ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, May 11, 2020
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:King, Parker, Robinson, Salazar, Templin, Turner, Zaleski

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Bolser, Frame, Golden, Tanner

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Mitchell, Lindsey

GUESTS PRESENT:

Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Butters, Mary Anne – Wayne County Commissioner
Oler, Ron – Richmond Common Council
McClain, Brenda – Hometown Media Group

I. CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Randy Templin called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic DevelopmentCorporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 11:34 a.m. on Monday, May 11, 2020 via Zoom meeting.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Templin stated the minutes from the March 2nd, 2020 board meeting were on pages 2-4. There were nocorrections. Templin also stated the April EDC board meeting was cancelled.
Motion to approve March 2nd minutes by Zaleski, second by Salazar. Motion carried.
III. TREASURER’S REPORT
Zaleski reported the EDC was under budget by $15,281.25 MTD and under budget by $25,148.16 YTD for March.
Two Explorer lease payments made in March were due to timing. There was no payment made in February and it
is in-line with the budget. The EDC was also under budget by $14,182.98 MTD and under budget $39,331.14 YTD
for April with no items of note.
Motion to approve the March 2020 and April 2020 financials as presented by Turner, second by Salazar. Motion
carried.
IV. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
Templin reported the Executive Committee met 3 times or March 26th, April 23rd and May 7th since the last board
meeting. They discussed the Opportunity Zone moving to the next step and we want to support this. Element
13 is moving forward and will be discussed under other business. The Ady Advantage strategic plan process will
be discussed under other business. The transfer of the Elder-Beerman property to the City of Richmond is being
completed, we are waiting on paperwork.
V. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey - Lindsey reported she is the only one physically working in the office. This is to make sure we stay up
and running and as support for staff working remotely. The new server installation has been completed.
Watched webinars dealing with COVID-19 regarding what we can do to help our local employers and businesses
including accounting and the SBA loan programs. Completed normal monthly work.
Doty - Doty reported creating the COVID-19 resource page on the EDC website as a source for information forour businesses needs. We have been sending eblasts with information updates to our community newsletterand business lists. We have also been using social media to covey the information. Much of the information has
been time-sensitive and critical to our local businesses. Louise Ronald is doing a series of stories on community
response – capsulating what is happening ad how local companies are working through and being innovative
during COVID-19. Brightside is being phased into Home in Wayne, working on trying to get the Brightside stories
archived. Reworking the Home in Wayne viewbook – will be digital to begin with. Doty indicated she is on theCenter City Development (CCDC) Board and they have been working to develop the process for the $250K OCRA
grant program. The funds will be used for up to $10K grants for small businesses in the CCDC area who have notreceived PPP or EIDL funding from the SBA.
Mitchell - Mitchell reported there were no Industrial Park committee meetings in March or April. She is stillworking with Little River and Beals-Moore on mitigation of wetlands 5,6,7 in MIP. Had to update the drainage
plan for the IDEM permit. The EDC made it through step 1 for a $10K grant from Duke Energy for site-readiness.
This is for the Toschlog property option and step 2 will be a site visit in June. Mitchell said she and Shaffer wereworking with IMPA for a similar grant program through their organization. Met with Terracon to discuss stage 1site assessment for IP viability. For BR&E the staff reached out to 62 local businesses to discuss the EDC’s COVID19 page and see if they needed assistance from us. Working to finalize the RFP for the Elder-Beerman property.
Working with the City to align data for the Opportunity Zone. The transloading project is moving ahead.
Attended the BGC and CIS board meetings as we work to see how we can change to meet the community needs.
GIS committee is working to do a drive-through of Wayne County, more affordable with things going on now.
Regional Stellar is cancelled for 2020 due to COVID-19. Catapult training with DOC offender training program.
Various webinar training.
Shaffer - Shaffer reported that the EDC staff’s response to the COVID-19 crisis has been great with the marketing& communication. New unemployment claims for the period from March through April 18 totaled 3,727 or 12%of the workforce. 3.6% was the average for 2019. King asked how high we are hearing unemployment may go
and Shaffer indicated 15% but may be closer to 20%. Employees are having concerns about safely returning towork and some are making more on unemployment. DWD is working on educating employers and employees on
the process and expectations. We removed the $10/hour threshold on Hoosier Opportunity to make it easier foremployers with lower wage openings to post those jobs. The EDC is working with the Chamber on a businesssurvey to see how local businesses have been impacted and how we can help. Shaffer is working with theCounty to see about converting a portion of the revolving loan fund to help businesses reopen and remain open.
It will be similar to the CCDC program. The County can modify the loan program requirements. Shaffer is goingto Commissioners to seek their support. No specific guidelines or amounts in place yet. We will need to have aspecial EDC board meeting to open Consolidated EDIT guidelines to allow for disaster relief. We want to support
those who have not received any help. We submitted properties for 3 new leads from the State. Project
Thankful is under other business. Project Halloween is still working on environmental assessment of the former
Palladium-Item building. Project Festival project with purchase of the Mathews building is on hold for now but
will be moving to close on the property in June. The BZA approved the variance for DAK Americas and the $32M
investment with job creation is moving forward.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Lindsey reported our postage meter lease is expiring. We have a new 3 year lease proposal with Quadient.
The current machine is sufficient for our needs and the increase is $1.97/month. Shaffer received approval
from the Commissioners to enter the lease outside of our contract.
Motion to approve the 3-year Quadient lease with an increase of $1.97 per month by Parker, second bySalazar. Motion carried.
b. Project Thankful is Element 13, a start-up aluminum billet company wishing to purchase 15 ½ acres in MIP
Phase II. This will be the southern half of lot 2 and a Right of First Refusal for the additional 17 acres. They

will build a 50K to 60K square foot building initially with a minimum investment of $15.8M and creationof 30 jobs paying a minimum of $18.10/hour and an average of $20.55/hour plus benefits. The purchaseprice is $8,500 /acre for a total of $131,750 for the land. The Right of First Refusal is for 5 years andrequires they be notified if there is interest in the additional 17 acres. They have 10 days to notify theywish to purchase the property for $8,500 per acre and 30 days to close. If they purchase the property anddo not develop it within 2 years the EDC has the right to purchase back at the same price paid, subject toCity approval, this keeps the property viable for development. Turner asked if this was the company who
tried to build in Pendleton. Shaffer indicated it is the same company but the area in Pendleton was not in
an industrial park and the neighbors were against it. Shaffer stated she has worked with the City and theground is zoned appropriately. She reached out to Blue Buffalo and Vandor to discuss the air quality
permit and they were both okay with it. Shaffer initiated a call with Element 13 and Blue Buffalo and BB
supports the project as well. Shaffer and Mitchell traveled to KY to see a similar operation and there areno concerns other than outdoor storage, which will be addressed. Turner indicated we have done what
we need to do.
Motion for Shaffer to enter into and sign Real Estate purchase agreement with Element 13 by Zaleski,
second by Turner. Motion carried.
Motion for Shaffer to enter into and sign Right of First Refusal agreement with Element 13 by Zaleski,
second by Turner. Motion carried.
c. Shaffer presented an overview of the 2014 Strategic Plan. 375 stakeholders participated and the key areas
identified were BR&E and IP development. For organization capacity a BR&E position was created as adriver for community engagement. This position (Sarah Mitchell) meets with at least 55 businesses a year
to do a survey. This allowed the EDC to help with 38 expansion projects since 2014. For program andinitiative, we worked with our utility partners and groups like East Central Indiana Regional Partnershipand Eastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission who help get the word out about our area atconferences, trade shows and on sales calls. These partnerships led to 7 companies locating in Wayne
County since 2014. For labor and education we work with all 5 school systems in the county each year todiscuss employer needs and training goals. For physical infrastructure, we increased MIP by 326 acres in2019. We work with local real estate companies to have good property inventory on the EDC website andwe are partnering with Duke Energy and IMPA for work in MIP. For Quality of Life, we created HIW to help
with talent recruitment. We are working with downtown, the parks department and housing developers
as well. The capital piece is not a priority as we have funding and the private sector was not interested ininvesting. The new 5-year plan will enhance quality of life and talent recruitment. We need to understandthe needs of projects and our many stakeholders. We are required to have a plan for our contact with theCounty. We used Ady Advantage last time so that helps make the process seamless. Their focus has
evolved with ours and they have an understanding of our needs and focus. Current contract is $50K plus
travel, previous contract was $70K plus travel. COVID-19 will have them doing a lot of work remotely. We
will take $25K from the EDC operating budget and seek a $25K appropriation from the County form theConsolidated EDIT Fund. Travel expenses will be paid from the EDC operating budget. Timeline is 20 to 22
weeks to complete with a start time in June.
Motion to approve Ady Advantage with $25K and travel expenses paid from the EDC operating budget and$25K from Consolidated EDIT by Zaleski, second by Salazar. Motion carried.

VII. ADJOURNMENT
Templin adjourned the meeting at 12:38 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, June 1st, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.