Friday February 23, 2018

MINUTES of the MEETING
of the BOARD of DIRECTORS

Friday – February 23, 2018 – 8:30 a.m. 34 West Fulton Street Gloversville, New York

Directors Present: Gregory Fagan, Kent Kirch, Ronald Olinsky (via conference call), Grant Preston, Travis Mitchell, Terri Easterly and Timothy Beckett

Directors Absent: Leslie Ford and Geoffrey Peck

Staff Present: Ronald Peters, Jennifer Jennings, Becky Hatcher, and Sarah Egan

Guests: Ashley Onyon, Leader Herald; Scott Henze, County Planner; John Blackmon, County Liaison; Michael Albanese, ESP., Legal Counsel

Public Session

Call to Order / Introductions/Meeting Minutes:
Chair Greg Fagan called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. He welcomed the Directors and guests to the meeting. Greg asked for a motion to approve the meeting minutes from the January 26, 2018, along with the attached Finance Committee Meeting Minutes from December 15, 2017 and January 24, 2018. James Selmser made the motion to approve the minutes; Leslie Ford seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Administrative Matters

Chair Report:

Vice Chair Kent Kirch had nothing to report at this meeting.

Committee Reports:

Executive Committee:

This Committee has not met since the last Board meeting.

Governance Committee:

This Committee has not met since the last Board meeting.

Finance Committee:

Geoffrey Peck advised the Board that this Committee met the Wednesday prior to the Board Meeting. They reviewed the financial statements for December 31, 2017 and 2016, and everything looks good. They also discussed moving the CD from the Patriot account to Key Bank.

Audit Committee:

This Committee has not met since the last Board meeting.

Building Committee:

This Committee has not met since the last Board meeting.

Membership & Marketing Committee:

Grant Preston discussed how great of a job Becky Hatcher is doing acquiring new members and getting existing members to renew their membership. Two new members that have joined are Darrin Romeyn, DM Romeyn Civil Engineering Design, LLC, and Eric Miller, Pioneer Windows. He noted they have a list of 75- 80 prospective members. Grant presented a list of new members to the Board and asked for it to be ratified. Kent Kirch made the motion to approve the list; Geoffrey Peck seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

ABO Guidelines Review:

Geoffrey Peck discussed needing all the Board Members to complete the Mission Statement and Performance Measurements forms for 2017 to comply with ABO regulations. He stated that we can adopt last year’s performance goals and Kent suggested we review and revise past goals. The Governance Committee will be scheduling a meeting in the next couple of weeks to discuss this further.

Gloversville Downtown Development Specialist Report:

Jennifer Jennings:provided a written report to the Board prior to the meeting. She also gave a verbal update on her activities over the past month. She mailed out her sponsorship letters pertaining to the upcoming Placemaking 101 conference in April. Jennifer also has secured a page in the Vacation Guide that will promote Downtown Gloversville with a calendar of current events in the center of the ad, surrounded by ads from local businesses. She thinks is a great promotion for the area, and urges other towns in Fulton County to join in. Jennifer also announced that she was also awarded a $100,000 grant from the National Association of Realtors.

County and City Reports:

Scott Henze shared a copy of their newsletter and said that it has been very successful. He stated there hasn’t really been any way for them to track people who don’t want to participate in the newsletter. Since sending out these newsletters, there has only been one person to step forward who didn’t want to participate

President and CEO Report

Current Projects: Ron Peters informed the Board of current projects that he has been working on. Ron has been working with the Johnstown Planning Board on 126 expansions that will create 40 manufacturing jobs after 1-2 years. He is planning on announcing this to the county at a meeting held Wednesday, February 28, 2018.

Ron also announced the increase in financing for Evolution Recycling Inc. from $100,000 to $200,000. In this agreement, any equipment purchased with this loan must stay in Fulton County until the loan is retired. Ron stated that Evolution Recycling Inc. will create 90 jobs in the industrial park.

Microenterprise Grant Programs: Ron shared a summary of the 2016 program, which in 2017, approved 6 grants and a possible 6 more. He informed the Board that there is only $20,000 left in the grant pool but he is looking into ways for expanding this.

Community Outreach Programs: Ron reminded everyone that the next tour is The Leader-Herald on March 9th.

On February 2nd, the event at the Northville School with Global Foundries was a success. Leslie commented about how great the event turned out and how other schools should follow suit. Ron and Leslie agreed that the next step should be to bring in local businesses.

Ron discussed Johnstown’s Diana Knitting Mill project and Restore NY Grant.

Business Marketing Inquiries: 310 Marketing through New York State EDC. He said the buy in rate is $1,000 and it is a few months process. Ron stated that this year we have over 100 leads.

Combined County Marketing Effort Update: Ron reported that he is going to meet with Scott and John to brainstorm for 2018.

Property Disposition Update: The only property that CIC now owns is the vacant lot along Prospect Street and Littauer Place. Ron stated that they have done everything they can do for now to close on the sale. They are just waiting for the sale of property to be finalized.

Loan Applicant Updates: Ron said we should be closing the Stump City Brewery loan soon. Evolution’s loan process should only take another 45 days. The downtown True Value has signed agreements. They have a projected groundbreaking of 3 weeks. There are also 2 other loans in the works. Lastly, Ron suggested a new process to the Board of offering a line of credit to local businesses on a 12 to 18 month basis as a short term option for businesses.

2018 Proposed Events: Ron reviewed the list of events on the agenda:

1. Membership Kick-off Open House Event – January 30
2. Grand Opening of The Center – March
3. Placemaking 101 Conference – April
4. Joint Financing Symposium with MVEDD – May
5. Drum Corp International – July
6. Undetermined Business Symposium – October
7. Annual Event – November 15

2018 Events Attending / Participating in: Ron reviewed the list of events that he will either attending or CRG will participate in:

1. MVEDD Annual Meeting – January 29
2. NYSEDC – January 31 – February 1
3. Site Selector’s Guild Conference – March 19-21
4. ICSC Table Setup- March 24-26
5. IAMC Spring Professional Furom – May 5-9
6. NYSEDC Annual Meeting – May 23-25
7. Southern Adirondack Wine & Food Festival – June 9
8. Select USA Investment Summit – June 20-22
9. IEDC Economic Future – June 24-26
10. Fancy Food Show – June 30 – July 2
11. Woodworking and Fine Arts Weekend in Northville – July 20-22
12. IAMC Fall Forum – September 15-19
13. Site Selector’s Guild Fall Conference – TBD

34 West Fulton Street: Ron updated that the Farley Grant had been signed and that the Restore NY Grant will be drawn on quarterly which will be scheduled. He also stated that we will be working on marketing for the building.

Other: Ron discussed ideas on adjacent counties and Leslie Ford discussed membership goals.

Adjournment to Executive Session to Discuss Legal Issues

At 9:09 a.m. Greg Fagan asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting to Executive Session. Geoffrey Peck made the motion; it was seconded by Kent Kirch and unanimously approved. Greg dismissed the guests and thanked for their attendance at the Board meeting.

Legal and Staff Issues:

The Directors discussed several ongoing legal issues. These discussions were informational in nature. No action was needed.

Adjournment from Executive Session

At 10:09 a.m. Greg Fagan asked for a motion to adjourn from Executive Session. James Selmser made the motion; it was seconded by Leslie Ford and unanimously approved.

Adjournment of the Board Meeting

At 10:10 a.m. Greg Fagan asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Geoffrey Peck made the motion; it was seconded by Kent Kirch and unanimously approved.

Respectfully Submitted,

________________________________ _________________
Leslie Ford, Board Secretary Date