06-25-25 EDC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – APRIL 23, 2025 6 Commissioner Brausen said the Mayor should be there anyway. He thinks the Sheriff will draw more. They could discuss safety. He thinks we just need to try. Commissioner Gronquist said a distinguishing difference between this and the Chambers, traditionally people had to pay and it’s usually new businesses, not established businesses. She said hopefully it grows. She thinks a newsletter article regarding the event may encourage business owners to attend, but residents may also reach out to businesses to encourage attendance. She understands it may not be well attended at first. There was previous discussion of a quarterly event rather than a one-time event. There has to be a reason for these business owners to attend. Networking is not compelling enough of a reason. The fact is that we’re trying to build the Arden Hills business community. Commissioner Bonine thinks everyone is open to the idea if we can build an agenda that will draw people in. The Sheriff is an interesting idea. He wouldn’t want this to turn into a complaint box. He said Councilmembers aren’t going to want to show up and hear only complaints about what the City is doing wrong. He thinks safety would be a good topic. Maybe the new fire house could be a part of that. It could be an update on general safety in the City. Also, businesses want to know about construction projects that are on the horizon that may affect business. He understands most people don’t have time to watch every council meeting. Updates on safety or construction/traffic flows may draw folks in. Another draw may be competition. What’s going on in the city? What is the foot traffic? Who’s coming into Arden Hills? Businesses may be wondering if they need to rethink their business if something similar is proposed in TCAAP. Those are juicy topics that will help business owners feel more connected to the City as opposed to being reactive. With the right agenda it could work. We want it to be something that encourages people to come back. Maybe we summarize things that are already public. It feels good to be a part of that. Discussion ensued regarding other entities that could be invited. We could possibly extend an invitation to the new County Commissioner. Everyone is looking for help so reaching out to the colleges to inquire about internship programs and students may be a good option. Commissioner Poelzer said Boston Scientific paid for the dog park and provided labor to install it. She likes the idea of providing a summary. She thinks the Sheriff and Fire Department are a good agenda item, as well. When she visited, she grabbed some Arden Hills pens and people liked them. She also shared the past several newsletters to show the good information in them. She is encouraging them to sign up to receive it electronically. She thinks having some newsletters available at the breakfast would be good. Having the communication person from Arden Hills will be an important person to have there. She thinks all staff and commissioners should have name badges that identify who they are and what their role is. Chair Murchie said the hope is to be able focus more on the details during the June meeting. He asked if Commissioner Brausen would be willing to take the lead on some of this, since he has a lot of experience with the successful events that happened in the past. Commissioner Brausen agreed to that. Commissioner Poelzer volunteered to join the sub-committee. Chair Murchie asked if anyone else would like to serve on the smaller sub-committee. The sub- committee can meet before the June meeting to lay out which speakers we want to invite, what