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Home My WebLink AboutDiscuss Appointments to the Economic Development Council CommissionMemorandum REPORTTO: HonorableMayorandCityCommission FROM: ChrisKukulski,CityManager SUBJECT: DiscussAppointmentstotheEconomicDevelopmentCouncil,theattached letterfromtheEconomicRoundTableDiscussionGroup,andtheBozemanAreaChamberof Commerceletters. MEETINGDATE: November2,2009 RECOMMENDATION: Givedirectionregardingtheappointmentofthe Economic DevelopmentCouncilasdefinedintheAugust3,2009adopted EconomicDevelopmentPlan. BACKGROUND: TheattachedimplementationmatrixisfoundonPageVIIIofthe Economic DevelopmentPlan(EDP).Inthematrixtwoitemsareexpectedtobeimplementedwithinthe firstsixmonths. 5.b“DesignateaqualifiedCityemployeewitheconomicdevelopmentresponsibilities andaroleastheCommunityBusinessAdvocate.Theemployeewillalsocoordinatewiththe EconomicDevelopmentCouncilontheimplementationofthisPlan.”(Thisissueis scheduledfordiscussionontheNovember8CityCommissionagenda) 5.c“Establishan EconomicDevelopmentCouncil,consistingof:businessleaders, Citystaff,economicdevelopmentleaders,andothers;toadvisetheCityCommissionon economicdevelopmentissuesandtoreviewtheimplementationofthisCityofBozeman EconomicDevelopmentPlan.” IrecommendtheCommissionappointafiveorsevenmemberboardtooperateasthe Economic DevelopmentCouncil(EDC). Myideaisthattheboardberelativelysmallsothatitcanquickly respondtoeconomicchallengesandmoreeasily“speak”withonevoice. Thisboardcouldbe madeupindividualswhoassistedProsperainthedevelopmentofthe EDP.BecauseaCity employee“willalsocoordinatewiththe EconomicDevelopmentCouncilontheimplementation ofthisPlan”andthe EDCwill“advisetheCityCommission”IsuggestthatnoCommissioners orCitystaffbeappointedtotheboard.Thefollowingindividualsservedasthe Economic DevelopmentAdvisoryCommittee. 1)SeanBecker,CityCommission 2)GaryBloomer, TechRanch 3)EugeneGraff,SWBIA 4)SallyHickey,GAR 5)TomKelly,USBank 6)ChrisMehl,BozemanPlanningBoard 7)ChrisNaumann,DowntownBozemanPartnership 8)ScottPogh,NorthernRockyMountainRC&D 9)JimRimpau,MSU 10)ChrisSaunders,CityPlanningDepartment 11)DavidSmith,BozemanAreaChamberofCommerce 12)ChrisWestlake, MidwestWelding&Machine 13)Prospera–Wrotethe EDP Forthoseindividualswhoarenotwillingorabletoserveonthe EDC,wecanfindotherbusiness leaderstofilltheboard.AlsonotethatothermembersfromtheAdvisoryBoardcouldserveon thesecondadvisorycommitteethatisidentifiedintheimplementationmatrix. 5.a“EstablishanadvisorycommitteetoreviewtheCityofBozeman’sdevelopment reviewandpermittingprocess,evaluatedevelopmentissuesandmakerecommendations forpolicyandprocedurechangestotheCityCommission.” Inaddition,Ihaveattachedaletterfromthe EconomicRound TableDiscussionGroupwhohas heldthreemeetingsoverthepast90daysandfromtheBozemanAreaChamberofCommercein responsetoourSeptember28SpecialSession.Irecommendthefirststepinaccomplishingtheir requestswouldbetogetthe EDCboardseated. FISCALEFFECTS: None ALTERNATIVES: AssuggestedbytheCityCommission. ATTACHMENTS : CityofBozeman EconomicDevelopmentPlanImplementationMatrix August3,2009ChamberofCommerceLetter September29,2009ChamberofCommerceLetter EconomicRoundtableDiscussionGroupLetter Bozeman City Commission October 29, 2009 Bozeman City Commission 411 E Main St Bozeman MT 59715 Dear City Commissioners: This letter is being written to offer recommendations for action on several items thatthe Commissioncould implementin the near future to help improve the current economic conditions facing the City of Bozeman. These recommendations come from a grass roots group of professionals from all different backgrounds which include the city manager, the head of the planning department for the City of Bozeman and members of the City commission itself.This group was put together by Jennifer Erickson,as a former advisory lender to the City Commission on affordable housing, and because of themutualconcern for the economic well-being of Bozeman residents. All of the individuals assembled into this grass roots group believe that we have a great opportunity to increase the economic viability and strength of the City of Bozeman;but that we need to actnow. The following recommendations come from action items weas a groupbelieve the City can take in the next sixmonths to boost the local economy now and into the future. Recommendations: 1. Get the Economic Development Plan moving forward. a. Start the process of reviewing and streamlining the processes set forth in the UDO. 2. Hire a business liaison position with the City of Bozemanwith a clear and strong job description a. This position was approved already by the City within the guidelines setforth by the Economic Development Plan. 3. Help downtown to start rebuilding a. Assemble All Insurers in One Room: The City could help by calling on our Stateand FederalRepresentativesto see if they can assemble acollectivemeeting with the insurancecompanies’representatives to accelerate the process of moving forward with rebuilding. ìÛÕ× íÙÈÍÚ×Ê b. Push for the creation of a Collaborative Fund: The City should support a program where each insurer could contribute to a collective fund, without assuming liability, to pay for rebuilding costs while long-term liability is settled. Those eventually found liable would forfeit repayment while others would have deposits returned with interest similar to current CD rates at local banks. c. Reprogram the Clean-Up Funding: Bozeman allocated $300,000 for use by impacted businesses for cleaning up after the explosion. That funding was not used. The City Commission should explore reallocating this funding to help start rebuilding. d. Regular Public Updates: The City could provide a monthly update at City Commission meetings to report on progress toward rebuilding efforts in an effort to apply public energy and awareness to the situation and prompt faster resolution. . Create more business incentives,and retentionservicesthrougheducationand support made available to new and existing businesses small and large wanting to expand in Bozeman. a. A possibility would be to have a community liaison groupor Economic Development Task forcethat works with the City of Bozeman and through the Bozeman City Chamber of Commerce. The City would then have the ability to send small and large business owners to the Chamber group to aide them in expanding or welcoming them to Bozeman. This could include identifying areas ofwhere the city wants commercial growth so that this may be pointed out to these businesses as welcome, here is where it will be easy for you to build your new company as it is already approved and identified as an area where the City wants commercial growth. b. This could also be a group that could help even a homeowner who moves here with a welcome packet. For example, I just bought a new home and now need to put up a fence around my yard how do I do that? The welcome packet or group could give that person the direction they need because they have the streamlined process from the City. This could take care of a lot of frustrations and the feeling that Bozeman does not like new business or development. 5. Createthe perception that doing business in Bozeman is not hard. 6. Forge stronger partnerships with Tech Ranch,MSU, Farm Service Agency, USDA Rural Development, Prospera, Montana Community Development Corporation and Rocky Mountain Receiving. 7. Entryway Corridor Standards-Since all the M1 land is on an entryway corridor, it should be able to be modified for manufacturing jobs, these are very important primary jobs for our community and need to be encouraged. a. This includes the Mandeville Property which is part of the entryway corridor. Enter into an agreement with a third party to accelerate the development, a good start would be to contact Mystery Ranch, Blackhawk, etc. ìÛÕ× íÙÈÍÚ×Ê We feel we have a unique opportunity to forge our future and to create economic opportunity for all. These are just afew of the recommendations this group has come up withbut the ones we feel can beaccomplished in a short amount of time. This groupis willing to help the City move forwardon these action items as much as they can. These tasks can be completed by March2010. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call on any of the members of this group. Sincerely, Economic Round Table Discussion Group Members Include: Jennifer Erickson, Chris Budeski, Carson Taylor, Chris Kukulski, Andy Epple, Eric Bryson, Jeff Krauss, Elias Harmon, Candis Dorsch, Debbi Royer,Mike Stewart, Anders Lewendal, Eugene Graf,Chris Mehl, Bob Chase, Barry Jiede, Wendy Renner, Jerry Pape Jr., Paul Dueringer,