City of Darien Economic Development Committee Met June 3.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. by Chairwoman Tina Beilke. Other committee members present were: Matthew Weberling, Nick Pitzer, Bryan Gay, Louis Mallers and Robert Hahn. Also present was Alderwoman (EDC Committee liaison) Mary Sullivan.
2. Public Comment
April Padalik from Darien Chamber of Commerce was present and joined in on discussions under Old Business and Previous Follow Up/Hanging Matters.
3. Approval of Minutes – May 6, 2021
Minutes were approved by unanimous consent.
4. New Business – None.
5. Old Business
a) Upcoming Initiatives
i. Springtime – A Nice Time to Shop in Darien – The program is being posted and solicited throughout the City via Facebook and other social media outlets. EDC Committee members were encouraged to also post on their pages.
Virtual Business Expos – A follow up with City staff is being done to see how the implementation of hyperlinks into the business directory is going.
In Person Business Introductions – A follow up with City staff is being done to see which businesses are currently being invited to Council meetings. In addition, in order to strengthen the relationship of City,
Chamber and EDC working more together, a suggesting of having EDC come to the next Chamber meeting for introductions was proposed (or vice versa).
b) New Business License welcome package updates – Additional page from Chamber of Commerce was shared that listed the events thus far for 2021.
6. Previous Follow Up/Hanging Matters
a) EDC July appointment updates – Recommendations: Bryan Gay as new EDC Chairman; Brian Liedtke as a new member; Tom Papais, from Darien Chamber of Commerce, as a new member/Chamber liaison. Current EDC members are requesting reappointment (except Chairman Beilke who is unable to serve). Confirmation of the new members will take place at next Council meeting. All existing EDC members should attend.
b) Other longer-term initiatives – Lengthy discussion took place around next term and how to build off current accomplishments to maximize EDC’s impact. Key goals for Darien: Available resources (is 500K still in the budget as a contingency?); follow up protocol for businesses; inventory of vacant land (reach out to brokers, etc.); goal setting for future years; expectations of EDC from the Mayor and city staff, better defining the connections with Chamber and alignment with city staff (e.g. align more with Dan Gombac) and EDC.
7. Next Scheduled Meeting
Next scheduled meeting is Thursday, July 8, 2021.
8. Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 8:34 p.m.
https://www.darien.il.us/getattachment/c3b1cd56-7ab6-4d1f-b747-99ec53eb996e/Economic-Development-Meeting-June-3,-2021.aspx
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