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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/01/1995 EDC MinutesMINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Trustees Room, Village Hall Thursday, June 1, 1995 8:00 A.M. The regular meeting of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the Village of Mount Prospect was held on Thursday morning, June 1, 1995 at the Village Hall in the Trustees Room, 100 South Emerson Street, Mount Prospect, Illinois. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. by Chairman John Riordan. Members present were: Bruce Gillilan, Ben Trapani and Norman Kurtz. Members absent were: Brian McCarthy and Dale Jessie. Also present were Janet Hansen, Executive Director of the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce; William J. Cooney, Director of Community Development Department; and Dave Hulseberg, Deputy Director of Community Development. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes of the May 4th meeting were approved on a motion by Norman Kurtz, seconded by Ben Trapani. The motion to approve the minutes passed unanimously, 4 ayes, 0 nays. OLD BUSINESS Review of Current Business Development Contacts Mr. Cooney indicated that staff is continuing to work with Stimsonite to locate their manufacturing facility in the Kensington Business Center. Mr. Cooney stated that they currently lease space in the Kensington Center but are considering relocating a 150,000 square foot manufacturing facility on 10 vacant acres in Kensington. Mr. Cooney also indicated that Braun Hinge was seriously considering locating on 7 vacant acres in the Kensington Business Center on Feehanville Drive. He indicated the facility would be approximately 70,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space. If both the Stimsonite and Braun deals come to fruition, the majority of the Kensington properties would be fully developed. Mr. Cooney indicated that he met with the owners of Schumacher Electric to discuss the possibility of relocating to the Trade Services Building on Central Road. He stated that the existing building is 50,000 square feet and that Schumacher would be interested in constructing an additional 20,000 square feet for their manufacturing operation. He stated that he is attempting to set a site visit for the Schumacher facilityso that staff can get a better understanding of their total operation. Mr. Cooney also indicated that the 14 unit theater complex proposed by General Cinema would be moving forward through the zoning process. He met with representatives from Rouse/Randhurst this week to discuss the time schedule for the proposal. Economic Development Commission Minutes Page 2 Mr. Kurtz asked for status on the downtown projects. The status of the Pontarelli project, Northwest Electric and vacancies in the downtown were discussed. In addition, Mr. Hulseberg indicated that SportMart was continuing construction of the facility on Rand Road and that Easy Rider had occupied their Rand Road facility. NEW BUSINESS A. Business Liaison Letter There was some general discussion regarding the letter that was sent to all the business contacts by the Economic Development Commission. It was decided that Commission members would follow up on the letter with phone calls within the upcoming month. B. Bank Loan Pool Chairman Riordan indicated that he, Mr. Hulseberg and Mr. Cooney had met with John Eilering and Mike Abbrazini to discuss the potential of a local bank pool for new business prospects. He indicated that it was only a preliminary meeting but that there was some general optimism that it was a possibility. The discussion had revolved around the Micro Loan Program for start-up businesses that all the local commercial banks could contribute to. Staff indicated that they would continue to follow -up with the local banks and they would update the Economic Development Commission as they move forward. C. EDC Annual Report Mr. Cooney distributed the revised version of the Economic Development Annual Report for review by the Commission. Mr. Kurtz indicated that he would attempt to be present at the Village Board meeting when the report was presented. It was contemplated that it would be presented at the June 20th Village Board meeting for the Board's approval. Mr. Gillilan moved to approve the 1994 Economic Development Commission Annual Report, and it was seconded by Mr. Kurtz. The motion to approve the report was passed unanimously 4 -0. D. ICSC Conference Update Mr. Hulseberg indicated that he had recently attended the International Council of Shopping Centers Annual Conference in Las Vegas. He stated that he met with each of the five major commercial developers that own shopping centers in Mount Prospect who were attending the Conference. -He stated that he felt he made some valuable contacts and that he hoped to bring some of the businesses he met into the Village. There was general discussion of the value of having Commission members attend such conferences. It was unanimous that there should be representations at the local conferences and agreement to discuss attending outside conferences at a further date. Mr. Gillilan stated that the Economic Development Economic Development Commission Minutes Page 3 Commission may want to consider the use of floppy disks as a means of marketing the Village. The Economic Development Commission asked staff to investigate this possibility and report back to the Commission. E. Northwest Association of Realtors - Mount Prospect as an Address for Your Business Mr. Hulseberg stated that he felt that it would be beneficial to have a breakfast meeting with all commercial brokers that do business in Mount Prospect. He stated it would be an opportunity for the Village to demonstrate the positive attributes of locating businesses in Mount Prospect and provide a forum for interaction between the commercial brokerage community and the Village. He stated that it was an opportunity for the Economic Development Commission to have a pro- active approach with the commercial brokers and provide the brokers an opportunity to discuss concerns that they may have with Village procedures. Mr. Kurtz stated he felt that it may be appropriate to invite the manager of various residential brokerage firms to ensure that they are aware of the efforts of the Commission. There was unanimous support for the general concept and there was request that staff further investigate the possibility and look for a date in the future for this breakfast meeting. F. Small Business Development Corporation Mr. Cooney indicated that staff had met with representatives of the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC). The SBDC is located in Evanston and up until recently had a branch location at Harper Junior College. They are currently looking for a satellite location in the Northwest Suburbs to reach their clientele in this area. The SBDC provides counseling to start up businesses, free of charge. They stated that all they are looking for is an office for one day a month to meet with their clientele. The Economic Development Commission felt this was a very positive step for small businesses in Mount Prospect and felt it would be very beneficial to the Village. Mr. Cooney said that staff would work with the Chamber to ensure that the word was out that this service was available to start up businesses. There.- was a motion from Ben Trapani, seconded by Norman Kurtz to recommend to the Village Board approval to allow the Small Business Development Corporation to utilize Village facilities for their operation. The office space would be necessary from one to four times a month depending on need. This matter was approved unanimously 4 -0. G. Chairman's Report Chairman Riordan stated that he met with staff several weeks back to discuss the potential to create sub - committees that would focus on specific areas of the Economic Development Commission. He stated that he had hoped to form a business attraction/new business committee that would be responsible for bringing business into the Village. He asked that Ben Trapani act as Chairman of this committee. Mr. Trapani accepted. In addition, he asked Mr. Kurtz to chair the advertising/public relation committee of the Economic Development Commission. He stated that he would hope that this sub - committee would work with staff Economic Development Commission Minutes Page 4 to create and distribute marketing information on the Village and to get the word out on the street of what the Economic Development Commission does. Mr. Kurtz said he would accept this sub - committee chairman position. Chairman Riordan stated that he had further committees that he would like to create at a future date and that would be an issue to discuss at upcoming Commission meetings. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Cooney stated that he is currently the Vice - Chairman of the Northwest Municipal Conference's Economic Development Commission. He stated that this Commission is formulated of all the Community Development Directors in the Northwest Municipal Area and that the goal is to provide a regional viewpoint on economic development issues. He asked that if any of the Economic Development Commission members had ideas on regional issues to please forward that information to his attention. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 a.m.