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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-14 ACE MINUTES• • • ALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD October 14, 2004 I. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood (ACE) was called to order at 11 :40 a.m. by Vice-Chair McDermott. Present: Absent: Council: Chamber: Staff: Cook, Guinther, McDermott, Panetta, Vasilas , Lonborg Schalk (no previous notice) Wolosyn, Woodward Penning Hollingsworth ,.Simpson Chair Panetta stated that he will have to leave at 12:30 p.m.; therefore , he was asking Vice-Chair M cDermott to ch air the entire meeting. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES September 9 , 2004 Vice-Chair McDermott stated that the Minutes of September 9, 2004 were to be considered for approv al. Cook moved : Guinther seconded: The Minutes of September 9, 2004 be approved as written . The motion carried . III. DATE OF NOVEMBER ACE MEETING November 11 --Holiday Mr. Hollingsworth stated that the regularly scheduled ACE meeting in November would be on November 11, which is Veteran's Day and is a Federal Holiday. The Civic Center will be closed. He stated that ACE needs to establish a new meeting date . Mr. Hollingsworth pointed out that were the meeting date to be advanced to November 41 \ staff could not get a packet pre- pared and delivered because he and Mr. Simpson will be attending an Economic Development Institute training session in Oklahoma City .. The ACE could move the November meeting back one week to November 18 if the membership so desires. Discussion ensued. It was the consensus of the membership that the November meeting date will be moved back one week to November 18. Mr. Cook commen ted that he will not be able to be in attendance -he will be on vacation. IV . ACE BY-LAWS Terms of Office H :\G ROUP\BO A RD S\ACE\M i nutes\2 004\AC E I 0-14-04 .doc 1 • • • Mr. Hollingsworth stated that upon research, staff determined that ACE has no written by-laws, and while the City Attorney's Office has said that By-laws are not mandatory, it is advisable to have them. The Ordinance establishing ACE was quite explicitly written, and sets out the length of time one person may serve as Chair -two consecutive one-year terms. Mr. Vasilas entered the meeting at 11:45 a.m. and took his chair with the members. Mr. Hollingsworth stated that research through past minutes of ACE indicate that former Chair Van Der Zwaag resigned as Chair in November, 2002, and that Mr. Panetta was "appointed" Chair at the December 2002 meeting. The two year "term limit" for Mr. Panetta will be up in December 2004, at which time it appears ACE will need to choose a new Chairman. Mr. Hollingsworth stated he will write by-laws for ACE and have a draft available for the meet- ing in November. V. GREATER ENGLEWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Cristin Penning Ms. Cristin Penning, Executive Director of the Chamber, discussed the activities of the Chamber of Commerce. She stated that a new office administrator, Carolyn O'Brien, will begin work on Monday, October 18. Ms. Penning cited goals the Chamber has established for 2005, which in- clude expanding membership, increasing staff, and offering health insurance and workman's comp to members. Ms . Penning stated that the Englewood Chamber is negotiating with the Denver Chamber of Commerce to "piggy-back" to provide the health insurance, and if this can be accomplished the rates could be lower than trying to procure insurance individually. Ms. Penning stated that the Chamber is hosting a "Business After Hours" event this evening, from 5 -8 p.m.; the event will be held at the Lakewood Holiday Inn, 7390 West Hampden Ave- nue . Several other events the Chamber will be hosting were cited by Ms. Penning, including recognizing Community Volunteers at a luncheon on November 5th -this will be held at the Wellshire Inn; also there will be an event honoring "Women in Business" on October 28 at the Alexan City Center at 11 :30 a.m. Ms. Penning cited the cooperation between the City and the Chamber on a number of activities , including the Annual Awards and Gala, the Holiday Party , business recognition and retention. The City (Mr. Hollingsworth) also contributes items to the Chamber newsletter, and the Cham- ber is involved with ACE members on the Business Visitation program. Ms . Penning stated that she and Mr. Hollingsworth are working on an "Educational Merchant Training Program" they hope to begin in the near future. Ms. Penning stated that the Chamber is most appreciative of the partnership efforts with the City . Ms . McDermott stated that the Chamber will be publishing the 2004 Directory in the near future and hoped that the City would be proud of their efforts. This publication will feature many of the art pieces that have been located throughout the City. Ms . McDermott also expressed her appreciation to Mr. Hollingsworth for his assistance to the Chamber. H:IG ROUP\BOARDS\ACE\Minutes\2004\ACE I 0-14-04.doc 2 • • • Mr. Cook commented that many small businesses have dropped health insurance for their em- ployees because of the expense. He asked if the ACE and/or the Chamber could assist in form- ing a coalition or consortium of the small businesses so that they could qualify for better insur- ance rates. Mr. Vasilas commented that sometimes "group" insurance is more expensive be- cause as a group policy it must cover everyone -including "pre-existing" conditions. Brief dis- cussion ensued. Ms. Lonborg entered the meeting at 11:55 a.m. and took her chair with the membership. Mr. Vasilas asked Ms. Penning if she had looked into the group advertising issue he had raised at the last meeting; the merchants are interested in this for the Holiday season. Ms. Penning stated that she had spoken to Tom Munds of the Englewood Herald, but has not pursued it with the Denver Post. Mr. Hollingsworth thanked Ms. Penning for suggesting to new business contacts that they also need to talk to City personnel to see what assistance the City can offer, or what regulations may apply to a business in a specific zone district. Ms. Penning stated that they are trying to make the Chamber of Commerce more "visible" to the business community, and is also working on a partnership with the Swedish Medical Center. VI. SWEDISH MEDICAL CENTER lOOTH ANNIVERSARY ACTIVITIES Julie Lonborg Ms. Lonborg stated that the 1001 h anniversary of Swedish Medical Center will be in March, 2005. The medical center originally began as a TB Sanitarium and has evolved into a full ser- vice hospital. Swedish Medical Center has long been known for the beautiful gardens that were planted in the front of the hospital, and very visible from adjoining rights-of-way. Over the course of the years, and the many expansions and construction projects, the gardens were re- duced in size, or in some instances eliminated. Ms. Lonborg stated that now the "center court" in front of the hospital has been dedicated to a replication of the gardens. There will be no further expansion of the hospital to the south to disturb the gardens. Ms. Lonborg stated that the State of Colorado has the worst child immunization record of any state in the union, and Swedish Medical Center is working to change this "record". Swedish has partnered with three area Rotary Clubs to found a community service project -"shots for tots". Ms. Lonborg stated that Swedish has the "doll-horse figurines for sale. These figurines range in price from $3,000 for a large size down to $65, and all proceeds from sales go to the "shots for tots". She stated that Swedish is trying to figure out some way to encourage business community par- ticipation in the activities for the 1001 h anniversary -maybe a window painting contest or some- thing similar. Ms. Penning asked if the Chamber could do a "business after hours" event in the lobby area of the hospital. Ms. Lonborg stated that if the weather was good, the new gardens would be a spe- H:\G ROUP\BOARDS\ACE\Minutes\2004\ACE I 0-14-04.doc 3 • cial area for such an event. She noted that Swedish recently did the annual "breakfast for em- ployees" in the new gardens, and it was wonderful. Ms . Wolosyn commented on possible City contribution to the doll-horse project. Brief discus- sion ensued. VII. BUSINESS DIRECTORY/REGISTRATION Mr. Hollingsworth stated that in early 2003, ACE discussed a proposed business registration process, but the proposal did not go forward. The issue has been raised anew by a member of City Council, and ACE is being asked to consider the possibility of business registration again. Mr. Simpson discussed the proposed business registration program. He noted that Englewood has a wide variety of businesses , many of them do not need sales tax licenses, and the City really has no good information on business types , services provided, or services needed by the business community. Mr. Simpson reiterated the value of a business registration/directory to the eco- nomic development program of the Cit y. When a new business locates in the City , there is no one contact point for that businessman -they m ay need a sales tax license , may need to meet with representatives of the Fire Department, the Building Division , and/or the Planning Division. One of the goals of the business directory/registration proposal is to establish the "one point of contact". Mr. Simpson stated that he is not viewing the business directory/registration process as a revenue source , but as an improved information data base of the business community. • Mr. Cook stated that he knew of at least three businesses that operate on the inter-net, and do a good volume of business. Is there anyway that the revenues from these inter-net businesses can be taxed. Mr. Simpson stated that there may be a lot of inter-net businesses that we do not know about. He stated that he did not know of any means at the present time for a City to levy t axes on an inter-net business. • Ms . Lonborg asked what the Council position is regarding the business registration. Ms. Wolo- syn suggested that Council may consider a small "fee" on the business registration . Mr. Simpson stated that several communities have a business registration process -some communities levy a fee for the registration , other communities do not. Mr. Hollingsworth noted that Denver, Aurora, Westminster and Sheridan all have business "registration". Mr. Simpson stated that the City is redesigning/developing a new web-page for the City, and there will be a lot of information for a new business interested in determining what is available. He reiterated that a lot of businesses -such as service-oriented businesses -that have no contact with the City. Ms. McDermott noted that some business owners are very sensitive on financial issues , and probably would oppose a fee structure tied to revenue levels. Mr. Simpson acknowledged that this will have to be taken into consideration, and stated that the City does not want to come across as "big brother". He suggested that participation in the registration/directory should be on a voluntary basis at first. H:\GROUP\BOARDS\ACE\Minutes\2004\ACE l 0-14-04 .doc 4 • • • Ms. Lonborg posed the query: how can you "shop Englewood" if one doesn't know what types of businesses are in Englewood, or an address of a business you may be interested in visiting. Discussion ensued. Mr. Panetta stated that it would be helpful to have information in terms of what the research will contain: what cities have a directory/registration program, are there costs affiliated with the registration, what have they found beneficial in the process and after the fact - not what is in it for the City, but what it means for the business itself. He asked that information be included in the packet to allow ACE members time to peruse the information in advance of the meeting. Mr. Simpson stated that staff will work to get research information together. Mr. Panetta excused himself from the meeting . Mr. Vasilas commented that the City should have information pertaining to all types of busi- nesses, and that this could be a security safeguard, also. Ms . McDermott agreed that there might be security reasons for the information, but reiterated her advice against requiring too much in- formation of businesses. Mr. Simpson agreed. He commented that he felt it is better to "guide businesses up-front" rather than having to send someone out to close them down because they may be in the wrong location , or not in compliance with some other regulation. Mr. Woodward suggested that the business directory/registration could be used as a business "re- source" for the total community, and not just for the business community. Brief discussion ensued. Mr. Simpson stated that ACE will be kept informed regarding the di- rectory/registration proposal. VIII. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Update Mr. Hollingsworth stated that the Economic Development Strategy was considered by the Plan- ning & Zoning Commission at a study session on October 5th . The Commission had several comments and concerns regarding the ED Strategy, including: > "Living Wage" -the commission recommended developing more optimistic language to indicate an improved wage scale for employees. > Void Analysis -the commission asked about developing a city-wide void analysis to de- termine leakage and demand for goods/services. > Develop a comprehensive list of impediments to development. > Regionalism -the Commission indicated that the ED Strategy should build upon things happening elsewhere in the Denver metro area. They suggested that regional influences will shape targeted industries and clusters . > Link business community to school district , universities , and other educational instruc- tions in the region. > The Commission wanted to understand if the ED Strategy could address anticipated demographic shifts anticipated in the next 20 years. For example, the Denver Regional Council of Governments estimates that the population of individuals over 60 years of age will double in the next 20 years . > Measures -Develop measures to determine what success looks like. H:\GROUP\BOARDS\ACE\Mi nutes\2004\ACE I 0-14-04 .doc 5 • • • Mr. Hollingsworth stated that a second study session with the Commission has been scheduled for November 2 (date may change because of national election), with the public hearing sched- uled after that. There may be some minor "tweaking" of the document, but no major rewrite. Mr. Simpson stated that the process to adopt the ED Strategy may seem quite long, but the ef- forts that ACE, the Planning Commission, City Council and staff have devoted to this will be well worth the time. Brief discussion ensued. Ms. Lonborg stated that she would like to see the "indicators" refer- enced. Ms. McDermott stated that the ED Strategy will be brought back to ACE. She also asked that ACE membership be notified of dates of Public Hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. She stated that the ACE membership will be happy to attend the Hearings in support of staff and the ED Strategy. IX. ENGLEWOOD CAR SHOW Mr. Vasilas distributed information regarding the proposed Englewood Car Show. The proposed d ate is now July 23, 2005, which is a Saturday. Mr. Vasilas stated that the cost to the merchants is $1,350, and they have approximately $600 raised to this date. Mr. Vasilas cautioned that the City and business community must keep in mind that access to businesses cannot be inhibited - many of them have big sales going on during this period of time , plus the merchants also want to have a sidewalk sale for this same weekend. Mr. Vasilas reiterated that the alleys and streets must be kept open . Ms . Guinther stated that the primary location for the car show is the parking lot in the 3400 block of South Lincoln Street; however, a couple of other parking lots need to be identified for "back- up". Ms. Lonborg offered to check with Swedish administration regarding possible use of the lot on South Sherman Street. Ms. Penning asked how many cars are anticipated at the show. Mr. Hollingsworth stated that he has been told there will be 150 show vehicles brought in. Mr. Hollingsworth stated that the re- quest for the car show will be taken before the "Development Review Team'', composed of members of seven City Departments -these team members will review the proposal, and make suggestions/recommendations regarding this event. Mr. Hollingsworth stated that he didn't know whether the proposal will have to go before City Council or not. Ms . Guinther noted that downtown merchants will be holding a "holiday open house" on De- cember 4 1h; there will be carolers strolling the streets and the businesses will be decorated for the holiday season. X. COMMENTS AND EVENTS Ms. Penning reiterated that the Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Business After Hours event this evening, and the Holiday Party is scheduled for December 16 . H:\GROUP\BOARDS \ACE\M inutes\2004\ACE I 0-14-04.doc 6 • Mr. Vasilas stated that Swedish Medical Center is one of the largest employers in the City. He asked how the medical center and the downtown merchants can work together to encourage pa- tronage of the business community by the hospital employees -restaurants, clothing stores, etc. He asked Ms. Lonborg how she might be able to assist in promoting this cooperation. Ms. Lon- borg stated that SMC has a strong policy against solicitation on campus -this would prohibit ad- vertisement flyers in the lobby, or on bulletin boards. She said she would pursue this issue with SMC administration and get back to the ACE membership. Mr. Simpson suggested one thing the merchants might explore is use of "information pockets" that some RTD buses may have -they could ask that promotional brochures be placed on the buses and be available to the ridership. Nothing further was brought up for discussion. The meeting was declared adjourned. Membership was reminded that the next meeting of the ACE will be on November 18. Gertrude G. Welty, Recording Se • Action Items: • Established new November meeting date. Agenda Items: Write By-laws for November 18 meeting Research information for Business Director/Registration program Report on DRT review of Car Show request H:\GROUP\BOARDS\ACE\Minutes\2004\ACE I 0-14-04.doc 7