Economic Development Commission
Meeting Minutes
February 4th 5:00pm
City Hall Auditorium
Attendance: Mayor Elinor Carbone, Dawn Gutowski, Nancy Sieller, JoAnn Ryan, Lisa Soliani, Ed Cannata, Bill Battle, Tim Waldron
Meeting called to order at 5:05pm
Minutes of October 1st 2013 meeting were approved on a motion by Nancy Sieller and Bill Battle
Commissioners introduced themselves to new commissioner Ed Cannata. Ed said he is happy to have been appointed and looks forward to serving on the commission.
Tim Waldron read into the minutes a letter of resignation from Commissioner Stephen Michna. The Commission accepted his resignation.
The Committee agreed to continue meeting on the first Thursday of the month at 5:00pm in the Auditorium.
Mayor Carbone updated the commission on recent economic development activity. She has been in talks with a couple different companies about relocating their business to Torrington and is working with them to try and make this a possibility. She also mentioned that she will be helping to cut the ribbon at the soon to be opened Jo-Ann Fabrics in downtown in March. In addition, she reported that the City will be announcing the new Director of Economic Development in a weeks time.
The Committee discussed ways of highlighting the positive aspects of Torrington as it relates to Economic Development and the city as a whole. The topic of a website for this purpose was brought up again as well. Commissioner Sieller gave a brief background of what efforts were made in the past regarding a website, and Commissioner Cannata suggested creating marketing material for the city that would be sent electronically rather than in hard copy to save money.
JoAnn Ryan reported to the committee that the Chamber is planning a manufacturing tour of several companies in the region on February 21st; the Job Fair taking place February 20th at City Hall; a Legislative Reception taking place at UConn Torrington on February 11th, and a roundtable with the Manufacturer’s Coalition and Congresswoman Esty on Friday February 7th
Bill Battle brought up the possibility of helping to encourage apprenticeship programs to introduce new workers to existing companies and help spur business and employment growth
The Committee discussed the ACP grant that the City undertook. The Committee discussed ways in which the grant was a success and what resulting lessons could be used in the future.
The committee discussed the need for goals to be created, both long and short term. Tim noted that since the new economic development director is due to start soon, it is a good time to re-examine the goals of the committee. Nancy Sieller suggested holding a forum for small businesses in town to hear directly from them.
The Committee discussed the need to re-examine the mission statement of the EDC. It was agreed that it would be worthwhile to possibly rewrite this mission statement to reflect any new goals and priorities that the committee deemed appropriate.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00pm on a motion by Bill Battle, seconded by Nancy Sieller.
Respectfully submitted,
Tim Waldron
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