09-28-2011 EDAMEDA Board Meeting
Main Conference Room — City Center
11:30 AM Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Members present in bold.
MEETING MINUTES
Members
Tim Ulrich Steve Jansick Mike Retterath Daron Vanderheiden
Chad Czmowski Mary Christensen Mike McGraw
Staff
Miles Seppelt, EDA Director
Seth Kauffman, EDA Assistant
Andy Reid, City Controller
Liaison
Bill Corby, Chamber President
I. Call to order
A. EDA President Tim Ulrich called the meeting to order at 11:33 AM
II. Approve Agenda — No Action
III. Review meeting minutes:
A. August 24th Board of Directors
M/S/P: Jansick, Czmowski to approve the minutes as written. Passed unanimously.
B. August 17th Finance Team
M/S/P: Ulrich, Czmowski to approve the Finance Team minutes as written. Passed unanimously.
IV. Review August EDA Financial Statements — Andy Reid
■ Cash available in operations is $117,449
■ $56,736 is reserved (proceeds from Warrior land sale) and $57,817 is unreserved.
■ The Economic Development Loan fund has $476,237 in cash available.
■ Total assets in the Economic Development Loan fund are $926,429.
■ Downtown revolving loan fund has $462,473 in cash available, loans totaling $570,161 and
$201,329 in capital assets (Cenex & Wright property).
■ Loan repayments totaled $13,790 for the month.
■ MIF Loan fund has $83,787in cash available and loans receivable of $431,967 (NuCrane).
■ A total of $11,281 in MIF loan repayments came in during the month — NuCrane made a
double payment for September and October.
M/S/P: Czmowski, Christensen to approve the financial report as presented. Passed unanimously.
V. Director's Report:
A. Federal Grant Status (Industrial Park): $238,955 Remaining — Grant is in Chicago and is being
processed, Miles will continue to call and update the board.
B. Industrial Blvd. project & Grant Update — Construction is done and the grant monies should be
received soon.
C. SBDC Update- Miles updated the board on the current state of the Hutchinson SBDC and
discussion followed.
D. Business Recruitment update — Miles updated the board on company "X" and their current status
of moving. Miles also updated on a visit with Company "Y" and their possible relocation from the
cities. Discussion followed about each company.
E. Minnesota Angel Network — Staff discussed the recent approval of the City Council for the
Minnesota angel network. The next steps in the process were discussed as well. The Board asked
that updates be provided each month.
F. 2012 Levy Amount for the EDA: $154,744 — The official levy amount was set by the City Council.
VI. Downtown Assistance Programs Discussion — Staff provided the Board with information showing the
usage of current downtown assistance programs. Discussion followed. Suggestion was made for an
article in the paper showing the history and availability of the assistance programs. Staff will prepare a
mailing to downtown property owners summarizing the available programs and follow up with a phone
call.
VII. Consideration of EDA Marketing Plan — Staff shared with the Board findings from attending a
conference on "Economic Development Marketing & Attraction." Two compelling reasons for
implementing a marketing plan for Hutchinson were discussed:
1. A huge amount of company site selection occurs on-line, most often by non-professional site
sectors. Proactively engaging the internet in general and social media sites in particular helps to
make Hutchinson more visible on the internet and drives up our Google ranking — Google monitors
all of the social networking sites.
2. Hutchinson's image is being driven by news stories. Recent stories about Hutchinson have been
about HTI layoffs and downsizing. By implementing a systematic marketing campaign, Hutchinson
can influence its image in a positive way. The image that Hutchinson needs to promote is:
■ Hutchinson establishes new industrial park
■ Hutchinson obtains "Shovel ready" site certification (only 11 in MN)
■ Hutchinson sets up new $1.2 million revolving loan fund for business
■ Hutchinson joins Minnesota Angel Network (only 4 in MN)
■ Hutchinson establishes new EDA web -site
■ Hutchinson wins economic development award
■ Hutchinson launches economic development marketing plan
The goal is to make "economic development" synonymous with "Hutchinson."
Working with Vivid Image and Moxie Media, a draft marketing campaign has been developed. Cost
would be $15,200 and would be split with the City. The EDA's portion of the cost could be covered with
unallocated rental revenue from the Stritesky Property.
The Board discussed the various aspects of the proposed marketing plan.
M/S/P: Jansick, Christianson to approve the marketing plan at a cost of $15,200 to be split 50/50 with
the city (EDA Cost = $7,600). Passed unanimously
VIII. Grant & Loan Applications
Storefront Matching Grant
Alsara Properties LLC —134 Main Street South $2,570
Paint /Window Replacement
Sign & Awning Grant
Alsara Properties LLC —134 Main Street South $2,000
New Sign for new business
M/S/P: Jansick, Czmowski to approve both grants subject to finance team notification and e-mail vote.
Passed unanimously
Discussion followed on the situation with Bob & Charlene Schlueter's building, and their remaining
program eligibility. They obtained two grants fairly recently:
Storefront Matching Grant: $2,198.20 approved on 1/28/2009
Sign & Awning Grant: $1,632.00 approved on 6/29/2007
The Board asked staff to obtain more information, and to put the topic on the agenda for additional
discussion at next month's meeting.
IX. Other Business — None
X. Chamber/ CVB Update — Staff updated the board on upcoming chamber events.
XI. Set Next Meeting — October 26th
XII. Adjourn
With no further business to attend to, the meeting was adjourned at 12:47PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Seth Kauffman
EDA Assistant