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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-03-09 ACE MINUTESALLIANCE FOR COMMERCE IN ENGLEWOOD March 9, 2006 I. CALL TO ORDER The regular meeting of the Alliance for Commerce in Englewood (ACE) was called to order at 11 :40 a.m. in the City Council Conference Room of the Englewood Civic Center, Vice Chair Vasilas presiding. Present: Schalk, Vasilas , Verbeck, Guinther, Longborg (e nt e re d a t i i:so), Panetta Absent: McDermott (excused) Also present: Jim Woodward, City Council Representative Kristin Penning, Chamber Representative Deborah l<elly, WestStar Bank Staff present: Darren Hollingsworth, Economic Development Coordinator Mark Graham, Senior Planner APPROVAL OF MINUTES February 16, 2006 Vice Chair Vasilas stated that the Minutes of February 16, 2006 were to be considered for approval. Guinther moved: Schalk seconded: The Minutes of February 16, 2006 be approved as written. The motion carried unanimously. ELECT CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR FOR 2006 Mr. Hollingsworth stated that the ord in ance creating ACE specifica ll y states that an individual may serve as "Chair" no longer than two consecutive terms, a "term" being one year. Both Ms. McDermott and Mr. Vasilas were elected last year. The By-laws require a Chair position and a Vice Chair position to be elected. Vice Chair Vasilas ca ll ed for nominations for Chair for 2006. Panetta moved: Schalk seconded: Margaret McDermott be elected to serve as Chair of ACE for 2006. The motion carried unanimously. 1 Vice Chair Vasilas ca ll ed for nominations for Vice-Chair for 2006. Vasilas moved: Verbeck seconded: Mr. Schalk be elected to serve as Vice-Chair of ACE for 2006. The motion carried unanimously. 11. ACE BUSINESS CITY COUNCIL RETREAT Mr. Hollingsworth stated City Council held a retreat on Saturday, February 25, 2006 from 8:30 to 1 :3 0 . Issues centered around economic development. Discussion focused on projects and updates on projects. A comm unity profile has been created for Englewood, which staff is going to begin using as a marketing piece. A copy was distributed to those present for their review. Mr. Hollingsworth noted the updated community profi l e will also be placed on the City's website and used to provide information to prospective businesses. Mr. Verbeck asked if the effectiveness of the Sports Authority was discussed. Mr. Hollingsworth stated the retreat centered more on projects that are on the table now and in the short term. He noted Community Development put together a rather sizeable book for the Council Retreat. He stated the book had been burned to a compact disk for the Commission's review. Copies were distributed. The compact disk contains information on current projects staff is work ing on. Also, economic development resources, programs we work with as a City, programs we have had over the years and how they can be expanded and brought up to date, the economic strategy, community profile and information on a variety of projects, includin g the BID, citizen's survey and the business forum series are on the compact disk. Mr. Hollingsworth said one of the things discussed with Council was that the book could be used as a reference guide for new projects or updates for the BID. Mr. Hollingsworth gave a short report on the projects discussed with City Council at the Retreat. ACE 2006 ACTIVITIES Mr. Hollingsworth distributed a memo regarding ACE Action Items for 2006 that were discussed by City Council. He stated items discussed were landscaping and how it is impeding activity in the industrial areas and how parking r equirements impact development. The City's parking standards have impa cted the sca le of development in some cases, limiting the size of buildings . Other issues discussed were set-back requirements on Broadway and the sign code. The sign code could be more creative . The entire packet of ideas is going to Planning Commission on March 21 st. One of the things Council indicated as a priority was "balancing flexibility with the City's requirements". Staff put together a memo on March 9111 listing issues ACE has previously been working on and to get an understanding of where ACE stands on each of the Action Items for 2006 . 2 Mr. Hollingsworth began with educational topics. A bus i ness workshop/training was held last year with the South Metro Chamber of Commerce. There was not as much Englewood participation as there was from areas outside of Englewood. Ms. Penning noted the reason for less Englewood participation may be that it was lead by the South Metro Chamber of Commerce. It is something the merchant's expressed interest in, whether it is the storefront beautification or business marketing. Mr. Hollingsworth asked ACE if they would be interested in seeing these items advance in 2006 and holding business workshops. Mr. Vasilas felt it was a good idea to have at least one workshop. A good speaker would need to be sought out. He would also like to see the Englewood Chamber lead the workshop. Ms. Penning asked if the workshop would be similar to the one the Englewood Chamber did in conjunction with the South Metro Chamber. Mr. Vasilas stated it would be. Mr. Hollingsworth asked if a workshop were to be held, what would be the topic. Mr. Vasilas said he would like it to be marketing. Mr. Schalk asked if a job fair could be incorporated into the session to help find potential employees. Mr. Hollingsworth stated that was an excellent idea . Mr. Hollingsworth stated that might be a stand alone goal; to do a workshop or an event that would coordinate with the schools. He said staff was not familiar with that area, but could talk to the schools and see how their needs could be better met and to work on a strategy. Mr. Panetta suggested we market to Arapahoe Community College and the Metro campus due to the fact they can use Light Rail to reach Englewood. Mr. Panetta asked if anyone knew how to market to TOD's for retailers. He stated, in his opinion, there is a real opportunity on Broadway to start marketing to get people to turn south to Englewood rather than north into the city from the redevelopment at the old Gates complex. How do we market to those people and anything we can do to push Bates along would be beneficial. Mr. Hollingsworth stated one item proposed is the development of a marketing plan for Englewood. An issue that has been discussed in the past is the role of the City in marketing the City, and the role of the businesses in marketing their respective businesses to the area. The BID, if it goes forward, is going to be working on a lot of the marketing ideas. Mr. Verbeck responded by asking "if you do market the merchants on Broadway, will people come." There are some on Broadway who are destination merchants, such as Ted's, l<aufmann's, Artorama, etc. Mr. Hollingsworth stated one of the difficult things in developing a marketing campaign is actually coming up with the measures as a result of it. Resources are very limited so they have to be plugged in very wisely. What defines success after doing an ad for a targeted business? The largest employers in Englewood are medical, automotive, small contractors, and sports related retail and manufacturing. Mr. Hollingsworth stated as the marketing strategy is developed staff would like to bring it back to ACE and have ACE review and comment on it before lau nching the idea . Mr. Vasilas said he feels a local publication is needed for Englewood. He said it has been brought up to the Downtown Englewood Merchant's Association several times, but at this time there are no funds available for such a publication . Hopefully, funds will be available 3 next year. Ms. Penning stated she would speak to the Chamber Board about the idea and see if they can start working on that. Mr. Schalk stated he believes marketing is event driven . He said we can market all the businesses, but what is the excitement.. .. like a job fair or the car show. You have to have an event to promote all the businesses . He indicated that these types of events are lacking in Englewood. Finances need to be focused on two or three events a year that will bring people to Englewood as that is how they will discover the area. Ms. Guinther felt that is debatable. She spoke with the Director of Old Town Arvada, and in her opinion, that is a perception that will bring people into businesses, but the events are more a stand alone situation. They put Old Town Arvada on the map, but they did not bring money into the individual businesses immediately. Later on there is an effect. It's the awareness and educating people that Old Town Arvada or Englewood is rich in destination businesses and history that will bring people in. It's a way of marketing, but it's not the panacea. Mr. Schalk agreed. She said if you can build in components from the events for reasons why people will come back to Englewood, then we will see results of our efforts. Ms. Kelly used Old South Gaylord as an example. For example, they have street fairs and a Christmas walk. They have created themselves as a destination, where there was none. Mr. Schalk said one thing Old south Gaylord has nearby that Englewood does not have is a number of restaurant options so people can go there to eat and not just for the festivities . Ms. Penning announced the Chamber has a new web site with space for advertising. She said it was built specifically so businesses can advertise on it for free . Mr. Vasilas stated at the next meeting he wants to see both Ms. Penning and Mr. Hollingsworth come up with a plan for a workshop to be held in August or September. Mr. Hollingsworth stated staff will work on such a plan. Business registration was discussed. Mr. Vasilas stated he felt that anyone who rents a commercial property in Englewood should have some type of registration or application license to let police and fire know who operates a business in the City. Mr. Schalk said he believes that should apply to home based businesses as well. Mr. Vasilas agreed . Mr. Vasilas asked Mr. Panetta what his thoughts were on the business registration issue. He stated he is in favor of it as long as it does not take a lot of time and effort that the City does not have. Mr. Hollingsworth said it is not whether ACE votes yes or no on the idea of doing it, but does ACE want to look at this in the coming year to see if there is benefit to going forward. If there is benefit, staff will begin putting the information together for discussion . Ms. Guinther stated she felt there has to be some purpose to the registration and how it is going to used only because there is still suspicion by businesses as to whether it is another ploy for generating fees or taxes. She stated, based on the purpose discussed tonight, I think ACE would be in favor of it. Mr. Vasilas said what he was hearing was that ACE would be in favor to begin discussion with the agreement the City will not spend a lot of money. 4 Mr. Hollingsworth stated a good event to launch might be a proposed job training grant or some sort of small business grant to help small businesses. If ACE would consider having a City sponsored, small scale event it could really help the small businesses. He asked the members if that would be something ACE would be interested in having on the agenda for 2006. Mr. Vasilas said he thought that would be excellent PR for the City. BID UPDATE Mr. Vasilas provided an update of the meeting held on February 28t11 • H e stated the boundaries set for the BID are both sides of Broadway from Highway 285 to Yale. Ms . Penning asked if a business outside of the BID boundary area wanted to participate, would they be permitted to do so. Mr. Vasilas said yes, they are welcome to participate. They just need to pay the fee, and the BID will try to help them with marketing and any other tool they can. Mr. Vasilas announced that the BID budget will be $100,000 per year. Every property from Highway 285 to Yale will be assessed. There is over a million square feet along that corridor. The term is ten y ears . If the BID determines it is not working after a few years, they have a choice to not submit a budget for two years in a row to the City Council. .. that will stop the BID or the BID can put it to a vote to the businesses . There will be a slate of seven voting members submitted to the City Council for election. The City has the right to appoint one extra member. The name of the BID is going to be South Broadway Englewood Business Improvement District. Th e next step is to launch the petition. A me eting will be held on March 20th to present the petition and the request to obtain signatures to the City Council. Hopefully, on the 21 st the door-to-door campaign to obtain signatures from business and property owners will begin. Mr. Vasilas passed a sample of the petition around for everyone's review. Mr. Panetta asked what the exempt areas on the map were. Mr. Vasilas stated they are government buildings, churches, non-profit organizations and residences. Mr. Panetta thanked Mr. Vasilas for the explanation. Mr. Hollingsworth stated the assessment is roughly 2.9 cents per square foot for the land and 15 .2 cents for the first floor only of buildings. That should raise the approximately $100,000 per year. Focus will be primarily on marketing and promotions, events, safety and maintenance and a few special projects. Mr. Schalk had a question about the Kings Soopers store . He felt they should be included. Mr. Vasilas stated several meetings were held with them and they are not inte rested in joining due to a bad experience with the Lakewood BID . Mr. Woodward wanted to know about Starbucks. Mr. Vasilas said they would try to get them and the sandwich shop to join. 5 111. COMMENTS & EVENTS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Ms. Penning extended an invitation to ACE members to join the Chamber for Coffee with the Chamber on the 4th Tuesday of every month. The March gathering will be on the 21st at Mile High Coffee. She stated the discussion could revolve around the BID. ACE MEMBERS Ms. Longborg distributed calendars and history books from Swedish Hospital to all members. Mr. Vasilas discussed the car show. He stated a meeting was held last week with the Old Town Englewood Merchants and the car show came up again. A group has agreed to do a car show for no fee, but insurance must be provided. If the City wants to provide insurance and sponsor it, then the car show can move forward. Otherwise, the cost of the insurance is $1,000. Mr. Hollingsworth indicated the Old Town Englewood Merchant's requested the City sponsor the upcoming car show in hopes that they can forego paying for insurance . Mr . Hollingsworth indicated that insurance is required for the use of the public parking lot. Mr. Schalk responded by saying he has a blanket policy that may cover such an event. He also wanted to talk about bands, dates and he said he had a few other things he could bring to the table. Mr . Vasilas stated he would like to get together to discuss his ideas. The car show is tentatively scheduled for the first part of September. Mr. Panetta had one comment. He asked if anyone had read the last City Council Minutes. He said Darren Hollingsworth made a presentation to City Council for continuation of ACE and Councilman Woodward and Mayor Wolosyn were very complimentary of ACE. He thanked both of them for their support of ACE. STAFF COMMENTS Staff had no further comments. Ms. Penning added one comment regarding Chamber events. The Student Recognition Lunch is being held on April 6th. If anyone wants to sponsor any of the students, please let her know. Mr . Vasilas stated he would not be able to attend, but would be sending a check. Ms . Penning thanked him for his support. Mr. Woodward said if anyone gets a chance to look at Westword, there is an article 111 there regarding Mr. Schalk and his venues. 6 No further business was brought forth for consideration. The meeting was adjourned at 1 :05 p .m. 7 UPCOMING ITEMS • Follow-up with Chamber of Commerce on Merchant T raining Program • 2006 Action Items 8