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07-16-2018 EDA MIN SPECIALElk River Members Present: Members Absent: Special Meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority Held at the Elk River City Hall Monday, July 16, 2018 President Dan Tveite, Commissioners Jerry Olsen, Matt Westgaard, Nate Ovall (arrived 4:34 p.m.), Jennifer Wagner, and Charlie Blesener Commissioner Bryan Provo Staff Present: Economic Development Director Amanda Othoudt, Economic Development Specialist Colleen Eddy, and Records Specialist Katie Porath Call Meeting to Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority was called to order at 4:30 p.m. by President Tveite. 2. Consider July 16, 2018 Agenda Moved by Commissioner Westgaard and seconded by Commissioner Olsen to approve the July 16, 2018 agenda. Motion carried 6-0. 3. EDA 2019 Budget and Goals Ms. Othoudt presented the staff report. Ms. Othoudt reviewed the budget and highlighted areas where costs are reduced such as offices supplies, fuel, and legal fees. Commissioner Ovall arrived. Commissioner Wagner asked if postage included marketing materials. Ms. Othoudt said there was some cost savings by partnering with Sherburne County in networking and tradeshow events. There was also a slight decrease in marketing costs and they were no longer using Constant Contact. President Tveite questioned why the Miscellaneous costs category showed an increase from $11,882 in 2015 to $88,900 in 2016. Ms. Othoudt will research this cost increase and bring more information back to the EDA. Ms. Othoudt asked if the EDA wished to allocate fiends for a business incubator pilot program in 2019. Economic Development Authority Minutes July 16, 2018 Page 2 Commissioner Wagner had questions about the increase in advertising. She wonders what staff had found that was working. Were there specific ads that were working? Ms. Eddy discussed which magazine ads were reaching the intended audience and that there was some cost increases by targeting these publications. Commissioner Wagner asked who designed the ads. Ms. Eddy said some are designed in house and others are created in collaboration with publication design staff. Commissioner Wagner wondered if it might be beneficial to focus on a structured advertising campaign to avoid overlap in materials between magazines. Commissioner Ovall questioned if the city's current property inventory is big enough to be in larger magazines. Ms. Eddy described that the city has been using a pulse as a consistent look throughout campaign materials to convey that the city is on the cutting edge and has a positive energy vibe. Commissioner Wagner said the ads should be worthwhile. The city should consider hiring a designer to do all of the ads for the year since they already know what publications they will be going in. Commissioner Wagner would like to see movement in 2019 toward process improvement for customer service. Ms. Othoudt said the city is currently developing a pamphlet showing the process and could look into adding customer service training if the EDA wants to include that in their budget. Commissioner Blesener said the process is more than the publication, it is how the departments intersect. It is noticeable when businesses are unified in their process and anyone in any position in the company can respond similarly to what their goals are. Commissioner Ovall recommended adding some money to the budget for developing the process. Commissioner Tveite suggested coming up with a more definitive plan. Perhaps the initiative should begin at the city wide level and be pushed down into commissions. Commissioner Ovall mentioned City Administrator Portner had initiated some training such as presentations, and storytelling. President Tveite asked the committee if they want to consider the business incubator program. NATURE] Economic Development Authority Minutes July 16, 2018 Page 3 Ms. Othoudt reviewed the purpose of the program is to fillretail and commercial spaces with businesses that are currently operating out of their home by subsidizing a portion of their initial rent. She asked the committee if they wished to add $9,900 for one project to the 2019 budget. She suggested establishing a pilot program to see if it was effective. President Tveite liked the concept and thought it was a win-win for the city. Commissioner Wagner asked if the benefit was worth the amount of effort to launch the program. Does the City of Elk River have a lot of empty retail spaces they are looking to fill? Why are they empty? Is it because of zoning or other issues? She would like more information on what the open spaces are. The $9,900 is only part of the cost, staff time would also need to be considered. The applicants are also required to take classes. Does the business incubator program meet the goals of the EDA? Ms. Othoudt said there are currently about 30 available retail spaces available. The pilot may help to show if the demand is there. The biggest goal of the program would be to help business establish. Commissioner Wagner wanted to know what is currently stopping businesses from moving out of their garage or going into a retail space. Is the rent the issue? Commissioner Blesener said that years ago there was an incubator program. How does the proposed program differ? Ms. Othoudt explained that the past incubator program was investor led. Commissioner Blesener asked if the EDA should promote entrepreneurs attending the proposed classes. He believes one of the greatest reasons new businesses fail is due to poor business plans. President Tveite stated the pilot may answer some of their questions. Is paying rent for six months for a new business enough of a boost to scale up their business? It is also important to determine how to effectively market the program. It could be another tool for the EDA to target different customers. Commissioner Ovall agreed with Commissioner Wagner on whether the return on investment equaled the work involved. If we have many initiatives it is a lot more to maintain and the message may become fragmented. He liked the idea but feels the EDA needs to spend more time on determining the benefits and how to convey the message in a succinct and tangible way. President Tveite agreed it may add more to staff's "plate" and questioned if "the juice was worth the squeeze". P O f E R E A I T NATURE Economic Development Authority Minutes July 16, 2018 Page 4 Commissioner Ovall liked the spirit of the plan and felt the EDA should continue working on it. Ms. Othoudt stated the commission could look at the program more in depth and add to the 2020 budget if desired. Commissioner Ovall wished the EDA could get some sort of "dashboard report" that showed what type of properties are available in Elk River by property type. He also felt it would be beneficial to determine why they are vacant. A demographic survey may show how big the need for Elk River property is. Ms. Eddy said there may be opportunities to partner with the county or school district. Commissioner Ovall agreed the program may be bigger through collaboration and we may be a leader if we can get funding. Commissioner Olsen asked if there are other cities that have a similar initiative. Ms. Othoudt referenced the City of Stewartville who had a similar program. Home based businesses are hard to track and establishing a business in a retail space makes sense for their business growth. President Tveite asked the committee if there is a consensus on not putting it on the budget but waiting for more details on the program. Commissioner Westgaard stated just because you budget the money you don't have to use it. Ms. Othoudt said, if the committee wishes, the money can be reallocated from reserves and put into the budget. Commissioner Ovall suggested a placeholder amount. The Commission came to the consensus to leave it off the 2019 budget and come back to it later next year. Ms. Othoudt reviewed Performance Measures and Goals. She asked the EDA if they wanted to add or adjust them. Although there have been applications for energy efficiency microloans, the Elk River Municipal Utility rebate fund has been depleted for this year and only revolving loans are available. President Tveite wondered about an inventory of private and public properties available for future development. He also wanted to know if it was appropriate to include the gravel pit on their list of goals. P01FREI ar NA TUR Economic Development Authority Minutes July 16, 2018 Page 5 President Tveite suggested changing the goal to on wetlands to "continue to fund the wetland bank". Commissioner Ovall asked if one project could wipe out the entire wetland bank amount and what is an appropriate reserve for a city of our size. Ms. Othoudt responded that one project had the potential to deplete the entire fund. She asked the EDA how they wished to incorporate the gravel mine into goals and objectives. President Tveite suggested developing a strategy on what is going to happen and what the EDA would like to see happen. Commissioner Westgaard agreed that the committee needed to know the plan before marketing it. It would be helpful to establish a vision and strategic plan for the gravel mine which also included the Corridors of Commerce. Commissioner Ovall asked where Energy City fits into the EDA. Ms. Othoudt responded that the Energy City branding is most often used for the Environmental department but the EDA also uses it. Ms. Eddy added that Energy City has cross department goals. Commissioner Ovall asked if we are using Energy City in our marketing should we be fighting to preserve that. Ms. Eddy felt Energy City marketing should be more of a city council goal than a goal of the EDA. 4. Adjournment There being no further business, President Tveite adjourned the meeting of the Elk River Economic Development Authority at 5:38 p.m. Minutes prepared by Katie Porath Dan T/v%eite, ED President 4 J ■ l Tina Allard, City Clerk � 0Y"E REB er INI ATURE