HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 06/19/2019Economic Advisory Commission
Regular Meeting
June 19, 2019, 11 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Colorado River Room, 1st
Floor, 222 Laporte Avenue
6//2019 – MINUTES Page 1
1. CALL TO ORDER
Time Started 11:06 a.m.
2. ROLL CALL
List of Board Members Present
• Connor Barry
• Aric Light
• Denny Otsuga
• John Parks
• Braulio Rojas
• Linda Stanley
• Renee Walkup
• Ted Settle
List of Board Members Absent
• George Grossman
List of Staff Members Present
• Josh Birks, Economic Health Manager
• Erin Zimmermann, Economic Health Admin/Board Support
• Shannon Hein, Sr. Business Specialist
• SeonAh Kendall, Sr. Manager Economic Health
List of Guests
• Kevin Jones, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
• Mike O’Connell, Larimer County’s Small Business Development Center
• Alan Braslau, Energy Board
• Nick Michell, Energy Board
3. AGENDA REVIEW
a. Modified agenda order to have SBDC presentation first and receive the update from
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
6/19/2019 – MINUTES Page 2
Ted when/ if he is able to attend.
4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
a. Nick Mitchel from the Energy Board. We have been looking at minimum standards
for Metro Districts. We have made it known to Council that those standards should
be developed. We are happy to look into that. We think the standards should be
beyond code. We have a work session in two weeks to discuss it further. The part
we care about and are looking at right now is energy efficiency, but transportation
and housing would also be ones to consider. Next step will be to keep this Board
informed.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The May 15th, 2019 meeting minutes were approved as presented. Braulio motioned to
approve. Ted seconded.
6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
a. Board and Commission Evaluation (Experiment) Update—Ted Settle (Listen/
Clarify)
Ted Settle provided a short recap. Waiting to see what the next selected topic will
be.
7. NEW BUSINESS
a. SBDC Update and Partnership— SeonAh Kendall and Mike O’Connell
(Listen/Clarify/Discuss)
SeonAh Kendall introduced the presentation and provided a history on how the
partnership with the Small Business Development Center has evolved. Initially there
was confusion between what the SBDC and the Larimer County Small Business
Development Center did. Mike O’Connell came onboard in 2013 and the City started
a sponsorship for the SBDC through a Cluster grant.
From 2015 on, the SBDC was funded at $40,000 as a BFO offer. In the last year,
have transitioned to having Shannon sit on the advisory commission and continue to
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
6/19/2019 – MINUTES Page 3
work on keeping the Scope of Work fresh.
Mike O’Connell presented on what the SBDC is and what it does. The SBDC helps
local businesses start, grow and prosper through street-smart business education
and assistance. They offer high quality training, connection to resources, free
confidential consulting.
Colorado SBDC Timeline:
• SBA formed in 1953
• SBA partially funds SBDC and SCORE Networks in 1970s
• Colorado SBDC formed and FRCC hosts Larimer SBCD Center in 1987
(In Colorado there are 14 Centers)
Services
General:
• Start-up Support
• Business Planning
• Finance Accounting
• Marketing Sales
Industry Specific Services:
• Retail
• Restaurant/Food Products
• Health and Wellness
• Creatives
• Non-Profits
• Manufacturing
High Growth Potential:
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
6/19/2019 – MINUTES Page 4
• Scale Up Smart Program
• Strategic Direction/ Digital Marketing
• Manufacturing Optimization
• Financial Analysis
Results
2016-2018
• 137 Businesses Started
• 1555 Jobs Retained
• 827 Jobs Created
• $60.5M Increased Sales
• Capital Infusion = $31.7 M
Disaster Recovery Grants
• 65 local businesses/nonprofits, $3M+ total checks provided
• Larimer grants were 50% of state total
• Program ended Feb. 2019
What We Don’t Do:
• Business Recruitment
• Personal Finance/wealth planning
• Giving specific legal or tax advice
• Much consulting for tech/IT companies
• Large businesses/corporations
• Directly provide loans or incentives
2019 Initiatives:
• Oct. 3rd
NoCo Womens X\Conference
• Add SBDC Program Coordinator?
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
6/19/2019 – MINUTES Page 5
• Latino coverage in Fort Collins
• Beef up Wellington Berthoud, and Estes Park Outreach and support
• Pursue additional center funding
• Push ScaleUp Smart program
Comments:
Renee: What are the challenges you see coming?
Mike: Talent. I think finding and retaining employees. I think making sure you have a
niche. Is your product compelling? Leasing is also a challenge. Upward pressure on
wages and leases, and of course competing with Amazon. Saw lots of breweries,
then distilleries, then food trucks. Now see marijuana businesses which is
interesting, given that we get do receive Federal funding, so we can’t do the
individual consulting with these companies.
b. Revolving Loan Fund RFP— Shannon Hein (Listen/Clarify/ Discuss)
Shannon Hein announced that the Revolving Loan Fund RFP is now open. We have
sent it to three organizations who we believe will have an interest. The request was
to have someone from EAC serve on the review committee. The program will be
open to all, but we will target minority businesses and women-owned businesses.
Estimate 7-8 hours for review committee. Aric Light agreed to serve on the
committee.
We will also be putting together an advisory committee so that could also be a future
opportunity.
8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
a. Braulio is serving on the Development Review Fee Advisory Committee. He
provided an update on that process. We do not have final numbers yet. The second
meeting was moved to July. They will present that to different committees. I think it’s
a good exercise to see how much they provide to see how much they should be
charging. The are looking at shifting to a flat rate.
b. Josh will be going to a work session in August to talk about two of the Council
Priorities that fall within EHO.
c. Emily Gorgol is our new Council Liaison. We will work on getting her here to meet
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
6/19/2019 – MINUTES Page 6
with us soon and Connor and Deny will also work to meet with her.
d. Renee: I have gone to a few Council meetings recently.
9. OTHER BUSINESS
None
10. ADJOURNMENT
Adjourns 12:56 p.m.
Renee will be absent in July
UPCOMING TOPICS
July:
2019 Fee Update– Jennifer Poznanovic (Listen/Clarify)
Sports Complex Feasibility Study– TBD (Listen/Clarify)
August:
Open (Listen/Clarify)
September:
Open (Listen/Clarify)
Unscheduled:
Update on Industry Cluster Approach – TBD (Listen/Clarify)
2019 Priorities:
Talent Development, Economic Dashboard, Business Engagement, & Cluster