Minutes: June 2011 Economic Development Committee

Minutes
City of Evansville
Economic Development Committee
Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 5:30 PM
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St. Evansville, WI

AGENDA

1. Roll call. Present: Piereck, Berg, Bass, Otterstein, Brooks, Fuchs. Absent: Moon, James. Also attending: John Morning, Lori Allen, Steve Hagen, Sandy Decker, Bridget Larsen.

2. Call to order at 5:31

3. Citizen appearances, other than listed agenda items. -None

4. Rock County 5.0 meeting report and discussion by Otterstein.

a. Synchronist Business Attitudes Survey nearly complete for Rock County
b. Shovel ready building project rolled out
5. Chamber of Commerce report and discussion of Resolution of Cooperation (below)-
a. Be it hereby resolved that the Evansville Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism with the support of the Evansville School District and CEED go on record that they will support through cooperative efforts and a team approach with the Evansville Economic Development Committee and the City of Evansville to increase the tax base and reduce the mill rate for all citizens through commercial and industrial expansion to achieve the Wisconsin state average of tax base per student in the Evansville School District.
i. Discussion around the table over the need for this resolution and that it cannot be seen as an exclusive agreement but rather as one part of a healthy economic development cooperative atmosphere. Otterstein noted that it is a step along the path to cooperation rather than an ending resolution.
ii. Motion by Bass, seconded by Fuchs to recommend to Council for adoption. Passed unanimously
b. Chamber report showed interest in Business Expo. LOIS information not linked on Chamber website yet. Discussed use of Google Analytics to track use of the data.

6. Economic Development Plan
a. Reports back on items from 5/24
i. Cheryl to reconnect with Downtown revitalization group for clarification- Done. No champions named at the time with the thought that they would become apparent as tasks were undertaken.
ii. Jim to send Econ Dev Playbook to I&E Club -Done
iii. Jim- Internet needs inventory- First contact made with Bud Gayheart at UWW as a start to having survey done by business school.
iv. James to share resource links with EFL and I&E- James shared Alliance links. Sue to share with EFPL and Bridget to get them to Chamber website.
v. Chamber- Link on website to LOIS- Ongoing
vi. Sue- Written rules for TIF?- Jim to check Playbook and Redevelopment Committee. Possibility that no formal rules exist
b. Review Workforce Development items.
i. Jim to follow up with Bob Boremans on RISE Grant and Contextual Basic Skills Training
ii. Discussion about long ramp-up time for Co-op students and discussion about finding Junior Achievement mentors to meet demand.
iii. Discussion about ECSD Financial Literacy education program.
c. Next meeting –Business, Community and Government Relations items

7. East Main Street Bridge construction follow up.
a. Plans as discussed- $25 to insert notice in W&L bills, up to $250 for 5 3x4 coroplast signs, up to $525 for design work on maps and signs, up to $75 for printing for 4th of July fliers.
b. Consensus to ask Finance to allocate up to $1000 from bridge project funds to be used to purchase materials and services listed above.

8. Adjournment. 7 PM Bass/Piereck