Minutes SeVEDS Board Meeting
May 17, 2012 – 2-4PM
Hannah Cosman Room Brattleboro
In attendance: Jenna Pugliese, Lisa F Sullivan, Bob Stevens, Jeff Lewis, Colby Dix, Susan McMahon, David Alstadt, Bill Colvin, Patrick Moreland, Laura Sibilia
Absent: Barb Sondag, Drew Richards, Dan Yates, Julia Sorenson, Gregg Noble, Tim Cullenen
Lisa motioned to accept the minutes from 4/12; 2nd by David VOTE: unanimous
Bob noted that on some of the the agendas for other boards he serves on there is an agenda item “Public Comments” and wondered if SeVEDS should add such an item to their agendas. The board discussed the differences between private and public boards, public and private funds and the lage amount of work they are grappling with. Bob asked for a broader discussion on the “Public Comments” item to be added to the SeVEDS June agenda.
Susan motioned to accept the April month end financials; 2nd by Lisa VOTE: unanimous
Old Business
CEDS Grant – follow up documents have been sent to EDA. Laura feels confident the grant will be approved prior to the next board meeting. The board had previously approved an RFP for developing the CEDS. She and Patrick would like to make additional changes, including adding the EDA requirements for the CEDS to the RFP. Patrick, Susan and Laura will edit and send to executive committee. Laura will issue edited RFP as soon as funding decision is made. Discussion about where to post, board elected not to pay for placement but to work with existing state networks and posting sites.
Update on legislation – Jeff updated the group on legislative outcomes. The 1.5 VY tax revenue did not come through for economic development, however the money for the joint colleges did come through. The Agency of Commerce and Community Development included the SeVEDS appropriation in their regular budget. Jeff noted how hard ACCD ‘s Secretary and Deputy Secretary, Lawrence Miller and Pat Moulton Powden, worked on our areas behalf and also noted Senator Jeanette Whites support of SeVEDS.
Jeff noted that now was the time to begin outlining our plan for additional funding in the region for next year’s legislatures consideration. Laura noted it was important that the SeVEDS board review the Post VY mitigation strategies, and reminded the board that Post VY intended to meet quarterly to monitor SeVEDS progress towards its goals. Bob asked Laura to forward the Post VY report to SeVEDS board members to review.
Annual Meeting/slate of officers/board member terms recommendations from Executive Committee –
- The Exec Committee has recommended that SeVEDS holds its business annual meeting at its regular July meeting. Finances for the past year will be reviewed, work plan and budget for the coming year approved, slate of officers elected and any new board members elected.
- A second “Public Annual Meeting” will be held on September 20th and will serve to update public officials, towns, businesses and other interested parties. This will also serve as the kickoff event for municipal fundraising via Town Meeting.
- The 2013/14 slate of officers is as follows: Lisa Sullivan, Chair; Jenna Pugliese, Vice Chair; Drew Richards, Treasurer; Julia Sorenson, Secretary. Bob will stay on the SeVEDS board but has asked to step down from the Executive Committee due to his time commitments with the Brooks House project.
- All board members were assigned a one, two or three year term by the executive committee. They were encouraged to switch with other board members if they were so inclined. One year terms: Stephan Morse, Bill Colvin, Colby Dix, David Alstadt, Patrick Moreland. Martin Langeveld, recommended for election to the SeVEDS board in July, will have a one year term. Two year terms: Jeff Lewis, Bob Stevens, Dan Yates, Julia Sorenson, Tim Cullenen. Three year terms: Susan McMahon, Barb Sondag, Gregg Noble, Drew Richards, Lisa Sullivan, Jenna Pugliese.
EDA grant – Susan, Jeff and Laura participated in a conference call with Matthew S. from EDA. He advised that the workforce section should be removed from the application, primarily due to the dollar amount of the overall grant request. He gave a few suggestions for where to look for workforce funding.
Town of Brattleboro Request – Laura and Bob reported that the Town of Brattleboro has agreed to a 25K contribution to SeVEDS immediately and an additional 25K if SeVEDS is able to raise 50K in municipal funds from other towns in the region. David asked what we would be spending the dollars on given the EDA information and only receiving 25K from Brattleboro immediately. There was discussion that the WF group would need to meet and reexamine its plan for next meeting. Laura is looking for additional resources.
New Business
New Board Member – Executive Committee recommends Martin Langeveld as new Board member for SeVEDS Board – Martin is on the Post VY committee and board members who serve with him spoke about the work he has done on and for that group. Martin will be elected in July, but may join the board at their June meeting.
2013 Work Plan – The board reviewed the workplan presented to the Town of Brattleboro which had 4 focus areas – 1. continue task force efforts, 2. develop CEDS, 3. add workforce capacity, 4. execute a regional fundraising plan. Laura will add 5. Create plan for measuring and Public Meeting, 6. Develop an answer to the question what we would do with more funding 6. Continue to challenge the state to raise the priority level of a statewide economic development plan.
Economic Development Strategic Planning Conference – Colby, Laura and Bill all attended and spoke highly of the conference. Some big take aways: don’t burn out your volunteers use them for specific bursts and then let them be done, SeVEDS is doing pretty good thus far in terms of representative involvement, there are good connections to be made at these events. We met up with a Brattleboro area telecommuter involved in economic development for a company in Albany.
Project Updates (5 minutes ea.)
- PR/Marketing – 2 hour meeting June 7 from 3-5 pm will focus on internal communication, annual meeting and fundraising campaign
- Young Professionals – Next event is May 24th at the Wilmington Inn 5:30 – 7
- Innovation / Benchmarking – Patrick handed out a sheet with suggestions for what metrics the task force would be considering
- Workforce/CCV/VTC updates – A reminder to all about the colleges meeting on Tuesday 5/22 at 10 am
Colby asked for funding to attend a ½ day workforce training conference in Portland put on by NEDA. Total cost is $100. Given that the regular board did not have a quorum, the Executive Board reconvened and Lisa moved to approve $200 for Colby and David to attend the NEDA workforce training conference 2nd by Jeff VOTE: unanimous.
Patrick noted that he believes one of SeVEDS successes has been that the SeVEDS board is slowly educating themselves on the complexities of developing our economy. Given the enthusiasm for what was learned at the conference in Albany and Colby’s request, Patrick asked that funds for education and be added to the upcoming year budget.
Upcoming Events
- YP May 24 – Wilmington
- YP July 12 – Stratton
Next SeVEDS Board meeting June 21st