Economic Development Committee

TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Monday, November 6, 2017 Municipal Complex, Committee Meeting Room, 3rd Floor 100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES Members Present: Mark Smith, Chairman and John Burn Excused Absence: Will Haynie Staff Present: Eric DeMoura, Town Administrator; Lauren Sims, Executive Programs Manager Mr. Smith called the meeting to order at 8:45 a.m. Mr. Smith thanked everyone for four fantastic years. He stated that he remembered four years ago that the Town did not have an Economic Development team. He stated that the decision was made to have a full time position. He said to look where we are today and the tremendous strides that have been made directly from the Strategic Plan that was put into place. He stated that he would like to thank the team for carrying this out, for the Administration for their support, legal for keeping them compliant and most importantly thanks and congratulations to every single business individual willing to invest time, talent and treasures in the Town. He stated that as a member of the community, it is a great day to be a small business owner. He stated that all of this comes from being able to have a good quality of life and opportunity. He thanked all for everything they have done. He thanked Mr. Burn for the partnership with Mount Pleasant Waterworks. 1. Approval of Minutes from the October 2, 2017 meeting Mr. Burn moved for approval; seconded by Mr. Smith. All present voted in favor.  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 2 of 12 2. Public Comments Gary Santos, 1690 Greystone Boulevard, stated that he would like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. Smith for his four years of service and appreciates all that he has done to bring the Economic Development Committee forward. 3. Staff update on Economic Development Mr. Smith stated that his intention for his last meeting is to do a summary of where the Town has been, what has been accomplished and what is currently being worked on. He would like to have everything ready for the next Chair of the Economic Development Committee. Lauren Sims, Community & Government Affairs Chief, stated that she is sitting in for the Business and Tourism Manager, Amy Livingston. She also recognized the other staff members from the Business and Tourism office who were present, Haley Glover and Allison Lane, who have both been instrumental to the success that this office has achieved throughout the past few years. She said that the Economic Development Strategy that the Town has two primary focuses. She stated that the Town not only wants to pull in new businesses or assist those businesses that are here to expand, but wants to ensure that  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 3 of 12 they have all the tools and support they need to continue to grow their business and be successful here in Mount Pleasant over time. She said some of the major announcements over the past few years are: She stated as a reminder that the Landing Pad program is the State’s program to help bring international businesses to the state and set up their flagship offices here. She said this opens the doors to Mount Pleasant globally. She stated that there have been many more announcements than the four shown above; however, they wanted to mention these, because they are the four that not only fit best in line with the Town’s strategy, but also with our partners’ strategies. She stated that they opened up the Town to the world and the rest of the country to let them know that Mount Pleasant is open for business and is a great place to take advantage of the incentives and programs that are available.  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 4 of 12 She stated that the ExperienceMountPleasant.com webpage is the business and tourism webpage and all of the resources you could desire for opening or expanding a business, finding support and resources, events, work, play, sleep, is all on this one website. She said that it is a great tool that has seen great traffic since the re-boot of the website. She said that in a Forbes article, the Town was part of a highlighted section on just Mount Pleasant alone. They also had a section on Charleston County, but were pleased to see Mount Pleasant as a highlight, focused on the efforts that the Town is doing here to support and recruit new businesses, which gained a great deal of attention across a much wider audience than previously reached. She said “Wired for Business” is a great program where the Town partners with businesses and helps write news releases to send out internationally. The purpose is to identify and promote local existing businesses by distributing these joint press releases. She said that there are over half a million web impressions from each article, which is a significant number. She said some other major ones that utilized this program was the STEM premier and MoonDog companies and are very pleased with the success that the Wired for Business initiative has taken on.  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 5 of 12 She said that Ribbon Cuttings are something the Town is very excited to do to welcome new businesses to Mount Pleasant. She said there were only 19 for 2016, so in addition to the 24 that have already occurred this year, there are 7 more being coordinated. She reviewed what the Town has been doing under Support & Retention. She said the desire in Mount Pleasant to support local business and know where your products come from is something that is very important to  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 6 of 12 this community. She said the Town Proud Certified Local Business program was their idea of making sure they were behind this initiative. She said Lowcountry Local First is the certifying body and added that there are certain criteria that must be met. She said that the Town not only met their first year goal, but exceeded with 110 certified local businesses and continue to grow this program. She said this provides the Town with an opportunity to remind these businesses about the Local Vendor Partnership program that the procurement ordinance allows for.  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 7 of 12 She said that East Cooper Hospitality Alliance (ECHA), brings together the restaurants, hotels, and attractions and puts them together to figure out ways to identify the barriers to their success and work to overcome them. She said they have quarterly networking events with speakers that are specific to the hospitality industry and are tackling issues such as workforce housing and transportation. She said that working with CARTA is a large initiative at this time with ECHA. Town staff has been working alongside them supporting a survey that is currently out about route schedules and times. She said that Business Appreciation Week is an annual event that is a week-long event leading up to the Business Expo at the end of the week. She said it is an opportunity for the Town to showcase the businesses in Mount Pleasant and celebrate their accomplishments.  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 8 of 12 She said that the Coworking Day/Entrepreneurship Day which was held at Alhambra Hall in December 2015, was an opportunity for the entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts to work, collaborate and to share their ideas and talents. She said it was a tremendously successful event. She said lastly are the Business Outreach Meetings, which is where Council members and staff will visit Mount Pleasant businesses to learn about what they do, what sorts of challenges and opportunities are they encountering, how can we work with these businesses to help ensure their success, what information can be shared, etc. She said that it helps  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 9 of 12 the Town to build this direct relationship with the businesses and they know if they have questions or need assistance, they know where they are able to go. She stated that Partnerships is a major portion of the Economic Development Strategy and the Town must rely on the partnerships because we are looking at economic development from a regional approach. She stated that Amy Livingston works very closely with the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce to ensure we are accomplishing great things with this group. She stated that we are continuing to build off of these partnerships, some of which are on-going and some are more event specific, but the Town is always looking for more opportunities to partner with groups that are doing great work in the communities. She pointed out the following reports that have been completed and have provided the background for decisions that have been made and the direction that we are taking the economic development strategy.  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 10 of 12 She said one of which was recently completed is the Retail Market Analysis, which helped identify the leaks in our community, where the Town is missing out on dollars for brick and mortar companies. She said this helped figure out what types of businesses the community truly needs, and where people are buying online, as opposed to going to a local business to purchase those items. She said there is the New Business Guide, which is very important if you are a new business looking to open in Mount Pleasant. She said everything you need to know is in this one guide. She said that the Town has had collaborative efforts working with partners. She said that one is the One Region Strategy, another is a Foreign Direct Investment Strategy and the most recent is the Port District Economic Development Plan. She said this will help to identify where the Port District can and should be in Mount Pleasant and what needs to happen in order to support such a district. She added that Council has already committed $1.5 million dollars in TIF funds for implementation of recommendations that were identified in this plan.  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 11 of 12 She stated that the Town is currently working through the design and infrastructure improvements that were outlined in this plan. She stated that overall, the Town has been very successful over the past few years, and what the Town will be accomplishing in the coming years. Mr. Smith thanked Mr. DeMoura for being the right Administrator for the Town. He stated that the Town of Mount Pleasant is very fortunate to have someone with Mr. DeMoura’s talent, ability and keen recognition to surround himself with quality leaders. He thanked Town staff individually for all their hard work and talent. He stated that the future of the Town is very bright. Mr. DeMoura stated that he appreciates Mr. Smith’s gracious comments; however, four years ago, it was Mr. Smith who recognized the importance of economic development and business and support and how critical and crucial it is for quality of life. He said Mr. Smith made sure it was a priority of the Town to make this happen and as we look back on the successes, it could not have happened without the leadership Mr. Smith provided. He said the Town is on a good path. Mr. Burn stated that it has been a pleasure and an honor to work with all of staff and believes the Town is on solid footing. He said he is very excited about the Port initiative, which will be a significant thing for the Town for many years to come. He stated that he hopes he is able to  Economic Development Committee November 6, 2017 Page 12 of 12 continue working with the Town. He said that it has been an honor to work with Councilman Smith and added that his work ethic is second to none. He said he believes Mr. Smith will continue to serve the Town well from Columbia and looks forward to working with him in his new capacity. 4. Adjourn There being no further business, meeting adjourned at 9:08 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Ashe November 6, 2017