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Friday April 24th, 2020 Minutes

Center for Regional Growth Logo

MINUTES of the MEETING
of the BOARD of DIRECTORS

Friday – April 24th, 2020 – 8:00 a.m.
via 34 W Fulton St and Conference call
Gloversville, New York

Directors Present: Timothy Beckett, Terri Easterly, Dr. Leslie Ford,  Kent Kirch, Travis Mitchell, Ronald Olinsky, Geoffrey Peck, Grant Preston

Directors Absent:   Gregory Fagan

Staff Present: Ronald Peters, Ken Adamczyk, James Hannahs, Desirée Perham

Other Attendees: Vincent DeSantis, Mayor-Gloversville; Todd Rulison, Fulton County IDA; Michael Albanese Esq., Legal Counsel; Ashley Onyon, Leader Herald

Public Session

Call to Order: 8:08 a.m.

Welcome and Call to Order 

Dr. Leslie Ford called the meeting to order at 8:08 a.m.

Roll call was taken by Desirée Perham.

Approval of Meeting Minutes

Dr. Leslie Ford asked the Board if there were any additions or corrections to the March 27, 2020 CRG Board Meeting Minutes. No comments were made and the March 27, 2020 CRG Board Meeting Minutes were approved as presented.

Administrative Matters

Chair Report – Dr. Leslie Ford:  

  • Regarding the Succession Planning Document developed by Leslie and Ron for Board member selection and also for the CEO, that is for the Board members to review and comment. Please share any input with Ron Peters and Leslie Ford through email.  The Succession Plan will be shared with the Membership at the Annual Meeting in December.
  • We will be watching the Governor’s plans closely as businesses up here may have a chance to open. Let’s stay positive and hopeful!

Conclusion of Chair Report

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 – (Ron Olinsky)
    • The committee met on April 22, 2020 and reviewed CRG’s cash position and bills report. CRG is strongly in the black once again. There was a reporting question as to whether we are capturing all expenses and this is being reviewed with Phil Beckett.
    • CRG has not tapped into reserves at this point.
    • Outstanding loans were reviewed and any in arrears are questioned. CRG’s response is being tempered due to COVID19. We continue to review delinquencies and will act accordingly if it seems we are being taken advantage of.
    • CRG did receive a PPP Loan which was deposited in an isolated account for processing through the SBA. We will be working with our lender, KeyBank, to execute transactions properly to receive forgiveness for the loan.  This occurs when the funds are used for payroll expenses and a portion for utilities.  We will not have excess funds, all will be used for forgiven costs or returned to the SBA.
    • Ron Peters pointed out that none of the CRG staff chose to take unemployment even though they would have received more money. The CRG team is committed to the mission of supporting Fulton County and has been accomplishing a lot from remote locations.
  • Audit Committees – This Committee has not met since the last Board meeting.

Conclusion of Committee Reports.

Membership & Marketing Report

Ken Adamczyk:  (Report was included with board package)

Marketing
  • Continuing to send out Constant Contact messages with information on SBA loans, marketing information, and other options available to support small businesses.
  • A survey is being developed to compile information from businesses with questions like: what are your current needs?, where were you before and where are you now? The information will be shared later and will be used to identify where support is needed so we can approach legislators for assistance.
  • A Facebook post of Ralph the Tailor with his pile of facemasks that he sewed to donate went viral. The picture was shared/commented on 4,168 times, reached 42,000 and the post reach bumped way up. CRG followers increased from 644 last month to 832 today.  We will be looking for more positive points to share in the future. The upcoming MVP food drops may be one to share.
  • CRG is working with Nick Zabawsky to determine if it would be acceptable to conduct the June MEG training session via Webex video conferencing. This would help with having businesses ready to go for the next MEG funding cycle.

Conclusion of Marketing and Membership Report.

Gloversville Downtown Development Specialist Report

James Hannahs: (Report was included with board package)

  • In discussions with Jennifer Jennings it was decided that the June 18 Placemaking Conference date was too soon given the stay-at-home order still in place into May. The plan is to look for a date in September or October that will not conflict with other regional events.
  • The Placemaking budget is within $3,000 of $27,000 goal.
  • 1001in1 Day, an event to get people out of houses in into the community, will now be pushed to the third week in July.
  • DRI – no date yet. Moving forward on the application structure with input from Elon and Lisa Nagle.  A DRI specific website was launched with a survey for public input: cityofgloversvilledri.com . There are updates about the new site on Facebook and a press release. We encourage everyone to take a look and complete the survey.

Conclusion of GDDS Report.

Chamber, Fulton County, IDA, and City Reports

Dr. Leslie Ford requested reports from the City and County members present.

Chamber – no report

Fulton County – no report

Fulton County IDA  (Todd Rulison):

  • National Grid has started work on the Tryon Technology Park Electrical Project to provide service to Vireo Health. National Grid is coordinating efforts with Fulton County and expects to have the new underground power feed to the Park completed around May.
  • The IDA Board reviewed a compensation plan for its partners and approved the following distribution for lot sales: 7% Cushman & Wakefield, 6% CRG, 6% Fulton County.

City

Gloversville – (Vince DeSantis):

  • Recently met with Andrew Manshel and a group of sixteen others, economists and such, to discuss the effects of the pandemic on people’s thinking. It was noted that city dwellers may be looking at the quality of life in small communities in the future. This may be a good time to target this demographic (metropolitan) using social media videos of our city to attract new people to Gloversville. Videos could share our unique geographic region and what we have to offer.
  • There was a segment on Top Ten GHS Graduates on channel 13 that included the entire video produced by Osama. The City would like to see CRG and the DDS use Osama to push out some content and build on these opportunities.
  • Pointed out that one difference with this DRI is the real projects that are funded and backed by experienced developers. This may have been precipitated by a series of videos from last year which attracted investors.  We have had good results from that type of marketing and need to build on that.
  • The church on Bleecker Square is to be developed into a destination location for two to three million. Paige has taken title and retained Steve Smith as the engineer. Looking to submit a Main St. grant for up to $500K in the next CFA round. The work planned will convert the back of the church building into a restaurant, the rectory into about four apartments, the basement into a recreation area (laser tag) and the sanctuary into a multi-use venue (winter market, receptions, auctions…).
  • The NVP project, four buildings in a row on S Main St., is owned by an IT firm and will be used for data storage.

Conclusion of County and City Reports.

President and CEO Report

Ron Peters:

 Current Projects

  • 34 W Fulton St – we have a line of credit, May 1st we will be signing the construction contract, and we now have a signed and approved amendment for $140,000 in holding costs. All good progress toward being ready to go with project when stay-at-home order is lifted.
  • Installation of LED lighting will be completed by the end of April.

 MicroEnterprise Grant Program Update

  • Ken Adamczyk – We have received funding for four grants. The check for the second MEG submission came in before the first one.  There was only one business and payout should be ready early next week. The first submission had three businesses, check is at the County and should be set for payout by the end of next week.  The other four are with Nick Zabawsky and those four will close out the program with all $200,000 being utilized.
  • Looking to go for another CFA and an MEG program next year.

Community Outreach Programs

  • Business Tours for Elected Officials – Tours are on hold for now.
  • Community Assistance
    • Northville – Nothing new to report
    • Gloversville – Working through details of signing a contract on a large piece of real estate with a developer.
    • Johnstown – Nothing new to report
    • Caroga Lake – Nothing new to report
    • Mayfield – Nothing new to report
    • Dolgeville – Nothing new to report

Business Marketing Inquiries

  • A couple of leads came in, one for an RV Center and a couple small businesses.

Combined County Marketing Effort Update

  • Did not meet with County this month due to restrictions.

Loan Applicant Updates

  • The Nick Stoner Inn loan will close next week.

2020 CRG Business Events

  • All cancelled for now.

2020 Initiatives

  • MVRD asked for views and it was suggested that working capital is needed to sustain businesses so they can stay afloat post COVID19. Federal officials are being asked to tweak the MEG program to allow working capital to be provided through that framework.
  • Talking with Jon Stead regularly, submitting reports to their meetings.
  • Currently assembling a list of potential CFA’s, will know more next week.

Other

  • The business needs survey is being developed with collaboration from the Fulton County Supervisors, the IDA and the Fulton Montgomery Chamber of Commerce. This is a joint effort to assist local businesses.
  • CRG staff is working hard on assisting the community with providing input and answering questions. We are in constant contact with local and regional officials, SBA contacts and more.

Conclusion of the President and CEO Report.

 

Adjournment to Executive Session to Discuss Legal Issues

At 9:10 a.m., Kent Kirch moved a motion to adjourn to executive session, Grant Preston seconded the motion and it was passed by all present.

Ronald Olinsky moved a motion to return from executive session, Geoff Peck seconded the motion and it was passed by all present. The Board returned from executive session at 9:18 a.m.

Action Taken:

  • No motions were passed in the Executive Session.

Meeting Adjournment

At 9:20 a.m., Grant Preston moved a motion to adjourn the meeting which was seconded by Terri Easterly and passed by all present.

Board Meetings are held the Fourth Friday of the Month
at the CRG Main Office
at 8:30 AM

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