Zionsville Community Development Corporation (ZCDC)

ZIONSVILLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (“CDC”) MEETING MEMORANDA FOR Thursday, August 27, 2020 at 9:30 am Video Conference Meeting (via Zoom) Members Present: Cara Weber, President; Tammy Kelly, Vice-President; Erika Pickell; and Ben Worrell. Also Present: Wayne DeLong, AICP, CPM Director of Planning & Economic Development; and Roger Kilmer, Planning & Economic Development. Deputy Mayor Julie Johns-Cole joined the meeting at approximately 9:40 am. 1. Call to Order: Cara Weber called the meeting to order at 9:30 am. Mr. DeLong announced that the meeting is being recorded and provided guidance to the CDC Members regarding this action. 2. New Business - Grant Requests: A. Grant Request: Hopwood Cellars Winery - Ron Hopwood Mr. Hopwood presented his request for a $10,000.00 grant to assist with their full production winery. His winery is considered an entertainment and tourism business which has suffered due to the Pandemic. They have lost three employees due to the downturn in sales and it is now just Ron and his wife. They have had to cancel events such as the tastings, tours, and the Grape Stomp Festival. They have decided to bring in new products in an effort to increase sales. The grant monies would be used for marketing through their website and social media. Also cover the cost of food and wine which had to be thrown out due to the extended shutdown. The money would be utilized for a new business sign for the distillery. They also want to update and freshen their store by removing racks and adding tables to accommodate social distancing. The business is shipping more orders; however, their register is not set up to communicate with their shipping software. Members of the CDC asked questions of the applicant to better understand the proposed improvements and how the grant would be utilized. Mr. Hopwood stated they are no open full time, but have scaled back from 7 days down to 6 days and their hours of operation have dropped from 54 hours to 23 hours. He also clarified that the request is solely for their downtown facility and any grant monies would only be used for the downtown location. Mr. Hopwood stated he could provide estimates or quotes for the proposed work to be covered by the grant. He added that the Grape Stomp Festival typically provides 12% - 15% of their annual sales. This Festival is held on the third weekend in September, but has been cancelled due to COVID. Mr. Hopwood concluded is presentation by thanking the CDC for their consideration. After Mr. Hopwood had logged off, the CDC Members discussed precedents of award amounts. Mr. DeLong felt that the initial recipient of a COVID-related grant provided a great model for the method and amounts to be considered. A $10,000 grant is significant and can be supported and allows the CDC to consider multiple requests moving forward. Ms. Kelly noted that there is no prohibition to the applicants seeking a second grant if needed. It was acknowledged that these are difficult times, but there are other sources of grants and there should be more substance behind requests other than  revenue loss. B. Grant Request: CV Art and Frame - Barbara Jennings Mrs. Jennings presented her request for a $31,000.00 grant. She has been with this business for 34 years and is a survivor in her industry as more than half of her competitors and others within the art industry have gone out of business. She has evolved with the times and is now challenged to change again. She is looking to improve her social media presence for marketing and a renovation of her studio. She needs to be relevant in today’s digital world. Members of the CDC asked questions of the applicant to better understand the proposed improvements and how the grant would be utilized. Ms. Jennings explained that much of her studio’s interior needs a facelift with new wall coverings, flooring, and tables. She currently does very little social media marketing. She recently hired a new person who is knowledgeable of social media and has presented a proposal, but is concerned how the business will be able to support her for very long. Ms. Jennings does not have any specific quotes for improved services, but could secure quotes if needed. The business’s website has recently been revamped, but it not designed for on-line sales. Ms. Jennings wants to incorporate the ability for sales into the new website. They look to add daily or weekly highlights of their services or area events to draw more traffic. She stated the grant monies would first be spent on the social media needs of her business before any physical improvements to her business. C. Grant Request: zWORKS - Vickie Hall Mrs. Vickie Hall presented her request for a $25,500.00 grant. zWORKS is a non-profit organization that is member-based and partner-based. Memberships and partnerships are essentially their revenue in addition to dedicated office spaces with month-to-month leases. There are two zWORKS locations in Zionsville. The pandemic has adversely affected their revenue stream. They are down 22% from their projected revenues due to the loss of memberships, a reduction in office space rental, and a reduction in donations from financial partners. The need for the grant is to attract startups and entrepreneurs, maintain operational and space expenses of both locations, and address adaptation to social distancing spacing and cleaning protocols (plexiglass dividers between desks, PPE, and air purifiers). Members of the CDC asked questions of the applicant to better understand the proposed improvements and how the grant would be utilized. Mrs. Hall explained that she is the only staff of zWORKS and she contracts out the cleaning services. Marketing is assisted through a zWORKS member. The priority of any grant monies would be to take care of the existing spaces and improve them in an effort to make members feel safe in the zWORKS spaces as it relates to COVID. Mrs. Hall stated that pre-pandemic their membership was around 210, but over the past few months, they have lost 32 members who have not come back. Most of these lost members were annual members who did not renew. Currently, there are around 175 members. Membership prices were increased to $85.00 per month in June, 2019, and believe that is still a fair price and have chosen not to reduce their price at this time. Following the three presentations, the CDC Members discussed each presentation and it was recommended that each business be provided a grant of $10,000.00. The monies should be initially applied toward marketing efforts, technology improvements, and COVID-related measures for each business or physical renovation changes of the respective business’s facilities if the changes are toward a new aspect of the business. The monies should not be used to simply update or upgrade the physical appearance of the existing operations. Additional discussion took place about the possible need to establish a maximum grant amount of $10,000.00. Concern was expressed about establishing a maximum amount recognizing that there may be future requests which would warrant a larger amount. Suggestions were made to revise the Grant Application Form to include questions which would request greater detail from applicants as to how awarded grant monies would be applied to their business. Discussion circled back to the presented requests and it was suggested to provide a grant of $10,000.00 to each of today’s applicants with the stipulation that some form of a quote, invoice, or estimate be provided from each applicant. Staff is to work with Cara Weber to finalize Grant Memorandums to be submitted to the RDC for their consideration. Motion: The CDC recommends that a grant of $10,000.00 be provided to each of the following: • Hopwood Cellars Winery • CV Art and Frame • zWORKS As a part of this recommendation, each business should provide some form of substantiation of their request in the form of a quote, invoice, or estimate for the work to which the grant monies will be applied. The recommendation was approved unanimously by those CDC Members in attendance. 3. Old Business - Revision of FORZA Jackson IG Grant: Mr. DeLong informed the CDC that the RDC was supportive of the grant to FORZA Jackson IG, but asked that the timing of the distribution of funds be revised as there was a concern about such a large percentage of the pool of funds for these grants would be provided in this single grant which would reduce the possibility of providing grants to other businesses within the 2020 calendar year. The RDC asked that the phased distribution of the grant to FORZA Jackson IG be restated and modified to ensure the monies for Phases 2 and 3 would not be distributed until January 15, 2021, unless there are unassigned monies still available for distribution on December 31, 2020. The CDC Members recommended that the distribution of only Phase 3 monies be delayed until January 15, 2021. Staff will modify the Memorandum for FORZA Jackson IG and distribute to the RDC members. The CDC Members asked that a proposed schedule of future meetings be generated as additional work is on the horizon. Meeting Adjourned (11:18 am) The next meeting of the Zionsville Community Development Corporation is not yet scheduled.