Economic Development Commission

City Middletown, CT Economic Development Committee Minutes from the Economic Development Committee Special Meeting of April 16, 2020 Meeting was conducted via video conference call Present: V. Loffredo, T. Gennaro, J. Blackwell, P. Pessina, E. McKeon Absent: Executive: Mayor Benjamin Florsheim Staff: J. Samolis, T. Marano Minutes 1. Call to Order: Chairman V. Loffredo called the meeting to order at 5:30 PM. 2. Minutes: P. Pessina made a motion, seconded by J. Blackwell, to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting of 3/10/20. Vote: Unanimous in favor of the motion. 3. Public Session: Jeff Pugliese, Vice President of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce, reiterated the Chamber’s support of the City’s economic development recovery effort. 4. Communications: There were no communications from the public. 5. Old Business: There was no old business. 6. New Business City of Middletown COVID-19 Emergency Relief Programming Proposal J. Samolis gave an overview of the draft plan to help local businesses recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 virus. The plan has three action steps. The first is data collection and outreach which includes staff canvassing businesses to determine their status and outlook. The second is the formation of the Middletown Economic Recovery Team. This team will be tasked with developing plans to assist the City and its businesses with recovering 1  from the virus’ impacts. It includes members from the City, the Chamber and city businesses. The Team would develop plans for marketing, business development, downtown programming and the like. The third is direct financial assistance to businesses using either the City’s CDBG funds for companies which qualify or a City appropriation for the others. The CDBG budget includes the new traunch from HUD of $283,000 and $150,000 from existing funds which would be reprogrammed. The City appropriation of $500,000 would be used for bridge loans to small businesses to finance near-term expenses. The City would also invest in the MEWS+ and MSDBC, both at the Chamber. And, offer small, short-term office spaces at Keating Park to entrepreneurs. A general discussion of the plan ensued. The members gave their initial thoughts and asked questions. There was general agreement to get the money out quickly. So, the plan has to be to the Common Council for its May meeting. The Committee agreed to send questions to the staff as soon as possible and agreed to hold another special meeting next week. Staff was tasked with polling the members for an agreeable day and time. Vote: There was no vote taken Adjournment E. McKeon made a motion, seconded by P. Pessina to adjourn the meeting. Vote: Unanimous in favor of the motion The meeting was adjourned at 6:31 PM 2