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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/21/2021 - Minutes The Economic Development Authority of Roanoke County Roanoke County Administration Center Minutes Roanoke, Virginia 24018 Wednesday, July 21, 2021, the Economic Development Authority of Roanoke County, Virginia met this day for a Joint Meeting with the Roanoke County Planning Commission at the Roanoke County Administration Center EDA Members Present Steve Musselwhite, Chair Woody Windley, Vice-Chair Greg Apostolou Max Beyer Michael Cagle Steve Anderson Kyle Richardson Kirtesh Patel Barry Thompson Peter Lubeck, Counsel Jill Loope, Secretary-Treasurer Planning Commission Members Present Wayne Bower, Chairman Kelly McMurray, Vice Chair Jim Wolfe Rick James Troy Henderson Members Absent Ssunny Shah Guest Jessica Beemer, Assistant Finance Director, Evan Malone, Financial Analyst; Jessica Lovell, Financial Analyst, Philip Thompson, Director of Planning, Rachel Lower, Assistant County Attorney and Allison Fay, Recording Clerk CALL TO ORDER Planning Commission Chairman called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 9:00 am. He thanked the Economic Development Authority for this opportunity Chairman Steve Musselwhite called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. and stated he was excited to all be together for this joint meeting and said we were all better together. Page 2 of 5 July 21, 2021 Economic Development Authority & Planning Commission Joint Meeting Minutes REQUEST TO POSTPONE, ADD TO, OR CHANGE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA ITEMS No changes to the agenda. APPROVAL OF MAY 19, 2021 MINUTES On motion by Max Beyer to approve the minutes of May 19, 2021 as presented, seconded by Barry Thompson the motion carried by unanimous voice vote. FINANCE REPORT Mr. Evan Malone, Financial Analyst for the Department of Finance, reviewed the information provided in the financial report through June 30, 2021, showing an available cash balance of$481,320. Chairman Musselwhite stated Mr. Malone was leaving the County and thanked him for his service and that the Authority looked forward to working with Jessica Lovell. On motion by Barry Thompson to accept and approve the financial report as presented, seconded by Steve Anderson, the motion carried by unanimous voice vote. OLD BUSINESS 1. Joint meeting with Planning Commission to discuss the Economic Development Strategic Plan Ms. Loope introduced Mr. Scott Tate with Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement, who will be presenting the plan overview to both Boards and facilitating a discussion on plan strategies and recommendations. Mr. Tate presented a PowerPoint presentation and discussed the following items; He provided an introduction of the Center for Economic and Community Engagement and reviewed their work programs. He provided a time line of the economic development strategic plan project from start to finish, and stated the final report and presentation would be complete in November. Mr. Tate also reviewed engagements to date and initial data collected for the plan. He provided an overview of the current and changing demographics, employment and median income of the county. Mr. Tate discussed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges in the area. He also discussed the survey instruments used and the interviews that were conducted with local institutions and businesses. Page 3 of 5 July 21, 2021 Economic Development Authority & Planning Commission Joint Meeting Minutes Mr. Tate reviewed what the next steps to complete the plan would be; complete focus group sessions during the month of July, incorporate feedback into the initial SWOT analysis and begin to draft plan recommendations, and lastly conduct a second round of interviews, if needed and public input sessions during the month of August. The Economic Development Authority and Planning Commission thanked Mr. Tate for his presentation and then discussed the following items they would like to see in included in the plan including the following issues and items to improve the economic heath in Roanoke County. Improving economic health in Roanoke County • We should market the region and not just Roanoke County. We should also market CNBC's ranking for Virginia for Top State to do Business — how do we market to out-of-area audience? • Transportation addressed in the Plan (Supervisor David Radford mentioned the same thing). • SBDC has too many clients and not enough bandwidth to serve all small business inquiries. With small businesses accounting for a large portion of employment in Roanoke County, we need to support the SBDC so they can serve more clients. • Small businesses want a liaison to walk them through the process to start a business, maybe even a dedicated individual to help businesses. They see a lot of barriers and convoluted processes that deter them. Along these same lines, we need to streamline development/regulatory requirements for businesses. • If we want to attract a young, growing population then we need to attract Technology jobs to the area. • We need a capital reserve fund to use when there are financial barriers to projects/programs/incentives. • Rural areas of Roanoke County are unserved/underserved with broadband. With an increasingly work-from-home culture and people moving to an area for the quality of life, we will lose individuals who cannot get internet at their residence. • We need to better communicate to the community that certain projects/plans we implement, which receive resistance from the community/stakeholders, are comprehensively better for the community and we need to communicate the value and opportunity cost. Talent attraction • We need zoning flexibility with our open, rural areas. For example, in the County you can only have 1 house per tax parcel, but tax parcels can be very large. If we want to get the most out of developable land then we need to audit the barriers. • We need to engage with the community and have conversations with college students to see what it would take to retain them as residents. Page 4 of 5 July 21, 2021 Economic Development Authority & Planning Commission Joint Meeting Minutes Other elements to include in the Plan • We need to have a regional cooperation in regards to our resources and approach to marketing • We need to include the younger, upcoming generation when considering what residents, current and future, want. • We need more diverse perspectives, in general. More women, younger representation, etc. should be on appointed Boards. • We need to ask the Board of Supervisors to set aside tax revenue for project/development funds • A business left Roanoke County because business trips were quicker and cheaper at larger airports. The current ROA airport will never have the capabilities of a larger airport. However, with the changing culture of working- from-home, the need for air infrastructure for businesses may decrease. • If small business is important in the County and the second floor of Tanglewood is abandoned, we could develop an incubation center in Tanglewood • CTE and Trade jobs/career pathways need to be bolstered. Mr. Tate thanked the Economic Development Authority Board .and the Planning Commission and stated if they had any additional comments to please reach out to Ms. Loope and she will let him know. NEW BUSINESS 1. Briefing on the proposed participation of the EDA in potential broadband expansion projects. Assistant County Attorney Lower provided an update to the Board on the potential broadband expansion projects. Ms. Lower stated the County unfortunately was not awarded a VATI grant that we applied for, but we have decided to partner together with Botetourt and Craig Counties, to increase our chances of winning some of the grants being offered. It is anticipated that for projects that are not awarded to the RVBA, that the localities will hope to cooperate with their EDA's on broadband expansion projects in the future. Attorney Lower wanted to share the general plan with the EDA so they are aware when they are asked to participate in future projects. She said the Attorney's office would keep the Board updated on this item. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATES No items reported at this time. Page 5 of 5 July 21, 2021 Economic Development Authority & Planning Commission Joint Meeting Minutes REPORTS AND INQUIRIES OF BOARD MEMBERS No items reported at this time. The next regularly scheduled meeting will be August 18, unless otherwise noted. ADJOURNMENT On motion by Jim Wolfe and seconded by Troy Henderson the Planning Commission was adjourned at 10:16 a.m. On motion by Kirtesh Patel and second by Max Beyer, the Economic Development Authority meeting was adjourned at 10:17 a.m. Respectfully submitted, 4)0-L' Jill Loope Secretary-Treasurer