CC_Minutes_2014_0303 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March 3, 2014 Page 6 Mayor Roe recessed the meeting at approximately 6:24 p.m. and reconvened at approximately 6:25 p.m. 10. Presentations a. Joint Meeting with Housing & Redevelopment Authority: BR & E/Dale Street Redevelopment Mayor Roe welcomed HRA Members with those present including Kelly Quam; Bill Masche; Susan Elkins; Vicki Lee; and Chair Dean Maschka. Business,Retention and Expansion (BR& E) Program Chair Maschka noted that Chapter 3 of the Research Report was included in the agenda packet and had been what the task force had primarily focused their dis- cussion on; with the full report available at the City's website: http://www.cityo fro s evill e.com/ed. Michael Darger, Director of BR & E Strategies Program at the U of MN was present to provide research results and task force recommendations. Mr. Darger offered his congratulations to the City and their Task Force for their significant and substantial amount of work since August of 2013 and meeting with forty-one (41) non-retail businesses in Roseville. Mr. Darger provided a brief history of this twenty-five (25) year program; and summarized the materials detailed in the chapters. Mr. Darger noted that the first step was research, second step prioritization, and the third step implementation. Mr. Darger's review included the chapters: 1) History, methods and names; 2) Roseville and Ramsey County economy and demographics; 3) Results of business visits, strategies and potential project written by Mr. Darger; 4) Hints for imple- mentation; and 5) Survey tabulations. Mr. Darger's review included data via charts included in the full report. Issues expressed by businesses included public transportation, Xcel Energy rates, and incentives for business investment in facilities, increased worker skills or more workers, and services of an Economic Development Authority (EDA). Mr. Darger noted that local government service ratings didn't appear problematic. Mr. Darger tied in those major issues expressed by the business community sur- vey completed with suggested strategies from the task force that could address them. Areas of interest expressed by businesses included their desire for more networking opportunities; an active Chamber of Commerce; training for workers and managers, especially computer skill training; recruiting employees, especially Information Technology jobs; and addressing recruitment challenges that were a result of metropolitan competition, inadequate labor skills and/or poor worker at- titudes.