Cowlitz-Lewis Economic Development District Meeting
June 30, 2011
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
Chehalis
AGENDA
1. Welcome and introductions- CLEDD Chair, Mike Karnofski
2. Approval of minutes from January 19 ,2011 meeting- CLEDD Chair, Mike Karnofski
3. Old Business
a. Update on HUD Innovation Grant Application for Business Center (Jennifer) [Information]
b. By-laws Committee Update/ Executive Board (Steve) [Action Required]
4. New Business
a. USDA rural Development Stronger Economies Together (SET) Application [Information]
b. HUD Sustainable Communities Second Round Due July 8 (Attachments: Draft Letter of Support; Executive Summary; Budget) [Information]
c. CLEDD Annual Report to EDA; Update of Scope of Work to EDA; Annual Action Plan update of projects/programs; Update of CLEDD CEDS Committee members (see attachment for list of prior CEDS Committee members) (Jennifer and Steve) [Information]
d. Project Coordination/Collaboration as an EDD (Steve) [Information]
e. Potential Project Applications to EDA for 2011-2012 Year (Jennifer) [Action Required]
5. Roundtable
6. Next Meeting: SPECIAL (Via Email) September 2011 (email review of projects for 2011-2012 Action Plan)
Semi- Annual December 2011
Adjourn
Mary McCrank’s Restaurant
2923 Jackson Hwy.
Chehalis
Luncheon Menu Items
Lighter Appetite Menu
$10.00 per person
Cup of Homemade Soup & Green Salad
½ Fresh Roasted Turkey Sandwich with Cup of Soup or Salad
½ Fresh Baked Ham Sandwich with Cup of Soup or Salad
Luncheon Menu
$12.50 per person
Bowl of Homemade Soup & Green Salad
Whole Fresh Roasted Turkey Sandwich with Cup of Soup or Salad
Whole Fresh Baked Ham Sandwich with Cup of Soup or Salad
Burger Menu
$13.50 per person
Served With Chip Fries or a Green Salad
The Dutch Mill Burger
Grilled Chicken Breast Burger
Pork Cutlet Sandwich
All menu prices include coffee, hot tea or ice tea
Tax & tip are included in menu prices
Cowlitz-Lewis Economic Development District Meeting
January 19, 2011
12:00 PM
Red Lion Hotel
510 Kelso Drive, Kelso, WA
MINUTES
Members present:
Dan Buell, Port of Longview Rick Rouse, City of Napavine
Troy Stariha, Port of Kalama Bob Gregory, Longview
Sheila Gray, WSU-Lewis Marcel Goulet, CAP
Gary Fredricks, WSU-Cowlitz Nick Bozarth, City of Napavine
Susan Hoosier, SBDC Mike Karnofski, Cowlitz County
Tim Van Mechelen, Cowlitz Tribe Chuck Blum, Woodland
Taylor Aalvik, Cowlitz Tribe Jim Rothlin, Port of Chehalis
Ted Sprague, Cowlitz EDC Judy DeVaul, DeVaul Publishing
Joel Lengyel, Woodland Chamber Dave Campbell, City of Longview
Rick Winsman, KLCC Bob Spahr, City of Chehalis
George Cress, Port of Longview Bonnie Canady, City of Centralia
Harlan Thompson, Centralia Ron Averill, Lewis County
Glen Cook, City of Winlock Paul Stewart, East Lewis Co. Chamber
Staff: Steve Harvey, Jennifer Keene, Barb Kincaid, Katie Wells
Guests: Jesse Cardenas, Columbia-Pacific RC & EDD
1. Welcome and introductions - The meeting was called to order by Chair Averill at 12:10 pm. Everyone introduced themselves.
2. Minutes from June 30, 2010 meeting - Taylor Aalvik moved and Judy DeVaul seconded that the minutes be approved as printed. Motion passed.
3. New Business
a. Presentations about an EDA Economic Adjustment Regional Grant Application and a HUD Innovation Grant: Jennifer Keene and Jesse Cardenas, Columbia-Pacific RC& EDD Director
Jennifer Keene talked about the EDA Economic Adjustment Regional Grant application (see blue handout). Jesse Cardenas briefed everyone on how this project came about. Land re-development is a big issue. The project would examine quality of land available for economic growth. It would bring property owners to the table to re-develop some lands for sustainable uses resources. Harbor County is currently working with Weyerhaeuser to re-develop some of their sites that they have abandoned but still have control over; also looking at other land owners – see bulleted list of items on handout. Jennifer indicated that she and Jesse would like you to add to this list so that a good concept paper for the EDA can be put together. We are looking for more “bang for the buck” in doing more regional projects.
Aberdeen has riverfront property which could be used for condos, or other projects to develop the land and be used to bring people in. The EDCs are prime partners for this project.
Lewis County is under “growth management”; isn’t as easy to convert property into another land use.
The Grays Harbor EDC director is encouraging this type of project. The federal government is also encouraging this type of project. If the board decides to approve this, talks will continue and an application prepared.
Judy DeVaul indicated that rail needs to be included.
Bob Spahr moved and Susan Hoosier seconded a motion to move forward with this project.
Chuck Blum – The city of Woodland recently annexed 466 acres of property; how would this help them, he asked? They are currently working on a transportation plan. Jesse indicated this would give them the opportunity to examine the needs and how they can benefit from developed but under utilized property already there, and come up with some definitive uses of the land. Looking at long-term projects for sustainability – look into the future and project what could be done down the road. Mr. Blum said they just completed a CLID of adjacent property; city & staff are novices in this project. Interested in knowing what the use is of the grant money. Jennifer indicated grant money goes to the EDCs, not the cities. However, assistance would be available and covered by the grant.
There were no other questions. Motion carried.
A HUD Rural Innovation Grant is due February 23rd. Jennifer Keene is working with Susan Hoosier and Lynell Amundsen of LCC on this grant. It would examine the feasibility of a business center in the region. Currently, there are no rural innovation centers in Washington State. The proposal is to have the center located in Cowlitz County – would provide multiple services as noted by the bulleted list on green handout. It would not be owned by one entity. Up to $2 million is available in grant monies; we are not sure what we will ask for yet; that is to be determined next week. After the application is completed, it will be forwarded to interested persons for review. Susan indicated that the application addresses the CEDC’s TIP strategies and provides resources for organizations to be able to take advantage of and hopefully help in the creation of jobs.
Rick Winsman asked if there is a list of businesses who are interested in something like this. Susan indicated she has several clients that would be interested. Resources centralized in one location would benefit several businesses. Funding sources have not yet been identified. The concept is so new, it’s hard to determine the sustainability figures needed. The $2 million would help; not sure if it would be enough to start the project. Details are still being worked out. The EDC is working on this. We will look for a site within the county that could house something like this – if not, then a structure would need to be built. Sustainable funding is key to keeping the center operational.
Mike Karnofski moved and Bob Spahr seconded to approve moving forward with this project. Approved.
Jennifer will report back to the board once the concepts and application have been completed.
b. Review of other EDA grants and update of applications and projects:
i. Woodland – Jennifer indicated that the City of Woodland would soon be going out to bid for the Schurman Way/Guild Road project and that things were running smoothly.
ii. Port of Chehalis Incubator project is on EDA funding list; didn’t get on the Washington, DC list – none were funded this quarter; promising by March to identify where it is in the process and we will update the port.
iii. Business Disaster Resiliency Project – this project is on hold right now; will be pursuing this summer and will reapply for funding in the fall. The proposal is to have two staff positions to help each chamber and the EDC offices would assist with businesses developing their continuity plans and are ready for disasters.
iv. The Cowlitz County Tourism grant will be receiving a denial letter from the EDA. The COG may be submitting an updated tourism grant, pending scope of work and budget.
EDA just changed their grant application process, including reduced public works structure; more interested in innovation – haven’t funded any projects yet – should hear what will be funded in about 20 days. They haven’t clarified the projects they are looking for.
c. Election of new chair and vice-chair: Mike Karnofski, Cowlitz County Commissioner, was nominated as EDD chair. No other nominations were made. Mr. Karnofski was elected as chair.
Ron Averill, Lewis County Commissioner, was nominated as Vice-Chair. No other nominations were made. Mr. Averill was elected as Vice-Chair.
4. Bylaws Committee Update/Steve Harvey
Committee members need to address port membership, dues and inter-local agreement development. Current members on committee are David Sypher, Dave Campbell, Taylor Aalvik and Dick Larman.
Steve indicated that membership should be open to all ports, both community colleges and all cities. We need to address funding issues from EDD members; would like to have a sub-committee formed to work on this project. Need 1-2 members from local governments. Four people are already on it (above). Chehalis city councilman Bob Spahr volunteered. Will come back at the next board meeting with recommendations.
5. Roundtable
Lewis County – Ron Averill said they had some flooding; closed Hwy 12 near Randle; closed SR 131, just opened today; SR 508 had mud slide – closed until yesterday. For the industrial park at Trans-Alta, they are working on designing a phased plan for submission. Land use designations for the park have been approved so as to bring in heavy, not light, industry. There is new construction on site. They would like to put a range of uses in there. Currently there are 30 employees and hope to expand to 50. Still working on South Lewis Area plan – Barb Kincaid did a lot of work on that – it’s still alive. State Department of Corrections is looking for a new location for transfer center. Maple Lane is one of the sites being considered along with three others. Facility would house 1,100 inmates for short term stays.
6. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be scheduled for later this year; Jennifer will let everyone know.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 pm.
Cowlitz-Lewis Economic Development District
Staff Report
June 2011
Business Disaster Resiliency Project (BDRP)
Jennifer Keene and project consultant Pearce Global Partners (PGP) presented the Cowlitz-Lewis Business Disaster Resiliency Project at the “Partners in Preparedness” conference held at the Greater Tacoma Conference Center in April. Jennifer discussed how the project originated from the 2007 Lewis County Flood Disaster Strategy Report, the issues with the project, and the importance of partnering to develop and carry out efforts to overcome the impacts of disasters on businesses. The effort was a partnership of the Cowlitz and Lewis economic development councils, chambers of commerce, small business development centers, and the county department of emergency management. PGP, hired by the Cowlitz-Lewis Economic Development District (CLEDD), developed a regional toolkit businesses can use to prepare for any type of disaster, ranging from power outages to chemical spills and floods. The project was completed in July, 2010 and was funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). COG will be applying for funds to help implement the next phases of the project.
In addition, the module presentations are now available on the CLEDD website at www.cwcog.org/cledd/publications. Please provide the link for your local businesses to access the information. Information from the BDRP including handouts, PowerPoint presentations and information are available by CDs to our partners.
2011-2012 Action Plan
The 2011-2012 Action Plan has been delayed due to several grant application deadlines. The plan will be updated beginning in August. Jurisdictions wishing to include new projects and/or programs to be included will need to submit the application by Sept 16 by 5 pm. Those jurisdictions who submitted projects and programs in the 2010-2011 Action Plan will be contacted for an update/status change.
Micro-lending
Marcel Goulet with Lower Columbia CAP received a $220,000 grant from the Washington State CDBG program to fund the microenterprise lending program.
Statewide Economic Development District Organization
WAEDD met June 24 in Kennewick to begin the process to enter into a statewide EDD contract with the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) to do a statewide analysis of economic development entities. The scope of work draft is attached.
Over the last year…
Partnered with Columbia Pacific RC & EDD in a joint application to HUD for the Sustainable Communities Grant Opportunity. The partnership, called the EverGreen Sustainable Communities Consortium, was developed between Cowlitz, Wahkiakum, Grays Harbor, Pacific and Mason Counties. EverGreen will be applying for the second round of funding due July 8. (Executive Summary to be available at Board meeting)
In addition, EverGreen submitted to be a pilot project region for the USDA Rural Development program Stronger Economies Together (SET). This proposal included Lewis County along with the previous 5 counties. Paul Johnson with USDA RD stated that we should be notified if we are chosen as a sight by June 30 or shortly thereafter. (Narrative attached)
Finally, EverGreen applied for an EDA planning grant that was proposed to the CLEDD Board in January. Jesse Cardenas with Col-Pac and Jennifer Keene gave a presentation to EDA staff regarding the project. Though the project scored well technically, the grant did not meet some of the criteria the Seattle Office desired. The grant is currently being held for revisions.
CWCOG submitted a grant application to the National Scenic Byways Council for the Fire and Ice Scenic Loop that would connect the White Pass Scenic Byway through the Columbia Gorge/ Lewis and Clark Trail Scenic Byway. If awarded, the project would complete a Corridor Management Plan and begin in October 2011. (Narrative attached)
Cowlitz County Commissioner Mike Karnofski, Cowlitz EDC Director Ted Sprague, City of Woodland Councilperson Susan Humbyrd and Jennifer Keene attended the National League of Cities conference regarding International Trade in April.