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City Council Business Retention & Development Committee <br />Meeting Minutes <br />October 6, 2008 <br />Page 3 of 4 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Ms. Hogan asked how charge for memberships and what are the benefits for being a <br />member. <br />? <br /> Mr. Bobrick said that they charge a flat rate of $1,050.00 for membership. He said <br />that the members receive a newsletter and that they are getting community <br />involvement. Mr. Bobrick said that smaller business generally join the Chamber. <br />? <br /> Mr. Cody said that the memberships cost from $350 minimum up to $10,000 and that <br />members get support that benefits them directly and indirectly. <br />? <br /> Ms. Hartbarger stated they do not have membership fees because they are funded <br />by the City and the viewpoint was they wanted to be a partner with the Chamber and <br />if they charged membership fees they would be competing with the Chamber. <br />? <br /> Ms. Draper said that members must be Chamber members and there was a $5,000 <br />annual membership fee to be on the Economic Development Council. Ms. Draper <br />explained that benefit of being on the Council was to influence decisions and to <br />network with other primary businesses. <br />? <br /> Mr. Smithers stated they did not have membership fees but one of the downsides of <br />having an in-house economic development organization is that it can be caught up in <br />the budget issues within the City. He explained that key city personnel do retention <br />visits and it is a way for the City to keep in touch with businesses. <br /> <br />Ms. Hogan asked if business incentives were a part of the budget or were outside of <br />their budgets. <br />? <br /> Mr. Cody said that the incentives are outside of the budget and they are usually in <br />the form of 30% off permits or 50% of City’s portion of property tax <br />? <br /> Ms. Hartbarger said that the revolving loan of $600,000 is used for incentives and <br />that the economic development organization has complete authority over those funds <br />so that they do not have to go to the City for approval. She also explained that each <br />employee of the City goes through an Economic Development 101 so that city <br />employees are a part of the economic development plan. <br /> <br />Michael Menaker, Louisville Revitalization Commission, asked what they do for <br />marketing. <br />? <br /> Mr. Cody said that web sites are the most effective. He explained that they have a <br />business real estate database on their web site and they also attend trade shows, <br />trade missions, and they have a quarterly supplement with the Boulder County <br />Business Report. Mr. Cody said that marketing is primarily regional. <br />? <br /> Mr. Bobrick agreed with that web pages and site selection are the most effective way <br />of marketing. He said that the Denver Network was another good marketing tool and <br />added that transportation and infrastructure were critical when marketing to <br />companies. <br />? <br /> Ms. Harbarger said that they do a newsletter to educate and that they partner with <br />the community <br />? <br /> Ms. Draper said that they also partner with the community and do a newsletter to <br />educate business and the public. <br /> <br />Ms. Hogan asked what they would like to see changed in their current structure. <br /> <br /> <br />