan • Election of EDAC Liaison • Development Update b. EDAC Liaison to the EDA During 2012, the EDAC had a representative attend all EDA meetings to provide the EDA with an update of EDAC activity. During their January meeting, the EDA decided it would like an EDAC report on a quarterly basis, not every month. The next EDA meeting where a quarterly report will be provided will likely be in April. The EDA will discuss this agenda item during its next meeting in March. c. Member Ideas /Recommendations EDAC members: requested an update of the Diggers site redevelopment project at the next EDAC meeting. 6, Next Meeting Date. The next EDAC meeting will be Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 7:30 a.m. 7. Adjourn, MOTION BY CARLSON and SECOND BY FLECK to adjourn the meeting. Motion adopted unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m. Submitted by: Casey McCabe