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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 43rd - May 13, 1982 signedMINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION OF LIVONIA A Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Corporation of Livonia was called to order by the Chairman, Peter Ventura, at approximately 5:20 p.m., May 13, 1982, in the Third Floor Conference Room of the City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, Michigan. The Secretary called the roll: Directors Present: Mr. Kenneth Hale Mr. Frank Hand Mr. Robert Jankowski Mr. Angelo Plakas Mr., Stanley Telman Mr. Peter Ventura Directors Absent: Mr. Alan Helmkamp Mrs. Helen Kavanaugh Mr. Ron Mardiros Others Present: Mr. Dennis Neiman, Miller/Canfield Mr. Daniel Gilmartin, Executive Director Ms. Marie King, Recording Secretary 0n a motion by Mr. Plakas, supported by Mr. Jankowski, it was #82-268 RESOLVED, that the minutes of February 11, 1982, of the Regular Meeting of the Economic Development Corporation of Livonia be approved as submitted. A roll call vote was taken on the foregoing motion with the following results: AYES: Hale, Hand, Jankowski, Plakas, Telman, Ventura NAYS: None The Chairman declared the resolution adopted. Due to the absence of the Treasurer, the Treasurer's Report was dispensed with. The Chairman introduced Mr. Dennis Neiman as the guest speaker. Mr, Neiman spoke on how to go about getting more business for the EDC of Livonia. Mr. Neiman indicated to the Chairman and the Board that he had sent out letters to the Livonia Pavilion, Peter DeMarco, Bailey Co., Dr. Ajluni, and John Dinan Co. relative to monies owed the EDC. He stated in the letters that if the balance is not received by the EDC by May 24, then at the June meeting the EDC is to pass a rescinding resolution, that is, rescinding the inducement resolution for each project which would have the effect of rendering the project incapable of being financed by the EDC. 294 Mr. Neiman explained that the lack of activity is not peculiar to Livonia, but to the state in general. Kalamazoo, Holland and Kent County are still very active. In this area, only Troy is still active. However, even in Troy the number of quality projects is substantially down from a year ago. People are reluctant to make long range decisions involving large sums of money. The basic and most obvious reason. is that so much of this particular area is tied into the automotive market and related sales, that when they are down everyone is down. The question is what can the EDC do to help stir business? 1, Put together a brochure. That is something that a lot of EDC's do. One that has been most successful is Berrien County. In spite of its being a very poor county with a relatively high unemployment rate, and severe weather, this county has been very active. One of their selling tools would be easy access to Chicago. They have put together an extremely professional brochure. (Mr. Neiman will send a copy to Mr. Gilmartin). They also have heavy promotion in newspaper ads. They have worked closely with the Dept. of Commerce. The Dept. of Commerce will work with anyone in the State. They want to keep business and industry in the State. 2. A brochure like the City of Warren's would be much less expensive to put together and is aimed at the local companies, As Mr. Gilmartin mentioned earlier, 1/3 of the tax base is in expansions. That is what the Livonia EDC should aim for. 3. Newspaper ads. The EDC needs to identify who their market is first. 4. Seminar. Invite a group of businessmen for a breakfast. Mr. Neiman would conduct the seminar, He would explain the EDC's availability and how it functions. This could be done in conjunction with the brochure. Director Ken Hale asked Mr. Neiman how long the seminar would last and suggested maybe a continental breakfast would be nice. Mr. Neiman said he could speak anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending 295 how much time he was given and how much material the EDC would like covered, Mr. Hale suggested a room could be reserved at the Holidome. He asked Mr. Gilmartin how many businesses are in the City of Livonia. Mr. Gilmartin said there are between 2500 and 3000 businesses. Mr. Neiman said if a 100 people come, and you get one good project out of it, then it was a success,. Mr. Plakas asked if we were after companies in town or out of town. Mr, Gilmartin suggested we would be after the companies in town for expansions and new equipment. Mr. Telman said that many of the business people he knows who are thinking of expansion are fairly well -extended credit wise, but they cannot get any more money and those that can get money don't want to pay the price. Until interest rates come down, they don't want to move. Mr. Hand said that since we do not have that much land available any more to us, the only market we have available to us is internal. So, that is the area we will have to concentrate on. He doesn't see much hope in attracting new business into this area right now. There may be some people who do have funds to spend, and if they were acquainted with this vehicle, they might expand. There are some businesses that already exist here which would be the logical places to start. Mr. Hand questioned the possibility of getting together some exhibits showing the difference between financing through the EDC and the conventional financing. If they could see a graph, it would be easier. Mr, Ventura suggested this could be included in the brochure. Mr. Ventura asked Mr. Gilmartin to look into the cost of putting together a brochure similar to the City of Warren's. These brochures could be mailed to all businesses prior to setting up a cocktail party, or breakfast and/or seminar. The Chairman, Mr. Ventura, appointed Director Ken Hale as Chairman of a committee to explore the possibilities of a seminar at the Holidome, and make a 296 preliminary report at the June meeting of the EDC. Mr. Plakas, Mr. Jankowski, and Mr. Hand volunteered to work with Mr. Hale on the committee. Mr. Neiman said his office would be willing to assist them in anyway possible if they have any questions regarding the seminar. Mr. Ventura offered to introduce Mr, Hale to Mr. Bommarito, Sales Manager of the Holidome, to procure prices for the seminar, The next meeting of the EDC will be June 10, 1982, 0n a motion by Mr. Plakas, supported by Mr. Telman, and unanimously approved, it was #82-269 RESOLVED, that the Regular Meeting of May 13, 1982, of the Economic Development Corporation of Livonia be adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, f 1 A. r vw (L (M '1-AA Frank Hand, SEcretary FH/mk