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08-10-2022 EDC MinutesCHANHASSEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 10, 2022 Chairman Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Eric Anderson, Commissioners Duke Zurek, Chris Freeman, and Stacy Goff. MEMBERS ABSENT: Vice Chair David Kressler. STAFF PRESENT: Bob Generous, Senior Planner. PUBLIC PRESENT: Darren Noble SouthWest Metro Chamber of Commerce Vernelle Clayton V Clayton and Associates APPROVAL OF MINUTES: APPROVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MINUTES DATED JULY 12, 2022 Member Goff moved, Member Zurek seconded to approve the Minutes of the Economic Development Commission meeting dated July 12, 2022 as presented. All voted in favor and the motion carried unanimously with a vote of 4 to 0. GENERAL BUSINESS: 1. DARREN NOBLE - SOUTHWEST METRO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Darren Noble, Executive Director of SouthWest Metro Chamber of Commerce, gave a presentation and stated he appreciates all that the Commissioners do for the City and for the invitation tonight. The Chamber is unique in that is serves four communities: Chanhassen, Chaska, Carver, and Victoria with businesses throughout other communities that find the Chamber. The purpose is to bring people together and provide opportunities and he spoke about challenges from Covid and shared the Chamber is a non-profit with two full-time staff and they are working towards another full-time hire. The Board of Directors meets monthly and he spoke about the difficult times in 2020-2021 with mask mandates, restrictions, and much pent-up frustration in businesses and industries; however the Chamber was able to do certain events, specifically outside events, which he showed on screen. The last year has been fast and furious and now they are dealing with inflation, supply chain, and staffing issues. Mr. Noble noted they love to celebrate businesses that join the Chamber. Right now the Board is going through strategic planning and he spoke about a recent business expo. Mr. Noble shared about upcoming Economic Development Commission – August 10, 2022 2 events including a gala, Taste of Chaska, golf classic, and other events to find ways to help members with a servant mindset. He read through some previous minutes and stated surveying members is great but if they can do the survey they will take it; surveys can be tough but he thinks he will try again to get a pulse for what businesses are looking for. Mr. Noble noted the EDC’s questions and responded to how the Chamber can help market the City of Chanhassen. He spoke about a resource handout representing all four cities which is also online, as well as the membership directory, the fact that the Chamber is located in Chanhassen (although it represents all four cities), and he wants to see residents celebrate the members of the Chamber and wants to see the businesses do well whether they are part of the Chamber or not. Mr. Noble stated businesses in the City really appreciate it when members of the City come to ribbon-cuttings, whether it is the Mayor, City Manager, or Assistant City Manager. He spoke about a weekly e- newsletter and if the City has something to share Mr. Noble would love to get it out and share good news on Mondays. Job postings are also listed in the newsletter, and he spoke about tagging on social media as another option. Mr. Noble spoke about being intentional with businesses within the Chamber, luncheons, business roundtables, social media, sponsorships, marketing, and networking in the community. Chair Anderson shared when he was in the Edina Chamber of Commerce, the City Manager or Deputy City Manager were at every meeting and the Mayor would come in and do a “State of the City” for the members and they liked that. They also had people coming for ribbon-cutting and he thinks it is vital to have the government connect. Perhaps they can talk later in the agenda as a potential way to participate and asked if the EDC rotates and has someone from the Commission come to a meeting on a regular basis and asked Mr. Noble what type of meetings would be most effective. Mr. Noble replied he is biased toward the networking as they are free, only one hour, and the Commissioners would get to meet people. He would love to get those going again and shared it has been a challenge. He noted the Mayor’s lunch is one of the most popular events and is happening in November. Commissioner Freeman asked about the reputation for opening a business in Chanhassen versus the other three cities. He stated government getting in the way and not being effective and efficient turns off many companies. Mr. Noble replied it is a tough question and said regarding Covid many things came down to loosening restrictions to operate. He has not heard much negative regarding Chanhassen and said having worked for both government and business sectors, Mr. Noble wishes government would act more like business but they do not. He understands the reasons but it is pretty frustrating for businesses to want to open up or expand and are then faced with processes and timeframes that take forever. Chair Anderson thinks if the Commissioners attend networking events they will hear about things one-on-one from the businesses. Economic Development Commission – August 10, 2022 3 Mr. Noble replied just being available to listen and allowing businesses to be heard is very helpful. He will let the EDC know if he hears things and stated he loves this channel they have established. Chair Anderson would love this to become an annual update with the SouthWest Chamber and stated the EDC appreciates what they are doing. Commissioner Freeman asked where the twice-a-month coffees are held. Mr. Noble tries to rotate them throughout their businesses but over the last 1.5 years businesses have not been able to have people in or do not want people in and they have been struggling to find locations; therefore, some will be in the Chamber offices. Commissioner Zurek asked why they have been losing members. Mr. Noble replied it is the consistent themes of businesses not able to devote the time, frustration with one of the Cities which was lumped in with the Chamber, and he noted it is a variety of issues. He contrasted that in speaking about having three new members join within a week. Chair Anderson thanked Mr. Noble again. 2. VERNELLE CLAYTON, V. CLAYTON & ASSOCIATES - BUY CHANHASSEN Vernelle Clayton, V. Clayton & Associates, LLC, stated her day job is managing projects in Market Square in Chanhassen and shared about Buy Chanhassen. She shared that Buy Chanhassen is about encouraging everyone to buy whatever they need, whether goods or services, here in Chanhassen. She stated the challenges businesses face right now is finding workers and spoke about letting the other communities steal Chanhassen’s thunder and traffic through marketing the Arboretum, Paisley Park, and the Dinner Theater while Chanhassen is not; Ms. Clayton stated they need to get back to that. Regarding a question from the EDC about resources the City could provide to promote economic development, Ms. Clayton would caution against the City recruiting specific businesses and suggested they lay the groundwork and let the professionals do the other work. She also cautions against cash disbursements and she interfaced with some tenants or businesses who did not get the money and probably did not know about it. Chair Anderson asked to clarify the subject as he is not familiar and asked if the City had a grant of some sort. Mr. Generous believes it was the CARES Act monies and noted the Carver County CDA administered that for the City. Ms. Clayton stated if the City has surpluses or can seek out something in the budget she would recommend doing something that benefits everyone or at least a large number of businesses. She spoke about marketing and stated Chanhassen has a downtown which most communities do not have. She spoke about previous times in getting the old buildings and other things not good for the downtown out and getting infrastructure in which took a lot of courage but has benefitted the Economic Development Commission – August 10, 2022 4 City because now they have a great downtown. Ms. Clayton thinks they must protect it. She spoke about what she considers an upcoming threat at Avienda and noted the more office and housing there the more it will help the downtown. Ms. Clayton spoke about the importance of a hometown newspaper and how they can make it better. She noted they are all working to make Chanhassen a business-friendly City and she knows it is not easy to maintain. Ms. Clayton periodically calls other cities to compare and recently she called the City of Woodbury and she stated every single person she spoke with was so friendly and Ms. Clayton thinks that is how they market Chanhassen. She called another City and absolutely could not get to a person because it was so automated. She clarified she has called Chanhassen and they are also very friendly. Ms. Clayton also thinks having a website that is easy to navigate and find information for developers and businesses is important. Chair Anderson thanked Ms. Clayton for her presentation and noted it gives the EDC something to talk about as they gel. Commissioner Freeman spoke about the potential of having a “one-stop shop” on the website for businesses to find information on State agencies, Watersheds, and City and County resources. Commissioner Zurek asked Ms. Clayton how Avienda could co-exist with downtown. Ms. Clayton sees an opportunity if it is not a grocery store but is upscale shopping as the downtown does not have enough density to have enough for women to come shop downtown. Commissioner Goff asked if Ms. Clayton views Chanhassen as business-friendly and what that means to her. Ms. Clayton replied she does view it as business-friendly, she gets reasonable answers quickly, and she thinks the City Staff generally care about Chanhassen. 3. DISCUSSION ON PRIORITIZING A WORK PROGRAM ITEM TO PRESENT TO CITY COUNCIL Chair Anderson spoke about the many buckets and that the EDC needs to decide where will give the biggest bang for the buck. Commissioner Zurek thinks it is great to have had both of the presentations today and it gets him excited to have meet-and-greets with a presence from the Commissioners. He would like to set a vision about why they want to be present at the events, whether to receive feedback, to listen, and what that role should be. Commissioner Goff thinks communication is what the EDC has been focusing on as they are trying to get feelers in the community and have direct contact with businesses. Networking fits into communication and agrees that they need a vision. Commissioner Freeman agrees and thinks communication facilitates data and spoke about having a portal or place on the website for resources. Economic Development Commission – August 10, 2022 5 The Commissioners discussed the work plan including the website portal, networking within the community and reporting back to the Commission, the new Staff hire coming on board and ideas she may have, and the EDC getting involved with the Chamber along with City Staff. They decided to discuss this with the new Economic Development hire Samantha before bringing the work plan to the City Council. ADMINISTRATIVE PRESENTATION: None. CORRESPONDENCE DISCUSSION: The September 13, 2022 Economic Development Commission meeting will be replaced with a Design Workshop for City Center. ADJOURNMENT: Chair Anderson adjourned the Economic Development Commission meeting at 8:25 p.m. Submitted by Bob Generous Senior Planner Prepared by Amy Weidman Administrative Support Specialist