IEDC Agenda 06-05-2012
AGENDA
MONTICELLO INDUSTRIAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
7:00 a.m., Boom Island
MEMBERS: Chair Luke Dahlheimer, Vice Chair Joni Pawelk, Rich Harris, Patrick Thompson, Bill
Tapper, Dick Van Allen, Dan Olson, Zona Gutzwiller, Wayne Elam, Jim Johnson, Chris
Kruse, Don Roberts, and Wes Olson
LIASIONS: Sandy Suchy, Chamber
Clint Herbst, Mayor
Glen Posusta, City Council
1. Call to Order
2. Approve Minutes:
a. May 1, 2012 (emailed Monday)
3. Consideration of adding items to the Agenda
4. Reports:
a. Economic Development Report
b. City Council
5. FiberNet Monticello Transition
*See attached Press Release
6. Monticello Business Attraction Strategies
7. Transportation Update: by Bruce Westby
8. Adjournment (8:30am)
IEDC 6.5.12
6. Monticello Business Attraction Strategies.
A. REFERENCE & BACKGROUND:
In an attempt to really dive into furthering our ability to attract new industries to Monticello,
staff reached out to a few Economic Development Professionals who have been in the
business longer than myself, has had many successes and experience across the U.S.
Two main points were stressed through the conversation:
A. Business retention is key and vital: it is much easier to keep a business than attract
a new business. Have a strong and active BR&E program.
B. New construction projects, especially manufacturing, are “needle in a haystack”
opportunities right now. Businesses are starting to gain more confidence in the
economy and beginning to discuss expansion opportunities. However, there is still
a lot of reservation. Furthermore, when word of a new construction project is
released, there is a lot more competition by communities to attract the business.
I was able to obtain a few good pointers and suggestions to help our community to continue to
be competitive for the “needle in a haystack” opportunities:
1. Have your zoning & platting processes completed, and achieve a quick building
permitting process. Basically minimize processes and timelines. Many cities are
promoting a 30 day planning and building process. “Get building in 30 days.”
**It is Staff’s opinion that Monticello competes fairly well in this category.
2. Contact your local manufacturers and find out if they are willing to give you their
top 5 buyers and sellers SIC codes. Review the type of businesses this list provides
and determine if the city should contact any of them and try to attract them to your
community.
3. Lastly, ask yourself where do you want your community to be in 3 to 5 years. By
answering this question, you will start to see the types of businesses you want to
attract. Then start attending events where those businesses will be at and change
your marketing pieces to speak their language and address their needs.
Item #2 and #3 are the concepts staff would like to discuss with the IEDC.
B. STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff would like to get feedback from the IEDC regarding the idea to request SIC codes or
company names from a few of our local manufacturer’s. If the IEDC feels this would be a
good exercise, staff would like to request two volunteers to assist with setting up and
attending these meetings.
Staff would also like to have a 3-4 month discussion on truly what do we envision the
business community to look like over the next 3-5 years. It would be beneficial to start putting
IEDC 6.5.12
ideas down on paper and create lists of companies and sectors we want to target and then
determining a specific approach to achieve our goals to get in front of the businesses.
C. ALTERNATE ACTIONS:
Based on discussion.
D. SUPPORTING DATA:
None