SeVEDS Board Meeting Minutes

June 16. 2016

 

Attendees: Meg Streeter, Anne, Avery, Susan, Luke, Bob, Drew, Peter Adam, Martin, Laura, Kristin

 

Approve term ending board members (Patrick, Anne and Bill)

Motion: Meg Second: Avery Approved by all

Approve new board member Stephen Dotson

Motion: Anne Second: Peter    Approved by all

Approve 2017 Work Plan (approved on June 16, 2017)

Motion: Meg Second: Avery   Approved by all

 

Three topics we hope we can leave today with a better understanding:

1. SeVEDS Mission  
2. Funding Sources and whether they are sustainable
3. What is our region? We are currently Windham County plus four towns

Overview of SeVEDS and History

• BDCC and SeVEDS are the leaders in economic development
• Real-estate properties BDCC owned was the financial structure and support for SeVEDS
• 3 million 700 thousand dollar budget between BDCC and SeVEDS
• There are a total of 9 staff currently and looking to hire 3 more in the next few weeks
• The young professionals who are engaging with 30 active members
• Green Economy Innovation Hub – 30-40 people in four regions in discussion around economic development

Where we are today – we want to focus on some more recent opportunities that we’ve received

In terms of long term strategic planning – BDCC/SeVEDS is really leading this effort for the state of Vermont

Post VY preparation would not have been as successful if it weren’t for SeVEDS – this was incredible success.

There are other similar prospects that are in the works. – Green Economy Innocation Hub

Living Community Challenge

• Funding for GEIH and the Living Community Challenge
  • CCV and Brooks house could be used for both of these
  • Can incorporate the EPA project
• This came out of the Green Economy Innovation Hub. We could benefit from this project. Built structures that have a positive net contribution. The Living Community Challenge
• Can apply this to a college campus
• LCC vs PCC – the latter being at least three, one of which must be either Water, Energy or Materials, and the other two must be 01—Limits to Growth and 20—Inspiration and Education
• Initial master plan compliance (valid for up to 3 years)
• Two simple rules: all imperatives and actual performance (operational for at least 12 months prior to certification)
• Transect – must select one, likely L3 – village or campus zone (Maybe look for a campus for this project, maybe one located within Brooks House—VCT and/or CCV?)
• Scale jumping – “nesting” of certain imperatives in larger integral context? “Solutions beyond project footprint are acceptable.”
• LCC toolkit to be available on website?
• “Regional Solutions” (pg 16) – maybe near-climate-neutral biomass combustion fits here?
• 01 – Limits to Growth: previously developed within 100-year floodplain excluded (historic communities developed prior to 1945 exempted)?
• 02 – Urban Agriculture: Floor Area Ratio (FAR)?
• 03 – Habitat Exchange: 1:1 development; qualified land set aside (such as Nature Conservancy?)
• 04 – Human-Powered Living: combination of ped-friendly, bike support, and public transit
• 05 – Net Positive Water (scale jumping permitted): REI role?
• 06 – Net Positive Energy (scale jumping permitted): combustion excluded and 1 week energy storage required for critical and emergency services (how? Battery banks?)
• 07 – Civilized Environment: community programs and historic heritage preservation
• 08 – Healthy Neighborhood Design: some tough ones here because of the “1/2-mile” scale and the “health and wellness education plan” (details forthcoming…)
• 09 – Biophilic Environment: Need a plan, and must involve at least one all-day planning project on the topic (and with reference for the plan being a Kellert text) and
  “The plan should include historical, cultural, ecological, and climatic studies that thoroughly examine the site and context for the Community.”
• 10 – Resilient Community Connections: 4 bullets, all seem reasonable/achievable
• 11 – Living Materials Plan: 3 parts from LBC: Red List, Responsible Industry, Living Economy Sourcing
• 12 – Embodied Carbon Footprint: sanctioned carbon offsets (50% less required for renovating/ reusing existing structures/infrastructure
• 13 – Net Positive Waste: mainly about construction waste management but includes consumer recycling and food composting
• 14 – Human Scale and Humane Places: detailed guidelines in table but need to check how the Harmony Place plan fits?
• 15 – Universal Access to Nature & Place: universal access to art, street furniture…sunlight (not sure about this one—seems pretty convoluted in the Transect Table), and water (you don’t need to create access to water if your project does not have “open” water?)
• 16 – Universal Access to Community Services: PT access 7 – 7?
• 17 – Equitable Investment: Donation requirement: $0.005/1 of project cost
• 18 – JUST participation by at least two team members per project in LCC
• 19  – Beauty & Spirit: Public art reqs
• 20 – Inspiration & Education: 6 bullets on all levels of project documentation including a website, brochure, maintenance-operations manuals, and a case study of the LCC project.
• Pilot projects: First Hill in Seattle “Thank you to the Bullitt Foundation, Summit Foundation, Kresge Foundation, and Boeing Foundation…” report document is summation of a year’s work…

RCDI

• How can we better align the work we are doing with what others are doing in Windham and Bennington
• Working with organizations in Low-Moderate Income communities
• To build a network and potentially that is capable to create a Southern Vermont CEDS
• Two-year program $230,000 USDA contribution

 

WCEDP

• Project results to date:
  • Projects approved to date: 632 jobs in Windham County associated
  • 747 projects in the pipeline

BDDC

• Now doing development again for buying properties  
• When a prospect comes in we can show you a path way to build and develop

What is our funding?

• BDDC, The State of Vermont, Towns – most of the efforts for the mission has been grants
• Is there a way to get corporate support? Can you support the organization or a specific project? How do we get this to function?

What should we be working on other than reversing the economic decline?

• Our regional economy differs than others in Vermont
• Why don’t we have the data to see if this has been changed? We are learning some new data sources for the county. Some of the data you can get in small but you have the wait until it is released. BDCC has designated funds for data sources.
• Population is stagnant – we are competing – nationwide rural problem
• “Reverse the decline” – we are ready to think about the region in a more positive way
• Let’s talk about growing
• Instead of the decline – promote the positive
• Could it be something around green economy? – these seems to around some of our biggest assets
• Is the mission to create an infrastructure (SeVEDS Projects – economic development) that rivals any place in New England or should we be saying this a place we compete nationally?
• Virtues Economy – one where people are earning enough to consume.
• Mission: inspirational, achievable,
• What does success look like?
  • Vibrant, enable, virtues, aspirational  
  • The accomplish a demographic shift
    • What do you do to attract millennials? New businesses, atmosphere to create to fill that gap? If you don’t fill that gap there will be no one left. How do you change this?
  • If you want to grow the population that’s here, how do you increase diversity? Our economy will not grow if this does not change – work being done by  Alex Beck, Workforce & Education Specialist and Stephen Dotson, new SeVEDS Board Member and Co-Chair of the GEIH International Team
  • Big  Idea: Create a vital and virtues economy.
  • How: Work collaboratively, work regionally
  • We need to be thinking of ourselves in terms of where do I want to live? Where do I want to live? Where do I want to shop?  We are now appealing to a different customer
  • We are going to create the best economic thriving environment in New England

 

• What we need is people are willing to invest in this – that’s what will create this. Can I risk the capital to do this?

• We want to create a place for people to want to be here

• Not enough people

• Grow your environment

• Who’s the target audience? – the people who are trying to decide if they want to move here, build an investment, and risk capital

• The average person moving to the area wouldn’t necessarily be seeing out missions – your business is your audience

• Is this an organizational goal?

• It would inform what we are doing and what we tell the region we are doing. So when we have the elevator conversation

• We are now looking for that investor – how do we reach these people?

• We have a lot of stories that you can’t really find anywhere – there need to be marketing for these stories – build an archive

• We want people to come invest here – we still want to someone that will say they want to be here! – you just need to bring a person here

• Need a corporate business to invest in the Southern Vermont Sustainable marketing plan

 

Sustainable Funding

• Mission Supporters for growing your environment – tied to employees and would be a reasonable metrics, fee tied to how much the organization makes
• Messaging on what we are doing – we do have programs and successes that we can point to. Along with the data. All of these thing will be in place soon to do this successfully. Paint the picture for what we are doing and what we need support for.
  • Tie this to the Southern Vermont Sustainable Marketing Planning