Business Retention and Development Committee Minutes 2009 05 04 REVISED

Home Browse Search

City Council Study Session Summary May 4, 2009 Page 3 of 4 BRaD the Chamber should ensure that the directory Shop Louisville, community information, and map included in the directory is not proprietary just to the Chamber, that BRaD can utilize these parts of the directory without copyright issues. The Directory could also be an integral part of the retention packets. Directory design work will begin in September, with distribution in January of 2010. The Directory design work will be presented to BRaD for feedback and. comments. All BRaD members voted in favor of approving the funding request. APRIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BRIEFING Star presented the Economic Development briefing. The committee discussed the January memo regarding 2009 retention visits. There is a great deal of gathering information, although the information is not being fully shared. The purpose of the retention visits is to find out concerns of business, and then take actions to address those concerns. BRaD members requested that retention visits verbal reports be included in as an item on the regular agenda. Members commented about the need to be cognizant of confidential information that should not be included in retention summaries. Star will present the business incentive program to the Commercial Brokers of Boulder Meeting in May. Menaker stated he wanted to see an update of the benefits resulting from the BAPs. Fleming listed the criteria he uses to determine whether to offer a BAP. Is the business something we want in Louisville? Will the business occur if not offered a business incentive package? Only offer enough incentive to make a deal work. The main theme of Star's discussions with businesses thus far has been the difficulty in obtaining financing for their business plan. Star distributed the Broker's Flyer, Gibbons and White, for the Post Office Property. We have helped the Chamber and the DBA become aware of two free or low cost mentoring options for both small and large businesses; SCORE and SBDC. SCORE will be presenting their program at a Chamber breakfast May12, 7:30 at the Blue Parrot. Santa Fe Grill Update Star reported that Guaranteed Bank and Trust is expected to take ownership of building through foreclosure in early June. The current occupant may want to continue the lease. The bank has the option to keep the tenant or market without a new tenant. DBA Meeting Update DBA held a merchants networking session on April 9. A great deal of positives were expressed, few concerns. Businesses are blogging their own newsletters •and have found this to be effective. A suggestion was to look for alternative