08-27-25 EDC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – JULY 23, 2025 4 Commissioner Poelzer said one word she thought of was “exclusive”. She agrees with Commissioner Gronquist. This being exclusively for Arden Hills businesses is the differentiator. When you put people in an exclusive environment, they can see the event in a different light. Senior Planner Fransen summarized what she heard. She wasn’t sure how “exclusive” can be fit in but she took the note. Commissioner Poelzer said there are other words that can be used in place of “exclusive”. That idea frames it in a way that people will understand that this is specifically catered to Arden Hills businesses. Senior Planner Fransen summarized that Commissioner Brausen will speak to Flaherty’s regarding the space, date and time of the event and ask if it’s okay to bring food in. She asked if he needed any more information. Commissioner Brausen said he will need to know how many donuts and cookies we want. He would need to know that at least two weeks in advance of the event. Chair Murchie said we will get a better idea of what we need once we get the invitations out. We can have an RSVP date of October 1. Senior Planner Fransen said she created a timeline. As of next week, we are 12 weeks out from the event. Two weeks prior to the event will be October 8. The September meeting will be approximately five weeks out. She asked the Commissioners who are business owners how long in advance of an event they would want an invitation and know if they can attend. Commissioner Gronquist said as soon as you see the invite, you either add it to the calendar, or you know immediately it won’t work for you. She thinks the latest the RSVP deadline should be is two weeks prior, maybe a little longer. City Administrator Jagoe said they will either register as soon as they see the invite or it will get forgotten about. She doesn’t think people will wait until the deadline to register, if they have interest. Senior Planner Fransen said we can earmark the September meeting for having some numbers. The commissioners agreed with that strategy. Senior Planner Fransen said Commissioner Bonine provided a draft agenda. They have had conversations regarding if there should be a general handout that could be made available to attendees that wouldn’t identify a specific speaker. Information could still be shared in the written format even if there isn’t a specific topic for it. This draft agenda is a packed. It would be interesting to be able to do all of it. It is a lot to coordinate. We would like to leave some room for facilitated conversations and networking opportunities. There has been discussion of inviting the Sheriff’s Department as a speaker. We could provide relevant transportation updates, followed by some City-related updates, and then transition into that networking conversation regarding the topics discussed. Those conversations can surround how the topics relate to their business and ask if there is anything the EDC can do to support them. She thinks the introduction could include a welcome from Flaherty’s as the host business. A Commission Member could do an EDC welcome message,