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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEcon Dev Advisory Board minutes 091819 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD September 18, 2019 Orange County Economic Development Office 131 W. Margaret Lane Hillsborough, NC 27278 Minutes Members Present: Sharon Hill, Barbara Jessie-Black, Anthony Carey, John Morris, Paige Zinn, Kristen Young, James Watts, John Anderson Orange County Staff: Steve Brantley, Amanda Garner, Mike Ortosky Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Paige Zinn at 11:52 a.m. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by John Morris and seconded by Sharon Hill to approve the minutes from the July 17, 2019 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. New Business Economic Development 101 Mike Ortosky presented to the committee on the role of agriculture and food systems within the local economy. He shared that there are multiple components that make up the food system including production, processing, distribution, markets, and waste. He also shared about trends within the food system including: • Growing Demand For Local / Regional / Safe /Transparent/ Story-Based (Know Your Farmer) Food Systems • Demand Shift & Environmental Pressures Creating Disruptive Food Economy • Food System Increasingly Seen As One Thing Versus Separate Industries • Food Systems Increasingly Recognized As Economic Development Opportunity • Food Systems & Land Planning (urban ag, community & regional planning, food- oriented development, APA, etc.) • Food Systems And The Environment— Climate Change • Food Systems And Health (social determinants of health, present value of avoided costs) • Food Systems And Equity (access, food deserts, "power deserts") • Agriculture & Food Becoming Bigger/High-Tech While Demand For Smaller/Local Grows - Controlled Environment Agriculture - Value Chain & Food Technology Innovation • Funding & Food System as Asset Class "Harvesting Opportunity—The Power of Regional Food Investments to Transform Communities: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis & CDFA Mike provided examples on the various supports within the region for the food industry including Piedmont Food and Processing Center, Breeze Farm, 10% Campaign, Ag Grant Program, Ag Summit, Food Council, Agritourism, Farm Link, and Weaver Street Market. Old Business Advisory Board Membership The board discussed additional strategies for potential applicants that would add diversity to the makeup of the board including looking at geography, racial, and industry representation. Paige Zinn asked Steve Brantley to reach out to someone in the manufacturing industry. Paige also asked Barbara Jessie-Black to reach out to a couple of individuals that were mentioned as potential applicants. Orange County Economic Development Advisory Board Policies and Procedures The board discussed the existing policies and procedures and decided not to recommend specific changes at this time. Advisory Board Vision Paige Zinn asked that the board focus much of the next advisory board meeting on Article 46 programs and expenditures and how the board can help to advocate for those uses. Economic Development Site Evaluation Update Steve Brantley reported that the work session on economic development, discussed to take place in the fall, will not occur this year. He said that economic development staff and planning staff have been working together on looking at additional potential site locations and hope to share that information at a later date. Director's Report Steve provided the advisory board with an update on various announced and current active project that staff have been working on. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 1:32 p.m.