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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 17 2021 Minutes Approved ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD March 17, 2021 Orange County Economic Development Office 131 W. Margaret Lane Hillsborough, NC 27278 Minutes Members Present: Johnny Morris, Sharon Hill, Kristen Young, Jonna Foushee, James Watts Orange County Staff: Steve Brantley, Amanda Garner, Mike Ortosky, Lindsey Hirni Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Johnny Morris at 9:43 a.m. Approval of Minutes There was not a quorum of the Board present at the meeting. The minutes from January 20, 2021 will be considered at the next scheduled meeting. New Business Steve Brantley spoke about the Advisory Board's upcoming vacancies and term expirations that are coming up on June 30, 2021. Paige Zinn's position as Chair will need to be filled and a few other members could be recommended for a one-year extension or replaced by new applicants. Steve presented the 11 applicants who have filled out the application and the board discussed the next steps to vote on these positions. After everyone has voted Steve will form a memo to the BOCC on what recommendations the board has for new members or any requests for extensions. Steve spoke about the Economic Development's FY21-22 projected budget and indicated how we were able to cut 5% of our operation budget for the county. He explained that there is a chance that the county could get additional federal emergency relief funds to use towards future grant programs. Steve gave an overview of the Mebane/Orange County"Buckhorn Area Plan" study. The BOCC said that they would like Orange County& Mebane to hold additional public hearings to gather feedback from local residents. The board discussed factors to help support the opportunity to get future development in this area. Old Business Amanda gave an overview of the funding awarded from 4th quarter 2019 to 4th quarter 2020 through three financial assistance programs funded through Article 46. The programs included all three rounds of the Emergency Small Business Funding Program as well the ongoing Business Investment Grant and Agriculture Grant programs. Director's Report Steve provided a brief update on current project activity. He told the board that there has been very high activity with more industrial interests in the past few weeks. Adjournment Johnny Morris adjourned the meeting at 11:00 A.M.