ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, March 2, 2020
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:Bolser, Frame, King, Parker, Robinson, Salazar, Tanner, Turner, Zaleski

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Golden, Templin

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Mitchell, Lindsey

GUESTS PRESENT:

Butters, Mary Anne – Wayne County Commissioner
Truitt, Jason – Palladium-Item
Oler, Ron – Richmond Common Council
Thurlow, Kim – Ivy TechWilliams, Krista – EDC Intern
Sowers, George – EDC Attorney
Leisure, Beth – Wayne County Council
Crist, Duane – IAWMcClain, Brenda – Hometown Media Group

I. CALL TO ORDER
Board Vice Chair Chad Bolser called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development
Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 2, 2020 in the EDC board room.
NEW BOARD MEMBERS
Shaffer reported that Rebecca Thomas, VP of Academic Affairs at Earlham College, is the Wayne County
Commissioners appointment to the EDC board. She will do orientation and will be present at our meeting on
May 11, 2020.
II. APROVAL OF MINUTES
Bolser stated the minutes from the February 3, 2020 board meeting were on pages 2-4. There were no corrections.
Motion to approve February 3rd minutes by Zaleski, second by Salazar. Motion carried.
III. TREASURER’S REPORT
Zaleski reported the EDC was over budget MTD by $2, 120.25 and under budget YTD by $9,866.91. Zaleski reported
items of note this month were in the insurance, postage, staff training and advertising/PR categories due to paying
retro payments, annual fees and training that will be held later in the year.
Motion to approve by Turner, second by Salazar to approve the February 2020 financials as presented. Motion
carried.
IV. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
Bolser reported the Executive Committee met February 27th. The first item discussed was the Taconic EDIT grant,
Taconic has completed all requirements so the grant was closed. Shaffer gave an update on projects. The ElderBeerman property documents are being processed. Shaffer is working with Ady Advantage to help with the newstrategic plan. Ady Advantage is the company we worked with for the last strategic plan. Salazar asked if theEDC is required to get more than 1 bid for the process, Shaffer replied no. Updated priorities for theconsolidated EDIT funds will be discussed under other business.

VI. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey - Lindsey reported working with Webb & Associates to get the spreadsheet and Income Statement
updated with the noncounty money being listed separately. Watched webinars from GIS planning related toZoom Prospector which we use for the property listings on our website. Completed normal monthly work.
Doty - Doty reported the Marketing and Communication committee met on Feb 5th. Doty reported she has beenworking to get the design complete for the HIW viewbook, including the theme and selecting photos. The HIW
videos will be released shortly. The 3-month geofencing project is complete. We had 25,000 impressions and 40
click throughs. Looking at a call to action to see what we need to do to get more follow-through to the website
from the ad. Krista Williams, EDC intern, is updating data on the EDC website.
Mitchell - Mitchell reported there was no Industrial Park committee meeting in February. The letter seeking
approval for MIP should go out this week and we will have a 60 to 90 day wait for approval. She is working with
OCRA to get the site certification for MIP 1 regarding the wetlands. Moving forward in the utility planning
process for MIP. Mitchell showed the Elder-Beerman property to a developer and she indicated the RFP for theproperty is being reviewed by George Sowers and AJ Sickmann. Mitchell talked about the Stellar Communities
program and we are looking at doing a county focused application with the letter of intent due April 3rd.
Mitchell indicated she had been working on the Opportunity Zone prospectus. Meetings were held withstakeholders and finance groups. Next step planning and updates to regulations are next.
Shaffer - Shaffer reported Project Mold is a small manufacturing operation looking to relocate from Ohio.
Project Thankful is very active, Shaffer reported that she, Mitchell and some others visited their site in BowlingGreen and we held utility provider meetings here the next day. Project Halloween is working on environmental
assessment of the former Palladium-Item building. Project Festival is active again and they are looking at anexisting building in Richmond. Shaffer reported she has been having conversations regarding the trip to Japan
this year and whether we should go with the COVID-19 virus. The grant that helps with travel can be divided andused later if we decide not to go this year.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
Shaffer explained the 2020 Priorities for EDIT grants. #1 will cover expansion of MIP which is the 326 acres andsewer extension and sewer expansion and water tower of GIP. #2 will be related to the Opportunity Zone and theElder-Beerman property. #3 is working with developers to get additional housing in our area but communities will
have to invest in infrastructure. #4 we need the rail transloading facility to enhance our ability to market land.
Tanner indicated being on the Reid Health board, he sees the struggle to have suitable housing for medical
professionals to relocate here. King indicated that Cambridge City is working on ideas for housing for their
downtown area. Shaffer indicated we will help for companies to draw down other resources first and use
consolidated EDIT to complete the package.
Motion by Parker to approve 2020 EDIT Priorities, second by King. Motion carried.
Shaffer explained that Project Thankful is 30 jobs with a $15M investment. They need additional borings in MIP tomake sure the ground can handle the casting pits. We have a contract from Alt & Witzig for $3500.00 with thepossibility of an additional $2275.00 if they hit bedrock. Shaffer would like for us to pay for the borings as we own
the land and we have the option to deduct the amount from their EDIT grant if they locate here.
Motion by Zaleski to move forward with Alt & Witzig contract, second by Frame. Motion carried.
Lindsey explained that First Merchants is required by the IRS to make some changes to the language in our 403(B)plan. They need a resolution from our board of directors covering the changes.
Motion by Salazar to approve resolution for changes to the EDC’s 403(B), second by Turner. Motion carried.

Shaffer reported the EDC had received a $500 contribution from the Indiana American Water company as a thanks
for the work we do. Shaffer stated we will put the funds in our Grant Administration savings account.
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Bolser adjourned the meeting at 4:50 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, April 6, 2020
at EDC of Wayne County, Richmond, Indiana at 4:00 p.m.