ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:Cenova, Foster, Gaddis, Johnson, Tanner, Turner, VanDerBurgt

BOARD MEMBERS VIRTUAL:Robinson

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Bolser, Fennimore, King, Zaleski

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Fisher, Lindsey, Mitchell

GUESTS PRESENT:Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Emery, Millie – Western Wayne News
Saunders, Gary – Wayne County Council

1. CALL TO ORDER
Sherrilyn Johnson, Chair called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development Corporationof Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:02 p.m. on October 4, 2023.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. 2023 September Minutes
Johnson stated the minutes from the September 11, 2023, board meeting need to be approved.
No corrections were noted.
Motion to approve September 11, 2023, minutes as presented by Tanner, seconded by Turner. Roll Call.
Motion carried.
3. TREASURER’S REPORTa. 2023 September Financial Reports
Jim Tanner reported the September financials are on pages 5-9 for the Economic Development
Corporation. We are under budget MTD by $9,149.4 and under budget YTD by $71,751.42. He noted Item
1369 Disability Insurance is over $36.41 due to budgeting; 3310 Vehicle Lease is over $88.72 due tobudgeting; 3373 Programming & Consultation is also over due to budgeting however, these accounts will
be in-line with the new 2024 Budget. Item 3320 Contractual/Professional Services is over by $6,193.32.
We paid $5,000 to Brady Ware Schoenfeld for the 2022 Audit of Financial statements, we paid 3 invoices
to Burke and Schindler for Dawn’s monthly review of EDC Financials. He also noted that we transferred
the Duke Energy Grant in the amount $21,500 from our Grant Admin account to our Operating accountto bring the TOOTRiS Childcare platform to Wayne County. The EDC contributed $5,000 to TOOTRiS tocover the deficit in funding which the EDC Board approved in July. Shaffer noted the 2024 Budget was not
appropriated by the county so the EDC will be operating for most of January 2024 from our excess 2023
budget.
Motion to approve September financials as presented by VanDerBurgt, seconded by Foster. Roll Call.
Motion carried.
b. 2022 990 Tax ReturnTanner stated the 990 is not in the packet, however we have copies in the room for those who did notreview a copy. Tanner reported that Brady Ware said they did not have any issues with the audit, all
documentation requested was received and in good order, and they enjoy working with the EDC staff.
Tanner asked if anyone had any questions or comments? No comments were made.
Motion to approve 2022 990 Tax Return as presented by Gaddis, seconded by Tanner. Roll Call.
Motion carried.

4. CHAIR’S REPORTJohnson said our Executive Committee reviewed the EDIT compliance and discussed the governance update inwhich she, Cenova, and VanDerBurgt are eligible for a second 3-year term on our board. All have confirmed theywould like to continue for another term. The governing bodies must approve their participation.
a. Nominating Committee Selection
Johnson stated our board members will be voting today to nominate 3 board members to be on thenominating committee to appoint our slate of officers for 2024. Johnson, board Chair will also be on thiscommittee for a total of 4 board members. Lindsey tallied the votes and the board nominated Bolser,
Cenova, and King to be on the Nominating Committee with Johnson.
5. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Fisher – Fisher reported she met with Kelly at Opti-Vise and said they are continually looking for ways to improve
the security of our system. They are planning to implement a new password manager which will improve oursecurity. Opti-Vise came in to fix the issues we were having with our video conference equipment. She enteredstate parcel codes to a spreadsheet for Valerie and verified the acreage.
Lindsey – Reported Manufacturing Day is this Friday, October 6th. The companies providing tours are Blue Buffalo,Madison-Kipp, Ahaus Tool, Transcendia, Dot Foods and SugarCreek. The schools participating are Richmond,Lincoln, Northeastern, and Hagerstown. We are giving cell phone battery chargers as takeaways for students.
Centerville will have 125 students touring Primex and IU East the following week. Lindsey stated she volunteeredat Northeastern for Challenge Day and encouraged others to volunteer for this event next year. She said she wasappointed to the Communities in Schools Board of Directors for a 3-year term.
Doty – Doty said as we progress with the Home in Wayne brand expansion project she created and sent out
invitations to the first of two brand workshops. In these workshops we will focus on identity, messaging, andguidelines. She said she worked with Jeff Huffine and Lauralee Hites to create an agenda and the expectedoutcomes. She reported that we will have two full page ads in Livability Magazine. The East Central Indiana
Regional Partnership oversees this magazine which focuses on information about the East Central Indiana region.
One page will feature new investment and expansion projects and the other will promote quality of life in Wayne
County. She said she and Valerie met with Katie Kitchin of the RHS Alumni Association and we will contribute anarticle in their newsletter which is due out the end of October to mid-November. We will also place an ad
promoting MakeMyMove to remote workers.
Mitchell – Mitchell said we received a bid from David Spivey to remove the manufactured home on the former
Toschlog property. She has been working with the Richmond Fire Department and Mikesell Excavating on acontrol burn and said the asbestos removal is complete. We have a farmer interested in farming the Midwest
Industrial Park for a 1-year contract. She said the plan is progressing for water infrastructure at the Gateway
Industrial Park. Soil borings will need to be completed at the location of the water tower and we will be meetingwith potential state and federal funding agencies to explore funding. Mitchell said we should have the housing
study back from Tracey Cross next month.
Shaffer – Shaffer said Wayne County’s HELP program made more progress with approvals of the Strategic
Investment Plan by all but two partnering communities which are Richmond Common Council and Dublin’s Town
Council. She said the EDC is charged with creating the blight elimination program and Mitchell will be the lead on
this project. She reported on READI 2.0 and said the IEDC application is different this year and does not require alist of projects. She said to help us understand the projects and match potential throughout the region we will
have a regional call for projects in the coming weeks. The Wage and Benefit survey draft should be finalized nextweek, and we hope to send it out within the next couple of weeks.
6. OTHER BUSINESS
a. 2024 Budget
Shaffer reported that our budget was approved and there were no proposed changes. She reviewed the2023 Budget vs. 2024 Budget noting changes throughout her presentation. She said the bulk of theincrease in our 2024 budget is due to salaries, health insurance, payroll taxes and retirement benefits.
We shifted $10,000 from Advertising and PR to Contractual/Professional Services to supplement unknown
work that might need to be completed. We eliminated $2,000 from 3381 Dues, Subscriptions and Feesfor an Outlook add-on through Executive Pulse which we feel is not needed. We increased Item 3389 Staff
Training Education by $1,000 for increases in training expenses for staff. We increased Item# 4441
Office Furniture & Fixtures by $1,300 to purchase 3 new office chairs. Lindsey and Doty are due for newcomputers in 2024. The total increase for our 2024 Budget is $26,478.77.
Motion was made to the Board to approve the 2024 Budget as presented by Cenova, seconded by Foster.
Roll Call.
Motion carried.
Johnson asked the board members if there were any additional items to discuss. No comments were made.
7. ADJOURNMENT
Johnson adjourned the meeting at 4:36 p.m.

NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, November 6, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.