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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12 03 2014 Technology Village Minutes%Z10R L Ami CITY OF PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA TECHNOLOGY VILLAGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES — December 3, 2014 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 4:04 p.m. in the Little Prior Conference Room at City Hall. Members present: Gerry Hughes, David Rech, Lori Frank and Adam Proehl. Members absent: Rick Bump. Staff present: Dan Rogness and Casey McCabe. Guests present: Marisa Colby and Scott Fagerstrom. 2. Approval of Meeting Minutes a. October 1, 2014 MOTION BY PROEHL and SECOND BY FRANK to approve the October 1, 2014 meeting minutes. With Rech abstaining the motion was approved. 3. Old Business a. Linkedln Strategies i. Linkedln Group Assignment Discussion Hughes: reminded the board members to join their assigned Linkedln Groups. The assigned group information is available in the Technology Village Dropbox folder or by contacting staff. Hughes stated the purpose of joining the groups is to engage in activities or discussions and not necessarily to "sell" Technology Village. The hope is that the interaction with the groups will lead to exposure of the Technology Village program and potentially building the pipeline of applicants. Proehl: added that the board has considered establishing a separate Linkedln user group, possibly South of the River Technology, or a similar name. The board will discuss this further at future meetings. b. Review Technology Village BOD /Program Participant Advisory Assignments Board Members: reviewed the Technology Village / program participant advisory assignments. Frank: volunteered to serve as the advisor to Local Vibe. Staff will provide Local Vibe's application, needs assessment and contact information to Ms. Frank. Assigned program participants are as follows: • Design a Tivity — Rech • ICP — Hughes • Black Dog Computer Services — Frank • Valde Group — Bump • MyCarte — Proehl • Local Vibe — Frank 4. New Business a. Advisory Board Member Candidates and Desired Skill Sets Board Members: discussed establishing an Advisory Committee in 2015. Hughes: reminded the board that the Advisory Committee members will assist participant businesses and attend some or all board meetings but they will not be voting members of the TV board. Mr. Hughes added that advisory Phone: 952.447.9813 / Email: drogness@cityofpriorlake.com / www.cityofpriorlake.com committee members need not be Prior Lake residents and may have a financial interest in a program participant business. Board Members: discussed desired skill -sets and background for advisory committee members. Identified skills included, technology officer, finance, networking, legal, start-up investor, industrial or manufacturing background. Frank: suggested an advisory committee member with background in technology incubators such as Harlan Jacobs. Board Members: recommended extending an invitation to Mr. Jacobs to attend a future work session for discussion. b. Technology Village Participant Breakfast Meeting Board Members: discussed the date and topics for the next participant breakfast meeting. Board members felt the breakfast would likely take place in late February 2015 and recommended this item be placed on the January meeting agenda for additional discussion. Possible topics of interest identified were start-up hacks, sales leads and networking opportunities, and possibly a speaker such as Gary Braun (sp?), who is a local sales consultant. 5. Staff Update a. City Council /Advisory Committee Work Session Follow -Up Hughes: summarized the City Council / Advisory Committee work session and commented that creating Technology Village brand recognition and brand awareness were the major takeaways. Mr. Hughes felt the board needs to identify a better way to communicate the Technology Village message and program successes. Hughes: recommended the board submit an article for the February Wavelength. The article should identify where the program is, key accomplishments and opportunities for members of the community to help the board and program. Frank: added that the article should promote the message that Prior Lake supports entrepreneurship and technology. b. Black Dog Computer Services Update Rogness: informed the board that he has talked with Joe Hendren (Black Dog Computer Services) to determine if Mr. Hendren has an interest to continue with the Technology Village program. Mr. Rogness is waiting for a response from Mr. Hendren and will follow up with the board at a later date. c. SMSC Board Candidate Update Rogness: informed the board that the City received an inquiry from an interested board applicant who is the Land Development Manager for SMSC. Hughes: offered to meet with the applicant the week of December 15th and will try to coordinate a meeting. Mr. Hughes asked staff to forward the board application when it is received. Rogness: said it is staff's intention, after meeting with Mr. Hughes, to forward the board's recommendation for appointment to the City Council at their December 22°d meeting. Minnesota High Tech Association Membership Fees McCabe: informed the board that he has researched the cost of membership in the Minnesota High Tech Association. A one-year membership for Technology Village would be $500. Frank: stated that she will contact MN High Tech Association to determine the value of a membership. e. Technology Village Copy/Scan Machine McCabe: said staff researched the cost of a new copy machine for the Technology Village office space. The cost of a new machine, and assumed maintenance, will be expensive and asked the board to discuss whether or not it is worth purchasing a new machine or relying on the desktop print/scan/copy machines for participants. Mr. McCabe added that the participants can utilize printing businesses for higher quality images if needed. Board Members: felt the existing desktop units were sufficient at this time and authorized staff to utilize "Business Assistance" funds in the 2015 Technology Village budget to assist participants with printing costs, if needed. f. TV Website Graduate / Promotional Page McCabe: mentioned one of the comments from an attendant at the City Council / Advisory Committee work session which recommended the TV board promote the successes of the program so members of the public are aware of the new businesses and jobs being created. Mr. McCabe added that there is a draft page on the website that will be used for promotion of program graduates. Proehl: agreed to work with staff to update and publish this page on the website. g. Technology Village Metric Report —November 2014 Board Members: reviewed the Technology Village metric report for November 2014. Action Item Update Board Members: reviewed and discussed completed and pending action items. i. Board Member Ideas/Recommendations Board Members: requested staff provide an email update with information about the City of Prior Lake app after discussion at the December 4th EDAC meeting. 6. Other Business Marisa Colby and Scott Fagerstrom attended the meeting to present their revised concept for the Prior Lake / Savage Monitor. Ms. Colby and Mr. Fagerstrom have been operating from a shared office in the Professional Building in downtown Prior Lake. They have an opportunity to lease the entire office and would like to be considered as a Phase II Technology Village Business Accelerator participant and receive program benefits. Board Members: were presented with a revised business plan but did not have an opportunity to review the information prior to the meeting. Board Members: discussed the business plan and key differences between the proposed model for the Prior Lake / Savage Monitor and the previous version. Board members asked questions of the applicants and provided direction and recommended revisions to the business plan. Colby and Fagerstrom: will revise the business plan and sent to staff to be distributed via email to all board members. 7. Adjourn MOTION BY PROEHL and SECOND BY FRANK to adjourn the meeting. With all members in favor, the motion was approved. The meeting adjourned at 5:40 p.m. Submitted by: Casey McCabe