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Home My WebLink AboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 05/15/2019Economic Advisory Commission Regular Meeting May 15, 2019, 11 a.m.- 1 p.m. Colorado River Room, 1st Floor, 222 Laporte Avenue 5/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER Time Started 11:08 a.m. 2. ROLL CALL List of Board Members Present • Denny Otsuga • John Parks • Braulio Rojas • Ted Settle • Linda Stanley • George Grossman • Renee Walkup List of Board Members Absent • Connor Barry • Aric Light List of Staff Members Present • Josh Birks, Economic Health Manager • Erin Zimmermann, Economic Health Admin/Board Support List of Guests • Dale Adamy (r1st.org) • Kevin Jones Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce 3. AGENDA REVIEW No changes 4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION No comments 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The April 17th, 2019 meeting minutes approved as presented 6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS. a. Women’s Commission CEDAW Resolution- Josh Birks (Listen/ Clarify/Discuss) At the last meeting, a representative from the Women’s Commission asked that the ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 5/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 2 Economic Advisory Commission consider supporting their effort to encourage City Council to give them approval to draft a resolution of a CEDAW resolution for City Council consideration. The commission expressed general support because of the economic benefits that come with supporting the equity of women. Linda agreed to draft a few bullets that include evidence of the economic impact that comes with equal rights. Erin will reach out to Shannon on the timeline and share that with the group. Linda made a motion to recommend to City Council to support the drafting of a resolution, as per the Women’s Commissions proposal. Motion passed unanimously. b. Board and Commission Evaluation (Experiment) Update—Ted Settle (Listen/ Clarify) Ted shared that he did not have much of an update. The latest was that a survey was going out to participants. He plans to reach out to Victoria and will follow up with Jackie if needed. Josh shared that Council identified Boards and Commission work as a priority that came out of their retreat. 7. NEW BUSINESS a. Climate Economy Action Plan— Josh Birks (Listen/Clarify/Discuss) Josh Birks provided an introduction and overview on the Climate Economy Action Plan on behalf of Sean Carpenter. What is Climate Economy? There is an economic strength and a lower carbon future. Locally, there is an opportunity to create economic activity from investment in energy efficiency, climate adaptation, and low carbon infrastructure. Locally, building on the innovation that we already have. Opportunities • Diversity and increase attractiveness of the local economy • Transferable skills • Disruptive technologies • Regionalism and collaboration Challenges • National strategies driving energy market • R&D investment • Asset utilization and availability ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 5/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 3 How? Policies, Partnerships, Investments Innovative Approaches: • Anchor Businesses • Energy Sector Partnership • New Business Models • Leverage City as a Platform Encourage Investment: • C-PACE • On Bill Financing • EV Readiness • Storage Solutions Enable Transition: • Retraining Opportunities • Circular Economy • Understand Business Concerns • Identify Risks Early Win: Bloomberg Mayors Challenge The Epic Program— comprehensive, streamlined energy efficiency upgrade program with attractive financing. The Bloomberg Project focused on renters and LMI residents with indoor air quality and health/wellbeing monitoring. 3 Year Project Goal: Upgrade 2,000 rental properties and owner-occupied homes, improve health and wellbeing, particularly targeting LMI renters, lower utility bills, remove financing barriers for property owners with Evergreen on bill revolving loan fund (Epic Loan Fund) Comments: Ted— Could be an employment opportunity as well. For example, if you are targeting LMI, those same households could be a good target for training. My sense is this can put our city in a unique position nationally. I’m wondering to what extend that can be a marketing tool for recruitment. I know we don’t do a lot of this, but it may makes sense for a targeted interest. Josh— Yes, it may be an opportunity to be more proactive as it allows us to get closer to our goals. It does become controversial, but this would be very targeted and a specific attraction, motivated by specific outcomes not just to encourage ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 5/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 4 growth for growth’s sake. It would be a new space for us. John— What are the next steps? Josh— We will present at a Council work session. It may not be something we ask Council to formally adopt as a policy, but we want to make sure we are headed down the right path. We would then use the next 18 months for pilots to identify best strategies. Josh— I would like to bring the final product back to you and would request that this group makes a recommendation/ statement to go to Council’s work session. b. Update from meeting with Betsy Markey— Ted Settle (Listen/Clarify/ Discuss) Ted, The Mayor, Darin and Josh met with Betsy Markey who is the new Executive Director at Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. The idea I wanted to plant was what role the universities can play in economic development. She was receptive and appreciated us coming. The governor has four priorities, one of which is rural development. They have met with CSU and the Extension Office. One of the surprises for me was the perception of the value of commercializing research in higher education. I think there are more opportunities beyond extension. Comments: Josh—Myself and the Mayor will meet with Tom Johnson this summer. What I chose to hear is that the higher education group may have some interest in creating an event/ conference for higher ed researchers and economic development professionals to come together and have the state economic entity help drive it. George—How does this compare to the CSU to B? Recently saw a presentation at the Downtown Business Association. There’s a lot of brain power there. Is it affordable and how do you make it work? Josh—There are a lot of good things happening at CSU, it’s just that it is not coordinated or easy to get connected to it. c. Council Priorities— Josh Birks (Listen/ Clarify/Act) Josh shared some of the priorities that have come out of Council’s retreat. • Affordable and accessible childcare • Undergrounding of powerlines • Low income benefits/rebates streamlining and consolidation • Optimization of alleys outside of downtown • Equitable participation in culture and recreation programs • Mobile home park preservation and resident protections • Park Refresh/future needs • Reduce plastic pollution • Protect and enhance instream river flows ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 5/15/2019 – MINUTES Page 5 • Improved air quality • Mitigate impacts of oil and gas encroachment into Growth Management Area • Effective, innovative and high-performing board • Reimagine community engagement • City financial stability • Reimagine board and commission program Others that need more clarification: • Strategies that create jobs • Small business plan • Additional bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors • Affordable and achievable housing strategies • Equity lens 8. BOARD MEMBER REPORTS None 9. OTHER BUSINESS None 10. ADJOURNMENT Adjourns 1:05 p.m. UPCOMING TOPICS June:  Open Slot July:  2019 Fee Update— Jennifer Poznanovic  Open Slot Unscheduled:  Update on Industry Cluster Approach – TBD (Listen/Clarify) 2019 Priorities:  Talent Development, Economic Dashboard, Business Engagement, & Cluster