>> Good morning and welcome to
the August meeting of the
economic development
partnership board.
We'd like to welcome all of the
board members, all of the
participants and all of the city
staff.
We have items for consideration,
first being they consider the
approval of the minutes.
We have item number 038.
If we could entertain a motion
to approve.
>> So moved.
>> And who was that?
>> Mark.
>> Okay.
Mark McClellan.
And then may we have a second?
>> Second.
This is Jill jester.
>> Jill jester is seconding.
And now we'll discuss.
Okay.
Hearing no discussion, we will
now take a vote on accepting the
minutes as presented.
And we'll do the roll call once
again.
So Jason.
>> Aye.
>> Let's see.
Jesse Davis.
>> Aye.
>> Tina Albert.
>> Aye.
>> Mark McClellan.
>> Aye.
>> Jill jester again.
>> Aye.
>> Lee Ramsey.
>> Aye.
>> Let's see.
Do we have anyone else that's
not recognizable?
John Vane says aye.
I think the minutes will pass
unanimously.
And we'll go on to the next
agenda item.
EDP 21-023.
Receive a report, hold a
discussion, and give staff
direction regarding an
incentive application for
saffron electrical components.
Erica.
>> Good morning, everyone.
My name is Erica Sullivan.
I'm the economic development
program administrator here at
the city.
And I'll be giving a
presentation on an incentive
for saffron.
We also have several members
from saffron electrical
components and saffron
electrical and power.
We have Jorge Uribe, the
CEO.
Sophie Ann Hanner, the HR
division director.
Ashley Bagley, the director of
human resources that will be
available to answer questions
after the presentation.
Next slide.
So saffron is an international
high-tech tier 1 supplier of
systems and equipment in the
aerospace aviation market.
Saffron electrical power has
five operational divisions that
include 11,500 employees
spread across 51 sites and 13
different countries.
Saffron electrical and power
has eight sites located in the
U.S. with approximately
1,149 employees.
And the company's products are
widely used on civil aircraft,
business jets, as well as
military aircraft and civilian
and military helicopters.
Saffron is a French registered
company with many subsidiary
component companies.
So saffron electrical components
SEC is a subdivision of
saffron electrical and power
systems, a global leader in the
design and production of
aeronautical systems.
SEP has nine facilities in the
U.S., including an existing
facility here in Denton.
And they supply a large number
of equipment such as back
shells, conduits, sleeves, and
accessories for cable protection
and routing to both aircraft
manufacturers and their
suppliers.
SEC is proposing to relocate the
facility from Santa Rosa,
California to the existing SEP
facility in Denton.
They have many options in many
facilities nationwide, and their
headquarters is choosing to
looking at Denton.
So we're very happy about that.
SEC will relocate their Santa
Rosa facility to Denton, and
you'll see the current facility
there.
They will invest in
improvements on Russell Newman
Boulevard.
The current value is $15 million.
The new investment is projected
at $1.7 million for a total
investment of $16.7 million.
And a total of 157 jobs will be
relocated to Denton.
The incentive application
itself involves a subsidiary
company in California improving
the Denton facility to
consolidate their operations.
The targeted sector is aviation
aerospace.
In our new strategic plan, the
sectors are virtual business
retention and business
retention and expansion.
Again, the projected capital
investment is $1.7 million.
This is on improvements in
business personal property.
157 jobs are projected to be
relocated from California.
The weighted average wage of
Denton County is 57,505 for all
of the positions, and the
estimated payroll is 9 million.
You will see a job and wage
table detailed here.
I want to point out a few items.
So the -- of the 157 jobs that
are going to be added over the
five years, the percent of jobs
above the Denton County average
is 52%.
The number of jobs above
75,000 is 29%.
And then the number of jobs, one
of the city's policies, is
increasing jobs above 75,000.
We have 14%.
The strategic plan alignment is
prioritizing business retention
particularly in light of COVID.
And the second one is assisting
a business with retention and
expansion here in Denton.
Next slide.
One slide back.
Thank you.
So here you will see the general
policy provisions and
considerations.
This particular project meets 10
of those considerations.
You will see everything from
diversifying the tax-based
quality jobs to encouraging
higher-skill development.
And again, what we were talking
about, that 75,000 per year or
more cohort.
Next slide.
You will see that under the
chapter 380, we also have goals
and provisions, and this
application meets five of those.
And in the second table, you will
see our economic development
incentive investment fund.
And so that has two or three of
three criteria that have to be
met in order to qualify for that.
So we have higher wage and
knowledge-based jobs is one.
And then we also have
recruitment of the industry
sector or target, and that's
aerospace aviation as well as
retention.
The incentive proposal is a
performance-based business
expansion incentive, and this
would be to reimburse
expansion costs, furniture,
fixtures, and equipment,
permitting fees, or site
upgrades.
And then we also, like you've
seen before, is a stratified job
based incentive, and additional
consideration will be made for
employees living here in Denton.
And this would be accomplished
through a Chapter 380 agreement
with the economic development
investment fund as its source of
funds, and the agreement is to
include a limit on the term and
cap, and as well as funding
amounts for those.
And then we also propose to
nominate the project to the
Texas Enterprise Zone Program, a
state program which has a
separate approval and compliance
process.
You'll see a summary of the
projected revenue generation of
the project as well as the
incentive.
So you'll see the expansion
grant for $50,000, the job-based
grant for $101,500, the
residency bonus for a total of
$175,125 for the proposed
incentive, and then you'll see
the estimated city revenue over
the 10-year period from the
existing taxable value as well
as the improvements that they
proposed to make that 1.7, so
over the life of the project,
it will be $702,409 of the
property taxes generated for the
city.
So the benefits, some of the
qualitative benefits are quality
jobs, investment in human
capital, reduction of brain
drain, expansion of existing
company with strong community
involvement here in Denton,
diversification of the tax base,
and then the quantitative
benefits that we get using our
total impact model is a 10-year
net benefit, less incentive of
$195,396, a rate of return of
21.2%, and a payback period,
that nexus of 4.8 years.
So in summary, our
recommendation is a five-year
performance-based incentive
similar to some that you've seen
prior, not to exceed $175,125,
an expansion grant of $50,000,
the stratified job-based grant
cap to the $101,500, a residency
bonus, I'm going to pause here a
little bit.
Previously we've looked at this
board, we've looked at $500
bonus, but when we brought the
last application to city
council, city council wanted to
incentivize those existing
residents, established residents,
so we came up with $700 for
established residents and $300
for new residents.
So now this leads up to a total
package of $23,625, and then
the verification of wage and
residency will be based on IRS
records as well as offer
letters or whatever we need to
determine that.
And then the Chapter 380
agreement will be funded using
again the economic development
investment fund, and then we
plan to nominate this project to
the Texas enterprise program,
which is a separate state
program.
The options and
recommendations that this board
has today is to recommend the
staff recommendation, to
recommend a modified or new
incentive recommendation, or to
recommend no incentive.
I'll be happy to entertain
questions, and we also have the
members that I introduced here
from SAFR.
>> And before we go any
further, I failed to announce
this prior to Erica starting her
presentation.
Our board member Lee Ramsey has
recused himself from
consideration of this project.
>> Thank you.
Chairman, do we need a motion
and a second then to start
discussion, or do we want to
jump in with questions?
>> I think that's the
appropriate method.
We'll entertain a motion,
please.
>> Okay.
Well, I then would like to offer
a motion that we approve
recommending the incentive
package as proposed and
presented today by our city
staff.
>> Thank you.
Do we have a second?
>> Second that motion.
>> Thank you, Tina.
We have a motion and a second.
Let the discussion begin.
>> Mr. Chairman, I've got a
couple of questions if that's
all right for the SAFROM
representatives.
>> You have a few and I have a
few more.
So please begin.
>> Okay.
Well, thanks.
First of all, I just want to
say I think this is a wonderful
opportunity for you guys as
well as Denton.
While you are not an EDP
investor at this moment, I know
you have participated in the
panels getting out information
about what is happening in your
industry, what kind of jobs
there are.
It seems like a great marriage
with our airport here and the
areas that you service.
Looks like the jobs that you
would be offering would be
great for our graduating
college members.
I didn't see in the
presentation, maybe it was
there, but how long have you
all had a presence in Denton
and what has that growth been
like since you've been here?
>> Okay.
So good morning, everybody.
So my name is Jorge Uribe.
I'm responsible for the SEC
division here in the Americas.
But before that, I spent the
last previous to this job.
I spent 10 years working with
the division that currently is
located in Denton.
So before we moved to Denton,
we moved in 2012 to the city of
Denton.
We relocated our facility that
we have in Corrine, Texas.
So to answer the question, in
the Metroplex area, we have
been there, I think, since the
'80s.
And probably, Ashley, you can
correct me if I'm wrong.
And since 2012, we moved to the
city of Denton.
We relocated our operations to
the city of Denton.
I don't know if I answered your
question.
>> No, you did.
You absolutely did.
And I also want to commend on
your website, you can see that
you've got your eye on
diversity and a lot of other
core values that we have here
as well.
So, yeah, I don't have any
other questions, but I
definitely speak in favor of
approving the incentive as
benefiting Denton and our
community by far.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Any other questions before I
ask mine?
Mr. Davis, please.
>> Thank you, Chair.
I want to echo Jill and say
thank you for working with us
and thank you for coming to us
with some of your needs and the
things that will help you make
decisions like the one you're
making to expand here in Denton.
We're happy to enter into those
partnerships and explore those
opportunities with you all.
I did hear, I think, mention in
the presentation that you're
exploring perhaps further
expansion in Denton and possibly
some additional relocation in
the future.
And if that's the case, if you
could let us know in this
-- I know you're talking to our
economic development folks
already, but if you can let this
board know, what kind of
partnership things are you
looking for from the city of
Denton and from our chamber and
how can we help you make that
decision easier?
>> Okay.
So to try to answer your
question, first of all, it's
important just to clarify or not
to clarify but to state that our
first choice right now is
to move our operations from
California to Denton.
Okay?
That's what we really are
looking for, to move our
operations from California to
Denton.
Okay?
So basically to answer your
question, so far the incentive
proposal that was presented here
has been already presented to
our corporate offices, okay?
The proposal.
So for us it's very important,
let's say, the incentive itself,
but also it's very important to
go to the city of Denton, okay?
On the last 10 years or nine
years that we have been in the
city, I think we have developed
a very strong relationship with
the community, also with the
universities, the Texas woman
university and also UNT.
One of the, I think, important
things to explain, and probably
you didn't ask this question,
but I will just for your
information, part of the
activities that we have here in
Santa Rosa operation is design
and research and technology,
okay?
So for that one we require more
skilled and specialized
engineers and what we try to do
as much as possible is to hire
new engineers just graduating
out of college to see if they
can, let's say, grow with the
company and develop with the
company.
So I think in terms of
community we have a very strong
and probably Ashley, I don't
know if you're there, but
probably you can help me to
answer some of the partnership
or activities that we work
with the city.
>> Sure.
So in terms of our involvement,
Jorge spoke to -- sorry, I'm
based in Denton.
So I'm really familiar with our
partnership directly with the
city of Denton.
So we are really involved with
both UNT and TWU.
We also have a history of
involvement with Denton ISC.
Some work with NCTC through the
years.
And then we're involved with a
number of nonprofits locally.
So we partner a lot with United
County and have involvement on
their board of directors.
We also are on the board of
directors at Serve Denton and
have partnered with Serve Denton
to offer a combined -- Serve
Denton to a semesters chapter
available to the local
community.
And so we're looking for how we
can continue to work together
with the city, the different
organizations, and of course the
educational institutions to
continue to grow our workforce
and be a strong contributor to
the city.
Although we're speaking directly
about Saffron Electrical and
Power, we do have one other
Saffron entity in the city.
So Greenpoint Technologies is
actually at the airport.
And they're part of the broader
Saffron group umbrella.
And they actually recently
secured a military contract,
which is looking to be a nice
contract for them in the future
and also some additional Saffron
growth within the city of
Denton.
So working together and seeing
how Saffron can contribute to a
prosperous future for the city.
>> Thank you.
Appreciate those responses very
much.
>> Any other questions?
>> Just a quick comment here,
John.
We really -- UNT, I know we've
had previous connections, but we
sure look forward to building
that even more extensively as
you look to expand here in
Denton.
We think of the hands-on
experience of partnering with
companies like yours really
helps our engineers.
And, of course, obviously
hopefully works well for you in
terms of workforce development.
>> Thank you, Mark.
>> We're looking forward for
that one.
So, yes, thank you.
>> I did have a few questions,
Jorge.
So let me begin in this way.
Talk to us about the relocation.
Who are these people that are
coming?
The 157.
Tell us a little bit about them.
>> Okay.
So from the 157, today, that's
the headcount that we have here
in the site in Santa Rosa.
We're not going to relocate the
157 people.
We have offered relocation to
some people that we believe are
key, let's say, to bring with us
to Denton.
But most of those jobs will be,
let's say, hired in the city of
Denton.
It's not that we're relocating
the full 157 people.
So I don't know if I'm answering
your question.
>> It's very clear.
So I appreciate that.
Now, when you talk about --
there's an incentive.
There was talk about an
incentive or a residency
incentive or a relocation
incentive.
What was that?
700 and a 300?
Can we talk about that a little
bit, Erica?
>> That would be our city
residency bonus, but that would
be different if they offered a
relocation incentive to their
employees.
That would be an internal.
>> Okay.
So if Saffron did the relocation
package, then the 700 and the
300 would not come into play?
Is that correct?
>> I think there are two
separate things.
So we're offering an incentive
for those folks that are either
an established resident or a new
resident at 700 and 300, and
that's part of the incentive
package.
If they do a relocation package,
I mean, they could use them.
I guess it's passed through.
It's their choice, but it's a
separate program.
City program versus an internal
Saffron.
>> So that comes from the 380
funds, 380 program funds?
>> Yes.
Our particular grant, that 300
or 700, would be from the
investment fund.
>> Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
And Jorge, could you tell us a
little bit about Santa Rosa?
Where is Santa Rosa located?
>> Santa Rosa is north of San
Francisco.
It's around 40 or 50 miles north
of San Francisco in California.
>> Okay.
>> It's part of the wine county
or wine country or I don't know
how they call it, but yes, so
we're north of San Francisco.
>> Okay.
Okay.
And I think other than that,
we've addressed the issues of
diversity and community
involvement, so those were a
couple of issues that I was
particularly interested in, and
we thank you once again for the
consideration to move the
substantial amount of business
and do the renovation here in
Denton, Texas.
Thank you.
>> Any other questions of the
saffron executives?
Hearing none, I think we have a
motion on the floor and a second
to accept the recommendation of
the city, and we've had
discussion.
We'll do a roll call to see all
those who favor such a program.
>> Welcome, Mayor Hussbeth.
Good to see your face.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Let's see.
So Jesse Davis.
>> Aye.
>> Tina Albert.
>> Aye.
>> Jill Jester.
>> Aye.
>> Jason Tomlinson.
>> Aye.
>> Now, Mayor, I don't know, do
you vote or not?
>> I try not to, but just in
case I have to, aye.
>> Thank you.
Jimmy.
>> Aye.
>> Let's see.
Lee is not going to vote, and I
believe that's it as far as the
board members other than myself.
I will agree, and it looks like
we have a unanimous approval of
the recommendation by the city
on this proposal.
>> I believe Bob Eames was with
us.
I'm not sure if he's still on
the call.
>> I'm looking at the screen,
Jessica.
I didn't see it.
>> Okay.
I'm sorry.
I'm trying to keep track of
everyone, so I'm going to put a
tracking device on everyone, I
promise.
But I think we got everyone.
Raise your hand if we did not
get you.
Okay.
>> Okay.
Well, thank you very much.
Really appreciate it, and thank
you for your support.
>> Thank you, sir.
>> Appreciate it.
>> I was just telling the
gentleman that he's welcome to
stay with us if you'd like, so
I apologize.
>> Okay.
Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
The next item on the agenda is
EDP 21040.
Receive a report, hold a
discussion, and give staff
direction regarding a request to
nominate PACCAR to the office of
the governor, economic
development, and tourism through
the economic development bank as
an enterprise project.
And I think, once again, you're
on board, Erica.
Is that correct?
>> That's correct.
>> All right.
>> My name is Erica Sullivan.
I'll be presenting this
application as well.
So I'm going to be presenting
PACCAR, and we're going to be
nominating them as a Texas
enterprise zone program project.
So we have a number of members
that are new and may not be as
familiar with the Texas
enterprise zone program, so I'm
going to provide a brief
overview.
It's a state economic
development tool, and it's used
to promote job creation and
capital investment in
economically distressed areas of
the state.
Applicants are eligible to
apply for state sales and use
tax refund, unqualified
expenditures, and the program
provides reimbursement according
to the level of capital
investment, the number of jobs
created or retained, and then
the economically disadvantaged
individuals or veterans.
And we're going to go into more
detail later on on the criteria.
You'll see a table here
summarizing the program.
So the first column, you have
your level of capital
investment, your maximum jobs
allocated, the potential refund,
and then the maximum refund per
job.
So an incentive, a potential
incentive is calculated by
determining the level of capital
investment.
In the case of our project, it's
an enterprise project, and then
multiplying the potential number
of jobs created by the maximum
refund per job, and that's
according, again, to that
investment level.
Now the process, in order to
apply, a project must seek
nomination from a local
community, and communities have
a limited number of projects as
well as the state.
So Denton has six designations
based on our population, and the
state has 105 designations that
can be awarded per biennium.
So Denton held a public hearing
and adopted an ordinance that
allows us to make nominations by
resolution for five years, and
this will be active until 2023.
The project must receive a local
nomination, designation, and
local incentives in order to be
eligible for the program, and
they're good for five years.
The employment and capital
investment must occur within 90
days before the application date
through the expiration date, and
the deadlines are held
quarterly on the first of every
month.
An enterprise project can be
physically located both inside
and outside of an enterprise
zone.
So if you're inside the
enterprise zone, the company
commits that 25% of the new
residents will meet the
economically disadvantaged
criteria, be residents of the
enterprise zone, or be veterans.
And outside the company commits
35% for the same criteria.
The jobs must work 1,820 hours
minimum per year, and the jobs
must exist through the end of
the designation period, or at
least three years, whichever is
later.
This is a map of the enterprise
zones in our area.
Projects will work with a local
community to submit an
application.
The designations are held on a
competitive process.
They're based on application
score, capital investment, and
jobs.
And the application score by the
governor's office, they look at
the economic distress,
revitalization efforts, type and
wage level of the jobs, and then
state priorities, targeted
industry sectors, et cetera.
Here's a summary of the
enterprise zone process.
The project has five years to
make the required investment and
meet their commitments.
And they must file for refunds
of sales and use tax, and they
must demonstrate qualified
expenditures.
And we actually report on the
active projects every year.
Now we've talked about the
program.
We're going to actually talk
about the applicant and how it
relates to the program.
So PACR has submitted a request
to the city for consideration of
nomination to the enterprise
zone.
PACR is the parent company of
Peterbilt, and they will be
investing approximately 23
million in Denton to support
their planned capacity needs of
equipment through 2024.
And they currently hold two
concurrent designations.
One is set to expire September
21, and one is set to expire
December 21.
They had one, and then they had
a concurrent because they met
all the criteria of additional
investment.
Project eligibility, again,
Peterbilt is located within an
enterprise zone, so that would
be 25%.
They are proposing to invest 23
million in machinery and
equipment.
And it is under that table the
enterprise project, which is a
level of 5 million, which is
the maximum capital investment
to 149.9 million capital
investment.
And the maximum jobs allocated
are 500 at a reimbursement of
2,500 per job, which leads to a
maximum potential refund of 1.25
million.
And the city, again, must
nominate the project in order
for it to be eligible.
This particular project currently
has an active tax abatement for
eight years at 70%.
The benefits to PACR is a state
sales and use tax refund of up
to 1.25 million.
And the benefits to Denton is
25% of new jobs created or
existing positions that will
turn over will be filled by
people who are either economically
disadvantaged, residents of an
enterprise zone are in the city,
or also veterans.
And then nominating PACR enables
Denton to assist the company to
receive sales tax refunds, and
this has no fiscal impact to the
city itself.
So the staff recommendation is
to recommend to City Council
nominating PACR as an enterprise
project.
I'll be happy to entertain
questions.
We also have Craig Scheme, the
plant controller from Peter
Bilt, I believe.
>> Thank you, Erica.
Let's see.
I believe we probably want to do
the motion and the approval,
that way we can have a
substantive discussion.
So we'll entertain a motion,
please.
Jesse?
>> I move recommendation of the
nomination.
>> Thank you.
>> I'll second.
>> Is that you, Lee?
Is that you, Lee?
>> Yes, sir.
>> All right.
We have a motion and a second to
accept the proposal for the
enterprise zone recommendation
for Peter Bilt.
We'll now open for questions,
please.
>> Mr. Chair, I apologize.
I've done it once again.
I will say that we've asked Miss
Albert to recuse herself from
consideration of this item, so
she's turned her camera off and
left the room as well.
So we haven't had that happen in
a while, but we're glad that
Craig is with us to answer any
questions.
>> Jessica, you've got my back.
Thank you so much.
>> Sir.
>> So welcome, Craig.
We hope to have a good number of
questions for you to make you
earn those big bucks, okay?
Let's see.
Who will go first?
Okay.
There's Jill Jester.
Jill Jester.
Lee, did you want to ask
questions as well?
>> I just want to make a comment.
I just want to thank Peter Bilt
for the involvement they have in
our community and the
leadership they provide in all
of this.
And just very thankful to have
them and anything we can do to
support them and help them.
We are happy to do it.
Thank you for your support in
our community.
>> Thank you, Lee.
And Jill Jester.
>> First, Craig, thank you for
being here with us today.
We appreciate you being here and
being available for us to ask
questions.
I'll echo Mr. Ramsey's comments
that, you know, Peter Bilt is
something that this board uses
every day.
This is who we want in our
community.
So we've been so pleased with
the investment that Peter Bilt
has made in the Denton
community, the investment that
you make in your employees, the
satisfaction out there, the
healthcare, you know, all of the
other things that you guys give
in the high wages.
And this board has recognized
PACR more than once as far as
giving outstanding business
awards, et cetera.
So we're just so pleased that
you guys are able to participate
in your Denton business and the
community here.
I did have a question as far as
how are the -- as far as the
economically disadvantaged
potential employees, is that
determined by -- because I see
that we've got those maps, is
that where they live?
Is that -- because I mean, that
seems like that would be a little
tough to determine.
Can you tell us a little bit
about what you know about that
and how those people are
identified?
>> Greg, you're on mute.
There you go.
>> All right.
Sorry about that.
Yeah, so we go through a process
where we validate addresses,
making sure that they're within
our -- you know, within those
enterprise zone areas.
And then we also, of course, have
other information about the, you
know, disadvantage of them.
And so we monitor that as we go
through the process.
And then we also, of course, have
other information about the
disadvantage of them.
And so we monitor that as we go
through our hiring processes, as
well as, you know, as we turn in
our processes or turn in our
data each year as we go through
and apply for the tax incentives.
>> I can also answer to the
zone.
So the poverty rate greater than
20% from the last census, as
well as educational attainment
equal or greater than 25.4% of
the adult population that have
not obtained a high school
scholarship.
And then an unemployment rate
that is greater than 4.9% for the
last five years from TWC data,
Texas Workforce Commission.
>> Thank you.
Very helpful.
Thank you.
>> Kind of following that
question, Craig, so how do you
target that particular pool of
potential employees?
How do you get there?
>> Well, we do monitor within,
we look at veterans, we look at
veterans, obviously, and then we
also look at other -- wherever
they are as applicants.
And most -- a lot of our
applicants do fall within the
economic area here.
And so we're able to validate
that way.
>> So do you do a targeted jobs
opportunity program or do you go
to certain areas where you know
the graphics will match to make
sure that you're drawing?
>> We don't do specific
targeting.
We do do some of that with the
veterans.
And then we do, you know, as we
interview candidates, we try to
make sure that we're hiring based
on equal opportunities.
>> So how do you -- you know,
you're talking to a friendly
audience here.
So how do you think the Peter
Builder is doing as far as
regards to getting the audience
that they're looking for?
>> I think we do very well.
You know, like I said, we
monitor that every -- about every
year when we submit our data, we
go through and we validate that
the people in our payrolls are
matching and meeting the
criteria.
So we do monitor that.
>> Thank you so very much.
Any other questions for Chris?
Okay.
Hearing none, we have a motion
on the floor and a second.
All in favor of accepting the
proposal by the city to
recommend -- to recommend Peter
Builder as a -- signify with a
verbal vote.
Jesse Davis.
>> Aye.
>> Bill Jepter.
>> Aye.
>> Steve Edgar.
>> Aye.
>> Jason Tomlinson.
>> Aye.
>> Lee Ramsey.
>> Aye.
>> Tina cannot vote.
Let's see.
And I think -- Jimmy, did I get
you already?
>> No, but I vote aye.
>> Okay.
Thank you.
And then John Baines votes aye.
So I think we're unanimous once
again congratulations and thanks
to Peter Build, to Pat Carr, and
to all of the wonderful people
that have been involved here in
our community, making a great
difference.
Thank you so much.
>> Thank you.
>> Let's see.
Moving on now to the next item
on the agenda.
We have EDP 21-033.
Receive a report, hold a
discussion, and give staff
direction regarding the
economic development partnership
and a one-year renewal of the
contract between the city of
Denton and the Denton Chamber
of Commerce.
>> All right.
Well, I have some helpers on
this presentation as well, John,
but I will kick it off today.
>> All right.
Thank you.
>> We're very excited to present
the one-year renewal for the
economic development
partnership.
And so I'm going to kick it off
and then I believe I'm going to
hand over to my friend or Corey
to give updates on everything
that the Chamber has been doing.
But I just want to mention before
we get started that this past
year has been an incredibly
successful year.
And there is a large report in
your backup, and I encourage you
to read it, because if we went
through everything that we were
doing and working on, we'd have
to keep you here all day.
And I imagine some of you would
like to go back to your job at
some point.
I'm going to start it and then
turn it over.
So our goal here today is just
give you guys an update on the
economic development partnership
and then seek a recommendation
regarding the extension of the
partnership agreement for one
year.
So just to set the stage before
I turn it over to Erin and Corey
as a reminder, the current fiscal
year, FY 2021, we really did some
realigning of our partnership
agreement.
And what we did that was different
this past year is that we aligned
our work plans with the economic
development strategic plan.
So we worked last year to reset
our expectations, develop a
partnership that was in alignment
with those strategic goals and
objectives, really create an
enhanced environment of
communication between the city
and the chamber, and define what
our division of duties will be,
who's going to play what role in
economic development.
So some key changes in the
agreement were that we had a
clear definition of which entity
was going to focus in which area
of economic development, a new
work plan.
It was a one-year agreement, but
we added this option for this
one-year extension.
The funding was a little bit
different than previous years.
The city contributes $125,000 and
the chamber has a goal to raise
$125,000 under the partnership.
And then lastly, as some of you
have participated in, regular
meeting and joint reporting, and
those are those quarterly reports
that we've been delivering that
really highlight all of the
efforts that our team has been
working on.
And so with that, I'm going to
turn it over to I think Erin for
the next slide.
>> That's right, Jessica.
It's me.
There are several of you on this
Zoom today that I have not had
the opportunity to meet.
So first and foremost, my name is
Erin Carter, and it is my fifth
week as the president of the
Denton Chamber of Commerce.
So it's always a little awkward
when we meet on a virtual
modality.
So I look forward to meeting each
of you individually or on a Zoom
or whatever feels comfortable for
each of you in the future.
But in this arena today, I look
forward to talking to you.
And as Jessica said, we could be
here for hours.
And as Dan and Jessica have
gotten to hear my voice over our
co-located office, it's nice to
see them on the screen today.
They look slightly in different
locations than normal.
So I'll do a couple slides.
Cora will do a couple slides, and
I'll turn it back over to Jessica.
As you can see, we've got several
primary focus areas.
We have a primary focus and the
chamber has a primary focus, and
then we come back together into
joint leads and then cooperative
efforts.
So I'll not bore you with all the
things that you can read on your
own.
I'll just focus on a few of them.
So the city's primary role is
incentive negotiation, policy
administration, fiscal and
economic impact analysis, labor
and data analytics, development
districts, and then business and
city initiatives.
What we do on the chamber side
is slightly different.
We do the relationship building,
the opportunities to network with
developers, brokers, local
industries, and we build that
business -- excuse me --
recruitment and attraction, and
we really are over there to have
the conversations with the private
investor relations.
So at the end of the day, when we
do that relationship building and
Jessica and team have built the
incentive negotiations, when we
come together in the joint lead,
she's done the marketing, she's
done the retention, expansion,
and then we come together to do
the cooperative efforts for the
strategic plan implementation,
the workforce talent and
development, and the community
engagement.
That's why our partnership is at
the end of the day so successful
in telling the economic
development story for the city of
Denton.
Jessica, will you forward it to
the next slide?
I don't know if I can do that on
my own.
But I want to tell you, as I
said five weeks in, I'm
incredibly proud to get to work
with this team.
It truly is a cooperative effort
to get us fully to the
opportunity where we are today.
It's no effort but of a team.
And so you'll be able to find the
entire performance in the
economic development partnership
agreement annual report for FY
2020-2021, and that will be
updated at the end of this
fiscal year.
It looks great.
It has a beautiful cover that
is a piece of the really mural
opportunity in Denton, but we'll
have that available to you at the
end of the year.
But for a glimpse of where we
stand today as a team, I'm going
to turn the presentation over to
Corey for the next three slides
and he'll hand it back to me.
So, Corey, I'm going to turn it
over to you.
>> Thank you, Erin.
Good morning, everyone.
Just getting into a little bit of
the contract performance, you
know, one of the things Erin
mentioned was building the
partnerships with developers,
brokers, and local businesses.
We have and continue to have
several meetings and just trying
to sell Denton to the brokerage
community, letting them know
what's going on up here, although
that's really not necessary
because everybody in the brokerage
community knows that Denton is a
hot spot for transportation
logistics, cold storage, all the
things that you've heard us talk
about earlier.
In addition to having those
meetings, the one thing I really
want to point out under this
section is, you know, ever since
I've started, Jessica and I and
the entire team sat down to try
and figure out where's next for
industrial development in the
city of Denton because the
industrial park's running out of
space.
We narrowed in on some sites west
of interstate 35 with council
direction, and we've been
marketing those sites heavily to
the development community, and
you can see the list there.
But all those sites listed are
either sold or under contract
and will close by the end of the
year.
And just as an example, on the
Harris Ranch side, if that goes
industrial, you can fit over
4 million square feet of
industrial development just on
that 254 acres.
So adding all those sites
together, that's a significant
future development potential on
the industrial side for the city
of Denton, and we're very proud
to be able to get that level of
interest in such a short time.
Just you can read about what
we're doing on the marketing
side.
I'll just mention that we have
drastically increased our
presence on LinkedIn and
Facebook and all social media
platforms, and we're working on
ways to incorporate our
investors, our economic
development investors into that
fold and look forward to
implementing that next year.
Just to kind of give you a
little bit, everybody always
wants to know about recruitment
and attraction.
That seems to be one of the big
things that we work on.
We currently have 66 active
projects.
We have closed one, several
projects this year so far.
Everybody knows about Lowe's.
Everybody knows about the EMLS
expansion.
You know, we've also closed
Ranchland Foods, which moved
their corporate headquarters in
Minnesota from Arizona to
Denton, Dynagrid Construction,
Cold Creek Solutions, which is
building a 375,000 square foot
cold storage facility north of
Barthold Road, and then
Manomed.
Manomed is a medical device
supply company.
Their headquarters are in Las
Vegas, and they have leased
additional space and opened
their second office here in
Denton.
So we're excited about all those
wins, and we look forward to
hopefully having some more wins
before the end of the year.
Another thing, you know, from a
local standpoint, we are looking
at several different areas to
try and help our local
businesses.
You know, for example, the
Manufacturers Alliance that
we're talking about developing,
trying to get all those
manufacturers together, give
them a forum to talk about best
practices and to compare notes
on, you know, what challenges
if any they're having, and then
we can be a part of those
discussions, too, and try and
remove some of those roadblocks
to them growing here in the
community.
So we feel like those are really
important things to do for our
businesses going forward.
And if you'd like to go to the
next slide, please.
From an investment standpoint,
you know, we've met our
commitment of $125,000 on the
private side.
As of the end of July, the
balance on the private side is
$160,919.
So we're well above that
threshold.
You know, when I prepared this
report, we were planning an
investor event in late October,
early November with an
education focus.
Not sure if that's going to be
in person or virtual at this
point just because of the
situation that we're in.
But one way or another, we are
going to have another investor
event before the end of the
year.
And the last thing I'd like to
highlight, you know, we've
increased private investor
contributions 29% since the
beginning of the fiscal year,
and we continue to have several
great conversations with local
businesses about being a part of
the economic development
partnership moving forward.
And I'm going to turn it back
over to Erin to bring us home.
>> Thanks, Cory.
All right.
As far as you can see, we have
the proposed budget.
The chamber submitted this edp
budget as part of the request to
our renewal agreement.
This budget was approved by the
chamber board of directors.
The proposed budget includes no
increase in requests to the
city.
So the city's annual contribution
is $125,000.
And the chamber's commitment is
$125,000 as well.
As I said, there's no increase
requests to the city of Devon.
The changes made within the line
items were made to adjust to the
current needs going forward to
the edp.
Jessica, you'll go to the next
slide.
Other key updates include full
implementation of a project
management system and a CRM
database to better track efforts
jointly and increase reporting.
Reporting will help us as a team
to continue to understand where
we're going and how we got there.
Completion and adoption of an
economic development strategic
plan, development of a strategic
communication report, formation
of an economic development work
group, which will then begin to
meet monthly, which is something
we began this past year and will
continue to do moving forward.
Relocation to joint offices in
the development services center.
I referenced that earlier.
It's been a great opportunity to
see Jessica and Dan and Kay.
It's a wonderful opportunity to
not have to move even our cars
but to be able to look across
the office and continue our
efforts to build business and
break any boundaries related to
building, development, and
relocating businesses to Denton
to continue our growth efforts.
Creation of new joint quarterly
operational reports, bringing as
much information to each of you
as to the businesses that are
interested in relocating to
Denton or building in Denton.
And then improved tracking and
reports of metrics for both
economic development activities
and economic indicators.
And then new monthly meetings.
One team.
I feel like I wrote that slide.
But -- and then new monthly --
new monthly.
I'm sorry.
I can't even remember that.
New monthly Denton meetings
include Denton Main Street
Association Stoke in the
chamber.
So anything that we can do
together to work, to
collaborate really brings people
home to the fact that Denton is
the best place to do business
and show them all the strategic
information that this would be
the place they would want to
locate whether a business, a
corporate business, or a small
business.
We are absolutely their choice
for them and Corey and team.
Jessica have done an excellent
point and I'm proud to be able
to help them moving forward.
Jessica, next slide.
And then this is a slide that
shows the Denton ADP performance.
There is additional information
and updates and details in the
economic development quarterly
reports.
You see an example from the
2020-2021 and so there is so
many great -- there are so many
great numbers on this chart from
Q1 through 3 and at the end of
the year you'll receive Q1
through 4 in a year-to-date
total.
For right now our request for it
and send out some requests for
information received are 136.
That is absolutely outstanding.
I would say for North Texas we
are absolutely leading that
race.
Obviously not everyone will be
the perfect fit and we have to
make sure they're the best fit
for our city.
So not everyone is going to
cross the finish line and we
know that but so far for the
year we've won three.
Request for incentive reviews
there's been 18.
Business retention and
expansion visits there's been
17.
Winter storm response contacts
37.
Expansion grant requests 3.
Business assistance 157.
Networking events 17.
As Corey mentioned we have one
planned for October.
We're going to continue to
evaluate what would be the best
fit to ensure that our businesses
have opportunities to meet and
engage with one another while
monitoring safety and ensuring
that everyone has the best
opportunity to do that in a
safe and sound environment.
Community presentations 15.
Media requests 15.
Council items 30.
Boarding committee items 87.
As we continue to move forward
we'll continue to update you on
numbers.
At the end of the year we'll
make sure you have the
information you need to look at
the year in review for the
year in review for 2021.
Jessica, I believe that that
may be my last slide and I get
to turn it back over to you.
>> Thanks, Erin and Corey.
I get the distinct honor of
making the staff recommendation
as the city staff member.
And so I just want to let the
partnership board know that
staff recommends that the
partnership board recommend to
city council authorizing the
manager to execute the renewal
letter for the one-year
extension.
If we receive the favorable
recommendation from the
partnership board, Erin, Corey
and I will take our show on the
road and present this to city
council next week once again.
So I apologize to the mayor and
councilmember Davis who will get
to hear all of this over again.
That is all we have for this.
>> Thank you for an excellent
presentation.
Erin, Corey and Jessica.
And so now we'll entertain a
motion to approve the
recommendation of the city
staff, please.
Are you making a motion, Jimmy?
>> Yes, I'm making a motion.
Making a motion, sorry.
>> All right.
Thank you.
We have a second.
>> I'm still at the store.
Going in and out.
Sorry.
>> No problem.
No problem, Jimmy.
No problem.
>> I second that motion, Chair.
>> Okay.
All right.
Steve Edgar seconds.
We are now open for questions,
please.
Jill gesture, please.
>> Thanks.
I don't have a question, but I
just want to speak in favor of
this motion.
It's been all hands on deck, I
know, with economic development
with a lot of things that just
have happened in our country
that have thrown up roadblocks.
We are still seeing record
numbers.
And so it's been I think
something that should be held up
across the state and country is
how to come together as a
community where we have city
staff people that are
concentrating on certain areas
and then you've also got your
community members via the
Denton chamber addressing the
things that they know best and
the networking and who they run
across, et cetera, and the
partnership with both parties
putting in their money where
their mouth is, the individual
and company investors matching
the amounts that the city is
putting forward so that we can
do that.
You know, this supports one and
a half people as far as staff
people on the chamber side.
The rest is all done via
volunteers and our community
members and others pitching in.
So I feel that the outreach
within the community as well as
outside the community is just
better than it's ever been, the
coordination, the tracking, the
reporting, et cetera.
I just want to also just say
thank you to Jessica, Erica,
Dan, as well as our chamber
community members and Erin and
Corey and just all the work
that's gone in.
You really see that everyone is
working for the greater good and
making sure that we're all
aligned in our priorities and
everyone gives and takes to just
make sure that we are working
together to make Denton as best
as it can be, so I'm very
pleased to speak in favor of
renewing this for another year
and thank you.
>> Thank you, Jill, for that
wonderful speech.
>> Thank you so much.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you so much.