ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, August 7, 2023
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:Bolser, Cenova, Fennimore, Foster, Gaddis, Johnson, King, Robinson, Tanner,Turner, VanDerBurgt, Zaleski

BOARD MEMBERS VIRTUAL:
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Fisher, Lindsey, Mitchell

GUESTS PRESENT:Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Emery, Millie – Western Wayne NewsOlder, Ron – City of Richmond
Saunders, Gary – Wayne County Council

1. CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Sherrilyn Johnson called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development
Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:07 p.m. on August 7, 2023.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. 2023 June Minutes
Johnson stated the minutes from the July 10, 2023, board meeting need to be approved. No corrections
were noted.
Motion to approve July 10, 2023, minutes as presented by Zaleski, seconded by Turner.
Motion carried.
3. TREASURER’S REPORTa. 2023 July Financial Reports
Jim Tanner reported the Economic Development Corporation is under budget MTD by $857.26 andunder budget YTD by $41,115.32. He said the following items were over budget for the month: 1369
Disability Insurance and 3373 Programming and Consultation are over due to budgeting; 2211 Office
Supplies are over by $36.41; 2249 In-House Supplies are over by $11.34; 3310 Vehicle Lease is over andwill continue to be until the 2024 budget begins and he said this is due to getting a new vehicle. 3312
Legal Services are over by $5,830 for work completed by George Sowers from January 2023 – June 29,2023; 3362 Maintenance & Repair-Equipment is over due to paying 2 invoices in July; and 3392 Advertisingand PR is over by $6,995.02 due to paying several invoices to Irongate in July.
Shaffer also reminded the group that last month we showed an “extra” $334,725 in our other income
account due to the sale of land to Liberation Labs and stated we have now remitted these funds to theCity of Richmond.
Motion to approve July financials as presented by Bolser, seconded by Robinson.
Motion carried.

4. CHAIR’S REPORTJohnson stated the executive committee reviewed the Opti-Vise contract and said Shaffer will be discussing thisin her report. She said we have had many discussions recently regarding EDIT Compliance and employee
headcount has been an issue and is very challenging for employers. She also reminded the board members thatdue to the EDC having a site visit on Monday, October 2, we have rescheduled our board meeting for Wednesday,
October 4, at 4:00 p.m.
5. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Fisher – Fisher stated she worked with Valerie and Theresa on our 2024 budget draft. She completed the quarter
3 COLI collection and submission and said our quarter 2 results should be in sometime this month. She reported
Brady, Ware and Schoenfeld were here for a couple of days during the week of July 24, to complete our initialaudit items. Brady, Ware said all is going well with the audit. She said she and Valerie met with VanVleet regarding
our 2024 insurance renewal. VanVleet advised us to calculate for a 12–15% increase for insurance premiums for2024.
Lindsey – Lindsey said she has been very busy with BRE meetings this month. She and Shaffer have attended 8visits with various employers. She said employers are struggling in finding enough people to work. Her visits
included the Department of Corrections in one meeting to work towards creating a new talent pipeline for
manufacturers. She stated the Hancock Work Release program is working In Hancock County. Bolser said there
will also be another expungement event in Richmond later this year.
Doty – Doty stated she and Valerie met with a small group we pulled together to discuss the continued need for
a community calendar, which is identified as an area of need related to the expansion of the Home in Waynebrand. Shaffer asked the board to let us know of anyone that has a good community calendar that we can contact
for additional information. Doty said it appears there has been a shift away from Twitter, now known as X, and it
is under new ownership. LinkedIn seems to be picking up more engagement for business news. We will not beusing X as much as we have in the past. We will focus on other platforms to communicate messages. We also
continue to work on the Jobs EQ portal and getting the SOC codes entered and the FAQ items ironed out.
Mitchell – Mitchell said we have distributed an RFP to local contractors for the former Toschlog and Talbot
properties. She continues to work with Gunty Atkins on the new ARC/GIS system. She and Shaffer have beenworking with IMPA on drone flights for advertising various areas in the Industrial Parks after the demolition ofexisting structures.
Shaffer – Shaffer said the groundbreaking of Liberation Labs has gotten the attention of Site Selection Magazine
and they have reached out to her for an interview regarding Liberation Labs. The article should be out in
September. She said the article will be a form of advertising for not only Liberation Labs but also for other areasin the Industrial Parks. She said we received the $5,000 grant from the Ball Brothers Foundation for the ECI READI
2.0 Partnership Assistance program. The next READI 2.0 workshop is scheduled for August 15, from 6:00 p.m. –7:30 p.m. in Muncie, IN where they will discuss common themes from the previous meetings. She reported on theMakeMyMove program and said we have 6 individuals who have moved to Richmond, two movers who haveaccepted our offers and we are awaiting their plans to move to Wayne County. We extended another offer
yesterday. She attended the Cambridge City Town Council meeting for the Gateway Industrial Park update on the$8.3M water tower and loop main project. She thanked Fisher and Lindsey for their work on the 2024 Budget. Shewill present the budget to the board after the county council’s review and approval.
6. OTHER BUSINESS
Shaffer reviewed the Opti-Vise Service contract for 2024 with the board which is a 2% increase over last year’squote. The new monthly fee will be $754.53 per month.
Motion to approve 2024 Opti-Vise contract renewal as presented by Tanner and seconded King.
Motion carried.

7. ADJOURNMENT
Johnson adjourned the meeting at 4:34 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, September 11, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.