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6.2 EDSR 06-15-2015 Request for Action To Item Number Economic Development Authority 6.2 Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by General BusinessJune 15, 2015Amanda Othoudt, EDD Item Description Reviewed by Director’s Report Cal Portner, City Administrator Reviewed by Action Requested Information presented for discussion only. In effort to keep the EDA up to date on development activity, I will provide the EDA members with a report of the recent activity highlights occurring each month. Background/Discussion PROPOSALS Ebert Construction Proposal I received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from Ebert Construction for two parcels at the SE corner of Hwy 10 & Joplin St. The developer submitted a preliminary site plan and proposal to develop a high-quality commercial retail project. The proposal and LOI will be presented to the City Council on June 15 for approval and to authorize an appraisal to determine the market value. Carlson Motorsports-ERX Expansion ERX submitted a rezoning application for the property located at 10800 175th Ave NW and adjacent parcels owned by Envision Company, LLC., ERX Properties, LLC., and BWB Holdings, LLC. Carlson Motorsports (CM) proposes to expand their racing operations to include both snocross and off-road summer truck racing. The proposal requires a physical expansion of their racing headquarters facility, located directly north of ERX. CM intends to add a 20,000sf for additional shop space, for race-hauler storage, fabrication area, and open storage for seasonal racing equipment. In addition, CM will create new office space, a conference room, a gathering area for entertaining sponsors and space for short-term, limited-stay housing for sponsors, racers, and associates. This space will also include a small snowmobile /snocross display area for new and vintage power sports equipment. Other future use considerations within the rezoning application include rental shop, off road truck racing, waterpark, festivals, swap meets, concerts, OEM testing/validation events, and training and development classes. Spikes Feed Supply Spikes Feed Supply store anticipates a fall opening at the former feed mill location off of TH10. They likely will apply for funding through the Downtown Revitalization Financing Program. BUSINESS VISITS BR&E Team Meeting Amanda, Jennifer, John, Paul, Colleen, and Debbi Rydberg met to discuss the Business Retention and Expansion program, including a team-approach to conducting BR&E visits. We discussed the importance of BR&E visits and identified the following key objectives in each visit.  Demonstrate appreciation to existing businesses for their contribution to the local economy.  Help businesses solve their problems and challenges.  Assist local businesses in gaining awareness of available resources.  Develop collaborative relationships between the private and public sectors.  Maintain confidentiality with sensitive information. Our first BR&E visit was scheduled at Wolf Handling in May. Promo Products Business Visit Dan Weber and I met with Andy Isle from Promo Products to discuss their future expansion. They propose a 2,000sf building expansion and inquired about city and county incentives to assist with the expansion. We recommended the county’s Revolving Loan Fund that is nearing approval. They requested to extend their current Industrial MicroLoan for two more years, which will be presented to the EDA Finance committee in June. Grow MN Business Visit Amanda and Debbi Ryberg met with Mike Leistico from Integrite on Thursday as part of a Grow MN Visit. Integrite is a manufacturing facility located off of York Street specializing in metal and plastic machining. They growing rapidly and are interested in expanding their facility from 5,000 to 10,000sf. Amanda connected them with the Initiative Foundation to assist with obtaining grant money for specialized certification costs. We’ll continue search for an existing facility that fits their needs. Wolf Material Handling Systems - BR&E Visit Amanda, Colleen, John, and Debbie conducted a BR&E Visit with Wolf Material Handling Systems. They design and manufacture industrial bulk material handling systems and equipment for pulp and paper, power generation, resource recovery, mining, chemical, and manufacturing, as well as other industries that require material handling. They expressed concerns with finding good quality workforce. They are working with Anoka-Ramsey Technical College to find workers. They were pleased to hear about our quiet zones plan and reported they are genuinely pleased and had great experiences with the city of Elk River, and the staff. J&J Machine Amanda and Colleen met with J&J machine to discuss their expansion plans. Owner John Lenz proposes to add an 26,400sf to their building later this year. At this time they are not seeking financial assistance. We toured the facility and learned about their business and products. Lake State Recycling, Inc. Lake State Recycling would like to purchase and move to an existing facility off of Twin Lakes Road and Line Ave, but they have concerns with the location’s utility connections. Sanitary sewer is in close proximity but it doesn’t meet ordinance requirements for availability so we would not force a connection. The property is allowed to connect to the public water system for fire suppression and leave the building’s domestic system (bathrooms, etc.) served by private well and septic system. If they choose to connect to public water for domestic service, they will be required to connect to the public sewer system by ordinance. Colleen and I toured the company to learn about their business and to review other possible sites/buildings. Their lease is up in April and would like to confirm a location by November. APPLICATIONS Sportech Property Tax Abatement Application Sportech, Inc. requested a15-20 year abatement for $982,720 for their new 105,000sf facility. The application was sent to Springsted for analysis before presentation to the EDA Finance committee later this month. Sportech Grant Signing Ceremony The City Council and EDA were invited to the grant signing ceremony in May to celebrate a $300,000 Minnesota Jobs Skills Partnership (MJSP) grant, from the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (MNDEED), awarded to Anoka-Ramsey Community College in partnership with Sportech. Morrell Companies Property Tax Abatement and Microloan Application Morrell requested $121,605 over 15 years in tax abatement for their 13,824sf facility. The application was sent to Springsted for further analysis. They also requested a Microloan, which has also been sent to Springsted for further analysis. Promo Products Loan Extension Promo Products requested a 2-year extension on their Industrial MicroLoan. The application was sent to Springsted for further analysis and will be brought to the EDA Finance Committee in June. MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS Economic Development Association of Minnesota (EDAM) Summer Conference Amanda and Colleen attended the EDAM conference. We attended the break out session "From Samples to Six-Packs: How to homebrew your communities craft culture." The session focused on the economic development efforts and partnerships formed by the city and the business owners of a few select craft breweries and distilleries in Duluth. We also planned the Site Selector FAM Tour with our regional economic development partners in Princeton, Coon Rapids, Connexus Energy, Xcel, and GRE. The FAM Tour will be conducted in September, hosted by DEED and the partnering cities. Community Networking & Economic Gardening Amanda attended the BNI group during the last couple of months to network with the small business owners in Elk River. I was able to network and connect with 26 new and existing business owners. This is an opportunity to support entrepreneurship through Economic Gardening. Economic Gardening is a “grow from within” strategy targeting existing growth companies and offering them critical strategic information that is customized to their needs. Information that we can provide can be key to propelling companies to its next phase of growth. Brew Pub, Distillery’s and Tap Houses Amanda and Colleen met with Jeffrey O’Brien, an attorney who specializes in craft breweries, distilleries and tap houses and represents over three dozen clients in Minnesota. We discussed what tools other communities were using to attract these types of businesses to their region. We also discussed desirable locations for the businesses and tools we could create and to attract them. We considered a microloan program geared specifically towards the industry. Community Workforce Education and Innovation Collaborative I have been invited to participate in the newly formed Community Workforce Education and Innovation Collaborative (CWEIC) hosted by the Minnesota School of Business. Discussions continued regarding workforce issues that have been identified in Sherburne County. We will survey Sherburne County employers to understand which sectors are struggling find available workforce. With the data we can begin to quantify the shortage of available workers. The data that will be collected will be useful to local tech colleges, high schools and regional groups as we work to educate parents, students and community stakeholders about the gap in available workforce. Sherburne County Broadband Steering Committee Meeting We hosted the June Sherburne County Broadband Steering committee at City Hall. The Outreach Committee has been working with a consultant to help the committee create a clear message on the importance of broadband that we can spread throughout the community. The consultant met with the committee on June 1st to present their ideas and we approved three projects to apply for grant funding to support: 1.Becker History Center - $10,000 for wireless/fiber/public work stations (Sherburne County will apply) 2.Lakeside Public Park In Big Lake - $10,000 for wireless access (City of Big Lake will apply) 3.Sherburne County Fairgrounds - $10,000 for wireless access (Sherburne County will be apply) If the grants are approved, we would still have $30,000 available for additional projects that have been discussed. Central Minnesota Jobs and Training is moving forward with the PC’s for People Computers distribution. A draft flyer has been created and they will be distributed this summer. Guardian Angels requested 5-10 computers, the fair board requested one and the remainder will go to people of need. Blandin Community Outreach Sub Committee I have been attending the Blandin Community Outreach meetings to discuss the efforts to market and advertise the Sherburne County Broadband Coalition. Members of the committee are responsible for relaying the message of how important broadband is to our economic development efforts and to the community. In addition, our literature will focus on the following: 1) What is broadband and why do we need it? 2) How do we compare statewide? (60% underserved) 3) What can be done to institute more investment and foster partnerships? Financial Impact None. Attachments  None