ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, October 5, 2020
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

Frame, Golden, King, Parker, Robinson, Salazar, Tanner, Templin, Turner, Zaleski

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Bolser

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Mitchell, Lindsey

GUESTS PRESENT:

Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Butters, Mary Anne – Wayne County Commissioners
Leisure, Beth – Wayne County Council
Truitt, Jason – Palladium-Item
McLane, Brenda – Hometown Media GroupI. CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Randy Templin called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development
Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:03 p.m. on Monday, October 5, 2020 via Zoom meeting.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Templin stated the minutes from the September 14, 2020 board meeting were on pages 2-4. There are nocorrections.
Motion to approve September 14th minutes as presented by King, second by Tanner. Motion carried.
III. TREASURER’S REPORT
Zaleski reported we were under budget by $18,161.12 MTD and under budget by $89,157.01 YTD for September.
Zaleski indicated there are no items of note for September. Lindsey stated we did not receive the Anthem healthinsurance bill in time for payment in September. There will be 2 insurance payments in October, but line item will
even out by year end.
Motion to approve the September 2020 financials as presented by Parker, second by Frame. Motion carried.
IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Executive Committee
Templin reported the Executive Committee met on September 24th. The EDC’s budget with the county
will be heard on Oct 21st. The EDC’s contract is going to Wayne County Council on Oct 7th per Jeff
Plasterer. Templin feels there is low risk for us no to have our contract renewed. Ady will be holding a
2nd workshop for the EDC’s stakeholders including: Chamber, Forward Wayne County, HYPE, SBDC,Foundation, Main Street organizations, and elected officials on Oct 13th. We will be looking at 3 to 5
goals and wrapping up details that came from the first session with the group. Shaffer indicated thefeedback was great and it is terrific to have our partners engaged in the process. We will be looking at alist of priorities for the next 5 years and who is working on what. The EDC may take lead on some
initiatives and on others it may be more of a supportive role. King stated that partnerships is the way wewill get things accomplished. 18 total applications were received by the Wayne County COVID-19 Small
Business Loan Program for Round 2. One application was denied as the entity already has a loan not ingood standing with the revolving loan fund board. A total of $415,000 was funded in Round 2. Shafferreported work with the Chamber, Tourism, and the City to utilize the remaining funds with a program tohelp local restaurants. Outdoor seating will be gone, and this may have an impact on sales. ElderBeerman RFP has been published and 5 organizations have downloaded the materials. TPMA has sent
the package to 20 developers and Shaffer is hopeful to have 1 or 2 responses by the Nov 13th deadline.
The rail transloading project has a brochure going out to local businesses that we hope will generatesome interest in the project. Templin stated there is some talk of a housing committee and Shaffer
clarified that we are at a critical point in Wayne County housing. There are several entities working onhousing. She has been working with Jeff Plasterer (Regional Planning Commission) to see how we move
forward. We will evaluate after the strategic plan is complete. We need to put opportunities into action.
Butters asked if the opportunities are being captured. Most are from out of the region as local
developers are risk aversive due to the cost. Shaffer indicated there will have to be deals put together
with collaboration by several entities. Templin stated the EDC annual report draft is complete and there
will be a video soon.
V. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey – Lindsey reported she had normal work. She is hopeful to have the 2019 audit complete and 990 tax
returns ready for review by the executive committee and then presentation to the board at the November
meeting. Completed work for Round 2 of the Wayne County COVID-19 Small Business Loan Fund.
Doty – Doty reported an email about brand consolidation has been released. We are to the final stage andOnVine Media will be rolling out the video showing Brightside merging into Home in Wayne (HiW). HiW is our
only Facebook page now. She is waiting on authorization for the photos to be used in the HiW viewbook.
Irongate will begin work on 4 new testimonial videos and we hope to film next month. Doty keeps the COVID-19
resource page on the EDC website updated with the new programs and assistance for our businesses. She isworking on an eblast to feature three of our available properties.
Mitchell – Mitchell reported that IP committee met and the IDEM permit for mitigation of wetland 2,5,6,7 has
been published and the farmer has completed harvest so Reynolds Service Tech will begin soon to complete therepairs. Reclassification work continues for wetlands 3,4,8,9 and the ditch. Evaluation of water and sewer
infrastructure needs for MIP expansion is beginning. EDA CARES Act grant for Richmond is moving forward towiden Gaar Jackson at a cost of $3.2M with it being part of the 80/20 program. The scope for water
improvement needs for GIP will not be complete in time to make the 80/20 EDA program, but they will beeligible for the 50/50 program. Mitchell indicated Oct 2nd was National Manufacturing Day and it was held
virtually this year with 4 schools and 5 employers participating. Mitchell had 5 BR & E visits in September. The
RFP for the Elder Beerman property has been published and Mitchell is monitoring the plan room.
Shaffer – Shaffer applauded Mitchell for a great job putting together Manufacturing Day. Shaffer reported theEDC continues to send information about new programs relating to COVID-19 assistance to employers.
Hagerstown received $250,000 from OCRA. The State provided an Arts grant, and 8 Wayne County organizations
received a total of $170,000. Shaffer reported Project Brands is active and will be looking at 2 new buildings thathave come on the market. Those buildings are on the market due to closures, Qualitronics moved from
Richmond to Dayton with a job loss of 30 to 40 and JMC (Cici’s Pizza distributor) is closing the warehouse herewith 13 jobs lost. Shaffer is working with two local companies one is reinvesting in the company and one is newgrowth and is a company the EDC has not worked with previously. Shaffer reported we just need a couple ofcompanies to come forward with interest in the rail transloading project to move it forward. She indicated theproject would be a good marketing tool for Wayne County.
VIII. ADJOURNMENTTemplin adjourned the meeting at 4:43 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, November 2nd, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.