Business Retention and Development Committee Minutes 2008 07 07

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City Council Business Retention & Development Committee Meeting Minutes July 7, 2008 Page 3 of 4 Fleming noted that the real question for the City Council will be is the cost worth the return. Chris Pritchard stated that it shouldn't be a cost question, but whether the program is good for the City as a whole. He added that clearly the Chamber and DBA cannot afford to fund the program. Hank Dalton asked if the City is receiving the benefit we hoped for, what has been the effectiveness of the program. He noted that the results of the Citizen Survey will be helpful to determine if people know of the program. Hogan asked if there were other economic development programs that the Committee would like to address. She gave examples such as a small business scholarship fund and funds for facade improvements/streetscape improvements. Hogan also asked if funding for the Chamber and DBA should be placed under BRaD. City Council would have final approval of funding, but this way BRaD would get a chance to make recommendations. BRaD would also have more direct oversight about how funds are being spent by the two entities. Hogan noted that this would not affect the donations for special events (Street Faire and Parade of Lights) only other funds. Bruno Elari noted that the Chamber uses its funding to support its member activities first and the city as a whole second. Keany noted that the DBA funding is only for special events at this point. Without any paid staff, the DBA has no other programming. Hogan reiterated that staff is not recommending a change in the special event funding Fleming noted that the City would like to see funding to the Chamber and DBA be for specific deliverables and that the City, DBA, and Chamber should not be duplicating efforts. Staff will bring a budget recommendation to the August meeting for additional discussion/direction. Discussion/Recap -June TOD Discussion and Tour Hogan asked if the June presentation was useful for the Committee members. Members were in agreement that the discussion was useful and informative. Menaker added that the discussion in June highlighted some of the issues that the City already knew were going to be of concern: connectivity, landscaping, signage, and pedestrian connections. Discussion/Recap -CEO Breakfast, June 23 Hogan reported that the event went very well and that Alem International has agreed to host the next one in October.