ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, July 6, 2020
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:Frame, King, Parker, Robinson, Salazar, Tanner, Templin, Turner, Zaleski

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Bolser, Golden

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Mitchell, Lindsey

GUESTS PRESENT:

Sowers, George – EDC Counsel
Oler, Ron – Richmond Common Council
Truitt, Jason – Palladium-Item
Phillips, Angela & Zara, Michael – Phillips Tube Group of Indiana

I. CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Randy Templin called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development
Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:01 p.m. on Monday, July 6, 2020 via Zoom meeting.
VI. OTHER BUSINESS
a. Phillips Tube Group of Indiana EDIT Grant Application #20-203
Shaffer asked to go out of order on the agenda as we have guests from Phillips Tube Group, who closed
on property located at 401 Industrial Parkway, on the call. Angela Phillips and Michael Zara arerepresenting the company, which is a family-owned business headquartered in Middletown, OH. They
currently have three plants and a transportation company. Phillips said the company began in 1967 andthey manufacture welded steel tubing for the appliance, RV, HVAC and automotive industries. They arefollowing their strategic plan which included a fourth location. She thanked Shaffer for the assistance inbeing able to locate their first Indiana plant, here in Wayne County, and stated this will be the mosttechnological of all the plants. Zara stated they chose Wayne County for three reasons. Number one is
the geographic location. Number two is the favorable business climate. Number three is Wayne County
can support a forward-looking technology center in an automated plant. Shafer stated the EDIT Grantapplication is located on pg. 17 and the scope of project is on pg. 22. The company will be investing$8.2M and creating 30 jobs by 2024 with an average wage of $26/hour plus benefits. Shaffer indicatedthe $98,500 request is in line with the scope and amount funded of previous projects. Shaffer noted
Phillips Tube Group was reported on previously with code name Project Festival.
Motion to approve EDIT Grant application #20-203 in the amount of $98,500 by Frame, second by Parker.
Motion carried.
Shaffer indicated she will present the application to the Wayne County Commissioners at their meetingon Wednesday July 8, 2020.
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Templin stated the minutes from the June 1, 2020 board meeting were on pages 2-4. Noted corrections: on pg. 3
the Stride Rite Corporation (Wolverine) lease terminates in June 2024, not December 2024, also on pg. 3. The
Elder Beerman property is being transferred not sold.
Motion to approve June 1st minutes with noted corrections by Zaleski, second by Parker. Motion carried.

III. TREASURER’S REPORT
Zaleski reported the EDC was over budget by $12,663.31 MTD and under budget by $42, 487.02 YTD for June. The
only item of note is Ady Advantage was paid $25,000.00 for the EDC’s strategic plan, which is why we are showing
over budget.
Motion to approve the June 2020 financials as presented by Parker, second by Tanner. Motion carried.
IV. COMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Executive Committee
Templin reported the Executive Committee met on June 25th. They received an update on the COVID-19
loan program through the county. The Elder Beerman property transfer was to be heard by the Board ofPublic Works on July 2nd but we have not received an update. Ady has begun the strategic plan processwith employer interviews and partner roundtables. Templin reported it is contract renewal time for theEDC with the County and also for the EDC with Valerie. Those discussions are ongoing.
b. Industrial Park Committee
No meeting was held in June.
V. EDC STAFF REPORTS
Lindsey – Lindsey reported she had worked with the US Census Bureau to find a location for the onboarding ofCensus employees for late July and early August. Wayne County has only had approximately 50% of theresidents complete the Census. They will be using the grand hall in the train depot. Lindsey stated that most of
her work in June was dedicated processing applications for the loan program.
Doty – Doty reported the EDC had received numerous compliments on the COVID-19 resource page on thewebsite. The brand consolidation project is now moving forward. The Brightside stories have been moved to theHome In Wayne (HIW) page. OnVine Media will begin merging the Facebook pages, when that is complete, wewill begin to promote it. We ordered more HIW coasters and they will be delivered to bars and restaurants toget the HIW name back out in the public. Doty reported there has been an uptick in jobs being posted on
Hoosier Opportunity.
Mitchell – Mitchell reported that the IDEM permitting for MIP is about 45 days in so we should hear somethingsoon on the wetland project Little River and Beals Moore have been working on. MIP Phase III which is the 326acre Toschlog property is moving forward. We received a $10,000 grant from Duke Energy for MIP and should
receive their final report in September. Mitchell had 4 BR & E visits using Zoom and phone conferences. Mitchellparticipated in housing discussions and hade her normal community engagement for Boys and Girls Club andCommunities in Schools.
Shaffer – Shaffer said we have been working on employers’ updates to see how we can assist them as we move
forward through COVID. She is working on an expansion project in Centerville with Kyle Turner. Shaffer isworking with Ken Paust to coordinate our local PPE marketplace. The City and County both received CARES Act
funding and are using a portion of those funds purchasing masks, thermometers, hand sanitizer, gloves, andfloor decals. Businesses will be able to apply online, hopefully will be live later this week and Renee will promote
for the EDC and Chamber will be promoting it as well. Shaffer has been working with the group in Cambridge
City for infrastructure relating to the water and sewer system. Rate structures have been presented for thesewer treatment expansion and the contract is being finalized with SugarCreek. Commonwealth engineers arelooking at the additional capacity for water and fire protection. They are looking at the scope of the project tosee what portion can wait. There is $225M in CARES Act funding available. An outside firm needs to be utilized
to make sure the project receives the maximum amount of funding. Sarah and Valerie are working with EDA
consultants to see who the best fit for the project is.

VI. OTHER BUSINESSb. Wayne County COVID-19 Loan Program
Shaffer reported there were 22 applications received by the June 19th deadline for the first round offunding from Wayne County’s COVID-19 Loan Program for disaster relief. The application packages arereviewed by Lindsey, then sent to the auditor to make sure no taxes are owed. The financials are thenreviewed by the SBDC. Lindsey then moves them to 1 of 2 scoring committees. There is a minimum scorethat must be met for the package to go to the loan fund board for evaluation. There are 9 packages forreview by the board on Friday. Lindsey is holding some applications that require additional information.
This application round requested $445,000 in funding. Shaffer is confident there will be a second roundof funding and indicated we have 3 applications for round 2 that were received after the due date forround 1. The employment threshold and residency requirement may be altered for round 2.
Shaffer gave an update on the strategic plan process. Ady Advantage will be here July 29th. They will be
conducting roundtables with elected officials from the communities the EDC represents. There will also
be a buildings and sites tour.
Tanner thanked Shaffer and the staff for a job well done.
Shaffer reported that Rebecca Thomas, who was appointed by the Commissioners, had resigned her board
seat as she has taken a position out of state. The Commissioners are looking for a replacement
VIII. ADJOURNMENT
Templin adjourned the meeting at 4:40 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – Monday, August 6th, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.