DeKalb County, Illinois

Minutes of the
Economic Development Committee

June 8, 2011

DRAFT

Economic Development Committee
Minutes

June 8, 2011

            The DeKalb County Economic Development Committee met on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 @ 7:00p.m., in the Legislative Center’s Freedom Room.  Chairman Pat Vary called the meeting to order.  Members present were Bob Brown, Julia Fauci, Jeff Metzger, Sr., Riley Oncken and Jeff Whelan.  Paul Borek, Gary Hanson and Herb Kuryliw were present.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

            Moved by Mr. Metzger, Sr., seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from May 2011.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

            Moved by Mr. Whelan, seconded by Mr. Oncken, and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda.

CHAIR'S COMMENTS

Ms. Vary, Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, said that she is inviting people who are involved with the Arts and Entertainment in the County to the committee’s July meeting.  We have sent out many invitations to people involved in the arts and entertainment businesses and organizations to this meeting and so far the response is enthusiastic.

MEMBERSHIP IN THE NORTHEN ILLINOIS TECHNOLOGY TRIANGLE – MR. GARY HANSON AND MR. HERB KURYLIW

            Mr. Hanson, DeKalb County Deputy County Administrator and Mr. Herb Kuryliw from NIU approached the committee regarding DeKalb County becoming a member of the Northern Illinois Technology Triangle through our broadband grant. 

            Mr. Kuryliw said that when he was writing the grant for the broadband project for fiber optics they needed an economic driver.  When he wrote the grant he did include the City of DeKalb and the County of DeKalb to become members of the Northern Illinois Technology Triangle as an economic tool.  What that means is it interconnects us with Chicago, West Chicago, Rochelle and Rockford. We become a capital invested member.  It is a governmental run organization.  There are two types of members, ones that are non-participating and ones that are participants, which we are, since we made a capital investment.  The other participating members are NIU, Rochelle, Ogle County, Winnebago County, and Rockford.  Boone County is a non-participating member. 

            The costs are $125,000 for the equipment and the fiber to get out to the Tollway, which are paid from the grant.  Because of what we have done with NIU, DeKalb Fiber Optics and DeKalb County, we will now have an east and west access to the fiber on the Tollway to make this a ring into the City, which is very attractive.  The other cost is the capital investment of $20,000 that gets you buying a piece of that fiber. He has written in the waiver for the annual membership dues for five years, until 2015.  The annual membership dues are $2,000 per year.  By that point they feel the Performa will pay for the membership.

The $20,000 is written into the grant so that the grant funds will pay for this cost, said Mr. Hanson.  He also said that he has sent this agreement to the State’s Attorney to review and get back to him no later than next week Wednesday.

Mr. Kuryliw said that they have gotten a great response from the schools so far.  They will be contacting the fire departments next.

Mr. Oncken asked if this buys the County a seat at the table.

Mr. Kuryliw said yes, the County vote is weighted heavier than NIU’s vote.

It was moved by Mr. Oncken, seconded by Ms. Fauci, and it was carried unanimously to forward this recommendation to the full board for approval contingent upon the State’s Attorney’s approval.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION MONTHLY REPORT – MR. PAUL BOREK

            Mr. Borek, Executive Director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation, briefly reviewed his monthly report for the committee.

            Mr. Borek highlighted the following items: H.A. Phillips, the industrial refrigeration manufacturer, has closed on the land by the airport for their new 22,000 square feet building. SK Hand Tools has begun manufacturing and shipping products now from their new facility.  3M is also shipping goods from their new center. Kishwaukee College is evaluating their manufacturing technologies curriculum.  The college has had difficulty with getting students signing up for the program.  They evaluated their marketing and interactions with the students and schools.  They are coming up with recommendations by creating a video that they can share with schools to promote manufacturing careers.

            DSATS is a federally funded agency that supports transportation needs in Sycamore, DeKalb and Cortland.  They are doing a study on freight transportation to look at sites that we have available that could handle freight service and identify them to see if we are missing any.

AUGUST 10, 2011 MEETING DATE

            Chairman Vary mentioned that she would like to cancel our second meeting for this year and she would like to cancel the August 10, 2011 meeting.

The committee agreed with her, therefore the Economic Development Committee meeting for August 10, 2011 is cancelled.

ADJOURNMENT

            Moved by Mr. Oncken, seconded by Mr. Whelan, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.

                                                                        Respectfully submitted,

                                                                        Pat Vary, Chairman

pv:mcs

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