HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 11/18/2015MINUTES
CITY OF FORT COLLINS
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Location: CIC Room, City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave.
Time: 11:00am–1:30pm
For Reference
Wade Troxell, Mayor & Council Liaison
Josh Birks, Staff Liaison 221-6324
Dianne Tjalkens, Minutes 221-6734
Commission Members Present Commission Members Absent
Sam Solt, Chair
Kim Dale
Linda Stanley
Denny Otsuga
Ann Hutchison
Kristin Owens
Ted Settle
Glen Colton
Staff Present Staff Absent
Josh Birks, Economic Health Director
Dianne Tjalkens, Admin/Board Support
Guests
Dale Adamy, citizen (arrived 1:00)
Meeting called to order at 11:02am
Review and Approval of Minutes:
Ted moved and Linda seconded a motion to approve the October minutes as presented.
Motion passed unanimously, 7-0-0. Ann arrived after vote.
Agenda Review—County will not be presenting today due to regional meeting. DDA and County staff
will come to EAC in December.
Public Comment—None
Commission Member/Staff Updates—
Josh: Municipalities, County, NCEA, and Tom Clark from Metro Denver had a meeting on economic
development this morning. Metro Denver has code of ethics to not compete, to inform of business
interests, etc. Has helped foster cooperation. Site conditions/criteria and operating costs inform business
location decisions. Competition between cities is less of a factor. EHO has picked up a lot of the work the
NCEDC used to do. Discussions of how to partner in future.
Glen: Don’t think great for northern Colorado to give water attractions. Furthers possibility of Glade
reservoir and others. Reps feel great to attract more low paying jobs that attract traffic and crowding.
Economic growth at all cost mentality. Turning into Disneyland/LA type area. Only enriches the people
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who own the land. Promised tax revenue will be used by additional services that will have to be provided.
Economic development needs to be aligned with environmental and social priorities.
Linda: New Greeley horror show.
• Regional Tourism Act creates system similar to TIF, using state’s sales tax portion. Concept was
passed to fund two projects (ex: Nascar oval in Arapahoe county). Not fair, so opened to more
projects. Application process is rigorous. State wanted to create tourist attractions that would bring
net new tourists to the state. Fort Collins has not chosen to participate because net new tourists is a
high bar to hit. Because of controversy, did not want to associate Fort Collins with this. Also did not
want to create projects to get the funding, rather than trying to fund planned projects that make sense
for our community.
• Things that were chosen may not bring in the dollars. A water park in Loveland is competing with
the one in Denver.
• Windsor proposal was bizarre as well.
Denny: Community Funded went through Pitch Academy, and has been selected to pitch at the December
8 event in Denver. Would like Fort Collins companies to be able to pitch to angel investors in Denver,
where there are more people able to invest.
Kim: Resigning from commission, as taking new position in Scotts Bluff. Recommends someone from
Front Range continue to be involved with this board.
• Four applications for four positions. Two are renewals. Have two vacancies. Council does not
have to fill all vacancies.
• Have discussed changing time of meeting.
o Only board that meets midday.
o Challenging to attend.
o Put on agenda for January, after new members are on board.
Kim: Attended presentation from PSD on growth. Sandra Smyser and board are promoting new bond
trying to pass. Presented to Workforce Development Board today. Will email powerpoint to commission.
School district is experiencing staggering growth. 3000 new students in next 5 years. Having to build new
schools. Anticipating middle-high school in Wellington and across I-25 at Prospect (in Windsor?).
Adding modulars to schools. Timeline to meet needs. If bond passes will meet needs of current number of
students, but with no additional growth. From FRCC perspective, this is great news as creates new
pipeline of students for FRCC. As citizen, growth is staggering. When and where are conversations taking
place? Housing developments are being built, people are coming in, and PSD can’t keep up. If don’t get
funding, will have more and more modulars. From EAC perspective might want to think more about this,
and perhaps have presentation from Dr. Smyser.
• Interested in where data is coming from.
o They have own demographer on staff.
• Social/economic/educational aspects that have to be dealt with.
• All goes back to not being able to charge school impact fees. Only $100 per property for school
development.
• Where is growth happening?
o Primarily in southeast and north; however, areas where population has become more
senior are being replaced by young families. Ex: Riffenburgh was going to be closed, but
population changed within one year, and now there is a waitlist. All schools are full.
Bussing is not an alternative.
o What would be appropriate response from board? Can we invite presentation?
Yes. Growth is discussion topic for 2016. Have outline of topics and Josh is
resourcing with outside presenters and staff. If want to hear how affecting
schools, he can reach out to Sandra.
Classic example of connecting the dots.
Josh will schedule presentation.
o High cost of growth no one ever takes into account. Timnath is paying zero dollars for
schools. Will have 30K population by 2040. Because of blighted urban renewal and TIF,
they are paying nothing for new schools or operating schools. Untenable to fund
infrastructure and not pay for schools. School board should discuss with Timnath.
That is where TIF is a problem, when taken advantage of.
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Timnath has increment sharing agreement to roll back how much increment
retaining over time. Josh can provide details to commission.
Other connected issues, such as transportation. If having presentation about costs,
for example, have someone from transportation department show projected costs.
Middle-high school at Prospect and I-25 will have impacts on transportation.
ACTION ITEM: Josh will schedule presentation from Dr. Sandra Smyser on effects of growth on PSD.
AGENDA ITEM 1—Recommendation: 2016 Work Plan
Josh showed draft with changes suggested in last meeting. Most changes occurred in Overview section.
Draft was provided via email to members.
Discussion/Q & A:
• In agendas need to be more specific about how intersect with social and environmental
peers/departments.
• Would like an economist to discuss the flow of local resources. Ex: When discuss bringing in
high paying jobs, there are impacts because resources flow. How do people make decisions to
improve their lives? We tend to think people only make decisions based on economics.
Equilibrium.
• Racial and cultural diversity does not need to be a filter.
o Council has given direction to City Manager to Have Human Relations Commission take
up this topic.
• Members gave suggested changes. Josh edited document.
Linda moved and Kim seconded the following motion:
The Economic Advisory Commission approves the 2016 Work Plan as amended.
Motion passed unanimously, 8-0-0.
AGENDA ITEM 2— Partner Presentations
Downtown Business Association: Jason Dennison
New strategic plan recently approved. Mission is to advance vitality and prosperity of downtown.
Historically have been focused on special events and marketing of downtown. Want to address needs as
growing. Have a TBL approach to operations. Primarily serve downtown business owners. Services
include business support for current and potential businesses (liaison to government and partners),
providing information about conducting business in downtown environment, partnerships to support local
incubators, delivering data profile to help businesses make decisions, and creating a business resource
guide for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Bring together business owners, residents, government, and
civic organizations to address issues. Top priorities include improving safety and perception of safety
(downtown is very safe already); working with partners to implement parking management plan, and
researching sustainable diverse resource streams. Need communication and collaboration to address
challenges. Revenue model is currently garnered through special events and sponsorships.
Discussion/Q & A:
• Who is board?
o 15 members: business owners and partner organizations.
• Involved in Perkins site conversations?
o Monitoring.
o Who is leading that effort?
Private land owner purchased property. Brought forward development plan that
was approved by P&Z, but was appealed by a councilmember. Council will
review and either uphold or decline. P&Z and appeal will be public hearings.
There was a neighborhood meeting during the design process.
• Value of diversity—What does that mean?
o Diversity of opinions and voices in the decision making process.
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• Revenue sources: Sales tax for downtown area?
o No. Would like to look into becoming special district.
• Address the number of bars and breweries in downtown.
o Land use: Over half is retail. Misperception due to being more visible.
o City looked at land use and revenue perspective. Bars are small percentage of sales tax
revenue. Changes based on time of day. Interesting to look at where sales tax comes from
to show activity. Helps us understand how much activity is actually coming from that.
Vast majority of sales tax from eating/drinking category is from restaurants.
o Downtown business owners have said shouldn’t let another bar in.
• Many cities have big employers downtown. We have Otterbox. Are we trying to attract big
employers? Is that what we want in our downtown? Or do we want to keep it retail and
restaurant?
o Desire a mix, based on market, especially as large buildings change hands. Focused on
small business. Partnering with PSD to foster next generation of entrepreneurship in our
community.
Visit Fort Collins—Cynthia Eichler
Mission is to lead the region in attracting visitors for a diverse set of experiences. Hold the candle for
enhancing economy and quality of life. Funded through lodging tax, so visitors paying. Visiting is for
recreation, leisure travel, and conferences. Office is in Old Town Square. Work with Chamber, EHO, etc.
Support hospitality partners. Conference services: can help with transportation, activity planning, etc. If
hear of a group coming to town, have them contact for help with planning. Have a special lodging district
for those outside of city that want to be included. Also have partner memberships. Everyone can have a
free listing, though. Host Colorado Welcome Center: 1 manager and 125 volunteers. Governed by board
of directors. Board has 27 positions at this time—working to right size, using bench marking. Introduced
the certified tourism ambassador program last year: participants study book of info on the community,
take a half day class, and test to certify. Hoteliers are trying to get front line staff through program. Would
like to get other businesses involved as well, ex: gas station attendants. White Water rafting company
came through and had a great experience. Had 228 participants in first year; expected 100. In keeping up
momentum Visit plans to make video and get updated photos, work on strategic alignment next year, and
create a tourism master plan. Region is growing up. Make sure leading with excellent amenities.
Discussion/Q & A:
• How will new hotel impact Visit Fort Collins and be different from other hotel options?
o Won’t be as big as other hotels. Fills a need. Armstrong is great; has 99 beds. New hotel
gives downtown experience in different fashion: will have 163 beds, with 5000ft2 feet of
meeting space, and retail and restaurant on ground level facing the street. Entrance will
be on the east side.
Armstrong and new hotel could partner for conferences?
Possibility.
• Ability to host bigger events and having a convention center in downtown would be beneficial to
revitalization. Always a challenge to find places to meet and hotel spaces for conference
attendees. Armstrong is old, loud, the train goes by. End up putting people on south side of town
and renting shuttle to take to downtown.
o Recognize this issue. Work as well as we can with groups to help place them. Bids are
also put in from hotels on amenities they can provide to groups. Lack of convention space
does hinder us sometimes. During summer host large groups with CSU, but can’t do that
during the school year due to space. Colorado Tourism Organization—have put name in
to host. Stadium should be done by then as well.
• Talk about interaction with dorms. Personal experience was CSU conference and event planning
staff was not knowledgeable.
o Have found that CSU is so big hard to know everyone. External relations team does great
things with Visit. Work with them quite a bit.
o They need to get better at telling staff how to handle things.
Can work with them on additional training.
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• Portland has concierge service for events and groups. City has visitors coming to learn about
municipal initiatives. Looking at how to provide better services. Connect with technical expert,
who then has to try to act as host and create itinerary. Portland’s service helps showcase the city
and wrap services.
o Anchorage downtown businesses had signage welcoming conference goers. Businesses
were aware that there were a lot of people coming from out of town.
Crew is one of largest groups that come to CSU every year. Also have
convention calendar that is shared with partners. Make sure people are aware.
o At Penn State found that downtown businesses would do discounts for conference
attendees.
Digital component: had coupon book for Crew. WeDo is an app that may
collaborate with. Create a new front end for specific groups.
Also great data collection tool to see impact of groups on economics/businesses.
Trading information is highly valuable.
• Is there a place to get digital, copywrite free images of the town?
o Yes. And City has Flickr account as well.
o For particular photos/images, Visit has hired a photographer. Reach out.
Colorado SBDC—Mike O’Connell
Mission is to help Larimer County businesses start, grow and prosper. Funding is federal SBA money,
matching grant from FRCC, training and class fees, fundraising, strategic partners, City of Fort Collins,
City of Loveland, state jobs bill, First National Bank, Larimer County, and other partners. Do “Street-
Smart” business education. Provide free confidential one-to-one business consulting, low cost trainings
and workshops, and connection to resources. Serve clients and strategic partners. Annually have approx.
550 consulting clients: 50% existing businesses and 50% individuals/start-ups. Includes nonprofits. Have
30 accredited consultants: marketing, finance, import-export, retail, etc. Training classes include starting a
business, finance, sales and marketing, and business planning. Connection to resources—work with
commercial lenders, micro-lenders, LCWC, PTAC (helps businesses work with government), legal,
bookkeepers, brokers, etc. Have been involved in disaster recovery with Estes Park. Not in business of
recruitment, personal finance, specific legal or tax advice, high tech or IT consulting, large corporations,
or direct loans. 2015 new initiative was to look at specific industries in which to get better: retail,
restaurant, health, service-based, and creatives. Also did SBDC Advanced/Economic Gardening—
strategic direction for a business. Client is charged $250 for this service, but statewide initiative so getting
some state funding support as well. Industry specific events include Small Business After Hours
workshops/panels. Scope of work agreement with City of Fort Collins as funder: commitment to number
of new businesses, consulting hours, client sales growth, etc. Success story examples: Branch Out Cider,
August Ink, Fernweh Inn & Hostel, The Fox & The Crow, Ace Hardware on Harmony new ownership
transition. 2016 goal is to find a better way to serve existing small businesses. Will continue events,
broaden Advanced program, gear financial classes to existing businesses, implement webinars and
podcasts, have objectives for consultants, and change ratio of service to existing versus startup to 60/40.
Challenges include getting fair share of SBA grant funding (currently Denver-centric) and possible
cancellation of Jobs Bill (HB-1002) which pays for Advanced program.
Discussion/Q & A:
• Are consultants paid?
o $30/hour for general consultants. Used to be all volunteer-based. Lends
credibility/accountability to have paid.
• Who makes decision on SBA grant funding?
o Office of Economic Development.
o Get legislators involved.
• With manufacturing being such a major sector, do you support those businesses? Attend Northern
Colorado Manufacturing Sector meetings?
o Do help small manufacturing businesses now. Manufacturers Edge group works with
businesses over 100 employees. Looking to partner with someone who can work with
smaller manufacturers.
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• Successful alumni, are you looking at opportunities for reinvestment into SBDC? Circle back.
Bringing back home-grown talent. Could serve as mentors and provide revenue diversity.
o Doing this now. Bring on as consultants: 7 hour training to get accredited. Looking to
pull together to network.
• How are minority businesses evolving?
o In construction, primarily Hispanic. Don’t have Spanish speaking consultant yet. Looking
for one. About 36% of existing businesses SBDC is helping are woman, minority, or
veteran owned.
• Great resource for community.
o Fortunate that in vibrant area. Networking, many resources to connect with. Businesses
are busy. Need to give direct contact.
o Providing strong leadership.
o In 2009 SBDC did not have great reputation. Mike has made great changes, serving
clients first. EHO doesn’t really help small business (does not have the resources); having
strategic partner that does this well is valuable to City. Appreciate focus on existing
businesses.
Other Discussion
• These presentations help with scope and background.
o Team is much bigger than what we have at the City. EHO Strategic Plan will be
accomplished with partners.
Meeting Adjourned: 1:06pm
Next Meeting: December 16
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