ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, March 2, 2015
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:Barrett, Clark, Cohen, Elzemeyer, Jackson, Green, Guiley, Meredith,Quigg Warner

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Upchurch, Witte

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Geres

GUESTS PRESENT:

Burns, Dave – Richmond Citizen
Burns, Denny – Wayne County Commissioner
Pappin, Diana – Richmond Mayoral Candidate
Plasterer, Jeff – Wayne County Council
Sheeley, Rachael – Palladium-ItemSowers, George – Attorney for EDC
Whalen, Marci Asher – Wernle Youth & Family Treatment Center

CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Elzemeyer 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, March 2, 2015, in the EDC boardroom.
APROVAL OF MINUTES
Elzemeyer stated the minutes from the February 2nd board meeting were on pages 2 - 5 of the board
packet. Motion by Meredith, second by Barrett to approve the February 2, 2015 minutes as presented.
Motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Jackson reported the EDC was under budget $8,452.93 for the month of February and $30,740.26 YTD.
He reported on the few items over budget for the month including telephone parts, reference books,travel, dues, and advertising. He reported on adding two line items to the budget, 099 – Rental Income
and 3354 – Rent/Other Expense. These were to record the lease payments from Wolverine Worldwide
and the reimbursement to the City of Richmond. He explained we’d be backing out the rent every monthwhen reporting the amounts under/over budget. Motion by Green, second by Cohen to accept theFebruary 2015 financials as presented. Motion carried.
EDC STAFF REPORT
Geres – Geres reported on preparing for the new employee to join the office, preparing for the annualmeeting, preparing broken and obsolete items for the Wayne County auction, and researching project
management software.
Doty – Doty reported on designing and writing the annual report for the annual meeting, continuing towork with IronGate on website revisions and development of an infographic video, working with Mike
Bennett on BrightSide stories, and volunteering to serve on the United Way Needs Assessment Taskforce.

Shaffer – Shaffer reported Raymond Walker of The Walker Companies would be the guest speaker for theannual meeting. He will talk about the site selection process and his experience working in Richmond on
the Wolverine Worldwide project. She reported one new attraction project initiated in February – anexisting company in the region looking for warehouse space. Project Sound, sister company of an existingcompany, would decide by the end of the week of their relocation. She reported several BRE projects werein the works, but no new activity was initiated last month. She reported on Sorema Plastics Recycling
Systems of Italy, would acquire Perpetual Recycling Solutions. One of three principals of Perpetual
Recycling Solutions, Carter Smith, would stay on as CFO. Shaffer has met with new ownership and they
have no intentions of moving the company and are pleased with the workforce. She reported receiving
57 resumes for the new position, weeding it down to 16 for phone interviews, and further narrowing it
down to 6 for face to face interviews with the hiring committee. The committee will then narrow it down
further to hold second interviews. Shaffer hopes to extend an offer by the end of March. Lastly shereported on working with the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce’s Issues and Advocacy
Committee on the rising electric rates and unpredictable bills. IMPA is paying half her way to attend apublic power conference where she’ll learn about the benefits of public power, how to utilize it, andeconomic development tools.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. Finance – Jackson reported the committee consisted of Elzemeyer, Guiley, Witte, Cohen, Sowers, andEDC staff. He reported the committee reviews the full GL and financials every month and usually
meets for 15 minutes each month. He reported on reviewing the GL this month, discussing LED
upgrades to the billboards, and Geres reported on filing 1099s, entity annual report, and the business
entity report.
B. Executive – Elzemeyer reported the committee met on February 19th, discussed the Wernle EDIT
application, reviewed the Maxwell Milling compliance report – which was accepted and closed,reviewed the GIS Interlocal invoice to come from the consolidated EDIT fund, heard updates fromShaffer on the new position search and project updates, and discussed the United Way Assessment
Task Force – which Doty volunteered to participate in.
C. Industrial Park – Warner reported meeting on February 19th for 45 minutes. The committee further
discussed the Industrial Park expansion and met with Cambridge City, Indiana representatives to talkabout utilities at the Gateway Industrial Park.
D. Marketing and Communications – Green reported meeting on February 18th, where 3 members werepresent and 3 were not. Renee updated the committee on BrightSide – a MOU with Mike Bennett
would be extended for 6 more months, but the stories would decrease to 3 per month. The committee
suggested that Renee issue press releases to further market the stories by other media outlets. Doty
also gave an update on the plastics campaign and mini-marketing retreat.
OTHER BUSINESS
A. EDIT Application #15-172
Shaffer reported on EDIT application #15-172 from Wernle Youth and Family Services for $19,000
out of the consolidated EDIT fund. The grant is for assistance with their expansion. An increase in$1.4M from the State of Indiana has allowed them to staff an additional 19.5 positions with a total
payroll of $1,108,398.00. Their request meets 3 of the 4 EDIT guidelines including number of jobs
created, payroll, and training. Marci Asher Whalen was present to speak further on Wernle, theexpansion, and to field any questions from the board. Motion by Quigg, second by Green to approve
EDIT application #15-172 for $19,000 out of the consolidated EDIT fund. Motion carried.
B. BrightSide MOU
Doty reported on extending the BrightSide MOU with Mike Bennett. The extension is for another 6months with the change in stories from 4/month to 3/month. The focus of the stories has beenbroadened to allow for quality of life stories. Doty urged board members to share ideas for futurestories with her and to share the BrightSide stories when they receive them. Motion by Green,
second by Quigg to approve the MOU extension with Mike Bennett for BrightSide stories. Motion
carried.
ADJOURNMENT
Elzemeyer adjourned the meeting at 4:44 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, April 6, 2015
at Forest Hills Country Club, Richmond, Indiana at 4:00 pm