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 Good morning, everyone. My name is John Baines, CPA, and I have the pleasure of presiding

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 over the November 11, 2020 Economic Development Partnership Board meeting. We'd like to welcome

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 the listening audience as well as all of the attendees today. We do have a decent-sized

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 agenda. So, the first item on the agenda is EDP 20-51, consider the approval of the minutes

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 of October 14, 2020. And before we do that, there is one procedural item I did need to

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 mention. We do have a board member that will need to abstain from one of the items that

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 are on the agenda for today. And the procedure for that will be he will turn off his screen,

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 his microphone, and then he will rejoin us once that particular item has been covered

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 and addressed appropriately. So, with that being said, let us all turn our attention

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 to the minutes that were presented to everyone in advance, and see if we have any feedback

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 on that item. John, Keely is – you may not be able to see her.

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 I can't see. Let's see. The view is. It's okay. It's everyone's really, really small

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 on some screen. Keely, you have a – I do not have a clarification or comment. I was

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 just going to move approval if there were no other comments on the minutes.

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 Okay. We have a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Do we have a second?

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 Second. Okay. We have a second by Mark McClellan.

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 Do we have any discussion? Hearing none, I believe the procedure is that we do a visual

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 confirmation or approval. So, all in favor of approving the minutes as presented, we're

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 going to go through and do a roll call. Keely?

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 Yes. Let's see. Mark?

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 Okay. Mark is yes. Yes. Sorry.

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 Thank you. Jason Tomlinson? Yes. Jimmy? Yes. Jessie? Aye. Jill Jester? Aye.

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 Let's see. Lee Ramsey? Aye. Okay. Did I miss anyone?

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 Yourself. Okay. John Baines approves the minutes as presented.

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 Are there any extension? I guess we're unanimous. There's no nos and no extensions then. Okay.

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 Excellent. So, that moves us then to the next agenda item. EDP 20-052, receive a report,

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 hold a discussion, and appoint or reappoint members of the Downtown Economic Development

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 Committee. And who will be responsible for that presentation?

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 That's me. And luckily, there's no presentation for this item. I just wanted to remind the

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 board at our last meeting, we did not appoint the EDPB representative that serves on the

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 Downtown Economic Development Committee. Included in your packet is the policy that outlines

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 the selection of an EDP member to serve as the chair of the Downtown Economic Development

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 Committee. And just as a reminder, that board meets on the first Thursday of every month

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 at 830 in the morning. Meetings typically last about 30 to 45 minutes, sometimes an

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 hour if there's downtown grant applications to review. But typically, they're focused

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 on those downtown items and have a great diverse group of people that serve on that and give

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 us wonderful input when we need it. And so, we are asking for a representative from the

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 EDP to serve on that board for the policy. And I sent out an email earlier this month

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 or maybe even in October, gauging interest. And I only had one kind of respond back, but

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 I'll leave it up to the board certainly to talk about what interests you might have or

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 what other board members might be interested in serving.

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 Do we have any volunteers? So procedurally, Jessica, if we have no one that has either

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 the time or the interest, how will we handle that?

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 I think at this point, if there is no interest for someone to serve on the EDP board, the

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 vice chair of that board could continue to serve as the acting chair. I would just point

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 out that the policy as adopted does state that the EDP would appoint the chair. So that

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 board would simply operate without a chair until one would be appointed. So we would

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 likely want to bring this back to the board in the future. And I'm sorry, Council Member

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 Davis is raising his hand. Okay. I'm sorry, I can't see everybody at the

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 same time. So please forgive my lack of dexterity here. Let's see. Councilman Davis. Yes, sir.

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 Thank you, Mr. Chair. If there's really nobody from the board who wants to do it, I'm happy

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 to fill the role. My preference would be that a council member not kind of do double duty

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 in that way, that a member of the community do that. But if there's really nobody else

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 on the EDP board who's got the time or inclination to do it, I'm happy to fill the role until

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 someone comes along. It's whatever the board would like to do.

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 I would appreciate Councilman Davis stepping up to the plate. Thank you very, very much.

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 I have filled this role in the past. It's a great discussion of a lot of intelligent,

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 knowledgeable people in the area. Unfortunately, I do not have the time at this time, but I

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 know everyone would appreciate it. Thank you, Councilperson Davis.

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 So procedurally, how will we handle that, Jessica, since we have Councilman Davis interested

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 in filling that role temporarily? If it's the board's will, I think we would

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 be looking for a motion to nominate Councilmember Davis to serve as the EDP representative.

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 Okay. Do we want to put the term temporary there or just as the representative?

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 There's no requirement that the board doesn't -- we could revisit this at any point.

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 Okay. Thank you. Jill, were you going to make a motion?

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 Yes. Please go ahead.

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 Please go ahead. Thank you very much.

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 We have a motion on the floor to appoint Councilman Davis to the chair of the downtown economic

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 development board and -- I'll second.

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 We have Councilwoman Briggs as second. Then we need to -- do we have any discussion?

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 Just a point of clarification. This is Mack from the city attorney's office.

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 This is a motion to nominate Councilmember Davis to the DEDC, but not necessarily as

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 chair. The DEDC selects their own chair. In fact, it will have to be someone from this

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 board that serves as the chair. So if he's the only person by default, he will become

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 the chair. But this is just an appointment to him to

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 the board, not necessarily naming him the chair. The DEDC will select their own chair.

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 Thank you, Mack. So we have a motion and a second, and we need to take a roll call.

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 Let's see. Councilwoman Briggs?

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 Yes. Councilman Davis?

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 Aye. Councilor Jester?

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 Aye. Let's see. Jason Tomlinson?

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 Aye. Jimmy Mejia?

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 Yes. Mark McClellan?

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 Aye. Lee Ramsey?

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 Aye. Okay. Did I miss anyone other than myself?

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 I'm going to say aye. Did we get everyone?

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 Yes, sir. That's everyone. Okay. All right. So I believe we have an unanimous

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 appointment there for Councilman Davis. No need to nose nays or extensions.

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 Okay. So we completed EDP 20-053. Now we'll go to EDP 20-054, receive a report, hold a

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 discussion and give staff direction regarding a program agreement with Hickory and Rail

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 Ventures LLC for the management and operation of Stoke Denton, and this is the particular

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 item where -- I'm sorry, Chair. We skipped an item.

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 Did we skip one? Yes. We should have 20-053, which is the business

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 retention and expansion plan. Excuse me. My mistake. Thank you.

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 EDP 20-053, receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction regarding a business

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 retention and expansion program plan for economic development. And who might be the presenter

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 on that? On this one, we have Kay Patrick, who is our

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 wonderful business development administrator. Okay. Ms. Patrick?

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 Let me expand your faces so I can see your reactions as I read the presentation.

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 This program is a build out to the outline that was presented to you all back in October

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 based on the questions and feedback that we received, and we received few, so we're hoping

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 that that was a sign that you all were happy with what we presented in regards to the outline,

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 because this program -- the final draft of the program is a build out of that outline

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 that was presented, and you all received the actual document in your packet.

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 The presentation is going to follow that document, but there's some items in the presentation.

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 I mean, in the document, they're not in the presentation, so if you have any questions

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 regarding the actual document, we're prepared to answer those questions as well.

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 So the program goals did not change from the outline. Just focusing on building relationships

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 with our local businesses and employers in order to provide better information to our

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 stakeholders and local leaders on our business climate in the city of Denton, as well as

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 fostering more employment opportunities through expansion and job growth, and building a more

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 cohesive approach to providing business support to the businesses in our community, and then

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 being intentional about supporting minority and historically underutilized businesses.

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 The short-term objectives and long-term objectives also did not change. We're still focusing

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 on the businesses and efforts. One of the things that we're working on currently is

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 building that inventory of existing businesses. We're going to utilize that database not to

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 just make contact with the businesses for our visits, but to also contact them -- and

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 Dan, our economic development analyst, is doing a great job, and one of the columns

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 in that information is the area of the city that those businesses are in. So if there's

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 an issue, a road closure that may affect their business, a water main break, or anything

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 that may be pertaining to their area, we will also make contact with them. So this database

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 is going to be useful in us communicating to our businesses in the long-term currently.

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 And then also our long-term objectives, just one, positioning our businesses to be more

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 competitive, not just locally, but regionally, and then establishing a plan that allows them

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 to grow, not just in the now, but in the future, especially if they are a startup business.

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 For the business visit, we have a process in place, and we will take that business and

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 we're going to discuss on the next slide the selection process, but we want to initially

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 make an introductory contact once we determine what businesses we're going to visit, and

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 just making contact, my name is Kaye, Jessica, this is what we're doing, and then what we

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 want to do is reach out to approximately 20 to 25 businesses per size, and hope that the

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 response rate will get us to the 10 to 15 targeted number, and then after that we will

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 provide them with a pre-survey. That pre-survey will provide us with the information that

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 will assist us in determining what organizations or other business industry partners we should

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 bring on the visit. If they are having workforce issues, we will bring in a workforce partner.

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 If it's a startup and they are wanting some information to expanding their business or

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 regarding training, we may bring in, you know, maybe a Stoke or T.W. or the Chamber or someone,

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 so that pre-survey is going to assist us in preparing for our actual visit. In your packet,

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 you received a copy of the Exhibit A in the program plan is the actual survey form that

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 we have, and then the follow-up will be not just for the businesses that presented a concern

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 or a red flag, but also as a thank you to participating and providing the information

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 that they do. A lot of businesses are very guarded with the information and sometimes

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 reluctant to participate, so we will definitely thank them for their participation. The visit

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 cycle and based on the timeline that will be presented to you all shortly will start

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 in January, and so, of course, initially the visits will be virtually, and I think that's

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 really going to open up an opportunity for us to bring in some other individuals that

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 are part of those businesses that may not necessarily be local, so if there's an opportunity

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 for expansion in regards to a headquarter relocation or something, we can possibly bring

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 in someone from corporate on their virtual meeting, and that's an opportunity that we

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 may not have if we were conducting them face-to-face, so just looking at the virtual need right

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 now and the position that we're in in a positive way. And then in regards to who will be attending

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 those visits, someone from our team, I will be attending every visit, and then per Jessica,

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 if you want someone else to attend those visits, they will attend as well, and then determining,

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 like I said from the pre-survey, what other industry partners in the community and organizations

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 that provide resources to our businesses should we bring in on those visits. The selection

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 process is going to be based on a variety of goals and targets, goals of the council,

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 goals of this board, goals in the strategic plan, but we're going to base the visitations

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 and those who are selected on those goals, and then using the NAICS code to ensure that

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 we have adequate representation in diversity, not just by size, but also industry and business

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 type in our business selections. As I mentioned earlier, there's a timeline in that visitation

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 cycle. Our goal is to do the visits from January to August, and in that visitation cycle, that's

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 going to include any follow-up to any of the businesses that had a concern that we need

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 to and we may need to bring a resource to the table or introduce them to an organization

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 that can assist them, and then the evaluation period is going to allow us time away from

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 the visits to focus on evaluating not just the program and what was working, but also

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 the data that's collected during those visits. In the outline, when I presented in October,

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 I outlined some of the quantitative and qualitative measures that we're going to utilize to collect

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 that data, so the evaluation period is going to allow us to evaluate that data, and then

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 look and see what is this information telling us? Are there any trends that we need to be

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 paying attention to or aware of that we may not have been aware of, but those surveys

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 provided us with that information. Here's a list of some of the partners and local resources

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 that I mentioned, and some of the individuals that may be participating in our visits based

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 on that pre-survey or the need of those businesses. This list is not a period. It can be as long

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 as it needs to be just to ensure that we are aware of all the resources so that we can

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 make our businesses aware of those resources as well. So if you all see, know of someone

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 you think that should be added to the list, please let me know, and we'll be glad to add

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 them to this resource list. Here is the activities and initiatives list. When we presented in

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 October, this list did not change. I did add disaster recovery assistance to this, and

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 that is going to be not just assisting the business once they're in the middle of a disaster

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 like COVID, but to prepare them in advance for that and build some resiliency. So if

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 they happen to go through this type of pandemic or knock on wood or tornado hits or something

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 in the nature, we are equipped to assist them, but they also are aware of what they should

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 do in the instance that they are, we actually are in the middle of a disaster in order to

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 sustain their business. Again, here is some information that we're going to be collecting

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 to measure the success of our program, but also again to visit what the business climate

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 is in Denton and to determine if there's any trends or anything that we should be paying

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 attention to that we may not be aware of in the community. And then during the evaluation

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 period, like I mentioned, we're going to be collecting that data, but that data is going

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 to provide us with the information, and then what we're going to do is we're going to put

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 together some periodic reports and report those back to you all and to City Council

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 and other stakeholders and investors in the public that may need to be aware of what's

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 taking place and be privy to the information that we've collected during that visitation

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 cycle and what we've discovered during the evaluation, during the evaluation period.

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 So that is all I have in regards to the presentation. Again, you already see the actual plan in

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 your packet, so if you have any questions on the presentation or the actual document

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 and plan that you receive, we are prepared to answer those questions.

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 I do have several questions, but I wanted to defer to any of the other committee members

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 to see if they had questions. I did not want to dominate the conversation.

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 Okay. I see Councilwoman Briggs.

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 Yes, sir. Thank you. Just two questions. One on who could attend before there were invites

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 to the council members in each district to attend. Is that still going to be a policy

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 or something that we're going to do? I know that it was helpful for the council member

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 of that district to learn about the business and also for the business to know who their

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 representative is. Right. I think that that's important. A great

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 question. We did make a shift kind of away from those council member visits. For the

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 bulk of these visits, our goal is kind of information gathering, really focused on business

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 climate. Our staff is always here to help facilitate those business as the council members

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 are available, but certainly sometimes trying to schedule four or five people schedules

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 plus the business schedules gets very difficult. We want to make sure that these visits that

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 Kay is discussing are focused on those resources and making sure that those kind of resource

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 visits are happening. We'll continue to facilitate visits for council members sort of as part

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 of this process, but not necessarily every single one of these visits. We're definitely

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 expanding and really going to have a robust meeting schedule. It will probably take all

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 of our team dividing and conquering to get the visits done that we want to get done.

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 It's a little bit of a change, but we're certainly here to still help facilitate those.

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 Okay. Thank you. And just one more question. Under activities and initiatives, I think it's

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 page five, there's an item here. It says establishing a MWBE vendor policy within the city. Is that

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 a vendor policy? How I read it for local businesses and other businesses within the city to do

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 business with a city. Is that how I'm reading that? Yes, ma'am. That's correct. I think

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 that's fantastic. That's a good idea. Thank you. Do we have any other questions before

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 I ask mine? I did not want to dominate the conversation. I think we have Lee raising

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 his hand. Okay. Lee Ramsey. Yes. Thank you. Just one thought. I think this is a good step

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 to start engaging, but one thought we may think about is maybe doing business sector

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 meetings so that we don't get a specific, because if you just meet with one business

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 and get feedback from that one business in that sector, that could be a very well-run

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 business in the sector or very poorly run business in that sector. So we may not get

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 the feedback we need from one specific business. So maybe not as part of this, but as part

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 of as you step this plan after you get through the first year, something we may need to think

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 about is getting sectors like our manufacturing sector, our technology sector, construction

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 sector, whatever that may be, real estate, banking, and seeing if we can get some of

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 those meetings and round tables. And then we could kind of dial down from those sector

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 meetings to say, okay, who needs the help? And could there be a mentor program within

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 the city that we could hook up so that somehow it may be a little close, right? But where

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 a business can mentor another business within the city. But I think that would give you

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 more of what's going on in that sector rather than just one business saying, because what

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 we struggle with in our business may be different than what Kinky or somebody or John or somebody

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 that struggles with in their business. So just a thought of trying to gather the sectors

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 to get more feedback.

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 And that's a that's a great that's great input. And that is definitely something we will add

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 on the activities and initiatives on there. And actually in the document, when it speaks

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 to the networking opportunities, we wanted to actually do exactly what you're talking

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 about and sector those networking opportunities out. But the round table that you mentioned

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 is a great component to add to that. So thank you for that.

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 Any other questions? Okay, I have several. Okay. When I saw the survey, my my I like

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 the survey. But my question is, you've got small businesses, medium sized businesses

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 and large businesses. Then you also have like Lee was saying some businesses that are successful

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 and some that have been impacted by COVID-19. So, you know, trying to get a good feel for

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 what's going on in the areas for assistance, I think it's going to take a little work to

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 make sure that we get a good representation of the business community. And, you know,

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 not all the businesses are necessarily registered, you have a lot of unregistered businesses

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 here in town people that how would you say I've not taken the step from shade tree to

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 to help me Jessica, what's the proper term when you go from shade tree? What's the next

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 step? Okay. No tree established. Okay. You catch me. You catch my drill. There's a lot

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 of my tree knowledge is limited. I apologize. That's okay. Anyway, I just was concerned

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 that when I see this survey, I think then a little bit bigger than it used to be when

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 I first moved here. And there's a lot of variety here. And so, you know, when you're talking

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 about doing a good cross sampling, cross section sample, and then who's gonna who's gonna say

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 this is enough? Or, you know, is it going to be just city? Are you going to bring it

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 back to who you're gonna who you're gonna who you're gonna confer with and say, these

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 are the results we found. So where's that conversation going to be held?

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 What we when we when we do the findings from the surveys? Yes. Yeah, that's what those

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 periodic reports that I mentioned will be conducted and provided to the board and to

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 council and other stakeholders to say this is the information that we found. And we that

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 information can come in the variety. It can come in paper. It can come in presentation

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 based on the information that we gather. So when does the start date? So our goal. So

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 the visitation cycle is January to August, but we're already currently working to establish

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 that we had planned to bring it to Council just to workshop to Council in December. But

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 now that's looking like it's going to take place in January. But because we don't think

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 too much of the plan is going to change, we're going to already start working, working towards

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 towards that. Okay. So my next question then is this. So let's say for example, you go

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 out and you begin to compile your information. Have we thought about maybe a a continual

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 presentation versus a wait until we get everything kind of a presentation. So if you bring it

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 to us all at once, it may be a little bit much to absorb. But if we had it where we

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 could kind of digest it, you know, let's say for example, we do the large businesses and

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 then we evaluate that we do the medium sized businesses. And then we sit down and evaluate

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 that small businesses are kind of off the radar businesses, COVID businesses, kind of

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 that way we're having a chance to kind of digest them as we go along rather than perhaps

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 having too large a sample size to really evaluate the effectiveness of what's been done. So

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 anyway, those are just some thoughts. Yeah, great point. And Jessica and I actually discussed

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 and we use the term periodic there, but it's it's probably going to be geared more toward

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 like quarterly, which until with it being four quarters, and there being four sizes

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 that we have a target, we have large, medium, small startup, we may do those presentations

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 quarterly by size, like you mentioned, but we we didn't want to necessarily nail that

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 nail that down because we hadn't had necessarily had our approach to determine, but we had

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 already determined that periodic was going to mean quarterly, but we still use the term

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 periodic. Yeah, I think to answer it a little bit differently is that we intend fully to

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 provide regular updates and quarterly reports to this board. I'll mention it a little bit

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 in more detail when we get to the report item. I'll explain kind of what's changing. But

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 our goal is to provide as much information, you know, as we can without overburdening

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 the staff with preparing reports versus trying to execute on the strategy. And so we thought

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 quarterly is probably that happy medium. Our goal is not to withhold results. But I also

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 want to make everyone aware of scheduling these meetings, you know, scheduling 70 meetings,

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 we may not get everyone we want when we want them. And so sometimes we can't get to the

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 final answer until maybe later than what we intended. Sometimes I had to go off to anyone

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 in their career who has served as a scheduler, because let me tell you, trying to get a meeting

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 together is one of the most challenging things. And everyone has very important things and

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 they're trying to run their business. And we don't want to be an impediment to that.

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 And so that that's kind of our that's why we were hoping quarterly would be a good middle

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 of the road. Certainly, if something came up, if we got a red flag from a business that,

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 you know, gave us feedback that needed to be addressed immediately, we would have that

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 flexibility to bring it forward to this board or to counsel sooner.

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 Okay, excellent. Excellent. Lee Ramsey, have you ever had any scheduling issues?

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 I don't think so. Thank you. Thank you so much. So I had to take the chance just to

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 kind of tease you a little bit. I mean, when you talk about scheduling, I can't imagine

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 a business like yours, man, you got so many hands and feet and things flying trying to

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 get things done. So thank you for letting me pick on you just a little bit. Okay. Thank

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 you, Jessica. Thank you, Kay. Do we have any more questions or comments before we move

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 on to the next item? Well, thank you all. That was some great,

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 great questions and great feedback. This was definitely helpful.

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 And we would be looking for a motion to approve if it's the board's pleasure.

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 Okay. We're looking for a motion. So moved. Okay, that was Mark McClellan made the motion.

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 Okay. And then who made the second? Jill Jester made a second. Thank you. Are there any questions

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 before we take the vote? Okay. Hearing none, we're going to do the visual

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 once again. Roll call, excuse me. Keely Briggs. Yes. Mark McClellan. Yes. Lee Ramsey. Yes.

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 Jason Tomlinson. Yes. Jimmy Mejia. Yes. Jesse Davis. Aye. Let's see. Jill Jester. Aye. And

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 I believe John Baines would be the last one. Is that correct? All right. And I'm in favor

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 of the motion as presented. And once again, you know, this visual thing is a little hard

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 for me, but I think we have a majority. So there's no need to do extensions or the nays.

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 Okay. Let's see. Okay. EDP 20-54. Receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff

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 direction regarding a program agreement with Hickory and Rail Ventures LLC for the management

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 and operation of Stoke Denton. And this is the one item where our board member Lee Ramsey

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 will abstain from participation. So who will do the presentation? It will be me. And I

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 apologize. Kay and I flipped on the positions on you guys so that I could be in the driver's

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 seat for the presentation. So I do apologize. But I think we have Lee ready and then I will

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 let him know if he's not listening, I'll text him whenever we are finished and let him know

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 when it's time to come back. But I'm really happy to be here and present this item this

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 morning. We had a very exciting discussion with city council back in October about a

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 month ago and we've been working really diligently to bring this forward. So I'm going to share

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 my screen here and start the presentation. So today I want to present to the board a

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 bit of an overview of Stoke and management under Hickory and Rail Ventures. That's the

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 name of the management company. From those of you who are new, this will be a little

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 bit of good background to help you understand how we got here and then give you a little

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 bit of an overview of a proposed partnership agreement with Hickory and Rail Ventures.

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 So in terms of background, the city actually holds a lease with the rail yard partners

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 for space at 608 East Hickory. That's where Stoke Ditten, our entrepreneurial coworking

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 space is located. The city's lease for that space ends on June 30th, 2021. So believe

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 it or not, we're already getting ready for the end of that lease in 2021. With that,

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 for a few years now, we have been operating a coworking space. So the original contract

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 for that space, we actually worked with the Dallas Entrepreneur Center and they ran a

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 coworking space there on our behalf. The agreement with DAC was terminated in 2017 and a local

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 company Hickory and Rail Ventures run by Marshall Culpepper and Heather Gregory took over operation

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 in December of 2017 and they've been operating it since. Recently, like I said, back in October,

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 we had two discussions with city council. One was about aligning the end dates of the

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 management agreement and sublease that we have with Hickory and Rail Ventures. And so

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 we went ahead and moved that forward and that's been executed. And so now Hickory and Rail

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 Ventures will continue to be the sublease holder and operate STOKE to June 30th, 2021.

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 So before I jump into the forward looking things, I wanted to remind everyone on what

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 has been happening at STOKE because I think it's very important, but essentially under

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 the management of HRV, STOKE has really become a hub for our tech enabled businesses, our

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 tech focused businesses, our entrepreneurs, our remote workers, and really small business

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 development. There's great partnerships there with the chamber, the city, the universities,

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 the school district, really supporting entrepreneurship and small business development. And just beyond

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 managing the day to day operation of the coworking space, STOKE's programming has grown to include

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 conferences, things like the Flint Conference, which is focused on, it's the best tagline

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 I've ever heard, hipsters, hustlers, and hackers. But really those creative startups that really

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 thrive here in Denton. They also host the Big Ideas Mixer, the Startup Crawl. Heather

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 and Marshall started the Denton Innovation Group, which is a group that is working towards

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 strategically positioning Denton to be more attractive into in both recruiting and keeping

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 local startups here and how we can build an entrepreneurial ecosystem. They're also leading

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 the Denton Angels, which is our angel investor network here locally. And they're also doing

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 a great job to promote local entrepreneurs and connecting our local startups with mentors

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 through things like the Making Denton podcast and the coffee and combos. And if you haven't

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 set in on one of those, those are also incredibly wonderful and powerful conversations that

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 happen where so many of our great leaders are sharing information with startups. And

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 then most recently, launching the Accelerate Her Startup Incubator program in partnership

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 with the TWA Center for Women Entrepreneurs. So I think that's probably an abbreviated

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 list of all the great things that they're doing over there. But we wanted to bring that

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 to the board's attention. So the next few slides just highlight some of the kind of

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 metrics and great things that have been happening. 200 events have been hosted at Stoke with

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 more than 2100 attendees. HRV has been operating the center. That's an incredible amount of

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 people that are coming and getting engaged in our startup community. Lots of social media

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 outreach, lots of engagement in those programs and events. We're seeing almost 60% of co-working

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 members, co-working space members, they're tech or tech enabled. That was a key component

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 of when the transfer from the Dallas Entrepreneur Center to HRV happens. But really when you

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 look at that number, 126 people with tech or tech enabled jobs have had membership at

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 Stoke. A lot of those being remote workers, they could work anywhere. And Heather's on

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 the line with us today, and I'm sure she can give us more stats about that. But we do have

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 remote workers, workers who are employed by large tech companies, but they work here in

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 Denton remotely. And so that's a really powerful tool to have at our disposal. And again, back

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 to the, oh, there's the mentor remote worker number, about 38% are remote workers or freelancers,

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 which is incredibly powerful when you think about it. And especially as we're moving into

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 a time where remote work is even more possible than ever. Most of our team, the economic

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 development team, as you can see, some of our members today are working remotely. And

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 so the need for spaces that enable people to do that is growing. But also in terms of

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 member satisfaction, we've seen a lot of positive feedback in both programming and support and

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 events and just having the availability of the support of support of community at Stoke.

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 So 85% members saying they've experienced growth and then reporting high satisfaction

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 rates in what's being offered. So this is a little bit more detail, and I'm not going

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 to go over all of this. These on the left where it says contractor duties, those were

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 the items that were required by HRV and the contract. And there's a number of them. There's

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 two pages of them here. They're in your backup if you want to read all of them. But the short

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 story and all of that is that HRV has met or exceeded any of the program goals that

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 were outlined in the contract. And we meet monthly, if not as often as we need to go

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 over kind of progress and what's happening in that area. So the agreement as it exists

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 today was with council's direction previously was that as the agreements were coming to

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 an end that Stoke would be transferred and become independently operated by HRV. And

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 so the goal was to transition the space brand and the Stoke operation in 2021. And what

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 we have found is that like most businesses, COVID has had an impact on their financials

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 and on their kind of goal to take over that full operation. And I'm going to go ahead

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 and go to the next slide. And what we've really been seeing is that not only has it changed

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 kind of their operations and how they've had to respond to members, but at the same time,

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 they've significantly increased their programming above and beyond what was contracted. And

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 they came to the city and asking for a desire to continue to assist the city's efforts to

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 support creation of that entrepreneurial ecosystem. And if you'll remember back to those discussions

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 we had in the strategic plan, there's really a large section of our strategic plan that's

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 focused on technology, creativity, entrepreneurship. And so they approached us wanting to be partners

406
00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:22,040
 and helping us execute on that strategy. And so with that, we started discussions with

407
00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:29,600
 Heather and Marshall and how we could kind of develop a partnership that moved the needle

408
00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:36,560
 in those areas. And so they presented us with a proposal that they would take over the lease

409
00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:43,960
 at the existing location as of July 1, 2021. We would develop together a partnership agreement

410
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:52,880
 that really enables HRV to focus on our strategic efforts in the areas of entrepreneurship,

411
00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:58,640
 technology, and small business support. Right now, the proposal is for a one-year agreement.

412
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:03,960
 That is what the staff recommended option was. Knowing that both the city and Stoke

413
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:08,460
 have been greatly impacted by COVID, we thought it was most appropriate to have a shorter

414
00:43:08,460 --> 00:43:14,520
 term in the contract and then reevaluate as we kind of move out of this kind of different

415
00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:22,940
 time that we're going through right now. The request is for financial support of $133,000.

416
00:43:22,940 --> 00:43:28,400
 And that's outlined in your backup kind of the breakdown of what specific programs that's

417
00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:34,000
 tied to, but a summary is on the screen right now. In four key areas, it would include event

418
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:39,800
 support for conferences, for those events that we talked about, Global Entrepreneurship

419
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:45,560
 Week that's coming up this year. And so continuing that support next year, program support, marketing

420
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:52,960
 support, and ecosystem support. So really just a continuation and beyond that, growing

421
00:43:52,960 --> 00:44:00,720
 our efforts in these areas to really market Denton as a great place if you're a small

422
00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:05,920
 business or you're an entrepreneur to make Denton more attractive for those types of

423
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:13,600
 businesses. And so we are in right in the kind of thick of it of developing that formal

424
00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:18,760
 partnership agreement. It's very similar to partnership agreements that we have with Main

425
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:24,280
 Street and the Chamber where we say, you know, we have these strategic goals and we were

426
00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:31,720
 going to rely on sort of an expert in another area to focus on executing on those strategies.

427
00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:36,320
 Under that agreement, HRV would continue to operate Stoke Denton and would actually provide

428
00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:42,240
 support to the economic development staff in those particular functional areas that

429
00:44:42,240 --> 00:44:48,160
 we talked about. Back in October, we presented this almost identical presentation to City

430
00:44:48,160 --> 00:44:54,880
 Council and we got direction to move forward. And so we anticipate that partnership agreement

431
00:44:54,880 --> 00:45:01,320
 will be moving forward to Council either in December or January pending kind of scheduling

432
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:05,440
 changes that are happening at the Council level. But we wanted this board to be aware

433
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:12,800
 of what was happening and what negotiations were ongoing and really exciting about the

434
00:45:12,800 --> 00:45:19,440
 possibilities of growing in that key area. And that is all I have. And I will say Heather

435
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:25,720
 is with us. So you should be able to see Heather now and she's waving, coming all the way from

436
00:45:25,720 --> 00:45:30,760
 Stoke, I believe. She's down the street, but here to answer any questions if the board

437
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:32,720
 has them.

438
00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:39,440
 See, I have questions. Who else has questions? Let's see your hands, please.

439
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:43,200
 We have Mark.

440
00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:52,600
 Jessica, that was a great presentation. And holy cow, what a great set of programs. Really

441
00:45:52,600 --> 00:46:02,200
 impressive. I just want to compliment Stokes and the entire team. And your overview was

442
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:11,320
 just perfect. We're lucky to have this for sure.

443
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:15,200
 Thank you, Mark. Any other questions?

444
00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:20,320
 Chair, no questions. Just a comment. I said quite a bit at the Council meeting. I just

445
00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:26,400
 wanted to just say that I'm in favor of this as I have been and look forward to it. It's

446
00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:29,760
 really great. Thank you.

447
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:36,920
 Jessica, so we have a -- is the request coming to this board or you're just being -- we're

448
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:40,540
 just being notified of the financial request?

449
00:46:40,540 --> 00:46:47,240
 So our goal is if this board supports this initiative, would be for a motion in favor.

450
00:46:47,240 --> 00:46:53,080
 And that way we could report that to the City Council when we bring it forward. This is

451
00:46:53,080 --> 00:46:56,840
 a little bit outside of what this board typically sees. And I know we've been trying to keep

452
00:46:56,840 --> 00:47:03,840
 you updated, but I want to mention kind of strategically Stoke, the Chamber, the City,

453
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:08,920
 Main Street, all of those kind of groups that are working together, we are building one

454
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:15,440
 team. And so our intention is to bring information as we're working with those key partners in

455
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:21,260
 different areas of economic development that are maybe a little bit different than as we're

456
00:47:21,260 --> 00:47:25,620
 kind of growing and evolving. We want to make sure that this board knows what we're working

457
00:47:25,620 --> 00:47:30,680
 on, what the whole team is working on and stays engaged in that process. And Cory and

458
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:35,760
 I have actually already started discussions on what type of strategic efforts we might

459
00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:40,240
 need to kind of help support these types of businesses because it's a little bit different

460
00:47:40,240 --> 00:47:47,360
 than what we've seen in the past. So we're really excited to be putting together a team,

461
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:51,600
 a comprehensive team that's looking at a really holistic view of economic development.

462
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:56,240
 So I'm really thankful to have some great partners in the city.

463
00:47:56,240 --> 00:48:04,440
 Thank you, Jessica. Heather, if you don't mind, I do have a few questions. This is not

464
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:10,480
 just an avid interest for me, this is a passion for me, small business, and then the high

465
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:16,440
 tech area. So please indulge me. This is just like I get to meet a rock star and I want

466
00:48:16,440 --> 00:48:25,560
 your signature. I mean, this is an interview, okay? We're going to spend a little time here.

467
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:30,960
 Tell me how COVID-19 has affected your city. What's going on there now that?

468
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:43,240
 Yeah, it's been significant. You know, we, a year ago, we were holding probably five

469
00:48:43,240 --> 00:48:52,240
 to six in-person events every month. The goal for the coworking space was ultimately density.

470
00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:58,840
 And so pretty much everything about our membership, the way that we operate, the way that we do

471
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:05,040
 all of our events has just been turned on its head. You know, financially there was

472
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:13,320
 a significant impact in terms of our membership numbers. And we've, you know, as every business

473
00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:20,200
 has, people have been impacted either in a really positive way or in a really negative

474
00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:25,800
 way, but pretty much everybody has had to pivot. And so we started doing all of our

475
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:31,700
 events and programs online. You know, Zoom is everybody's best friend. We started a YouTube

476
00:49:31,700 --> 00:49:37,320
 channel. So we were able to start recording the coffee and conversations, the lunch and

477
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:43,520
 learns that we do. And for people that weren't able to attend live, we have a YouTube channel

478
00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:52,960
 now where all of that lives so people can get access to it whenever. And, you know,

479
00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:59,320
 our operations are really focused on safety. And so, you know, we're really trying to make

480
00:49:59,320 --> 00:50:07,760
 sure that we are a safe environment for everybody that's coming in. So again, you know, we've

481
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:13,400
 closed desks, we've spread people apart, done all of those things. So we've been trying

482
00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:19,320
 to be creative. You know, we mentioned global entrepreneurship week is next week. And so

483
00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:23,660
 I'm actually working on my state of entrepreneurship talk, which I'm going to deliver. I'm going

484
00:50:23,660 --> 00:50:32,160
 to record on zoom and we'll put out on Facebook live, we do a startup call. My team here is,

485
00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:39,280
 has taught themselves how to be basically video production people with their iPhones,

486
00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:46,520
 and the help of a $16 app. And so there's going to be a virtual startup call where we

487
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:53,400
 get to see the inside of a handful of companies that are based here in Denton. So yeah, we've

488
00:50:53,400 --> 00:51:00,720
 just had to get really creative to do what we do and to continue to build community and

489
00:51:00,720 --> 00:51:04,360
 try to help people continue to be successful with their business.

490
00:51:04,360 --> 00:51:09,960
 And we still get to come to the office because my office is large enough for us to do social

491
00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:18,080
 distancing. So are you are you still full as far as capacity or people are not coming

492
00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:28,440
 or talk tell us about that demographic. It is it has grown over the last few months.

493
00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:33,520
 A year ago, we would see probably four to five dozen people in and out of the space

494
00:51:33,520 --> 00:51:38,760
 on any given day, including visitors and drop ins and you know, for the events that we would

495
00:51:38,760 --> 00:51:47,920
 have. Now, we're probably up to about two dozen people a day. Our overall membership

496
00:51:47,920 --> 00:52:00,320
 is down by a lot by about 40%. And we, like I said, we've closed desks, we have, we're

497
00:52:00,320 --> 00:52:05,800
 physically distancing people. So we have, we have over 9000 square feet. So really, there's

498
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:12,720
 a lot of space, we turned our event space into additional workspace, we just moved tables

499
00:52:12,720 --> 00:52:19,720
 around. And so yeah, we you know, we're doing all of the safety things requiring masks when

500
00:52:19,720 --> 00:52:26,520
 people are moving throughout the space. And and our limiting capacity and conference rooms,

501
00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:33,320
 things like that. So it we are operating very differently. But yeah, we track everybody

502
00:52:33,320 --> 00:52:39,440
 that's in the space every day, and we're at about two dozen people in and out of the space.

503
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:42,840
 At least half of those probably are in private offices.

504
00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:49,920
 I have two more questions, and I'll release her to the rest of the committee to have questions.

505
00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:55,000
 And thank you, by the way, Heather. Sure. So tell me about the demographics, you describe

506
00:52:55,000 --> 00:53:03,560
 who's there. You know, old, young, you know, what kind of businesses are there, I realize

507
00:53:03,560 --> 00:53:09,000
 we have all these statistics, but I kind of wanted to a little thumbnail. And then, then

508
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:13,600
 you can also talk about minorities and women and high tech, I'd kind of like to hear what's

509
00:53:13,600 --> 00:53:21,560
 going on there. Sure. So I think our population actually skews older than one would guess

510
00:53:21,560 --> 00:53:28,600
 for coworking space. And I don't I haven't done an average age, but I would say most

511
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:39,760
 of our members fall between late 20s, and early 50s. That's where most of our membership

512
00:53:39,760 --> 00:53:45,800
 falls. So a significant portion in people in their 30s and 40s make up the bulk of our

513
00:53:45,800 --> 00:53:56,880
 membership. I we skew a little heavier male than females. But we and we also skew as you

514
00:53:56,880 --> 00:54:01,840
 saw we skew heavier in terms of tech and tech enabled companies. And we define that in terms

515
00:54:01,840 --> 00:54:12,160
 of basically if it's a STEM industry, so we include engineers. And, you know, like not

516
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:16,720
 just web developers and things like that, but people that are doing digital marketing,

517
00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:22,960
 people that are using technology is in a significant way to deliver their business or they're actually

518
00:54:22,960 --> 00:54:31,000
 creating the technology themselves. And then in terms of minorities and females, that's

519
00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:41,520
 something that we are really working hard to make sure that our programming has an impact

520
00:54:41,520 --> 00:54:51,000
 has a positive impact to increase the the access to people. So in the accelerate her

521
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:59,520
 up incubator that we just launched with Texas Women's University, there are six female founded

522
00:54:59,520 --> 00:55:05,180
 companies that are all using technology to deliver their businesses, and half of them

523
00:55:05,180 --> 00:55:11,080
 are minority population. And so, you know, again, it's just something we it's something

524
00:55:11,080 --> 00:55:18,300
 that's at top of mind to make sure that we are being inclusive and try to help narrow

525
00:55:18,300 --> 00:55:23,880
 the gaps in terms of access. Thank you so much for answering my questions.

526
00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:29,840
 Like I said, this is more than just an interest for me. It's a passion. So do we have any

527
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:38,680
 more questions from the board or the committee before we take a vote? I'm looking around.

528
00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:45,600
 I don't see any. And so Jessica, help me with the with the with with the structure of the

529
00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:54,680
 of language on this on this vote. I think we would be looking for a motion to recommend

530
00:55:54,680 --> 00:56:01,840
 City Council adopt a program agreement with Hickory and rail ventures with the programs

531
00:56:01,840 --> 00:56:09,720
 as outlined. We have someone who would make that motion. So moved. Is that Mark? Okay,

532
00:56:09,720 --> 00:56:18,160
 Mark makes the motion. Okay, a second. Second. Okay, Jason, thank you very much. Okay, we

533
00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:26,600
 have a motion and a second. Do we have any more discussion before we take the vote? Okay,

534
00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:36,040
 seeing none, we'll do a roll call once again. I'm all in favor of adopting this motion as

535
00:56:36,040 --> 00:56:57,160
 presented. Mark? Aye. Let's see. Jimmy? Aye. Jessie? Aye. Let's see. Jill? Aye. Thank you.

536
00:56:57,160 --> 00:57:07,400
 Yes. And John Bain says yes. Did I get everyone, Jessica? Jason says yes. Okay. All right.

537
00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:17,120
 I'm sorry, Jason. I'm sorry. I'm doing my best, man. It's back. That's okay. And John

538
00:57:17,120 --> 00:57:23,440
 Bain says yes. And so I don't think we have anyone to abstain. Yes, Lee. Lee Ramsey has

539
00:57:23,440 --> 00:57:31,680
 abstained. Well, yes, I'm sorry. Lee has abstained. That's correct. So I believe we're done with

540
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:38,760
 this particular program item. Thank you, everybody. Thank you for the time. And Jessica, I always

541
00:57:38,760 --> 00:57:46,840
 love hearing you talk about what we're doing. So I appreciate it. And let me notify Lee

542
00:57:46,840 --> 00:57:53,500
 that to turn everything back on. So give me one second. Certainly. Thank you. And John,

543
00:57:53,500 --> 00:57:59,040
 my apologies. I need to leave for a 12 o'clock, but I enjoyed the hour with you. Thank you

544
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:07,360
 so much, Mark, for all your participation. Read the Chancellor for us. You bet. Okay.

545
00:58:07,360 --> 00:58:23,760
 All right. I've texted Lee. So hopefully he will be rejoining us shortly. And Mark just

546
00:58:23,760 --> 00:58:41,640
 had to leave. Mark McClellan had to leave for a 12 o'clock meeting. See if we can give

547
00:58:41,640 --> 00:59:03,060
 him a quick second to get back on. We do only have staff reports, I believe, left. There's

548
00:59:03,060 --> 00:59:14,040
 Lee. Welcome back, Lee. Okay. So now that Lee's back, we can go to the next agenda item,

549
00:59:14,040 --> 00:59:23,960
 which is EDP 20-055. And Jessica, I'll give you the option on how much we need to present

550
00:59:23,960 --> 00:59:31,560
 and how much we do not need to present. Sure. Well, two things for the staff reports. First

551
00:59:31,560 --> 00:59:38,800
 is this is Cory's, I believe, first official meeting and staff reports. And I'll let Cory

552
00:59:38,800 --> 00:59:43,480
 kind of talk about what he's been working on. And you guys hear from me enough. But

553
00:59:43,480 --> 00:59:48,400
 I just want to point out one thing is this will be the last time that you see the staff

554
00:59:48,400 --> 00:59:56,520
 reports in the format that you see them. Cory and I are working on a consolidated quarterly

555
00:59:56,520 --> 01:00:01,360
 report. Like I said, there are many partners that work in economic development between

556
01:00:01,360 --> 01:00:07,920
 the city chamber and other partners that we have. And our goal is to be more inclusive

557
01:00:07,920 --> 01:00:13,600
 of our reporting and keep you guys up to date on all of the activities that are happening

558
01:00:13,600 --> 01:00:18,560
 kind of around kind of the global team that's working here. And so we are actively working

559
01:00:18,560 --> 01:00:26,760
 on that. And so we'll be rolling that out probably at the January meeting. So you may

560
01:00:26,760 --> 01:00:33,040
 not see a full staff report in December. But with that, I'm going to turn it over to Cory

561
01:00:33,040 --> 01:00:38,440
 and let him say hi to everybody and let you know what's been going on.

562
01:00:38,440 --> 01:00:46,920
 Thank you, Jessica. For those of you I haven't met in person or virtually yet, I'm ecstatic

563
01:00:46,920 --> 01:00:51,960
 to be here. Just a little bit about me. I'm a second generation economic development professional.

564
01:00:51,960 --> 01:00:59,240
 Been in the industry for about 25 years. Worked previously on the city and county side as

565
01:00:59,240 --> 01:01:04,880
 well as in economic development consulting and through the private sector. So I've kind

566
01:01:04,880 --> 01:01:10,560
 of seen the economic development lens from all different sides. I think it's a great

567
01:01:10,560 --> 01:01:16,720
 time to be here in Denton. Just with everything that's going on with all the advantages that

568
01:01:16,720 --> 01:01:26,160
 the community has in regards to transportation, education, and just an involved business community,

569
01:01:26,160 --> 01:01:32,920
 I just think it's a great time to be here. You know, I guess for my report what haven't

570
01:01:32,920 --> 01:01:40,960
 I done is kind of a better way to put it. Since I've been here, I started October 26.

571
01:01:40,960 --> 01:01:50,680
 And since that time, we've had several RFIs come in, about five or six, that we've answered

572
01:01:50,680 --> 01:02:00,120
 the majority of. We've had a site visit. I've had several meetings with real estate brokers

573
01:02:00,120 --> 01:02:07,600
 both here in Denton as well as some in Dallas that I've known through previous stops. Just

574
01:02:07,600 --> 01:02:14,440
 trying to get my feet on the ground and understand and learn the sites and the information and

575
01:02:14,440 --> 01:02:23,360
 the processes and work with Jessica to develop some new processes to help y'all stay more

576
01:02:23,360 --> 01:02:35,040
 informed and active as well as just trying to meet and understand and get advice from

577
01:02:35,040 --> 01:02:40,040
 as many people here in Denton as possible. And I want to let everybody know that I plan

578
01:02:40,040 --> 01:02:45,120
 to reach out to y'all individually. I'd like to sit down either virtually or in person with

579
01:02:45,120 --> 01:02:51,440
 everybody and just try and get your take on where we're at, where you see us going forward.

580
01:02:51,440 --> 01:02:57,120
 Your involvement and your historical knowledge will be important to our success going forward.

581
01:02:57,120 --> 01:03:06,480
 So that's kind of what I plan to do within the next 30 days, as long as we don't have

582
01:03:06,480 --> 01:03:09,160
 too many RFIs to keep us busy.

583
01:03:09,160 --> 01:03:12,600
 Thank you, Corey.

584
01:03:12,600 --> 01:03:26,220
 And I'd be happy to answer any questions.

585
01:03:26,220 --> 01:03:33,600
 So Corey, as far as your meetings, if you could do this, I think it would be helpful.

586
01:03:33,600 --> 01:03:38,800
 I'm sure you've got an executive summary of your experiences and perhaps you could just

587
01:03:38,800 --> 01:03:45,400
 email that to the various people you'd like to meet with. That way I'll know a little

588
01:03:45,400 --> 01:03:50,280
 bit about you and we can possibly do the same for you. We can send you an executive summary

589
01:03:50,280 --> 01:03:56,720
 about ourselves and our experiences. So that way we can spend our time, not just getting

590
01:03:56,720 --> 01:04:02,680
 familiar with one another, but really jumping into the mud and kind of getting in there

591
01:04:02,680 --> 01:04:04,400
 and getting after it.

592
01:04:04,400 --> 01:04:05,400
 Absolutely.

593
01:04:05,400 --> 01:04:06,400
 Thank you.

594
01:04:06,400 --> 01:04:07,400
 Yes, sir.

595
01:04:07,400 --> 01:04:08,400
 Jessica?

596
01:04:08,400 --> 01:04:20,520
 That's all we have from the staff side.

597
01:04:20,520 --> 01:04:25,920
 And I really want to thank everyone for your indulgence. I'm getting used to the big chair.

598
01:04:25,920 --> 01:04:35,800
 This is different. I hope that one day each of you gets a chance to be the chair and you

599
01:04:35,800 --> 01:04:42,480
 get the chance to experience this. So thank you for your time, your volunteer and your

600
01:04:42,480 --> 01:04:49,760
 commitment to make a difference in our community. And do we need to entertain a motion to conclude

601
01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:57,960
 the meeting? Okay. Do we have a motion to end the meeting?

602
01:04:57,960 --> 01:04:58,960
 Mr. Baines?

603
01:04:58,960 --> 01:04:59,960
 Yes.

604
01:04:59,960 --> 01:05:07,680
 Is there an item for concluding items or where we can just ask a question at the end of the

605
01:05:07,680 --> 01:05:11,320
 meeting? I don't have the agenda in front of me.

606
01:05:11,320 --> 01:05:19,280
 Yes. There is concluding items are posted. So if there is a request that we can take

607
01:05:19,280 --> 01:05:20,640
 back and prepare.

608
01:05:20,640 --> 01:05:22,760
 Yeah. May I chair?

609
01:05:22,760 --> 01:05:23,760
 Please.

610
01:05:23,760 --> 01:05:29,920
 Okay. Well, on yesterday or Tuesday, whenever that was, it feels like forever. We had an

611
01:05:29,920 --> 01:05:36,320
 update on the CDBG and home funds. And in that we learned that those funds can be used

612
01:05:36,320 --> 01:05:41,240
 for economic development. And I don't know if this board has ever looked at that to see

613
01:05:41,240 --> 01:05:47,680
 what they can be used for or have been used for in other communities. But on our economic

614
01:05:47,680 --> 01:05:55,080
 strategic plan, there is a goal three is strengthen community inclusion. And so I don't know if

615
01:05:55,080 --> 01:05:59,560
 that would be correlated or not. So I just wanted to put that out here to see if that

616
01:05:59,560 --> 01:06:12,960
 was something the board wanted to look into. That's all.

617
01:06:12,960 --> 01:06:21,240
 And kind of in line with that, Councilwoman, I know in the minority community, there's

618
01:06:21,240 --> 01:06:30,920
 a real need for access to capital. So I don't know if -- how this board could help kind

619
01:06:30,920 --> 01:06:44,200
 of do some research and to help those businesses that are limited in their capital access and

620
01:06:44,200 --> 01:06:53,200
 accumulation perhaps have some meaningful meetings and meaningful information for helping

621
01:06:53,200 --> 01:06:59,520
 startup businesses and businesses that, let's say, are recovering. So I don't know, Jessica,

622
01:06:59,520 --> 01:07:05,560
 if that's part of the purview of this board. But if it's economic development, I would

623
01:07:05,560 --> 01:07:11,940
 think we would need to possibly take a look and see if we can help that particular segment

624
01:07:11,940 --> 01:07:16,640
 of the community as well. Absolutely. So this board doesn't typically

625
01:07:16,640 --> 01:07:21,200
 do concluding items. So I'll just remind everyone of the process. I'm taking notes because these

626
01:07:21,200 --> 01:07:27,680
 aren't posted for deliberation. And so what I will do is go back and talk to the team,

627
01:07:27,680 --> 01:07:32,680
 maybe do some initial research, and then we'll bring it back as agenda items to kind of maybe

628
01:07:32,680 --> 01:07:38,560
 have some preliminary discussions with the board. But I don't want Mack to get mad at

629
01:07:38,560 --> 01:07:46,640
 me. So I'm taking notes, and I'll make sure that we're duly posted to have these types

630
01:07:46,640 --> 01:07:54,960
 of conversations. All right. Thank you.

631
01:07:54,960 --> 01:08:05,760
 Do we have a motion to conclude? Okay. Lee Ramsey has a motion. Do we have a second?

632
01:08:05,760 --> 01:08:12,880
 Okay. Who did the second? Jimmy. Jimmy. All right. Thank you, Jimmy. We're going to go

633
01:08:12,880 --> 01:08:26,720
 through and do the roll call. John Bain says yes. Keely? Uh, yes. Let's see. Jesse? Yes.

634
01:08:26,720 --> 01:08:34,160
 Jason Tomlinson? Yes. Lee? And I believe Jill. Is Jill still with us?

635
01:08:34,160 --> 01:08:40,160
 I think Jill had to leave. She had to leave. Okay. I think there being

636
01:08:40,160 --> 01:08:45,080
 no other people involved, we're going to conclude the meeting. And once again, thank you for

637
01:08:45,080 --> 01:08:49,600
 your time and your participation and your commitment to making a difference. Thank you

638
01:08:49,600 --> 01:08:50,880
 so much. Thank you.