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City Council Business Retention & Development Committee <br />Meeting Minutes <br />October 6, 2008 <br />Page 2 of 4 <br /> <br />APPROVAL OF AGENDA <br />Yarnell moved to approve the agenda, Pritchard seconded the motion. The agenda was <br />approved. <br /> <br />APPROVAL OF MINUTES <br />Yarnell moved to approve the September 8, 2008 minutes; Lathrop noted date correction <br />and seconded the motion. The minutes were approved with a correction to the date. <br /> <br />PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA <br />None. <br /> <br />ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION <br />Becky Hogan requested introductions of those in attendance. <br /> <br />Ms. Hogan explained that the purpose of the roundtable was to discuss different <br />economic structures used in regional cities. Ms. Hogan introduced the panel and asked <br />each panel member to give a brief overview of their economic development organization <br />structure. <br />? <br /> Steve Smithers, Assistant Manager of the City of Westminster provided a handout <br />and stated that the City of Westminster’s economic development is in-house and is <br />part of the Community Development Department. Mr. Smithers said that in the 80’s <br />the city’s stance was let the businesses come to the city and then the city would <br />decide if they wanted the business, but during the 90’s there was a change to a more <br />aggressive approach to recruiting business to the city. Mr. Smithers explained that <br />Westminster has formed BAG (Business Advisory Group) that is comprised of <br />business owners so that the City stays in touch with the perspective from a business <br />viewpoint and as a way to stay in touch with businesses located in the City. He went <br />on to explain that the City’s economic development works on three areas, retail, <br />primary jobs and residential. Mr. Smithers said that business proposals are handled <br />through executive session until the proposal is ready to go public. <br />? <br /> Steve Bobrick, Chairman, Broomfield Economic Development, stated that he felt the <br />most important thing is to establish a solid partnership and to work with staff on a <br />regular basis and that public partnering was a key element. <br />? <br /> John Cody, President, Longmont Economic Development Corporation, said that his <br />organization is a public/private partnership and that they do not deal with retail just <br />primary jobs. Mr. Bobrick stated that he thought the public/private partnership was <br />more objective and helped to establish credibility for the organization. He also <br />thought it was important to understand what you want, the trade-offs, needs of <br />businesses and the best approach to achieve your goals. <br />? <br /> Hazel Hartbarger, Executive Director, Arvada Economic Development (AED), <br />provided handouts and explained that they are a public/private that is a non-profit <br />funded by the City of Arvada. They use a revolving loan that is overseen by the AED <br />for business assistance proposals and they focus on primary jobs. Ms. Hartbarger <br />said that in 1996 business retention was added to their mission and now retail <br />recruitment is part of their focus and they receive $100,000 for retention purposes. <br />? <br /> Frances Draper, Boulder Economic Council, stated that they are private and are <br />under the Chamber of Commerce with 8% funding from the City of Boulder. That <br />they run on a year to year budget which is a rebate from the use tax and the rest <br />comes from County, membership and economic information events. <br /> <br /> <br />