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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/03/2021 EDAC Minutes CITY OF LINO LAKES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Schueller called the Economic Development Advisory Committee meeting to order at 8:00 A.M. on June 3, 2021. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Cravero made a MOTION to approve the May 6, 2021 Meeting Minutes. Motion was supported by Mr. Vojtech, passing unanimously. III. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. 5-Year Strategic Plan Mr. Grochala, Community Development Director, presented the staff report. EDAC is in the process of updating the 5 Year Economic Development Strategic Plan. A list of potential action items will be discussed at the meeting. Discussion will focus on selecting two priority action steps from the list. Mr. Jim Gromberg, WSB and Associates, asked the board of the action items identified in the staff report, how they would rank them. Mr. Kohler stated that he thinks there a couple types of businesses missing from the list that the City should pursue. Mr. Gromberg stated that this list is not meant to be all inclusive. DATE : June 3, 2021 TIME STARTED : 8:00 A.M. TIME ENDED : 9:03 A.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Jim Schueller, Andrew Cravero, Nathan Vojtech, Patrick Kohler, Thomas Colgan MEMBERS ABSENT : Don Johnson, Julie Jeffrey-Schwartz, Chad Wagner STAFF PRESENT : Michael Grochala, Jessica Eller Economic Development Advisory Committee June 3, 2021 Page 2 APPROVED MINUTES Mr. Kohler commented that there is no manufacturing or distribution businesses on the list. He continued stating that these types of businesses generally lead to blue collar jobs. Mr. Gromberg agreed that manufacturing is a great industry to try and attract. He noted that it is helpful to think about what type and size of manufacturing the City would like to attract. He commented that the board should start by identify manufacturing businesses currently in the City and ways to help them grow. He stated that data centers often look for complimentary businesses. Mr. Colgan asked Mr. Gromberg for an example of a business that could get us that complimentary tenant. Mr. Gromberg stated that you can go after smaller data centers, collocates, collocates are great because they lease out to other businesses. For example, a lot of manufacturing companies are highly automated and need a lot of cloud space and therefore want to collocate near a data center. He commented that the board should start by identifying the types of businesses in the area and then gather information from the business retention and expansion visits as to what would be good complimentary businesses. Mr. Colgan commented that the City of Lino Lakes is not big enough to go after one specific company. He asked if would be better to clearly identify what types of businesses we don’t want. Mr. Grochala commented that it is important to identify our goals. One goal is to grow our tax base, so we have to evaluate which projects will enhance our tax base and uses the land efficiently. He commented that there are many different attributes to consider such as job creation and wages. Mr. Colgan asked how much effort is it going to take to get a data center and let’s identify what we need to do to get it. Mr. Cravero stated that everyone wants a data center. We have to understand that if we go after something that everyone wants it becomes very expensive. Mr. Grochala commented that Lino Lakes has some advantages such as a good transportation network and the availability of large tracts of land. He stated that we need to make these sites available so that when a project comes in we can evaluate how it will benefit the larger area. Mr. Gromberg commented that more jobs are great for a community. However, the problem with more jobs is that there are more people and stress on public services. A large data center is going to generate a large tax base and relatively few jobs. He stated Economic Development Advisory Committee June 3, 2021 Page 3 APPROVED MINUTES that the board needs to identify which sites would be good for development of a data center. Mr. Colgan stated that if a data center is going to be hard to attain maybe we should focus on attracting an R&D facility along the I-35E corridor and on our website. Mr. Gromberg concurred that you want these sites on your website and advertise the city’s assets. Mr. Cravero concurred with Mr. Colgan that he liked the idea of R&D sites. Minnesota is a huge medical device state. Mr. Gromberg stated the first step is to identify the sites and get them on the website so that they are easy to find. Additionally, we may also want to have a conversation with property owners ahead of time to get these sites ready. Mr. Vojtech asked if we ever put a lot of thought into how many jobs are going to be created and whether these jobs have wages that could support living in Lino Lakes. Mr. Grochala stated that each project is a little different and we have to evaluate the pros and cons of it. Most projects have a floor on wages. He reiterated that we need to identify what businesses we currently have in the city and what we want to attract. Mr. Gromberg stated that 80% of your new growth is from existing businesses and that’s why the business retention and expansion visits are so important. It allows you to understand what their business is and what their needs are. Mr. Colgan asked what these meetings look like. Mr. Gromberg stated that it is really about developing a relationship and understanding what their needs are. Mr. Grochala stated that our number one goal for our next meeting is to identify businesses that the City would like to attract. Some of the other items may fit in as subsets of this goal such as identifying strategies to successfully attract the targeted industries/businesses and updating and expanding marketing material. The identification of properties for potential redevelopment is another goal along with developing a program to assist with workforce needs of existing businesses. Mr. Vojtech commented that we should talk to businesses about any concerns regarding an increase in the minimum wage. If nothing else it is just another conversation to have to show that the City is on their side. Mr. Gromberg stated that when we go into these meetings we need to be able to provide information, answer questions and understand their issues. Economic Development Advisory Committee June 3, 2021 Page 4 APPROVED MINUTES Mr. Colgan stated that the city’s best asset is big tracts of land. He reiterated that he wants to be realistic about what that the City can attract. Mr. Gromberg stated that the North metro has a lot of advantages such as large tracts of land, a good workforce and a strong education system. B. Project Updates Mr. Grochala provided verbal updates to the Board on current City projects. Mr. Kohler commented that he would like to add a topic to the next meeting regarding board member attendance. Mr. Grochala stated that the city code states how many meetings board members need to attend. Any member missing three consecutive board or commission meetings or more than one-third of the meetings held within the calendar year shall be subject to removal. IV. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Vojtech made a MOTION to adjourn the meeting at 9:03 A.M. Motion was supported by Mr. Kohler, passing unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Jessica Eller, Community Development Intern