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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEcon Dev Advisory Board minutes 071719 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD July 17, 2019 Siena Hotel 1505 E. Franklin St. Chapel Hill Minutes Members Present: Sharon Hill, Barbara Jessie-Black, Anthony Carey, John Morris, Paige Zinn, Kristen Young, Keith Coleman, James Watts Orange County Staff: Steve Brantley, Amanda Garner, Mike Ortosky Additional Guests : Commissioner Penny Rich, Commissioner Mark Marcoplos Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Paige Zinn, Chair at 12:00 p.m. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Keith Coleman and seconded by Sharon Hill to approve the minutes from the May 14, 2019 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. New Business Departmental Changes Steve Brantley gave the committee an update on changes within the department following the retirement of Yvonne Scarlett, previous Business Retention Economic Developer, on June 30th. Steve said that staff plans to hire an administrative role to take on some of the department functions and reorganize some of the other roles to take on duties that relate to existing businesses. Article 46 Budget Update Steve Brantley provided the committee with an outline of the FY 2019-2020 Approved Budget allocations for the Economic Development portion of Article 46 funds (attached). He shared that staff is currently working on an agreement to be put in place with Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Mebane for the Collaborative Outreach category. This agreement would allow the towns to make a request for a percentage of those funds based on the Orange County population in each of those towns (attached). The committee discussed some of the uses, including the Durham Tech Promise Scholarship program. Advisory Board Vision Steve Brantley framed the discussion around the advisory board vision stating that there is now a new leadership team in place and that provides an opportunity for the board to define what their priorities are. Paige Zinn said that each individual on the board may have a different idea of what success looks like and the committee needs to come to a consensus that can be shared with the county commissioners. It was discussed that the commissioners are planning to have a retreat in the fall to discuss Economic Development and they would like to have input from the advisory board to aid in that discussion. Paige asked that each board member think about and come prepared to discuss what success looks like at the boards next meeting in September. Old Business Advisory Board Membership Paige Zinn reminded the committee that they still have one open seat to fill that would be a representative of the core business sector. She recommended that committee members think diversity, including representatives from various geographic areas in the county, Recruitment Project Update Steve Brantley provided the committee with project updates. Adjournment A motion was made by Barbara Jessie-Black, seconded by Keith Coleman to adjourn the meeting at 1:34 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.