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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-09-14 Economic Development Council Minutes THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (EDC) MEETING BOZEMAN, MONTANA MINUTES Thursday, January 9, 2014 Call to Order – 10:30 a.m. City Hall (121 North Rouse Ave.), City Commission Meeting Room Council Member - Erik Garberg: Present Council Member - Stuart Leidner: Present Council Member - Cheryl Ridgely: Absent Council Member - Anders Lewendal: Present Council Member - Teresa McKnight: Absent Council Member - Tracy Menuez: Absent Board Chair - Daryl Schliem: Absent Staff members present were Brit Fontenot - Economic Development Director, David Fine – Economic Development Specialist and Aimee Brunckhorst – Deputy City Clerk. B. Public Comment – Please state your name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record. This is the time for individuals to comment on matters falling within the purview of the City of Bozeman’s Economic Development Council. This public comment period will be your only opportunity to comment at this meeting. Please limit your comments to 3 minutes or less. None. C. Minutes - November 7, 2013 There was not a quorum present at the beginning of the meeting, so approval of the minutes was delayed to the end of the meeting. D. Non-Action Items 1. Introduction of David Fine, Economic Development Specialist (Fontenot) Brit Fontenot introduced David Fine to the EDC explaining some of his past accomplishments. He also spoke regarding some of the projects that Mr. Fine will be working on. Erik Garberg introduced himself and his roles and experiences. Anders Lewendal also introduced himself and his roles and experiences. 2. Northern Rocky Mountain Economic Development District Annual Report Summary (Gilmore) Mr. Gilmore was not present so this item will be moved to the next meeting. Mr. Garberg said that he reviewed the document and felt that the role of the city was mentioned quite a bit in the report and it emphasized the integral role of working together. 10:40:58 AM Brit Fontenot spoke further regarding the importance of these collaborative efforts. 3. Update on Sector Development Initiatives: 10:42:24 AM a. The Montana Outdoor Alliance; Brit Fontenot explained that this afternoon the city is hosting a gathering of outdoor business leaders and employees at city hall. They were first introduced to these leaders in November at the premiere screening event of the ‘Bring it to Bozeman - Outdoor Sector Development’ film produced by Northern Rocky Mountain and the city of Bozeman. That event generated a lot of interest. They were able to explain why they were organizing the sector, the benefits and the importance within the overall strategy of creating jobs and diversifying the overall economy. b. The Montana Photonics Industry Alliance; and Brit Fontenot explained that he and Mr. Leidner will participate in the Optics Conference in San Francisco, the largest photonics conference to support local photonics companies and to network and serve as good will ambassadors with the support of the Governor’s office. 10:45:40 AM Stuart Leidner spoke further saying the alliance has established a board of directors and will be meeting on Monday at MMEC. They will continue with additional organizational development including a budget and beginning to establish some strategic objectives. Larry Johnson recently retired as the founder of ILX-Lightwave and is coordinating these efforts. Mr. Leidner said we are very fortunate to have him guiding that process along with his peers. The board will meet Monday with networking Tuesday. At the February conference in San Francisco, the Governor’s office and the Montana Ambassadors will be hosting a networking reception and have reached out to the photonics industry here asking what companies they would like to have invited to that event. The Montana Ambassadors group in the San Francisco area is one of the larger, more active groups for the state. We are fortunate they will be leveraging their relationships. Prospera and the city of Bozeman have both helped underwrite funds for this effort to get this off the ground and move forward. Brit Fontenot said this group has really moved at the speed of light. c. The Montana High-Tech Alliance. Brit Fontenot explained that David Fine will be the liaison to this liaison. He spoke regarding Greg Gianforte, and Rob Irizzary, the Blackstone Director championing the high tech alliance. 10:49:16 AM David Fine said this Alliance is in the early stages. Rob Gilmore and the Northern Rocky Mountain Economic Development District have been spearheading its formation. In addition to Greg Gianforte, former CEO of RightNow Technologies and Rob Irizzary from Blackstone Launchpad, other stakeholders include Jeff Trom from Web Filings, David Vap from Oracle, Lance Trebesch from TicketPrinting.com, Josh Spitzer with Schedulicity and Rick Edwards, Economic Development Director with Northwestern Energy. A planning meeting is scheduled for early next week. They are hoping to have an initial public launch in the next several months. Erik Garberg asked about the differences between the high-tech alliance and the photonics industry alliance and how the similarities might be leveraged. David Fine said that while there may be some synergies that could be realized between the two alliances, one is focused on software and the other has more manufacturing components. E. FYI/Discussion/Updates (Schliem, et al) 10:51:47 AM Broadband initiative; Brit Fontenot said this is linked to the other sector development initiatives as Broadband is infrastructure. In the 21st century, these should be thought of along with things like water and sewer pipes. The steering committee is composed of a group of both private and public sector individuals. They are working with a group from Butte, the MERDI (Montana Economic Revitalization & Development Institute) Organization who will be providing proposals on what a community broadband or fiber optic network could look like in this community. Butte/Silverbow County already has one that we can look to for a model. If we want to support high tech businesses we need high tech infrastructure at a reasonable price for small businesses. We will use that proposal for the foundation for potential grant requests that could fund a larger bigger implementation plan. There are real possibilities concerning revenue streams for economic development. In one context, we may be able to utilize the public right-of-way for conduit, and leasing to the private sector, so they can provide better service to their residential customers. There are lots of models to investigate. We want to be inclusive of private sector providers so we do have them at the table. Mr. Fontenot is proposing a policy meeting at the commission level in the next month or so to determine how invested the elected officials are moving this forward. The Butte model has e-rate funding from the school district, private sector dollars from larger local businesses, as well as public dollars. Anders Lewendal asked about goals and time frames. Brit Fontenot said the team is looking at this aggressively. If the initiative is able to get the support needed this project could happen within 24 months. We need to think big regarding how Bozeman positions itself. 2. 10:58:44 AM Sale of the North Park property; and Brit Fontenot explained we have an offer on the table and we are preparing a counter offer with the help of the legal department. This is a complicated piece of ground. Tracy Menuez joined the meeting at 10:59 a.m. The interested party does see value in the concept use plan and the other due diligence work. There are some unique components of their vision that may not be aligned with the concept plan. Broadly speaking, the concept use plan does fit in with the plan. 11:01:23 AM Brit Fontenot explained the conversations going on with Montana Rail Link on the at grade railroad crossing to the north. BNSF owns the track and MRL leases a stretch of that track. At this time, the tracks are only crossed very infrequently and increased traffic poses a possible safety issue. An alternative is being looked at through the DNRC property. The offer was not based on an appraisal that we have done as that has been ordered and will hopefully be available in the next 4 weeks. The city has a 90% contingency in code that the City Commission can sell land for 90% of appraised value, so that is often where the negotiations start. 3. 2014 EDC vacancies. Aimee Brunckhorst explained that Daryl Schliem, Anders Lewendal and Stuart Leidner’s terms expire on the EDC on February 1, 2014. A reapplication has been received from Mr. Schliem and a new application from Bryce Ledbetter, Marketing Director of Schnees has also been received. Ms. Brunckhorst asked Mr. Lewendal and Mr. Leidner if they have plans to reapply and referred them to the online application that has also been sent via e-mail. Consideration of appointments to the EDC will go before the City Commission on January 27th. Stuart Leidner indicated his plans to reapply for another term. Anders Lewendal spoke regarding the value of new perspectives and new ideas and asked for the thoughts of other EDC members as he may decide not to reapply. C. Minutes - November 7, 2013 With the addition of Tracy Menuez to the meeting, a quorum was present. 11:09:56 AM Minutes Motion and Vote to approve the November minutes. Erik Garberg moved to approve the minutes, Anders Lewendal seconded. The motion passed unanimously. F. Adjournment Seeing no further business, Stuart Leidner adjourned the meeting at 11:10 a.m. Economic Development Council meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability that requires assistance, please contact our ADA Coordinator James Goehrung, at 582-3232 (TDD 582-2301).