 Let me welcome everybody to the economic development community development committee meeting Just before we get started just a couple of couple of notes These are working committee meetings. We're glad to have our guest with us today But no public comment things are really reserved more for our public hearings when they when they occur At city council or planning commission or things like that So we're we're delighted to have you here. These are broadcast on the on the City's website YouTube. So you have access with them from home or in person. So On that note, I would ask our our wonderful clerk to call the roll Here present Yeah, all right Today we're gonna have a just we're gonna have a couple of of discussions and and and from some of our distinguished Distinguished business leaders in town and it's my pleasure to welcome my longtime friend Diane Sumter up to the podium to tell us about About our CDB e program. Thank you for joining us today, Miss Sumter Thank you for having me and I certainly am just very grateful that today. We are talking about something we've been working on a very long time and To this CDB enhancement program We have Todd Corley here Diane Russian from AOS is on the way and Mary Beth Mary Bell, but these are three of the businesses who are CDB e LLR our license and ready to go. So I wanted to Talk to you a little bit about how we got here sent the report out, etc But the mayor called some of us together some time ago and the reason was he had met with Mr Corley and he wanted to see how can we move this further So this meeting is a testament of what can be done when you collaborate pull together and move further Find him calling and after the meeting It was found determined that the CDB e would be the pathway to go and on going through that list The city of Columbia has a CDB e program We went through everyone on the list to check to see who was CDB e and we needed them to have a labor license and Utility and so upon finding that they had those two things we met with the city He was extremely helpful. We met with the OVO office They were extremely helpful Tony Lawton and some others and we began to move this further and today We're here to talk about where we are now one of the things that we saw is that there's a list of tap providers and on that lift there was no diversity on the list who was ready to lay taps and What we were charged to do was to see how we could get them ready to lay taps Mr. Corley was able to pull the Ferguson together and Ferguson said you're welcome to come out to our facility and when we come out to our facility Mr. Corley and others use their equipment to show how we lay the tap what happens and why it's a real issue Fun digging further. We saw that the city had rules and regulations Part of those rules and regulations was the insurance It was extremely costly to get the insurance and we wanted to see was it another pathway So when Clint and I met it the pathway it said, okay, let's see how we can get mentors or Contractors who are already insured and licensed to partner with Contractors who are licensed to CDB E and move forward at that time The engineering department sent several projects that's ready to go So the day I stand in front of you to let you know we have done what we were charged to do Deza was asked to facilitate and put together a program together and we worked with the OBO office and I must tell you that your engineering office was phenomenal Clint worked with us hand-in-hand all the way and today we have three projects. They're ready to come out We have three Businesses who are CDB E ready to go one isn't here, but she's on the way yet That's dying Russian and I wanted diversity in it. So you see that this isn't about black white blue or green It's about qualified businesses who can do business So I want to thank the city for all that you've done in this regard I'm ready to answer any questions and Clint might have something that he'd like to add to it because he's been a partner all the Way and he and his team went back and found these three projects and we're expecting the one of them to go out Soon through procurement and he can certainly give us more information on that So if you have any questions, I'm good Any questions for miss Sumter? I Will I was gonna say I would like for either of you to kind of explain the significance of the tap list and being on that tap list Or not being on it. Thank you. Miss Diane. I appreciate that. I've really enjoyed working with you throughout the years But also in this assignment as well You you provide that excellent gentle pressure We appreciate that so that the significance Councilman Herbert is that we're very very particular about Making live taps on our water system and making those because you know, we're protecting public health And so we're really we've got a set of qualifications that have to be met and criteria And we've got some folks that we think are well positioned to do that and there's some experience requirements as well What we were seeing was not we weren't Realizing the opportunity there for folks that could purchase the equipment and they'd have the capabilities to be able to demonstrate that And so we were kind of in a catch 22 there And we think this opens up a window of opportunity there so that folks can demonstrate that capability Then get on the tap list and once they do that's really an entry to bid any of our work and be successful pursuing that So I'm really excited about this and how we might move forward together and appreciate Thank you Let me ask you a quick question Clint so so this is wonderful for the taps now flowing opposite is this same format going to overlay patching roads patching water main leaks All of the processes. I know we have some some contracts subcontractors in place We take the same approach to that opportunity. Yes, sir We can the we believe that in order to make main line repairs and fix our leaks You need to be on that approved list because you may have to do some wet work there and and so it This is an entry to get on that list and then be part of the indefinite delivery contracting Program that we have but it's really getting on that tap list as the first step and then I think it expands our Opportunities as well. So quicker to react to yes, sir The city is requiring that five inspections be done on taps and They will send their inspector out to inspect five Projects to know that it's done well and what you're talking about also the other ones We've got some businesses ready to go So there might be even a quicker pathway to some of that and if that's some of the things that we need to begin looking at We have some businesses ready. What we saw is that We had businesses, but they weren't approved by the inspector Even though they've done taps ten years ago I'm poorly worked with Trussell brothers ten years ago and did it but this time is file proof Once the contract is awarded It will be awarded to the prime that prime then will it'll have a large CDB e requirement in it and the city's inspector will come out and say job well done each time and today We have one that's being looked at Carly is already on a project with their mentor With their prime contractor and the city will be sending out the inspector So I think you give us maybe three months We can be able to tell you it's happened and then you'll see that tap list Which is about two or twelve on it and their names are on it, but they don't have a Sign saying they can do this type of work that list then will be complete and we'll know that we have diversity in that aspect of business I Just want to follow up on what what what mr. Brennan was saying is I hope I realized the taps are a more Complicated thing but I think on some of the other easier things we do whether it's repairing potholes and other things that we build On the success that you're seeing here because it helps us I mean we're in a difficult time everybody is when it comes to hiring staff and so forth and the more more of this that We can subcontract down to to our small minority and start in business startups I think I think the better the better we have our own and I would also just add Simon's here. Hey, we're gonna We've approved the money for the redo of family park, and I hope that we're able to showcase Our minority contractors and small business contractors all throughout the city of Columbia downtown when we when we get on that project, so If we can't find somebody I bet you miss something I've already spoken to Mr. Thank you for joining us today Russian just came in which is another one of our contractors and I'd be remiss if I didn't say how many years Dana has worked with us on Helping to make this work. So thank you. Well, thank you for joining us today And I appreciate to appreciate the positive positive message you bring every time we encounter you. So thank you ma'am Thank you miss Harbert, would you like to make the introduction on the? The mobile food market discussion. Yes, I will. Thank you so much I'm gonna introduce miss Ashley page Booker But for those of you all who don't know we have a food policy committee. They've been meeting For several years. I think they started maybe in 2017 or something like that They recently rolled out a website Website to show people how to quickly access food And so this is actually a concept and project that they've been looking at Before that and I think that it's time for this particular project to come to fruition And so we are not going to get into deep deep detail But miss page could you come and give us an overview of where you all are right now? My recommendation. I don't mind sharing is that we send this to OBO or Similar new usually is OBO or community development to come back to us with the best Model for how we can go forward with this But I do want you to tell us a little bit about what you've been working on Oh and explain to people a little bit about what the mobile food market with that concept is Well, thank y'all for for inviting us To be a part of this meeting today and and I'm glad to meet our liaison Joe for the first time We've been meeting virtually and we'll have our first monthly meeting in person tomorrow. So glad to meet him face to face What is a mobile market a mobile market think about kind of you know the concept of a grocery store? Typically you have to get in your car. You don't have a car. You have to take public Transportation then you have to go to the parking lot You got to get out of your car in the parking lot walk to the store get your groceries Come back to your transportation and go back to your house a mobile takes all of that away And it can go right there Almost to your doorstep. So really thinking about where the city has been not just the city But all over the United States we've seen a lot of closures of grocery stores Which has been a trend we've seen over about the past Five to seven years and so we know there are some communities that have lost more than than others But really we're looking at one we do want to try to bring in some more permanent Grocery stores, but that can take a while And so we kind of look at this as something to add in addition to Also trying to recruit and retain more permanent grocery store options across the city But that mobile grocery store is kind of that grocery store on wheels That can bring fruits that can bring vegetables that can bring Dairy other kind of staple items and we're hoping to try to get some meat on there as well Right to neighborhoods and something that we've said we we want to eventually have this be city-wide But we do think it is fair to say we need to prioritize neighborhoods who have lost more than some others And so there are some communities across this city that don't have a lot of healthy food accents that have lost Numerous grocery stores while there are some across the city that still have grocery stores aplenty So we do want to try to prioritize some of those those neighborhoods Who have dealt with a lot of grocery store loss? Within the past few years and so we've been working on this project Maybe three years trying to bring this to fruition We worked with a group to put together a business plan which you all should have In your documents and so that was the spring of last year. So some of those numbers they are outdated So please i'm glad you mentioned don't don't look at those numbers. We know those numbers can be reduced One of the things I saw the mayor kind of peeped in one of the things that we talked about with the mayor Is we do not have to start with such a robust budget if we want to kind of fast track this We can kind of scale this down some And then eventually scale it back up. There's usda funds. There are private funds There are public funds that we know we can work with foundations and others to be able to get additional funding To scale it up. But again, we've been working on this three years. So at this point We don't care if it's a bus if it's a van if it's a truck and a trailer We know community members are asking us to get healthy food in their communities So I do want to point out that caveat that if you're looking at the budget You say it's a little high We are more than willing to work with you all to work with city staff To work with the figures to make it more affordable to get something sooner rather than Later, but we are hoping to to work with city staff to move this project Further along. Um, but also want to point out this ties in well with our policy recommendations So we were in the same room a little over three years ago Presenting our five aspirational areas and we did a refresh of those and we presented a little bit about that When we presented about our gis map and the number two things folks care about right now When we went back to the community is healthy food access and they want to see more entrepreneurship Activity as it relates to food And so we really think that this mobile market is a way to bend both of those recommendations together We would love to work with either a non-profit or a local small business to be able to get this mobile market up and running Does anyone have any questions for miss page? Before I just just real quick I think what you're looking at here is pretty cool. I know you've been at it for a long time Um, I would just ask that that y'all consider as part of the your process as you look forward City council has passed. I think some pretty amazing business friendly type approaches since january That would really help if if People were to open the corner stores or neighborhood stores again small, you know grocery stores that Especially count And I mean whether it's the things like the the greece trap program we're going to talk about in a second which gives It takes a huge startup cost Some of the off-site Parking requirements that have been waived. I think it's I think we've really made it a lot more economical and Sometimes when I get to ride through some of our older neighborhoods and see those those stores How they how they address some of those food deserts 100 years ago I just an encouragement that y'all keep with what you're doing here But that can do on recreating some of those those mom and pop type food stores I think I think would be a really cool thing and and some of our areas of the city not all the areas but some of them I think it would be a great thing Any other questions or concerns and so thank you so much. Um, miss bookard. I keep saying page It's it's okay My husband won't mind it's okay And I did want to say too, um, because we are working on things in the long term We're working with the hbcu technology challenge And we're trying to see what certain communities will need to do with respect to their census numbers And their per capita income to become competitive for chain grocery stores So I think once all these pieces come together But of course that takes a long time and and we want to do something more immediate So if there are no objections, I would actually like to refer this to obo For further review and let them come back to us with some recommendations on the structure and a path forward Okay, so miss harvard is making the motion that we refer this to obo for further consideration Um We're going to I think just as a new new process is we're going to vote on just the referrals just so we can be on the record uh for that so The motion has been made Just a minute and seconds if you'll just call the roll on to refer it to obo for additional consideration Yes Yes Yes Thank you miss bookard. Thank you so much. Thank you Byler Good afternoon Okay, so the last couple meetings. We've had some discussion on the commercial fog the fats oils and grease forgivable loan program Um based upon those discussions and the input that we've received I've met with staff in the various departments that'd be affected. So we've come back To talk about how we can look to improve the program So the first slide here is really the current program I know we've probably talked this one almost to death, but some of the key parts are is currently it's a forgivable loan It covers half the cost the maximum amount is five thousand dollars And it's being funded out of an out of an allocation out of water and sewer fund Looking to uh update the program Um, it'll still require city council through a future resolution to Authorize this it'll still be all food service providers in the city that can participate in it We're looking at creating this though not as a forgivable loan that forgivable loan also was over a multiple years This will be strictly a rebate. It'll cover the full cost But the maximum rebate will still be ten thousand dollars, which is an increase from the five thousand dollars The funding for the program we've looked to make a change It'll actually be funded out of the hospitality collections from that particular food service provider And we'll utilize half of their monthly actual collections So I've given an example So if they've collected a thousand dollars to in business license as has brought that in We'll end up doing a rebate back to them of five hundred dollars Until we cover the full cost that they've submitted to us or the maximum amount of ten thousand dollars That was kind of quick. I know we've talked about this a lot I didn't know if y'all have some questions on this and I'll talk briefly about next steps. So just um It's scaled off or the average Hospitality out of restaurant Is that a thousand dollars a year? That's an annual number of thousand dollars in your example Is that what what does the average restaurant pay in hospitality tax income? I don't have that number on the top of my head. I use that just for simplicity of understanding just a quick. We're paying out half Um, that's a 20. I mean that's a 20 year payback No, no, it'll be way more than a thousand dollars collected in a year. Okay Yeah, because if it pays for itself In four or five years, I think that's that's fantastic the 20 years that in your example So if we take the collections of three percent if their weekly sales are Ten thousand dollars. That's three hundred dollars in hospitality tax just for that one week And this is for this is for new Upgrades or new construction restaurants New systems basically. Yes. Okay The um question that I would have too is are we going to set um Maximum number that we're going to allow Because we will be pulling from the hospitality budget Well, the what comes in So there will be an impact. I know it's not it's not hospitality dollars per se, but there will be a budgetary impact And I'm just Shouldn't be Well, it will be because we won't be collecting what we were collecting But so anyway the more the bigger question is are we looking at setting like a goal or max I think the plan was to make this available to anybody that starts up and it has it really has no negative fiscal impact to the city because technically if it weren't Weren't there you wouldn't be collecting the H tax regardless Where in the past we were taking money out of water and sewer and loaning it And I do think this is a personally I think it's a better program for our small business folks because they don't have to show this There's a liability on their financial statements like they would have to do it Alone and and I think one of the things that we've heard especially from our small small businesses Is is that grease trap can can be can be the toughest thing they do It just like we were talking about on the food stores a second ago. I mean today Today is very difficult for a food For a for a grocery operator To not have some type of prepared food Outlet just because it just works that way and So I think this will have an impact on being able to recruit those small businesses to miss harbert I'm excited about this one. I think this is this is a real really good one and if Jeff you you got an additional Just our next steps If you are go with moving this program forward from committee to council We'll bring back a resolution to all city council We can have discussion then as well on the program. I'm sure we would probably want to do To go along with the resolution staff will complete the program and the process changes will also begin marketing the new program I think we'll also need there will be some of that water and sewer dollars that were allocated to the program Two years ago. There's going to be some remaining funds So we're going to need direction from council on how to utilize those funds whether it goes back to water and sewer Or utilize for some Method in this program and then we anticipate full implementation no later than january one And I do have a question um when we have the the current program about how many do we know how many businesses have actually Utilized it Yes, man. I think we're we're around seven to eight so far and some of that was during the pandemic and right as we rolled it out So it wasn't highly used and if you remember the original program wasn't for New establishments. It was just a remodel. So that limited the penetration as well So there's 70 plus thousand dollars left in that original hundred thousand dollars of seed money that was put Put in so Thank you. Well, I would make the motion that we refer this um to council uh with a positive referral And that uh, and that we our recommendation would be to Return the unused money in january back to the water and sewer fund Do we want to look at the resolution first? Well, the council make the resolution we just Well, yeah staff will staff is going to put it together. Y'all are just recommending that we take it to council and then we'll put together the resolution and We should probably do a presentation We've had the opportunity to talk to y'all three different meetings on this We should probably revisit exactly I kind of skip through it But you know the current program we should remind everyone what the current program is then talk about the advantages of the new program And then if councils will move forward then pass the resolution Send it to a work session for full council to discuss We would recommend it up to council and we'll let the city manager Decide whether it goes to work session or strike to council for Is that okay? I would recommend if you're thinking I would recommend to full council so that everyone kind of knows what we're doing They're on board early How many how many readings is that does that resolution need one? All right, is there a second of the motion? No second mr. Brennan seconds Yes Yes Yes Thank you, jeff appreciate you and clinton franks and miss wilson's hard work on that one miss hampton You have the floor good afternoon everyone so in discussing some of our business friendly and streamlining efforts the issue of streamlining zoning public hearing dates came up and that we only hold those every other month I've been asked in the past about You know why we do that and I do not know it's time immemorial that we have always done that The only thing that we can really think of is that it is required in our ordinance that we advertise for those 30 days in advance of the meeting and so That sometimes may conflict with the planning commission meeting because obviously you know that planning commission first hears the matters that come to you for your zoning public hearing And then they come to city council and so right now what happens is if you come to the planning commission in november You have to wait until the january meeting therefore really kind of delaying the process Whereas if you come in december you get to go right to that january so the idea is to quite simply hold a zoning public hearing every month and You know there's part of us. We've we've talked about doing this before I mean you all will then have to have a zoning public hearing every month But you will get projects through potentially faster because they won't have that By month if you will use a football analogy To to wait for those matters to get before you and largely they're rezoning or um text amendments Any questions? So how does that affect public notice uh signs on properties, you know, that's that's how a lot of neighborhoods Find out about upcoming Public hearings. What's the what's the time frame change on that? It it wouldn't well What we'll need to do is make sure that we don't have any conflicts between the planning commission the notice and city council But that is required by state law. So we have to post and advertise Currently it's only the law requires 15 days notice The city does 30 We're not changing that correct. That's that's correct And the only thing is if we find some hiccups that we may have to adjust maybe to 25 But right now we're not we're not proposing to change that in our normal zoning public hearings We hear what on average maybe 13 12 13 So this will probably streamline it to maybe half dozen every every hearing. That's our hope absolutely I mean so while, you know, you've got More work each month. It's less of that work Makes sense And from a staff perspective, well that do you think that'll be easier to work or is is it going to end up being about the same? Quite honestly, it'll probably be a little bit more work because right now you're able to put everything together every two months but it's it's not appreciable and You know for the being able to get things quicker. I think that's that offsets it greatly So we're fine with that What we would do is put that calendar together work with the clerk The manager assisted city manager and bring that to council and see if that meets with you all you all's needs And just so i'm clear we will then have one public zoning One zoning public hearing per month correct and we would recommend that that remain at the second meeting of the month Um, just because the the planning commission meets the first of the month this I think the second week So logistically it would work out better and they meet monthly as well. Correct, correct Any additional questions Sounds good to me We want to make a motion that we refer this to council with a positive recommendation second I Yes Thank you. Ms. Hampton Ryan Showtime Excuse me. Mr. Taylor. I'm sorry sir. Well you are you going to just refer the last item out as part of your report to council Versus having a discussion about that one at a work session. Is that just going to be a recommendation out to the full council? Okay, we do it Oh, yeah Put it in the work session Tell you we will refer it out and we'll let you and you can generally make the call whether you want it in a work session Or whether you want it straight to renew your agenda meeting. Okay. Thank you. All right before you get started this is basically At our last meeting we went through the city's reorganization plan for For the economic development office and the economic plant development plan for this year and You're basically going to take and go through us with the what what Came out of the last meeting as our revised final recommendation by the city manager and you For what for how we would operate Next year and going forward. Yes, sir. Okay, that's correct I just said that for the benefit of our guests I want to bring that bring this back to y'all one more time and just If y'all a chance to kind of re-review the plan as is before you make the recommendation to go out To council at large This is not a significant deviation from what we looked over last time We took the feedback that you you gave us implemented it here went back and rewatch the Uh council video of the meeting to make sure that we incorporate as as much of your comments as possible And so this is kind of where we're at with the document now so the beginning kind of outlines the Strategic outcomes that council's set forth as long as as well as council's Statement for economic growth Then we move into the business friendly improvements Section of the plan excuse me one second just for the benefit of our guest And a a lot of this including that statement came from the retreat that we had where all of council participated And uh with senior staff and everything so yes, sir. It's okay cool. Yeah, and that that was really the origination point kind of the genesis for the rewrite of this Section one outlines the business friendly improvements that um We're already underway at the city of columbia and so uh the economic development will proceed with assembling About a 15 person advisory board That will consist of a mix of existing business owners from various business size types We won't developers commercial brokers We won't representation from various geographies around the city and various other business community leaders as well We'll also be including members from the columbia council of neighborhoods and a member from the mayor's minority business advisory Council which were two of the specific recommendations that came up last time Group will meet about once per quarter and provide recommendations and feedback on where the city can continue to improve business friendly processes and procedures staff will work to increase support to Create more predictability on the timing of permitting of projects and determine What steps that the city can take to improve our customer interactions with developers and investors and increase the speed of approvals Work to determine if our staffing levels are commensurate with where they need to be to ensure that we're providing maximum efficiency And look at where we can more effectively utilize technology to increase those efficiencies Determine and define optimum turnaround times for small medium and large project sizes Item number three is the relocation of the economic development department to city hall Which will provide better access to the mayor and city manager as we continue to work on more projects Better leverage our leadership and key decision makers Who we want to be an integral part of our business and investment recruitment process Number four is the business liaison position already created in 2021 and will be co-located with the economic development staff Say hey great Number five keep city council and the city manager better apprised of the issues that are affecting our business growth and development Coordinate with our other business facing city departments such as office of business opportunities Planning utilities to make sure that we are identifying and addressing these challenges In a proactive and a comprehensive manner Hey studies from other successes in other municipalities, you know as you as you travel Bringing back some of best practices Absolutely, and that's where we we would like the business advisory group to help as well As we talk with people who have done business in a riley north carolina or Atlanta Economic development you don't have to You know invent the wheel from scratch, but certainly there are other places out there that we could emulate and we would like to examine that Item number two is recruitment prioritize the importance of our urban development targets and new capital Those items being restaurant urban residential hotels corporate office back office retail shopping centers grocery and food stores New capital and investment and businesses which utilize our local universities for talent And that operate in an urban environment And for the record food stores are that is really something we looked it up after the last meeting After you corrected me And you know what and for the record you are you were right mr. Taylor There is such a thing as a quote food store. So I want to make sure I note that on the record I got a little recognition at the last meeting. So I thought it was worth including Working to fill the newly created business recruitment position and structure the office to support the Recruitment of urban infill projects and startups as well create more recruitment and engagement opportunities That again will involve the mayor city manager and leadership in that process Create the data sets to sell the city tap into our local higher education Expertise such as darlmore school of business to create modern data sets and demographics that aid in soliciting urban development targets Use this information to create the updated pitch book for the city Item four targeted geographic development efforts focusing on a strong core and also our corridors where our opportunities are most prevalent include the priorities for developing In our high traffic pin corners And nodes focus on areas of opportunity for future growth such as north main and broad river road Which are just as important as our continued in focusing growing our downtown as well Item five leverage usc and our other local colleges for recruitment opportunities targeting alumni students parents University affiliates and others make sure that we are incorporating and involving all of our local colleges as much as possible include local college interns That we plan to bring into the department As well who can help assist with our program development and execution identify opportunities To sell to students and others who have historical ties back to the city of columbia and this is something we see a lot of We have this this boomerang population that graduates and goes away for Three four five years and tends to come back, you know when they're kind of in young family stays Now we want to continue to tap into that more Our 2022 targeted conferences and trade shows and these are just a couple of items that are upcoming over the next few months The icsc southeast show coming up in atlanta urban land institute fall meeting Which targets real estate developers and investors? Retail live in nashville scdcs meet the consultants which will be in atlanta. So that's an easy trip to make Area development another site selection or a didn't trip and then economics A lot of the site selector type groups tend to meet towards the end of the year So we'll we'll make efforts to attend those if we can marketing And so establishing the city's competitive edge Per council instruction develop a new marketing strategy and collateral using our data sets to sell columbia We want to continue to lean into and leverage the promotion of our business friendly improvements and tax modernization Initiatives which have generated a lot of positive feedback for the city of columbia to date Restaurant recruitment programs currently under development and we'll Follow up with a draft of that once we have that ready and targeted recruitment efforts will focus on markets within driving distance where staff can easily identify Small local regional prospects with an interest who would you know want a second or third location here in columbia? Reinstate video production projects such as developer take series something that we had done kind of pre-covid And individual business showcases as well. So looking looking at more opportunities to put our local business owners at the forefront of the messaging Leverage relationships with all six of our colleges to help us develop a strategy and a program We want to continue to focus on technology and talent as a theme of our marketing as well Implementation of new email automation capabilities part out for sales force. That's underway now We're finishing our training on that system should be done within the next two weeks on that Look for creative ways to promote our inner city neighborhoods and to promote small businesses and make our areas fun and walkable And then potential future addition of a research staff member to help assemble assemble recruitment collateral Something came up during the last meeting we can keep our eye on that possibility over the next year And ryan, I was going to say I really um, you know I used to love the business spotlights because when we did those I kind of felt that those businesses also became ambassadors for the city of columbia So I know covid took it out. But if we get back to that, um, I think that'll be Pretty cool and the videos and they use them for commercials Right moving on entrepreneurship tech talent innovation and creating a hub For creative business our continued support is ongoing for groco and the boyd community innovation center And there's continued partnerships with usc and tech and cyber security as well The sc decoded conference is going on this week, which is uh, usc is heavily involved in if anybody has the opportunity To attend that on thursday that will be down at the convention center That's big on cyber security and then friday morning. I believe usc has a horizon Innovation demonstration that they're doing over by the horizon building at eight o'clock friday morning Support for involvement with the new initiatives such as the builders and backers programs. That's the accelerator program coming out of groco direct office involvement Supporting the gross summit, which will be coming up in just five weeks on october 21st and 22nd continued working on New creative ways such as pitch pilots, you know, these are Most people kind of refer to them as hackathons, but these are opportunities where you can get together city City and or major employers and and connect them with your creative class people and your innovators to present these urgent unsolved problems that are in need for You know creative type solution and then connect that with the entrepreneurs and folks Who who might can bring something to the table or or build a program from scratch and I know councilwoman Herbert you mentioned during the last million meeting that there's a hbcu oriented pinch competition It's something that we would want to look at or emulate as well ongoing efforts to identify small business growth opportunities and direct city staff and city council to support where it's most needed to provide The policy changes and assistance to support our small business community And then kind of along the lines of marking finding ways to promote these these founder success stories So the person that goes out and starts that business here in columbia and and grows it up and spins it off You know, how do we continue to bring their messaging to the forefront? Existing business retention expansion ensuring our community vitality So continuing to support outreach efforts that reach out to businesses of all types sizes and locations across our community and retain our focus on assisting the growth of our small women and minority owned businesses as well and per ACM paulans great recommendation last time they involve our city leadership More in some of our retention calls and how to reach efforts You made any calls yet? Be careful Most feared words from a for a business guy is high from the government So Then our increased outreach to our commercial realtors and developers, you know, they're at the front lines So really understanding from them what what challenges they're seeing with the new businesses coming in or the growth and development And then continued support for council in the process as we continue to work on the tax modernization efforts And and help and reduce the burden of the commercial taxes And then the last couple bullet points at the bottom were a couple of the measure success items that we had such as tracking business license growth new jobs capital investment city population growth year over year and then Certain city revenue streams such as property taxes accommodations tax h tax And water sewer revenues as well That's the update from the plan Right i'm miss harbert any questions I um I just want to say i i want to i want to see us be very proactive in going out and Creating the vision for property owners for their maybe the neglected properties they have I always think and i've talked to you about at that empty family dollar on rosewood Where the owners just not engaged and not really looking to make a difference So if we at the city uh through your new staff you're putting together Can can take that on in general through all of our our corridors whether it's talking to a nonprofit A religious institution that has you know some property they don't use How can we how can we make the most efficient and put it back on the tax rolls? Best quality of life bang for our buck So i'd encourage you to to continue And really pursue that but this is a wonderful well thought out plan that you uh you took from comments from city council And uh, I can't wait to see the milestones come together Any comments questions? No, I think it's very good. Um, and i'm looking forward to the implementation And let us know with what help you need from us Very well done. How do we on this? I mean do we this count city council approve this or No, sir. I I think it would be a great endorsement I'm the full council and I can certainly Bring it forth at a work session and we can go through it again I mean we've gone through it now several times and I hate it for Ryan to literally maybe Regurgitate because y'all have been such a part of it But I think you're exactly right all the council needs to embrace it What I like to do is make the motion that the This is our economic development and community development endorses this and uh, And would ask you I think to make just make a full presentation At either the next workshop or the next council. Okay, we can do that I think for general information purposes. It's uh, everyone should know we have the business recruiter job posted So that search is underway I know miss wilson is also exploring some other opportunities with the other personnel that we've talked about in here Mr. Mr. Brennan that especially will lead to To an infill, you know, how do we how do we? How do we how do we close those holes in our neighborhoods with new single family houses? And and things like that that I think we're all really excited about so thank you both for a very good job Mr. Chairman sure economic development committee Is that something that your office is going to form am I reading that correctly? You're going to recruit the The advisory advisory yes, sir Sorry, have you started that process? Kind of got an outline of you know wanted to break it out by small business medium large You know make sure we had representation from all four districts And then we've got the the two the council of neighborhoods advisory group Not reached out to anybody yet. Got you get through this first. I figure There'll be there'll be rotation terms just to make sure that we get the fresh fresh ideas fresh faces on there Perfect Can I assume that you're open to recommendations from all of from council members? They're free to yep We really appreciate you all's hard work on this with us. I think we've learned a lot through the process Ryan has done a really good job of Looking at ways to streamline but having a very nimble team that we're assembling Didn't have to be a whole lot of them We're learning to do everybody jump in and it's going to be able to flex and And do multiple tasks Including some work that Jeff and I are going to do and we're excited about it. Honestly, it's very exciting work One of the things in addition, I think Ryan Mr. Chair wanted to touch upon with some of those partner agreements We don't have to take it up to David That is another item that we want to streamline I think that's the intention of this council to do for us to do that So Ryan did you want to leave some information with the committee or how did you want to handle that? Yes, ma'am. I've printed out some of our I think they're right there under your stat because I was going through your stat So you've got the groups listed there the work assignments that Some of the action items that they had that they were responsible for the year and then Outline of what their contract cost is annually All right, well, we'll put that on the agenda for for our October meeting if that's if that schedule works Let me just say, you know The enthusiasm I'm seeing for our city and business startups right now is as high as I believe I've ever seen I I think the mayor The mayor is at a ribbon-cutting at least four or five times a week. So Um, thank you for all for what you guys are doing. I think Uh, I think it's being spread around pretty good And we're not seeing it all concentrated in one place and I think what we're learning Is we got to go tell our story outside. We got a great story to tell with 55,000 college students here And and the things we're working on to make our to better the soil conditions for to grow our own headquarters and small businesses just I think that's a message that that we got to get out and tell everybody about so ryan. Thank you for what you're doing Teresa, thank you for your leadership on this And um, I think we're just somebody I'm like a motion that we I'd make the motion to move the columbia economic development department action plan update forward to council with positive approval from the subcommittee second We have a motion on a second Hi Yes Hi And mr. Taylor, I did want to add to um I guess we have to start working more collaboratively because of the affordable housing task force One of the issues that they have realized is we have a lot of churches who do land baking But don't know how to develop the property So we're actually going to work on putting together a training To kind of let them know because a lot of them have a lot of a lot of property And they get a lot of property and they come to the city and say give us You know 20 million to help us build on it We aren't able to do that But a lot of them just need to know steps to be able to develop and do the affordable housing that they want to do So we'll bring that at an appropriate time I think we ought to put that probably on the agenda. We don't Okay, I was going to give it to you next month if you want it Well, let me check and see if the committee is ready. Yeah, if the committee's ready, we can do it next month All right. Well, that concludes our public business of today It's really you make a motion that we go into executive session Yes, mr. Chairman I make a motion that we entered into executive Session discussion of matters relating to the proposed location expansion or provision of services encouraging location or expansion of industries Or other businesses in the area served by the public body pursuant to 30-4-70 a5 There a second second all in favor say aye. Aye