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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-26-25 EDC Agenda Packet Chair: • Jud Murchie Commissioners: • Ted Brausen • Julie Gronquist • Bobby Bonine • Vincent Meyer • Jessica Daniels • Kyle Sorenson • Kristine Poelzer Council Liaison: Councilmember Emily Rousseau Arden Hills Economic Development Commission Meeting February 26, 2025 1245 W. Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 651.792.7800 www.cityofardenhills.org City Vision A strong community that values our unique environment, our fiscal soundness, and our tradition as a desirable city in which to live, work, and play. Agenda Regular Economic Development Commission Convenes 7:30 AM Call to Order 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA 2. APPROVAL OF VICE-CHAIR 3. APPROVAL OF 2025 MEETING CALENDAR 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. October 23, 2024 5. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. In-Person Business Visit Strategy Next Steps 6. COMMENTS AND REPORTS A. Report from Staff B. Report from the City Council C. Economic Development Commission Comments 7. ADJOURNMENT A quorum of the City Council may be present at this meeting. Meeting materials are available online at: http://www.cityofardenhills.org/agendacenter Page 1 of 1 EDC AGENDA ITEM – 2 MEMORANDUM DATE: February 26, 2025 TO: Economic Development Commission Members FROM: Elena Fransen, Senior Planner SUBJECT: EDC Vice-Chair Requested Action Staff is requesting the Economic Development Commission discuss Vice Chair appointment for 2025. Background The roles of Chair and Vice Chair for the Economic Development are appointed annually. The Chair facilitates the EDC meeting by working through the agenda and guiding Commission meetings. The Vice Chair is available to fill in if the Chair is absent. The Chair role is appointed by the City Council and the Vice Chair is selected by members of the Commission. The term length for both roles is one year. At the January 13 City Council meeting, Jud Murchie was appointed to the role of Chair. Staff is asking the Economic Development Commission members to consider if they are interested in the Vice Chair role and would like to be considered for appointment for the 2025 term. Next Steps The EDC shall discuss selections for Vice Chair. Attachment N/A Page 1 of 2 EDC AGENDA ITEM - 3 MEMORANDUM DATE: February 26, 2025 TO: Economic Development Commission Chair and Commission Members FROM: Elena Fransen, Senior Planner SUBJECT: EDC Meeting Frequency in 2025 Requested Action Staff is asking the Economic Development Commission to consider the frequency of meetings in 2025. The EDC could choose to add more meetings to the schedule and may consider the timing and dates of additional meetings. The EDC may determine changes to the meeting schedule accordingly. Background Currently, the Economic Development Commission is scheduled to meet on the fourth Wednesday of even months for an hour and a half. This equates to six regularly scheduled meetings per year and nine hours of meeting time. The EDC could switch the meeting frequency to every month for the first half of the year or for the full year in order to work through tasks identified by the EDC. Current meeting schedule for 2025 - February 26 - April 23 - June 25 - August 27 - October 22 - December 23 (Tuesday before Christmas Day) (subject to change based on availability) Options Meeting December 17 instead of December 23 Meeting monthly through June 2025 - Additional meeting dates would be March 26 and May 28. Meeting monthly through 2025 - Additional meeting dates would be March 26, May 28, July 23, September 24, and November 26 (or November 19). Page 2 of 2 Next Steps Staff will take the recommendation from the EDC and update the meeting schedule. EDC AGENDA ITEM – 4 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OCTOBER 23, 2024 7:30 A.M. – ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Present: Chair Frank Cupery, Commissioners Ted Brausen, Julie Gronquist, Rob Williams, Youth Commissioner Vincent Meyer, and Council Liaison Emily Rousseau Absent: Commissioners Bobby Bonine and Jud Murchie Also Present: Interim City Administrator Jessica Jagoe 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA A motion was made by Commissioner Brausen and seconded by Commissioner Gronquist to approve the agenda. The agenda was approved unanimously. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. July 31, 2024 A motion was made by Commissioner Gronquist and seconded by Commissioner Brausen to approve the July 31, 2024 minutes. The minutes were approved 4-0-1 with Youth Commissioner Meyer abstaining. 3. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. December and January Meeting Schedule Interim City Administrator Jagoe stated that the next EDC meeting is currently scheduled for Thursday, December 26, 2024 due to the holiday on Wednesday, December 25, 2024. Commission members are being asked to consider the cancelation of the December meeting and the additional scheduling of a January meeting. Commission members are asked to consider rescheduling options for a Wednesday meeting date of January 22nd or January 29th. The next regularly scheduled meeting date is February 26, 2025. Commissioner Gronquist noted that she would be available on January 29th. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – OCTOBER 23, 2024 2 Council Liaison Rousseau asked the Commission if it would be helpful to have a check-in meeting in December to get updates on in-person business visits since that would be almost three months since this meeting. Commissioners reviewed their schedules for alternate dates in December due to the holiday on their regular meeting date. Interim City Administrator Jagoe mentioned that City staff would not be available on December 18th due to a conflict with another meeting and that Senior Planner Fransen would still be out of the office on her planned leave. She asked if the Commissioners would be available on December 11th. There was general consensus amongst the Commissioners to reschedule their December meeting from December 25th to December 18th. B. In-Person Business Visit Strategy Updates Chair Cupery stated this would be an opportunity for Commissioners to provide a verbal update on their in-person business visits. Interim City Administrator Jagoe shared a visual of responses entered into the online Survey Monkey to date. Chair Cupery noted that he had not had an opportunity to start his route for the in-person business visits, but was planning to begin shortly. Commissioner Brausen stated that he was done. He shared that most businesses were willing to talk. Commissioner Gronquist mentioned that she was almost through her route and there were a few businesses where she had to leave the EDC handout. She was unsure if those businesses had gone online and completed the survey. Interim City Administrator Jagoe noted that City staff will need to go into the survey program to run a report of survey responses so it isn’t automatic. It was suggested that when Commissioners would like verification on whether a business has completed a survey to email City staff and this report could be downloaded. Commissioner Gronquist stated that businesses that she’s connected with have been interested in being included in the City’s newsletter or on our website. Additionally, a number of the businesses had indicated that they had not been receiving Arden Hills Notes. Interim City Administrator Jagoe indicated this feedback would be shared with our Senior Communications Coordinator. Commissioner Williams shared that he had also started his in-person visits and was looking for contact information for Colder Products Company and Delkor. Interim City Administrator Jagoe stated that she’d forward him that information. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION – OCTOBER 23, 2024 3 Interim City Administrator Jagoe mentioned that Commissioner Murchie relayed that he had not started his in-person visits due to business hours of operation, but he anticipates being completed by mid-November. General discussion ensued on initial responses and strategies for continuing to connect with businesses for the in-person visits. 4. COMMENTS AND REPORTS A. Staff Updates None B. City Council Updates Council Liaison Rousseau provided the Commission with an update from the City Council. She explained the Council approved the preliminary tax levy at 15.5% for 2025. She welcomed Commissioner Meyer to the Economic Development Commission. She noted the City Council will be holding a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on Monday, October 28 to review and discuss zoning code updates. There may be an opportunity for EDC involvement as a stakeholder in the process. PTRC members are considering a pilot program with the Lions Club for Adopt-a-Park. C. Economic Development Commission Comments None ADJOURNMENT A motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Gronquist and seconded by Commissioner Brausen. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:45 a.m. Page 1 of 3 EDC AGENDA ITEM –5A MEMORANDUM DATE: February 26, 2025 TO: Economic Development Commission Chair and Commissioners FROM: Elena Fransen, Senior Planner SUBJECT: In-Person Business Visits Strategy Next Steps Requested Action The Economic Development Commission should revisit the In-Person Business Visits strategy and provide updates to each other and staff. Staff will review the strategy for the new Commission Members and open the floor for returning commissioners to share their progress. The EDC will revisit the approved procedure document and timeline for the visits. Staff will share the list of business addresses for the group to discuss next steps for the business visits strategy. Background In 2024, the EDC started to discuss the group’s work plan for the year and what types of efforts the group might like to work on. Strategies discussed included the following: - Business resources webpage on City Website – including events - In-person business visits - In-depth business survey - Hosted event with businesses - Website business directory with business information and links to businesses - Engagement emails/Listserv with businesses At the May 22, 2024 meeting, the EDC discussed the top three strategies identified by commissioners: 1. In-person business visits 2. In-depth business survey 3. Business resources webpage on City website – include events The group discussed the strategies and elected to focus on in-person business visits to get started and help inform future work of the EDC as well as to become better connected to the Arden Hills business community and get feedback on how the EDC could support businesses. A sub- committee was formed to focus more specifically on the questions that would be asked of each business. Page 2 of 3 At the June 26, 2024 meeting, the commission reviewed the questions drafted by the sub- committee and staff and approved a motion to move forward with the questions after a few revisions were made. Staff revised the questions as directed and these questions are provided as Attachment A. At the July 31, 2024 meeting, the EDC approved a handout to be used for the business visits that could be left behind for a business representative to review and complete the visit questions at a later time. This handout is included as Attachment B. The EDC also reviewed a drafted procedure document and timeline document for approval (Attachments C and D, respectively). The handout, procedure, and timeline documents were approved by the EDC at the July meeting. Staff made preparations for the visits by compiling a list of business addresses for each commission member to use. Staff divided up the business addresses among the six commission members who were to complete the visits. Six lists of 29-32 business addresses were created for the commission members. Addresses were provided in list form in addition to a map of where the businesses are located within the city. EDC members picked up materials and planned to start their visits in September. The group next met on October 23, 2024 to discuss the progress of the visits. The EDC has not met since this October meeting. Senior Planner Fransen returned from leave in January of 2025. In January 2025, two members of the EDC resigned and shared that they were unable to complete their visits. These members provided staff with the list of the visits they were not able to complete. Staff will share information about this list for the EDC to consider during the discussion. Staff will also share a high-level overview of the business visit results that have been entered using the Survey Monkey. Discussion In-person business visits - Questions from new commission members - Updates and feedback from other commission members Business visit results - Discuss the current sample and collected data - How should the current data direct the EDC? Incomplete business visits - How would the EDC like to address the addresses still on the list? - How should the timeline be updated? EDC Work Plan - Discuss tasks and goals for 2025 work plan Next Steps The EDC should discuss and evaluate the in-person business visit strategy and determine next steps. The group should provide direction for the redistribution of business address lists and the timeline for the visits. Staff will help make updates and share information on remaining business address lists as agreed upon by the EDC. EDC members should discuss how the strategy should be continued in the new year to inform a work plan. Page 3 of 3 Attachments Attachment A – In-person Business Visit questions Attachment B – Approved Handout for Visits Attachment C – Approved Visit Procedure Document Attachment D – Approved Timeline Document Economic Development Commission In-Person Business Visits Business Name (Legal): _____________________________ DBA (if applicable): ____________________________ Address: ___________________________________________ Name of person entering responses: _____________________________ Date of visit/responses: ___________________ Hello, I am here today representing the City of Arden Hills Economic Development Commission. Thank you for taking some time to chat with me! The EDC was reactivated in August of 2023 and is made up of Arden Hills business members and residents. The City of Arden Hills Economic Development Committee’s mission is: To build lasting connections with and support for the local business community to foster a thriving local economy and to advise the City Council and Economic Development Authority on economic development, redevelopment, and related community development opportunities. Contact Info: Name: _____________________________ Phone: _____________________________ Email: ____________________________________________________________________ Website: __________________________________________________________________ Contact Preference: ☐ Phone ☐ Email ☐ Other: ______________________ How many years have you owned this business? ________________ Year established:___________________ How many years has your business been in Arden Hills? ____________ Business Type: ☐ Non-Profit ☐ Profit ☐ Franchise How many employees do you have? ☐ <5 ☐ 6-15 ☐ 16-25 ☐ 26-50 ☐ 51-100 ☐ 100+ Do your employees work: ☐ Remotely ☐ In-person ☐ Hybrid Primary Business Customer: ____________________________________ Do you have one location or multiple? ☐ One ☐ Multiple: ___________________ Intent of visits is to gain a better awareness of local businesses and how the EDC and City could best support businesses with future efforts. Why did you choose Arden Hills for your business location? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ What resources or forms of support could help with your business’s success? ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ What sources with the City of Arden Hills do you use to access local business resources and information? ☐ Facebook ☐ X/Twitter ☐ AH Newsletter ☐ City Website ☐ Other_____________ Would you be interested in attending an event that features businesses: - for networking purposes? ☐ Yes ☐ No - for the public? ☐ Yes ☐ No If there was an opportunity, would you be interested in having your business: - included in the City of AH Newsletter? ☐ Yes ☐ No - listed on the City of AH website? ☐ Yes ☐ No Would you be open to: - the EDC contacting you in the future? ☐ Yes ☐ No - attending EDC meetings? ☐ Yes ☐ No Economic Development Commission(EDC) wants to hear from you! For other questions about doing business in Arden Hills, email planning@cityofardenhills.org, call 651-792-7800, or visit cityofardenhills.org/Business. EDC members are conducting in-person visits to connect with the City's businesses. What are they doing? Provide information to help shape how the EDC supports the local business community. Spend about 3-5 minutes answering some questions about your business. What can you do? Scan the QR code toanswer the questions or visitcityofardenhills.org/EDC-Questions What is the EDC? The Arden Hills Economic Development Commission is a group of volunteers appointed by the City Council to advise on economic development, redevelopment, and related issues. (Approved) Business Visit Procedures Expectations for In-person business visits Commissioners will be assigned a list of businesses to visit during the timeframe agreed upon by the commission. Commissioners are expected to complete their assigned visits by the end of the set time. Commissioners will be responsible for making a concerted effort to visit each business during the timeframe, with the goal of making three attempts at contact before identifying the business as non-responsive. Commissioners will be responsible for entering the visit responses they have collected using the Survey Monkey link, unless other arrangements are made with the commission. Notable deadlines for entering responses include: - September 25th – Commissioners enter data for completed visits by September 25th. - October 21st – Commissioners enter data for completed visits by October 21st. - November 27th – all data from completed visits to be entered by November 27th. Each commissioner will receive a visit kit. Kits will include - Copies of the in-person visit questions - Copies of the visit handout - A list of businesses to visit - A general map of businesses assigned to visit Commissioners will be responsible for contacting staff or members of the subcommittee if more materials are needed or if they have completed business visits and can help other commissioners with their lists. Tips for business visits - Refer to the questions as “getting to know you” questions, not as a survey. - Introduce EDC as the Arden Hills Economic Development Commission, rather than the City’s Economic Development Commission. Process Commissioners will review their assigned list of businesses. Possible first steps include: - Googling address to identify a business name and/or contact phone number - Making an initial phone call to introduce yourself and ask if there is a time that works best for a get-to-know-you conversation. o Draft phone script “Hi, my name is Elena, and I am a volunteer member of the Arden Hills Economic Development. I am reaching out because I would like to stop by to get to know more about your business. Is there a date or time that would work best for you? Or, if there is someone else who I should talk to, could you please connect me with them?” - If you find an email address through Google, you could also reach out with similar information over email. - Take note of open hours posted on google or an associated business website. - Note that this pre-visit communication is not considered a visit attempt. Attempt # 1 - Commissioners will attempt in-person visit. Commissioners will bring a copy of the visit questions and a copy of the visit handout. o Draft visit script “Hi, my name is Elena, and I am a volunteer member of the Arden Hills Economic Development. I am stopping by as I would like to get to know more about your business. Would you be available to speak to the business or is there someone else I could talk to now or at another time?” Completed - If someone is available to complete the questions, go through the questions with them and record their responses on paper. When leaving, give the respondent the handout. Not Completed - If the business is open but someone or the best person is not available at that time, try to arrange an alternate time to meet with them to go through the questions. o If it is not possible to schedule something, ask if there is an email address or phone number to contact. Plan to follow-up using contact information at a later time. Leave the visit handout behind. - If there is no response at the building, check hours of operations on site. Check if there is a mailbox for the business and drop the visit handout there. Attempt # 2 - For visits not completed in the first attempt, commissioners will make a second attempt. o If contact information was obtained during Attempt # 1, use this to schedule an in-person visit. If contact is by phone, and they would prefer to answer questions over the phone, go through the questions during the call. o If contact information was not obtained, second attempt will be in-person. Commissioners will bring a copy of the visit questions and a copy of the visit handout. Completed - If someone is available to complete the questions, go through the questions with them and record their responses on paper. Not Completed - If the business is open but someone or the best person is not available at that time, try to arrange an alternate time to meet with them to go through the questions. o If it is not possible to schedule something, ask if there is an email address or phone number to contact. Plan to follow-up using contact information at a later time. Leave the visit handout behind. - If there is no response at the building, check hours of operations on site. Check if there is a mailbox for the business and drop the visit handout there. Attempt # 3 - For visits not completed in Attempts 1 or 2, commissioners will make a third attempt by phone or email if contact information was obtained during earlier attempts. Completed - If someone is available to complete the questions, go through the questions with them and record their responses on paper. Not Completed - If someone is not available to complete the questions, mark the address/business as unreachable on business list. Tracking in-person visits and results Commissioners will mark off addresses on their list as they make their attempts and complete the visits. Once a business’s responses are recorded on paper, the Commissioner who conducted the visit is responsible for entering the responses using the Survey Monkey website, unless other arrangements are made with the members of the Commission. Website will be available by link and QR code. Notable deadlines for entering responses include: - September 25th – Commissioners enter data for completed visits by September 25th. - October 21st – Commissioners enter data for completed visits by October 21st. - November 27th – All data from completed visits to be entered by November 27th. Checking in with the Commission Commissioners will be able to check in with staff or a designated member of the subcommittee during the visit timeframe. Check-ins to ask questions about conducting the visits, challenges with completing the visits. If additional visit kit materials are needed, bring this up at check-in. Requests for additional support should also be brought up during check-in. (Approved) Timeline Document July 31st – EDC meeting Review drafted materials. The finalized visit questions will be shared. - Handout - Dividing businesses into regions - Procedure document - Timeline document Between July 31st and August 28th Staff working to finalize documents - Working with subcommittee to finalize handout design - Working with Senior Communications Coordinator to set-up visit questions in a survey monkey format and the QR code to go on the handout, getting handout printed - Working to finalize address lists for commissioners - Finalizing procedure and timeline documents - Preparing business visit kits for commissioners August 28th – EDC meeting Commissioners to receive visit kits - Copies of in-person visit questions - Copies of the Handout - List of businesses to visit - Procedure document - Timeline document Website information will be finalized, and commissioners can begin visits. Between August 23rd and September 25th - Commissioners begin visits - Elena to check-in with commissioners individually mid-month - EDC check-in tentatively for September 25th – setting TBD, 8-9 timing. Provide a brief update on how many of the assigned visits have been completed and how many are left. September 25th – Tentative meeting date, setting TBD, 8-9 timing - Commissions to provide a brief update on completed visits, how many are remaining Between September 25th and October 28th - Visits continue, projecting for an end of October completion date - Potential check-ins - By October 21st, Commissioners enter data for completed visits by 21st for preliminary information to be shared. October 28th – Scheduled meeting date, setting and time TBD depending on availability - Commissioners provide a status report on how many of the assigned visits have been completed and how many are left, with the goal to have all completed by the meeting. Discuss possibly extending visits if an extension is requested. Between October 28th and November 27th - Visits have been completed - Possible Commissioner Check-in - All data from completed visits is entered by November 27th Between November 27th and January 29th - Staff to work on review of data January 29th – Potential meeting date? - EDC to review summary of data and discuss findings - Data to inform 2025 work plan - Discuss data to share with the City Council and Business community Between January 29th and February 26th - Finalizing data summary for City Council - Drafting proposed work plan for City Council - Scheduling a work session meeting with the City Council - Drafting proposed newsletter article with results - Drafting proposed business communication February 26th – Scheduled meeting date - Review drafted work plan - Review proposed newsletter article - Review proposed business communication - Discuss letter from Council Between February 26th and March 26th - Work session meeting with the Council - Finalize letter from Council - Submit newsletter article to Senior Communications Coordinator - Share business communication