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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-06-14 Economic Development Council MinutesTHE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (EDC) MEETING BOZEMAN, MONTANA MINUTES Friday, March 6, 2014 A. Call to Order – 10:30 a.m. City Hall (121 North Rouse Ave.), City Commission Meeting Room 10:31:13 AM Daryl Schliem called the meeting to order. Council Member - Erik Garberg: Present Council Member - Cheryl Ridgely: Absent Council Member - Teresa McKnight: Present Council Member - Tracy Menuez: Absent Board Chair - Daryl Schliem: Present Board Member - Bryce Ledbetter: Present New Board Member - Rebecca Mahurin: Absent Guests present include Jason Bacaj from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Stuart Leidner with Prospera and Daniel Hoduan. Staff present included 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. Daryl Schliem opened public comment. 10:31:42 AM Daniel Hoduan, Public Comment Mr. Hoduan said he is in support of the Broadband initiative. This could be a major game changer for any business that requires high capacity connection. Public Comment Closed. C. Minutes - February 14, 2014 Motion and Vote It was moved by Bryce Ledbetter, seconded by Erik Garberg to approve the minutes of February 14, 2014 as submitted. The motion passed unanimously. D. Action Items 1. Approve the Economic Development Department’s FY15 recommended budget and recommend approval by the Bozeman City Commission. 10:33:22 AM Brit Fontenot provided the staff presentation on this item. Job Creation and Industry diversification Today’s budget presentation was the second provided for economic development as it was first presented to the City Manager and Administrative Services Director. The EDC Department attempted to link the budget to the Commission’s goals. The EDC’s continuing goals include: • Continuing to support the Photonics Industry Alliance and the Outdoor Industry. They will request $5000 towards this goal. • Sell the North Park Property – Counter Buy/Sell was just accepted and will move forward • Support the development of the MUS IC and the Technology TIF • Support the development of a downtown Hotel o Block G North – work has started o Imperial Inn – design has started • Broadband • Improve the ED web presence incorporating more social media outreach • Data – Hub of data that people want to use to make better decisions 10:41:31 AM New Goals • Update the 2009 economic development plan • Host a regional economic summit • Assume management or partial management of TIF (or TEDD) Districts. Transition districts from TIF to TEDD? (New economic development districts established by the legislature last year.) Brit Fontenot has been looking at what districts may be best to transfer over to TEDD. • Continue marketing collaborative • Grow professionally and acquire new skills • As necessary, engage specialized outside legal counsel to facilitate projects o North Park Sale, TIF Management, Broadband, Convention Center, etc. 10:45:09 AM Projects • Linked to Commission Goals o Broadband master plan $90,000 o Sector development initiatives (including photonics, outdoor, hi-tech and social sector) $30,000 10:46:25 AM Operation Increases • Computer upgrades, cell phones • Travel $7,000 • Dues and Certifications, etc. Total Request - $253,090 a 16% increase over the 2014 increase 10:48:18 AM Theresa McKnight asked whether any benchmark reports were completed from the 2009 Economic Development Plan. 10:48:49 AM Brit Fontenot said no there has not been any clear benchmarking completed, but some of the goals in the plan are somewhat difficult to quantify. While we have not been quantifying based on the matrix, the spirit of recommendations has been followed closely. 10:49:55 AM Daryl Schliem spoke regarding the way the Economic Development Plan was developed and the importance of updating it. 10:50:45 AM Theresa McKnight asked whether benchmarking is a goal moving forward. Brit Fontenot explained how the economic development department is working on a strategy but some of the goals are hard to firmly check off a box. For example, if job creation and diversification is two of our main goals, than having Apptus join the community and add 70 jobs hits that mark. 10:53:13 AM Theresa McKnight asked Mr. Becker about his view regarding benchmarks as the past Mayor. 10:53:25 AM Sean Becker said that benchmarking always comes up every time we receive a new master plan. Benchmarks can be ambiguous and still give us something to go off of. The goals in the master plan crystallized the views of the entire organization related to economic development. 10:54:56 AM Stuart Leidner, Executive Director for Prospera Business Network Mr. Leidner said the EDC spent a lot of time getting the plan narrowed down to something that was workable for Brit Fontenot. With regards to the matrix, we have had that conversation on what some of the dashboard matrixes could be – job creation and putting a specific number to sectors. The city is creating an environment for the businesses themselves to actually create the jobs. Mr. Leidner spoke regarding the photonics industry as he sits on their board and they are working on strategies now for their growth initiative. They have set a goal of doubling the employment in this sector within the next ten years. 10:58:20 AM Brit Fontenot answering member questions, said the Economic Development presentation went well before the City Manager and the Administrative Services Director but he acknowledged that there is a lot of competition within the general fund. They support what we are doing. 11:00:20 AM David Fine spoke regarding the Broadband project funding and how that plays into the budget. 11:01:29 AM Erik Garberg spoke regarding the economic development budget being one that may have a fiscal return on investment. 11:01:56 AM Daryl Schliem spoke regarding the importance of this budget. Mr. Schliem asked about flexibility within this budget. 11:02:49 AM Brit Fontenot said it provides some flexibility. For example, if there are marketing needs for one of the sectors they could draw from the marketing budget. 11:03:45 AM Daryl Schliem spoke regarding outside council and how appreciative the EDC is towards the internal legal advice that has been provided thus far. 11:05:07 AM Motion and Vote It was moved by Erik Garberg, seconded by Bryce Ledbetter that the EDC forward the proposed budget to the City Commission with a favorable recommendation. Council Member - Erik Garberg: Motion Board Member - Bryce Ledbetter: 2nd Council Member - Erik Garberg: Approve Council Member - Cheryl Ridgely: Absent Council Member - Teresa McKnight: Approve Council Member - Tracy Menuez: Absent Board Chair - Daryl Schliem: Approve Board Member - Bryce Ledbetter: Approve The motion passed unanimously. E. Non-Action Items 1. Welcome to the new EDC member, if appointed on March 3. 2014. (Schliem) Brit Fontenot announced that Rebecca Mahurin was just appointed Monday night to the Economic Development Council. F. FYI/Discussion/Updates (Schliem, et al) 1. Sale of the North Park property; Brit Fontenot said a counter buy/sell was signed and the ordinance to sell the North Park Property is tentatively scheduled for March 24 th . 2. Social Media; 11:07:03 AM David Fine spoke regarding the quick increase in Facebook followers and the small amount of advertising dollars they invested into Facebook to promote the page. 11:08:23 AM Brit Fontenot asked Bryce Ledbetter to help with advice on social media. 11:09:19 AM 3. Broadband Master Plan. David Fine said on Sunday they released the request for proposals for a broadband master plan. He spoke further to the details of this RFP. 11:12:04 AM Brit Fontenot spoke to the partnership for this project, saying they are reaching out to the community to get commitments from private and public sector partners to help fund this plan. The downtown TIF has committed to this project. Future meetings with the School and Hospital are planned. EDA and Big Sky Trust Fund Grant funding has been requested as well. 11:13:59 AM Sean Becker spoke regarding a current opportunity that the state will be releasing on June 1 st for open data. He would like to have the city open the GIS files to the state servers. This is the next step up from the Montana Site Selector. 11:15:28 AM Daryl Schliem spoke regarding the importance of data that has been gathered from all of the organizations that can be provided in a comprehensive report. 11:16:39 AM Erik Garberg spoke regarding the $50 million contribution made to the MSU Engineering Department. G. 11:16:54 AM Adjournment Daryl Schliem adjourned the meeting.