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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-15-14 Economic Development Council Minutes THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (EDC) MEETING BOZEMAN, MONTANA MINUTES Thursday, May 15, 2014 Watch the minutes linked to the video of this meeting at http://www.bozeman.net/Departments/Administration/City-Commission/Streaming-Video/Archives A. Call to Order – 10:30 a.m. City Hall (121 North Rouse Ave.), City Commission Meeting Room Cheryl Ridgely called the meeting to order. Council Member - Erik Garberg: Present Council Member - Cheryl Ridgely: Present Council Member - Teresa McKnight: Absent Council Member - Tracy Menuez: Present Board Chair - Daryl Schliem: Absent Board Member - Bryce Ledbetter: Present Board Member – Becky MaHurin: Present Ex-Officio Member - Sean Becker: Present Staff present was Brit Fontenot and David Fine with the Economic Development Department and Aimee Brunckhorst, Deputy City Clerk taking minutes. B. Public Comment None. C. Minutes - April 3, 2014 10:35:25 AM Motion and Vote to approve the minutes of April 3, 2014. The motion passed unanimously. D. Non-Action Items 1. Bozeman Broadband Initiative (Fontenot/Fine) Brit Fontenot provided an update on this initiative. He spoke regarding the importance of high capacity infrastructure for data transfer for both job creation and economic diversity this initiative is very important. He spoke regarding how the city is good at infrastructure and how broadband is infrastructure and is critical for developing companies. The broadband initiative started over a year ago with a small group that recognized the need to get in front of this issue. The Steering Committee has been meeting for months discussing the path forward and is made up of a number of critical partners. A working group created is focusing on the master plan and is poised to get the consultant that was selected in town and begin engaging with the community on this issue. The vendor chosen was Design Nine out of Blacksburg, Virginia and they are now in the contracting phase of this process. 10:40:31 AM David Fine Mr. Fine spoke regarding the reasons to tackle broadband issues now. Montana ranks 47th regarding Broadband speed in the United States and Bozeman is ranked 10th in the state. Fiber lines are either expensive or simply unavailable in this community. This is a chance to be competitive. Project goals have been identified and include reducing costs and availability. He explained those goals further. He spoke regarding an inventory of what does exist and then develop enhancement strategies from there. There are two avenues that can be used by the consultant. One avenue looks at public strategies that can facilitate broadband development. He further explained this avenue. They are asking for specific recommendations. Another tool is potentially constructing the infrastructure itself. Often if you want high speed internet right now you need to determine how far you are from available infrastructure and pay build out costs. We will also look for the payback to quantify. Participation is essential in this process. They plan to have the consultant here at the end of June for a public kickoff meeting. The consultants will plan on being here several times a month for about a six month period to engage with community stakeholders including the EDC. Mr. Fine asked that one or two people on the ED Council be an integral part of this process on the working group and have the overall EDC involved as well. Mr. Fine spoke regarding funding partners saying the city of Bozeman has included money for this project in the budget, and they have received commitments from the Downtown TIF (Tax Increment Finance) and Northeast TIF District. They also received a $25,000 grant from the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund with the help from Prospera. They have also received money from Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Bozeman Public Schools and Northwestern Energy. He also spoke further regarding the timing of this project, expecting the final delivery to be released January 2015. 10:47:23 AM Brit Fontenot Mr. Fontenot said that the participation of EDC members in this process is critical. He would like to leave here today with at least one council member committed to assisting with this process. We are interested in understanding what the conclusions might be. 10:48:27 AM Cheryl Ridgely Ms. Ridgely asked about the funding for the master plan. 10:48:50 AM Brit Fontenot Mr. Fontenot explained they are collecting dollars to contribute to the overall planning process. One unknown is whether they have received an economic development administration grant they have applied for through the Northern Rocky Economic Development District with the assistance of Mike and Rob Gilmore. We know we have received the Big Sky Grant. Mr. Fontenot said they went before the Chamber and has the possibility of a commitment from them. They also feel they may have a few more stakeholders that could contribute as well. The master plan is funded but there are additional planning elements that will likely arise that they would like to create funding for as well. 10:50:51 AM David Fine Mr. Fine spoke regarding the costs of the next step after the master plan. 10:51:25 AM Tracy Menuez Ms. Menuez asked whether Montana State University (MSU) is a partner in this process. 10:51:38 AM Brit Fontenot Mr. Fontenot said that MSU is a partner regarding human resources and participation. They have committed their new Chief Information Officer (CIO) Dr. Jerry Sheehan or one of his staff to the process. The new Vice-President of Research and Economic Development, Dr. Pera has also agreed to participate and be kept apprised. The new CIO has been highly involved in other Broadband projects in California. 10:53:19 AM Tracy Menuez Ms. Menuez said she does feel this project is very timely. Who do we have to work against? 10:53:43 AM Brit Fontenot Mr. Fontenot said they have been working hard to keep the local service providers involved and engaged. In some cases, the service providers may feel that this will affect their current business model. Mr. Fontenot actually feels this could be a benefit to them by reducing the costs they have to outlay for the provision of services to their end users. They have been willing to continue in the discussion and he feels the local providers are no longer fearful and are staying engaged. At the state level, they may have service provider associations fighting against municipalities working on broadband within the legislature. 10:55:55 AM Tracy Menuez Ms. Menuez asked about larger companies having concerns because they paid for their infrastructure and the competition may not have to. Brit Fontenot said he has not heard that concern though he is aware of a large technology company solving their own infrastructure needs. With the construction of a new network would be the opportunity for more redundancy - a value add. 10:56:49 AM Bryce Ledbetter Mr. Ledbetter asked about the involvement of downtown businesses. 10:57:04 AM Brit Fontenot Mr. Fontenot said they have been going through the Downtown Bozeman Partnership and through the Downtown Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District Board which is now a partner. 10:57:56 AM Mr. Fontenot spoke regarding other area business corridors and their engagement. Cheryl Ridgely thanked Mr. Fontenot and Mr. Fine for their work on this. 10:58:50 AM Erik Garberg Mr. Garberg said the proposal was really good and they have a thought out plan and are infinitely qualified. 10:59:09 AM David Fine Mr. Fine asked if any members would be willing to participate. 10:59:17 AM Erik Garberg Mr. Garberg said he would be interested in becoming involved and spoke regarding the importance of broadband for his industry. 10:59:54 AM Becky Mahurin Ms. Mahurin said she would be willing to become more involved. 11:00:14 AM Cheryl Ridgely spoke to how vital this infrastructure is to the hospital. Brit Fontenot spoke regarding how enormously helpful Lester Gerome has been helping them understand the needs of the hospital and using that as an example across the community. E. FYI/Discussion/Updates (Schliem, et al) 11:02:02 AM Becky Mahurin Ms. Mahurin asked about the crossover between our high technology sector effort and the high tech alliance that Greg Gianforte is funding? 11:02:30 AM Brit Fontenot Mr. Fontenot spoke to how the city and the Northern Rocky Mountain Economic District met in the beginning. There was interest in pushing the effort to the state level and that was when Greg and his team started raising money to put together an association. Since then, the city has not been very involved in that association. 11:03:08 AM Mike Hedegaarg, Northern Rocky Mountain Economic District Mr. Hedegaarg spoke regarding the startup of the High Tech Alliance. The first meeting was in late January. It became obvious that the High Tech Alliance would be self sufficient from the beginning. They hired an executive director within two months of starting and raised funds to grow this to a statewide level. 11:04:25 AM Brit Fontenot Mr. Fontenot spoke regarding how they were the early supporters of the establishment of some type of organization to support high tech companies. It was not ideal that the executive directorship moved over to Missoula. They have not taken off the table the idea to organize or support something more local but do not have the capacity right now. He spoke regarding other sector development. 11:05:54 AM David Fine Mr. Fine said they will be able to see in the future what needs are being met by this group and then go from there if things are falling through the cracks. 11:06:17 AM Prospera Membership Luncheon Stuart Leidner with Prospera Business Network announced that June 12th at noon at the Holiday Inn is the annual membership luncheon for the Prospera Business Network. The new Montana State University Vice-President for Research and Economic Development, Dr. Pera is the guest speaker. Brit Fontenot announced that if any EDC member is interested in attending this event who is not already with their own organization, the city can pay for the cost and RSVP through Mr. Fontenot. 11:08:15 AM Cheryl Ridgely Ms. Ridgely spoke regarding staying plugged in to the Business and Economic Development Facebook page. F. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 11:09 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).