08-27-25 EDC Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – JULY 23, 2025 5 sharing what the Commission does and its goals are. She asked the Commission to take a look at the draft agenda and begin to think about how it can be tweaked. Commissioner Brausen asked if anyone has reached out to the Sheriff’s Department. Senior Planner Fransen said no. She thinks once the date is confirmed, we can start having those conversations. Council Liaison Rousseau thought we could convey some information about the Gateway Grant that the City can provide or about their regional grant. The other thing she thought of was when she heard about Bethel changing the programming regarding internships, that’s something unique to our city and it might be a good opportunity to highlight that. Commissioner Poelzer asked how much those grants are. Council Liaison Rousseau said we got $18,000 last year. We gave most of it to the Ice Swim event. We can award it to businesses. The regional grant is larger. She isn’t sure how they divide that up. The grant is designed to put “heads in beds”. The hope is you draw people into the City and they stay in a hotel in town. Senior Planner Fransen said that grant money has to go to a specific event. Council Liaison Rousseau confirmed. But she thought it would be good to make the business owners aware that it exists. Senior Planner Fransen thought a handout could be provided. Commissioner Brausen said we have Jack’s Baskets in Arden Hills. They help families with babies with Down syndrome. They could possibly speak. It’s a well run organization. Commissioner Daniels said Down Syndrome Awareness Month is in October. Chair Murchie said one thing Commissioner Bonine was clear about with the agenda is making sure there is a value to the business community. If our theme is going to be exclusive to “this is an Arden Hills event” it makes sense to highlight things that are available to the Arden Hills community. There is a lot to learn about Rice Creek Commons. There are other places to learn about that. A block of the agenda can be some things going on in the community. Businesses are always interested in a report from the Sheriff. We can cater this to highlight what is going on in the community and share resources. Maybe we share the food and facility were provided by Arden Hills businesses. Maybe we update how Bethel is engaging the community. That may help tie together the theme of exclusivity to Arden Hills. Commissioner Gronquist thinks it would be better to allow a couple of the topics to talk longer than trying to let all of them talk for just a couple of minutes. She isn’t sure there will be much value in a five-minute presentation. She would rather expand the Sheriff and City Council topics. She thinks it will be important to highlight that the new City Council has been reinvigorated towards businesses. She would rather see more of the Council engage and show support than have a transportation update. There’s not much to be said in five minutes. Learning about road construction won’t be a positive thing after living through the Lexington improvements. She thinks