Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee — Columbia, SC
Date: 2024-10-22
Time: 11:00

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA
 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024

The Economic Development & Infrastructure Committee will conduct a meeting on
Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. at City Hall (Mayor's Conference Room),
1737 Main Street, Second Floor, Columbia, SC 29201. The meeting can be viewed
online at www.columbiasc.gov. Please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (803)545-
3045 or cityclerk@columbiasc.gov if you have questions regarding the meeting.

 The Honorable Peter M. Brown, Chair
The Honorable William Brennan, District III  The Honorable Aditi Bussells, At-Large

Prior to entering the meeting please turn all electronic communication devices to the silent, vibrate or
  off position. All presenters are asked to speak directly into the microphone for recording purposes.

CALL TO ORDER

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Approval of the August 13, 2024 and September 24, 2024 Economic
 Development & Infrastructure Committee Meeting Minutes.

PRESENTATIONS

2. Shaw Circle's Southeast Innovation Tour Report - Mr. Jordan Fowler,
 Chief Executive Officer

3. Reaching Riverbanks Community Mobility Plan - Mr. Kevin Bacon, AIA,
 AICP, Director of Urban Design, Southern US, Toole Design

ADJOURNMENT




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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MEETING
 MINUTES
 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024

CALL TO ORDER

The Columbia Economic Development and Infrastructure Committee conducted a
meeting on Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at City Hall (Mayor’s Conference Room),
Second Floor, 1737 Main Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29201. The Honorable
Peter M. Brown, Chair called the meeting to order at 3:01 p.m. and the following
members were present:

Attendee Name Title Status
Peter M. Brown Chair Present
Will Brennan Member Present
Aditi Bussells Member Present

ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Upon a motion made by Mr. Brennan and seconded by Dr. Bussells, the Committee
voted unanimously to adopt the agenda subject to adding Executive Session for the
discussion of matters relating to the proposed location, expansion, or provision of
services encouraging location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the
area served by the public body pursuant to S.C. Code §30-4-70(a)(5) - 2725 Main
Street.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

1. Approval of the August 13, 2024 and September 24, 2024 Economic
 Development & Infrastructure Committee Meeting Minutes.

Upon a motion made by Dr. Bussells and seconded by Mr. Brennan, the committee
voted unanimously to approve the August 13, 2024 and September 24, 2024
Economic Development & Infrastructure Committee Meeting Minutes.

PRESENTATIONS

2. Reaching Riverbanks Community Mobility Plan - Mr. Kevin Bacon, AIA, AICP,
 Director of Urban Design, Southern US, Toole Design – Received as
 information.

Mr. Kevin Bacon, AIA, AICP, Director of Urban Design at Toole Design explained the
work behind a comprehensive study of the Broad River, Saluda River, and the
Earlewood area, which has significant growth potential. The project, set for



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 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MEETING
 MINUTES
 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024

finalization in Fall 2024, aims to proactively address future development in a region
with limited available land. He emphasized the need for alignment between city and
county land use, focusing on an integrated mobility system and previous planning
efforts. The goal is to create an inclusive environment that celebrates the area's
natural beauty while outlining a framework for public spaces, greenway options,
and improved neighborhood connectivity.

There was discussion about identifying and connecting smaller projects; strategic
deployment of funds; necessity of infrastructure; organizing the neighborhoods;
and the interface between land use and transportation.

Councilor Brown asked for a review of the charrette responses to the plan.

Councilor Brennan suggested Greystone Boulevard as a catalyst project.

Ms. Leigh DeForth, AICP, Senior Planner/Comprehensive Planner explained that the
next steps involve requesting the adoption of the area plans. We utilize the plans to
provide you and the boards and commissions with feedback on what the public
planning process has recommended.

3. Shaw Circle's Southeast Innovation Tour Report - Mr. Jordan Fowler, Chief
 Executive Officer – Received as information.

Mr. Jordan Fowler, Chief Executive Officer said while there are a lot of cities with
robust ecosystems, Columbia has all of the pieces that it needs to be successful in
quantum and in a broader entrepreneurship and innovation niche. The road show
helped us identify what’s working for cities and what more Columbia can do.

Mr. Ryan Henry, Chief Operating Officer categorized the team’s efforts into short-
term and long-term impacts. In the short term, we focused on learning and
promoting Columbia by leveraging both our company and personal social media
platforms, which generated 19,000 impressions on our company page and 50,000
across personal accounts. We met with 30 key individuals who could potentially
transform our tech ecosystem and influence the city’s trajectory. We came back
with an idea of how the most established incubators curate talent.

Mr. Carter Burns, Co-Chief Information Officer shared the tour stops: Georgia,
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida.




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 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE MEETING
 MINUTES
 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2024

They collectively spoke about fostering entrepreneurship in Columbia by uniting
ambitious students from various fields through multidisciplinary capstone projects
and mentorship programs. They emphasized the need for a cohesive
entrepreneurial culture, discussed successful models from other cities, and
proposed a strategic focus on quantum computing as a potential growth area.
Collaboration among local universities was highlighted as essential for creating a
supportive ecosystem, alongside the need for a unified brand to market these
initiatives effectively.

There was discussion about leveraging institutional capital; incubators; culture
building; quantum and machine learning; industry crossover; innovation approach;
and company retention.

Councilor Will Brennan left the meeting at 4:30.

Councilor Brown suggested coming up with a public private partnership and
connecting with the work being done at the Launch Pad through the University of
Georgia.

Mayor Rickenmann suggested following up and exploring what Tulsa is doing.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Upon a motion made by Dr. Bussells and seconded by Mr. Brown, the Committee
entered into Executive Session at 4:33 p.m. for discussion of matters relating to the
proposed location, expansion, or provision of services encouraging location or
expansion of industries or other businesses in the area served by the public body
pursuant to S.C. Code §30-4-70(a)(5) - 2725 Main Street.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 4:46 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:



Erika D. Moore Hammond, CMC
City Clerk




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