Town and Gown Committee

TOWN AND GOWN COMMITTEE MEETING 12:00pm TUESDAY – SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE ROOM MINUTES I. Call to Order Chairman McKenna welcomed everyone and called the official meeting to order at 12:05.m. II. Roll Call Chairman McKenna asked the Clerk to call the roll: Members Present: Tracy Ashley, Steven Bond, Nicole Clark, Dominque DeBose, Beth Dickens, Mary Fugere, Kellie Goral, Eric Harrell, Robin McCormick, Bob McKenna, Jennifer Oliver, Tracy Staten, Raymond Tripp Guest: Angela Haywood Staff Present: Annette Oakley, Taiub Mohammad, Rebecca Spurrier III. Approve September 12, 2023 Meeting Minutes: Chairman McKenna stated the draft minutes from the September 12, 2023 meeting were distributed for review, and if there were no changes, called for a motion to approve. ACTION: Raymond Tripp made the motion to approve the minutes and Steven Bond seconded the motion. All in favor, minutes were approved. IV. Key Updates Since the August Meeting: Committee Members provided the following key updates:  Raymond Tripp (Coliseum Central BID):  October 7 & 8 - J&A Racing for Crawlin’ Crab – encouraged all runners to come out. They are excited about the continued relationship with the City and having the new 5k race on the Waterwalk!  Mary Fugere (Conventions & Visitor Bureau):  CVB provided ‘Welcome Hampton University Students’ decals for members, offices and businesses to distribute.  SuperNova music event at Fort Monroe this weekend. She has tickets available. There will be thirty-seven bands from ten different nations. Thursday is free to the public. Other times of the event are Friday (12:00-10:00); Saturday (11:00-10:00); Sunday (11:00-10:00).  Weekly racing at Langley Speedway continues and the Skybox is available. Please let her know if interested in using it for a group event.  Bayshore Beach Experience at the Hampton History Museum on September 16th and 17th. There will be a recognition of the Bayshore resort as a Green Book location, with a historic marker. The event is on October 12th at the James T. Wilson Fishing Pier, with Governor Youngkin and other dignitaries attending. The event is open to the public.  September 23rd and 24th – Hampton Cup Regatta at Mill Creek  September 27th - October 2nd - Jurassic Quest at HRCC  Hampton University Homecoming – CVB will have welcome signs and decals to give a sense of warmth and welcome between City of Hampton and Hampton University. 1   Robin McCormick (Marketing):  September 30th – ‘Kickin It in the Community’ from 11:00-4:00 – kickball game with Newport News and Hampton Police, Fire, Sheriff, etc. It will be a fun family day and they would like to have college students involved. Rebecca Spurrier noted she is excited to participate in this year’s Crawlin Crab race and looking forward it!  Nicole Clark (COH-Human Resources):  The City hosted an intern from Hampton University in the Finance Department over the summer and it was a very positive experience. Currently trying to place two HU students and one from Bryant & Stratton. Two HR staff members are participating in Bryant & Stratton Summit on Thursday. HR will have information available and if anyone is looking to intern, please let her know.  Steven Bond (COH-City Manager’s Office):  Things are going well with interns. The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYDP) went well this year with 100 participants! The City is keeping six of the participants as employees. He noted the City wants to expand opportunities for young people and provide additional sites for the SYEP.  We are working internally on coordinating with departments. We are doing a better job collaborating on events and will then expand to our external partners.  Jennifer Oliver & Kellie Goral (Hampton City Schools):  Jennifer noted HCS is off to a wonderful year!  Two upcoming events: o Hollywood to Hampton – Short films with 45 professionals from all over the country who participated in the process. Students and teachers are hosting The Short Film Festival shows on September 30th, October 1st and 2nd at The American Theatre. There will be evening and matinee shows. There will also be a red-carpet event. o Annual Community Priority Workshop on November 9th, which will include the community, faith-based organizations, military, etc., with specific topics of discussion.  Kellie clarified the red carpet event will be invite only, and she added that there will be a repeat of the film on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  On August 28th HCS welcomed @20,000 students and there is much positive energy this school year! School membership numbers continue to rise.  SOL scores dropped by one percent in reading and writing…so this will be the focus, but HCS outperformed other neighboring schools (Portsmouth, Newport News, Norfolk, etc.).  Still on target for 100% Accreditation  School start vacancies are as follows: o Teachers - only four vacancies o Bus drivers – positions filled  Tracy Staten (Workforce Development Council):  They still have funding!  Many people are coming into the center wanting to start a career and do something different.  Dominque Debose (Phoebus Partnership):  Phoebus Fall Festival is October 14th from 10:00am-6:00pm on Mallory Street. There will be music, vendors, food trucks, wrestling entertainment, etc. Please help get the word out! *NOTE: Chair McKenna left the meeting and Raymond Tripp presided over the meeting. 2   Eric Harrell & Angela Haywood (Bryant & Stratton):  Angela reported their Fall semester kick-off was held on September 6th  Working with students seeking internship opportunities – particularly partnerships in business and human resource specialist.  Eric reported they are enrolling students through September 19th. The next semester will be in January.  He noted that Carolene was unable to attend today, but reported that she is putting together a Career and Technical Education High-Quality Work-Based Learning Summit, which is a breakfast and will include Nikki Findley of the Virginia Department of Education. The Hampton campus event will be held September 14th from 8:30am-1:00pm. Carolene is the contact.  Hampton campus is doing a United Way ‘Day of Caring’ and will fill 35 baskets with household and personal items. Items will be picked up on September 14th and all are welcome to donate.  Tracy Ashley & Beth Dickens (Virginia Peninsula Community College):  Tracy reported on October 21, VPCC will hold a Community 5K at Matteson Trail. She encouraged all to participate.  Hosting ‘Day of Destruction’ at Langley Speedway on October 14.  Beth reported that summer classes started on August 21 and they are excited to have students back! There is still time to register for fall classes, which start 9/20.  If committee members are interested, or know of anyone interested, in adjunct faculty (IT, HVAC, Automotive, Cyber Security, etc.) there is a hiring fair on September 28th from 4:00-7:00pm – with interviews on the spot. V. Other Items of Discussion:  Mary mentioned the Nominating Committee met and reviewed potential open positions. They are still reviewing if anyone is interested, please let them know. They will have an update at the next meeting. Angela inquired about the open positions for Town & Gown. Mary stated the bylaws states a certain number are appointed from various groups and organizations. They are identifying openings that are due to members moving or not attending, and will reach out to individuals to be sure they can serve on the committee.  Dominque inquired, in regards to internship opportunities, if the City had an official portal for students to use? Nicole responded the City is trying to have a centralized application for interns and to be able to identify departments of interest. It is not currently on the website, as currently most are done within the departments right now, but she wants to have repository database for interns. The City will then have an Internship Fair. Steven B. noted the City is also looking at having more opportunities for interns throughout the year and providing funds for this as well.  Eric announced Bryant and Stratton would be VIP sponsor in the upcoming Winter Wonderland! Raymond shared that the event will be larger this year. It will be at the same venue, with more activities, to include a petting zoo and inflatables. He appreciates Bryant and Stratton and all continued partners. The event will be free and open to the public. VI. Next Meeting: Raymond Tripp stated the next meeting is scheduled for October 10, 2023. VII. Adjourn: Raymond Tripp thanked everyone for coming. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 3