DRAFT

Economic Development Committee

Minutes

November 10, 2010

           The DeKalb County Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, November 10, 2010 @ 7:00p.m., in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East.  Chairman Eileen Dubin called the meeting to order.  Members present were Sally DeFauw, Julia Fauci, Riley Oncken, Mark Todd and Pat Vary.  Mr. Metzger, Sr., was absent.  Those also present were Paul Borek, Derek Tyson and Monica O’Leary.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

            Moved by Ms. Fauci, seconded by Mr. Oncken, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from October, 2010.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

            Ms. Vary asked to amend the agenda so that she could talk about a telecommunications seminar that she attended.

            Moved by Mr. Todd, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to approve the amended agenda.

CHAIR'S COMMENTS

            Chairman Dubin thanked everyone on the committee for serving on it and beginning the Go Green Initiative and the Small Business Initiative.  She was very glad that these would be ongoing projects.

Chairman Dubin updated the committee about the grant and final phase from Dr. Gleeson. He has not done the 3^rd part yet on the entertainment portion.  She will be contacting Dr. Gleeson to have him send out the end result of the grant.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MONTHLY REPORT – MR. PAUL BOREK

            Mr. Borek said that in response to Dr. Gleeson’s report and efforts with the manufacturing groups that they put together for the study and DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation’s (DCEDC) business retention visits of last year and this year, they are putting together a proposal to examine the feasibility of assisting the manufacturing sector by establishing a more formal network of manufacturing and industrial business owners and managers to help facilitate their growth and help them address some common opportunities and challenges that they face, including, workforce development , attracting young people into the skilled professions today, and help manufacturers and industries collaborate to share ideas regarding new product development , problem solving, innovation. 

One of the things that Dr. Gleeson had identified was that managers and owners come from different backgrounds and focused on their businesses and industries as opposed to manufacturers of long ago, they may not have strong contacts in the county.  They may not know that there may be collaborative help in the next town over.

            We would propose to do this by first convening a larger group of manufacturers and industrialists and reviewing the findings of the business retention visits of 2009 and findings of this report. 

            Mr. Borek then mentioned that they are awaiting the video product from the Community Online program that he worked on and Linda Heinisch.  They put together 10 one to one and half minute videos working with CGI through the National Association of Counties.  Chairman Tobias coordinated the project.  They talk about quality of life, healthcare, parks and recreation to name a few, to highlight the terrific advantages and characteristics of DeKalb County.  They had leaders throughout the County that participated.  They should be getting the proofs shortly and they will refine them and get them available for the County’s website and DCEDC’s website.

The committee thanked Mr. Borek for his report.

PAT VARY REPORTING ON THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS EXTENSION’S LOCAL GOVENRMENT INFORMATION TELE-INSITUTE SEMINAR

            Ms. Vary said that she recently attended a seminar given by the University of Illinois Extension Unit.  She said that this seminar talked about Regionalism: An Approach to Economic Development.  She said that many people from other counties took part in the seminar.  An interesting thing she said is if you look at page 9, Purdue has a software program that she thinks can take in a lot of data of what Dr. Gleeson has talked about.  We could generate such a chart.  We would get a graphic cluster of what the County businesses’ profiles are and where we need to improve. This might be something worth looking into she said.

SMALL BUSINESS EXPO UPDATE

Ms. Supple reminded the committee that the Small Business Expo will take place on Monday, November 29, 2010 from 6-9:00p.m. in the Legislative Center’s Gathertorium and in the lobby of that building. 

ADJOURNMENT

            Moved by Ms. Vary, seconded by Ms. DeFauw, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Eileen Dubin, Chairman

ed:mcs

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