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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEDS0516MinutesDraft Subject to Modifications Minutes of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Committee Meeting Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) May 12, 2016 Greg Vaday, Chair called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Staff called roll and announced a quorum is present. Committee Members: Helene Caseltine Indian River County Joe Griffin Indian River County Brian Fowler Indian River County Pauline Becker Martin County Frank Tidikis, alternate Martin County Henry Copeland Martin County Luis Dominguez, via conference call Martin County Bill West Martin County Greg Vaday, Chair Palm Beach County Adam Locke St. Lucie County Al Rivett St. Lucie County Harold “Buzz” Smyth St. Lucie County Excused: Edwin Maxwell Martin County Michael Corbit Palm Beach County Andrew Duffell Palm Beach County Gary Hines Palm Beach County Absent: Artice “Art” Cobb Palm Beach County Mark Mathes Indian River County Jeremy Theisen St. Lucie County Council Staff: Peter Merritt TCRPC Kim Koho TCRPC Draft Subject to Modifications 2 Visitors: Marty Laven Marine Industries, Treasure Coast Kate Parmelee Martin County George Stokus Martin County AGENDA Pauline Becker moved approval of the agenda. Harold Smyth seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MARCH 10, 2016 MEETING MINUTES Mr. Smyth moved approval of the March 10, 2016, meeting minutes. Bill West seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION – MEMBERSHIP APPOINTMENT Kim Koho read the following members into the record: St. Lucie County Adam Locke, Commissioner Dzadovsky, District 1 Al Rivett, Commissioner Johnson, District 5 Peter Tesch, Alternate, Commissioner Johnson, District 5 Mr. Smyth asked if there are any vacancies in the CEDS membership appointments for St. Lucie County. Kim Koho verified that there is one opening remaining for District 3, Commissioner Paula Lewis. Helene Caseltine asked if there are vacancies for Indian River County. Ms. Koho verified that District 5, Commissioner Bob Solari’s appointment had resigned on March 1, 2016 and the membership is currently vacant. Mr. Smyth asked that guest, Marty Laven, introduce himself to the members. Mr. Laven said that he currently serves as the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast’s liaison for economic development in several jurisdictions. He thanked the members for their continued support of recreation, water quality, and the maritime functions of the waterways. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN INDIANTOWN–KATE PARMELEE, COMMUNITY AND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER, MARTIN COUNTY Mr. Merritt introduced this agenda item by indicating that Bill West advised him that Florida Power and Light Company and the Martin County Business Development Board were involved in funding a report, iTown, Target Sector Report and Recommendations by Boyett Strategic Advisors, which examined development opportunities in Indiantown. Motion Motion Draft Subject to Modifications 3 George Stokus, Martin County Airport Manager, and Kate Parmalee, Martin County Community and Strategic Partnerships Manager, coordinated a presentation regarding development opportunities in Indiantown. Mr. Stokus stated that he is currently the Martin County liaison for the Business Development Board along with managing the airport. Ms. Parmalee said her department coordinates federal and state advocacy websites, provides grant coordination, and handles the administration of the seven Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) areas. Currently there is a Technical Assistance Planning Grant opportunity through the Department of Economic Opportunity to take elements from tools like the Boyett study, and the Florida Enterprise Zone program in order to develop a plan for economic development in Indiantown. Mr. Stokus said that the county cannot use the Boyett study in the grant application , because it was funded by private dollars, but they can use it as a tool. The county is required to reach out to the community and other groups to develop the plan. Ms. Parmalee said they found two county documents that contain economic development strategies, which are the Indiantown Community Redevelopment Plan and the Enterprise Zone Strategic Development Plan. Mr. Stokus said that the grant is a great opportunity to refresh all of the previous plans done by revisiting them through public outreach. This will create a future vision for Indiantown. Indiantown needs to be looked at more holistically. The Martin County Board of County Commissioners (MCBOCC) has created the Rural Indiantown Revitalization Advisory Board (RIRAB), which replaces the Enterprise Zone Development Agency. Indiantown was the last Enterprise Zone adopted in 2011 by the state and since the community was just starting the framework they asked that they be allowed to continue the work on Indiantown economic development strategies. This was the basis and creation of RIRAB. Agencies such as CRA, the Business Development Board, and RIRAB are vital in the creation of a plan for Indiantown’s future. Ms. Parmalee said that the CRA is a thirty year commitment and is currently half way through the process. The MCBOCC had asked her office to refocus the work of the CRA on infrastructure. Her office is in the process of identifying infrastructure needs in all seven CRA areas. Indiantown has significant infrastructure deficits that are critical to its economic development. The county is currently updating all seven CRA plans as well as the county-wide CRA plan. State statutes require that all funding generated in the CRA must be spent in accordance with the plan. The final 15 years of the CRA is a good time to reassess how to strategicall y align resources and partnerships to provide the best use of public dollars, provide wide stakeholder input, and accomplish and manage the vision. This vision along with other resources will provide a stronger planning document and guiding resource. Ms. Parmalee stated there are limited increments in funding because of the lack of reinvestment in Indiantown. The majority of the current increments have been pledged to the Carter Park storm-water and affordable housing project. The plan identified multiple funding sources to complete the projects, and currently the MCBOCC is allocating funding to two projects in Draft Subject to Modifications 4 Indiantown, which are the Farm Road project and the Booker Park Neighborhood Restoration project. Ms. Parmalee said that previously the Indiantown CRA had no source of match dollars. This kept staff from competing for grants. Since that time, match funds are becoming available. Former State Representative, Richard Machek, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) World Development for Florida/U.S. Virgin Islands, has made a commitment to help Indiantown. Ms. Parmalee said the focus of her department will be how to strategically develop partnerships uniting the stakeholders with the limited funds available. Ms. Parmalee stated that Martin County is unique in that it has 7 CRAs within the county. It was originally designed as a way to achieve the comprehensive plan. The CRAs help encourage infill in order to protect the urban service boundary, which protects Martin County’s way of life. The planning processes for the CRAs will set Martin County’s vision as a community, bringing them up to date. Mr. Vaday mentioned that the USDA announced its Strategic Economic Development Set-Aside (SECD) Fund. He explained that if an entity qualifies they would receive extra points f or applications to other follow-on programs. Because Martin County is currently working on a plan to integrate previous studies, they would fall into the SECD framework, but would have to submit an application by approximately June 30, 2016. Ms. Parmalee stated that the county would definitely look into that program. She said that currently the only grants available to Indiantown would be economic and rural development grants. Ms. Pauline Becker stated that she is not a supporter of CRAs and their funding structures. She felt that each CRA should receive funds based on need. She did not agree with the way that the funds had been spent in the past and she stated that tax increment financing funds should be separated by area, not rolled into one pot of funding. She asked why there previously was a lack of transparency outlining where the money had been spent. Ms. Parmalee noted that she did not have the background experience to answer Ms. Becker’s question. However, they are working on greater transparency and the county website now reflects the CRAs financials. Mr. Bill West stated that CRAs are critically important to the development of our communities. If you look to a well-run CRA, such as the City of Stuart, you can see that they accomplish great things. Rio is a very depressed area that needs infrastructure, which is currently going in. Mr. Stokus summarized by saying that Indiantown has transitioned within the last 10 years. It has a very strong agricultural backbone, there is a strong urban service boundary line, it has a lot of fiber optic cable being installed along Highway #710, and there is good connectivity to Palm Beach County. Indiantown also has a large water quality program. The Boyett study is looking to take the social and economic issues and parlay them with the actual businesses in Indiantown. One of the challenges is that 38.9 percent of the children in Indiantown do not attend school past the eighth grade, because they are needed by their families to work in the fields. There is a connection between high poverty levels, low income levels, and children who are not completing their educations. The challenges are not only with infrastructure, but with raising the education levels in the community. Draft Subject to Modifications 5 Mr. Smyth asked Mr. Stokus the following series of questions: is the Martin County airport still perusing pursuing customs and immigration, do they had a team of grant writers, and are there cross county projects that would involve Indiantown? Mr. Stokus replied that the MCOBCC voted against perusing pursuing customs and immigration, he and staff work on grants along with outside consultants, and currently there are Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) projects that span the county. The state is very interested in intermodal transportation and St. Lucie County is obtaining intermodal transportation grants. Mr. West said that there are several projects in Indiantown that involve water farming, shrimp farms, the C-44 federal project, and ones being done by South Florida Water Management District. Mr. Stokus agreed that Indiantown currently has a lot of project activity that needs to be organized. Mr. West asked, for the record, if the critical infrastructure needs in Indiantown could be identified by Ms. Parmalee. She identified them as roads, storm water issues, privately owned aging water utilities, which also affects fire rescue service. Mr. Stokus added that the MCOBCC has made septic-to-sewer system conversions a priority. Ms. Parmalee concluded her presentation and thanked the members for the invitatio n to the CEDS Committee meeting. She invited all of the members to become involved in the local CRAs. REGIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGIES PROGRAM FUNDING OPPORTUNITY Mr. Vaday said the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship has announced a Regional Innovation Strategies program funding opportunity. There is $50 million available nationwide and with this program the EDA is looking to advance innovation across the country. The competition is about creating networks and processes to develop innovation and entrepreneurship with its focus on expanding cluster based industry, commercialization programs for ideas and technologies, and early stage seed capital funds as a type of gap funding. It is designed to help organizations at an operational level for people involved in economic development. The window of opportunity to take advantage of this program is June 24, 2016. Al Rivett asked how long the program has been running and Mr. Vaday stated that the program had been running for several years. Mr. Rivett asked if this funding opportunity would be an annual program. Mr. Vaday said that it could be and that he would have more information at a later date. Mr. Smyth asked if the Port of Fort Pierce would qualify and Mr. Vaday said that the application would require a regional effort. The TCRPC could help organize an effort in partnership with the several Treasure Coast counties. The focus would not be on just the Port of Fort Pierce, or for example Indiantown, but a larger geographical footprint. The opportunity is a nationwide competition and most of the award recipients have entrepreneurial ecosystems in place. Ms. Becker asked if the counties have been made aware of this program and Mr. Vaday said it is incumbent on staff for each county to search out these opportunities. Mr. West asked if TCRPC Draft Subject to Modifications 6 applied for this opportunity and Mr. Merritt said that they have not and would not be able to currently make that deadline. Mr. Vaday stated that timelines on these types of opportunities are generally short, so it is important to set the stage early. He brought this item forward for future discussions. It would be prudent to use the information from the summit in preparation for this type of opportunity, since many types of organizations would have to be pulled together for this effort. Mr. Merritt said that maybe it could be looked at for next year. Mr. West asked if the reference to seed capital would be the same as micro-lending, and Mr. Vaday said that it would not. He said that the reference to seed capital would be referring to early stage companies that have an innovative invention or processes that would need additional refinement to determine if it is marketable. Helene Curtis Caseltine asked if this is similar to the Small Innovation Business and Research program and Mr. Vaday said that he would find out. Mr. West asked if the focus for this type of opportunity should be cluster industries. Mr. Vaday said that it should and that each region would need to determine its growing target cluster industry. Mr. West said that the environmental and water quality knowledge base in this region is tremendous and asked if it could be developed as a target industry. Ms. Caseltine said that Indian River County’s target industry study listed environmental industry high on its list. Mr. West asked if the environmental industry could be integrated into the summit and used as a tool. Mr. Vaday suggested having the summit look at which cluster industries are driving and shaping the region. Louis Dominguez suggested looking at value added industries that could be taken to the next level such as the technologies industry. Mr. Merritt then suggested taking the findings of the summit and then applying them to this funding opportunity. Mr. Dominguez asked who would be responsible to look at the efforts of building a bridge between the government resources and small to medium businesses. They are looking for ways to stabilize their businesses with processes and strategies or other areas of growth and they need the expertise of larger companies. Ms. Caseltine suggested that his first conversation be with Tim Dougher, Executive Director, Business Development Board of Martin County in partnership with someone with Indian River State College. Mr. Dougher has experience with the employment needs of the businesses in Martin County and the college has experience with the programs available. She explained that the connection between what is there and what is needed can be difficult to determine since it is constantly changing. Mr. West again asked that the summit be used as a tool to improve this type of connection and focus on strategies for success. Mr. Rivett said that a timeline should be developed with regards to the Regional Innovation Strategies program funding opportunity so that steps can be developed towards making an application. Mr. Vaday suggested that one of the first steps to consider is determining what organizations would be needed to form a partnership such as the Business Development Boards, Economic Councils, Career Source, TCRPC, colleges and universities, and other organizations. The second step is allowing those organizations to create a dialog with each other in regards to the specific gaps in our high tech innovation capacity since the funding opportunity is looking to future trends. Draft Subject to Modifications 7 Mr. Rivett asked Ms. Caseltine if the Economic Councils already know this information and if the dialog could occur through the Career Source Research Coast and Ms. Caseltine said that they could. She said that during their business retention visits they get a good feel for businesses current and future needs. Mr. Dominguez said that his concern is that the organizations mentioned are like the pieces of a puzzle and the business community needs to see how the pieces come together. Sometimes it takes bringing businesses/organizations together to successfully invent, produce, and market products. Dialog is needed for those types of successes. He asked if there is one person that he could talk to understand all of the different organizations involved in economic and business development. Mr. West and Ms. Caseltine both agreed that the Economic Councils are the best equipped to provide him with that information. Mr. Smyth said that in representing the private sector he feels that small businesses falls through the cracks of the different economic organizations because those organizations are tied to specific regulations and processes. He cited the problems faced by the Port of Fort Pierce as an example. They need many different types of skilled workers immediately, not six months from now. He is hoping that these types of problems will be brought into focus at the summit as a result of including the private sector. He continued saying that there is a movement in St . Lucie County to bring forward a type of local industry clout similar to the National Association of Manufacturers. Mr. West said that by having strategic breakout sessions within the summit, which would include the right type of audience, facilitators and speakers, the summit will be successful in producing forward looking ideas. Mr. Vaday said that maybe one of the summit discussions could be centered on whom and what is driving economic development in the region. Mr. Dominguez felt that there is no one owner that is driving the objectives, therefore pieces of a large economic puzzle stay small. Mr. Vaday said that it comes together in different ways and opportunities across the country. The Treasure Coast region is in the continuum from weak to strong with regards to economic development and the summit is an opportunity to find out just where we are. 2016 ECONOMIC SUMMIT DISCUSSION Mr. Vaday said that Mr. Merritt has created a preliminary draft agenda for discussion purposes. Mr. Merritt said that he summarized the planning considerations based on the past meeting minutes and discussions. Mr. Smyth agreed with Mr. Vaday that the summit needs to counter balance the private and public sector and feels strongly that there needs to be more public sector involvement. Mr. Merritt reminded everyone that the purpose of the summit is to update the CEDS plan. The last CEDS plan was adopted in 2012 and the next one will be updated in 2017. He plans to start inviting speakers and sending out notices after today’s input. Draft Subject to Modifications 8 Mr. Merritt said that there was a consensus at the last meeting in the development of how the summit would progress. The first set of presentations would involve looking at national economic trends moving from the state to the regional level. Suggestions made were having speakers from the EDA to review national trends, the Florida Chamber of Commerce to review state trends, and then the Florida Chamber Foundation to review regional trends. Mr. Merritt continued that the summit would transition into a discussion linking education with the work force. He would like to reach out to the college and university presidents or provosts and invite them to participate in panel discussions. He suggested having CareerSource moderate the panel. He stated that panel discussions can be very effective and valuable since it is an engaging format. Mr. Merritt took the recommendation from Mr. Smyth to include airports in the discussion and grouped them with seacoast, rail, and the FDOT. He asked for the committee’s input to prioritize a targeted industries list for discussion. The committee suggested including the following groups as a list of targeted industries: transportation infrastructure, aviation and aerospace, and science and technologies. Manufacturing would be intertwined throughout the different industries. It was suggested that the committee get a consensus from the four county economic development agencies regarding what they see as the targeted cluster industries and future industries for the region. Mr. Tidikis suggested having the industry panel discussion first, and then the education panel, since the needs of the industry will drive education. The committee suggested that the panels discussions be ordered as follows: industry, transportation infrastructure (which includes FDOT’s strategic intermodal system discussion), and then education. Mr. Laven asked the purpose of the 2016 Economic Development Summit. Mr. Vaday stated that the focus of the discussion is to provide a better understanding of the trends shaping the region for the next five years. The main points will be encapsulated and used to shape the CEDS plan. The plan will highlight the region’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the region. It is to find out what is working and what is not. It will also provide direction to the CEDS committee for future discussions. Mr. Merritt added that the purpose of the summit is to also engage all of the stakeholders in th e region as part of the CEDS process allowing for a synchronized focus on economic issues. The stakeholders are the region’s business development boards, all of the economic players, the colleges and universities, and cities and counties. Mr. Merritt explained the proposed summit program. The first part of the morning session will be a series of presentations, the second session will include discussions by panel groups, and the afternoon and final session will include a working lunch of breakout groups. The focus of the breakout groups will involve topics related to earlier presentations and discussions. Mr. Vaday added that many agencies that provide grants and funding opportunities are moving towards a more holistic understanding of economic and community development. For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is looking to develop neighborhoods Draft Subject to Modifications 9 along with housing, as part of community infrastructure and educational systems. This is part of a larger systems approach to community economic development. Mr. Vaday said that the CEDS committee should also develop a broader perspective of economic development resources and systems in developing its CEDS plan. Mr. Griffin stated that policy makers need to be made aware of the outcome of the summit and educated on economic development efforts and opportunities. Mr. Rivett continued saying that it is important to get the community and policy makers participation and buy in during the breakout sessions. He also felt that it is important to make sure that the region is positioned to take advantage of future grants and other funding opportunities. Mr. Dominguez asked if there would be a deliverable as a result of the summit. Mr. Merritt explained that the summit’s facilitated breakout groups will present back to the entire group an analysis of their topics. The presentations will be summarized for use in the CEDS plan update. Ms. Caseltine suggested adding action items, priorities, or deliverables to the end of the summit. Mr. Merritt replied that the CEDS plan update would be the action item. Mr. West stated that a good way to end the summit would be to provide a quick summary of its findings, which could be accomplished by renaming participant polling to results or action items. Mr. Merritt said that Michael Busha, Executive Director, TCRPC, would provide a brief summary of the larger items in the summit’s concluding remarks. Mr. West suggested inviting one economist to present for all of the national, state, and regional trends. Mr. Griffin agreed that it might be ambitious to have separate presentations for the different trends. Mr. Merritt suggested having the national trends presented separately from the state and regional trends and said that he would make sure that the trends were simplified. Mr. Busha had recommended Mark Wilson, President and CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Jerry Parrish, Chief Economist and Director of Research, Florida Chamber of Commerce to present on the state and regional trends. Mr. West asked that Mr. Merritt make sure that the focus of the presentation by the Florida Chamber of Commerce is on the trends not on the Six Pillars Plan. Adam Locke suggested that each item under transportation trends warranted a charrette of its own. Each county is impacted in different ways and if more time is not devoted to the topic, he suggested that our communities could perceive that government is not in touch with their needs. Mr. Merritt said that a charrette would involve a much deeper process that the summit would allow. The transportation trends panel discussion would include leaders in that field providing their perspectives based on experiences with current trends. Mr. Vaday stated that currently FDOT is traveling throughout the state discussing regional transportation trends and issues. Mr. Locke asked if the panel discussion would include specific projects, and Mr. Vaday responded that it would address larger issues. Discussion ensued among the members regarding the specific format of the transportation panel. Mr. Merritt suggested that the transportation panel include a high level speaker from the FDOT along with representatives from the ports or airports with a moderator driving the conversation. Draft Subject to Modifications 10 Mr. Vaday said that the trends discussion would project over a five year period including interrelated issues. Ms. Caseltine explained that the format of a panel discussion is a more informal discussion than a presentation. Mr. West suggested that some topics might be better served by a presentation instead of a panel discussion. He stated that FDOT has already traveled throughout the State of Florida engaging its stakeholders and since the intermodal system is statewide, the other panel participants would tend to be more involved in the local issues. He asked the CEDS committee if a presentation would be a more efficient use of time. Under discussion, the Committee reviewed the pros and cons of a panel discussion versus a presentation. Mr. Vaday suggested reaching out to Jeremy Upchurch, District 4 Freight Coordinator, FDOT, to find out the best way to approach this topic, since the summit is looking for the State’s overview of trends, gaps, and other issues. Mr. Merritt said that he would discuss the topic with Mr. Upchurch. Mr. Rivett said that the panel format still could be used. Henry Copeland suggested using case studies as examples for the breakout groups and Mr. Merritt said there will be specific exercises for a focused discussion, which will result in a product as an outcome. Mr. Rivett asked if the topics would be able to be covered in a day suggesting that the draft summit agenda might be ambitious. Mr. Merritt asked for the CEDS committee to clarify its direction. Under discussion, the Committee agreed that the agenda should be simplified to be contained into one day. Mr. Tidikis asked Mr. Merritt to explain the time lines given to the different topics. Mr. Merritt said that the determination of time was based on who and what was being presented. Mr. Tidikis suggested giving the industry panel more time than the education panel and the Committee agreed. Mr. Rivett asked that the logistics of the breakout groups and the working lunch be reviewed. Mr. Merritt said that the first 30 minutes would be eating lunch and making introductions. The Committee thanked Mr. Merritt for the development of the agenda and felt that it was on the right track. PUBLIC COMMENT Mr. Laven said that the marine industries would like to extend an invitation to the CEDS committee members and respective economic development entities within the three counties to join them on the June 8, 2016, Plantation Island Princess Cruise, being sponsored by the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast and the Marine Industries Association of the State of Florida. It would be a good opportunity for the CEDS committee members to have dialog about issues that relate to the marine and maritime industry. Draft Subject to Modifications 11 COMMITTEE COMMENT Mr. Smyth stated that St. Lucie County has a policy in place making it difficult for several vacant lots located within an industrial park to be sold. The policy is that any party who is considering purchasing the lots would be required to build a road. Also, the property is covered in gopher turtles. Could the county apply for federal funding to assist with building the road and mitigating for the gopher turtles? Ms. Caseltine asked how many jobs would be associated with the lot furthest away from the road. Mr. Smyth said that currently there would be 26 jobs. The company is an auction company. Mr. Griffin asked if the airport director of St. Lucie County had applied for a FDOT aviation grant and new monies could be available July, 1, 2016. Mr. Smyth said that they have not. Ms. Caseltine said that the State of Florida has an Economic Development Transportation Fund, but it would have to be used for a targeted industry offering higher than average wages. Mr. Copeland wanted to make sure that the committee is aware of an alternative to citrus greening using biofertilizers. The company, LidoChem, has fully restored an infected citrus greening grove, without the use of additional chemicals. STAFF COMMENT None. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Becker moved adjournment of the meeting. The motion was seconded, which carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 4:08 p.m. Motion Draft Subject to Modifications 12 2016 ECONOMIC SUMMIT SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING BREAKOUT ROLL CALL Committee Members: Frank Tidikis Martin County Joe Griffin Indian River County Harold “Buzz” Smyth St. Lucie County Greg Vaday, Chair Palm Beach County Council Staff: Peter Merritt TCRPC Kim Koho TCRPC 2016 ECONOMIC SUMMIT OUTLINE DISCUSSION Mr. Vaday reviewed the sub-committee’s purpose, which is to guide the shape of the summit. Mr. Merritt confirmed that the summit will take place at the Wolf High Technology Center, Indian River State College – Chastain Campus, 2400 SE Salerno Road, Stuart, FL 34997, on Friday, October 28, 2016. The summit will start at 9:30 a.m. and will finish by 4:00 p.m. The limit allowed in the auditorium is 214 people. Once the confirmed number of speakers and staff has been totaled, staff will know the total of registrations that can be accepted. Mr. Vaday asked when the “save the date” email will be sent. Mr. Merritt suggested sending it out within the next several weeks. He has already had discussions with the adjacent regional planning council’s staff making them aware of the summit. Mr. Griffin asked who the targeted invitees are. Mr. Merritt said that TCRPC has an extensive mailing list and the announcement will be sent to those on the list. Staff learned that they will not be able to obtain mailing lists from certain entities. It was decided to email a flyer announcing the summit to all of the county’s economic councils, business development boards, chambers of commerce, CareerSource groups, and local governments in the region. Staff will ask these groups to include the “save the date” announcement in their newsletters and/or future mailings. The email and flyer will direct all attendees to the TCRPC home page. It will have a link to the summit announcement inviting attendees to register. Mr. Merritt said it was previously determined that a registration fee of $25.00 will be charged, which will include lunch and refreshments. Mr. Vaday asked if invited speakers will need to register and pay. Mr. Merritt said that TCRPC would register the speake rs and they would not be required to pay the registration fee. Mr. Tidikis asked what the monthly charge for using the Wolf High Technology Center was and Mr. Merritt said that it was $200.00 for the day. If additional rooms are needed for the breakout groups, they would make them available to us. Draft Subject to Modifications 13 Mr. Smyth asked if staff could make phone calls personally inviting the local officials. It is important that the elected officials attend. Mr. Griffin said that as soon as he receives the announcement, he plans to put the summit on his city council’s agenda. Not only will the announcement be on the agenda, available for the public to see, but it will be announced on the local government television channel. The sub-committee concurred that both were good marketing ideas. Mr. Smyth and Mr. Griffin volunteered to make phone calls if staff could provide them with a list of names, titles, and phone numbers of persons who need to be contacted. Mr. Vaday agreed, and said that it would be a good opportunity to get the larger committee involved. Mr. Merritt suggested bringing the list to the CEDS committee meeting and dividing it up with the other CEDS members by county. Mr. Smyth suggested designating one CEDS committee member from each county to make calls. Mr. Merritt said that he would bring the phone list to the next CEDS committee meeting. Mr. Vaday stated that he would reach out to Jeremy Upchurch, FDOT, regarding the transportation panel discussion. Mr. Vaday asked who the designated host for the summit would be and Mr. Smyth said that Michael Busha, Executive Director, would be representing TCRPC as the host. He suggested that Mr. Vaday emcee the summit. Mr. Merritt suggested dividing the emcee position up between himself and other staff. Mr. Smyth said that you need one point person, the emcee, to keep things on track. Mr. Vaday said that he would be available to emcee the summit. Mr. Smyth emphasized that the flyer should state that the summit is hosted by the TCRPC. Mr. Vaday asked if Mr. Merritt would be sending the “save the date” flyer out to the mailing list prior to the July 2016 CEDS committee meeting. Mr. Merritt reviewed the steps that need to be taken prior to selecting a date to send the summit’s announcement flyer. He said that staff will build a web page for the summit on Council’s website that will post the flyer and registration form. The key speakers should be invited before the announcement goes out. Mr. Vaday agreed that they will require lead time to make the commitment to attend and participate. Mr. Griffin asked if the CEDS subcommittee should review the “save the date” flyer prior to sending it out. Mr. Smyth said that he had confidence in Mr. Merritt’s abilities to produce a flyer, and if the subcommittee wanted to review it, Mr. Merritt could email it to them. Mr. Vaday said the flyer should be artistic in design to catch the attention of the invitees. Mr. Tidikis suggested adding graphics. Mr. Vaday suggested the flyer say “help shape the future of the region” and Mr. Smyth agreed that the flyer should make a point of letting the invitee know they are a part of shaping the region’s future. Mr. Griffin said the flyer should go out several times between now and the summit. Mr. Smyth said we could review the number of registrations at the next meeting and schedule the amount of times the flyer would be sent out accordingly. Mr. Merritt reminded the members the attendance caps including staff and presenters are 200 people. He will indicate on the registration form that Draft Subject to Modifications 14 registration is limited. Staff will be able to confirm with the CEDS committee who and how many have registered by the September, 2016 CEDS committee meeting. Mr. Tidikis suggested that a series of “save the date” announcements should proceed as follows: the initial announcement should be the flyer and a link to the registration form, the next announcement should include the list of speakers, and the final announcement should include the agenda. The phone calls should be made as the last outreach. Once invitees register, they can be reminded about the summit via email. Mr. Smyth said that phone calls should be made to elected officials in the first week of October, 2016. PUBLIC COMMENT None. COMMITTEE COMMENT None. STAFF COMMENT None. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 4:54 p.m.