Action Team Meeting Minutes

IDC and JOBS 2020: Taking Action Meeting
March 20th, 2003
Present: Tom Osborn, Bernadine Joselyn, Jim Hoolihan, Bud Stone, Steve Feltman, Doug Learmont, Sholom Blake, Steve Wilcox, Kelly Hain, David Marty, Sandy Layman, Lucy Flessner, Peter McDermott, Kirk Bustrom, Mary Ives, John Rajala

Action Team Chairs met with the JOBS 2020 Steering Committee at Noon on Thursday, March 20^th at Itasca Development Corporation for the purpose of reporting on their respective Action Teams’ progress to date.

Steering Committee Chairman Jim Hoolihan led the meeting discussion. Prior to the team reports, several organizational matters were discussed including:

• determining the best way to communicate the Action Team Reports to the community and JOBS 2020 participants. The JOBS 2020 website will be the source of communication.
• The Steering Committee will meet with representative IDC board members on March 28^th to plan the structure of the JOBS 2020 organization going forward. A grant request to the Blandin Foundation to help staff the JOBS 2020 effort has been accepted. Private sector contributions are also being sought to help with this endeavor.

ACTION TEAM REPORTS

ACTION TEAM 1:

Doug Learmont reporting

Goal: Reduce iron ore production costs to keep National Steel and other businesses competitive.

Team members: Doug Learmont, Milt Latvala, Jerry Miner, Tom Peluso, Bob Buescher, Joe Maher, Scott Hautala, Ron Salisbury, Steve Kovala, Dave Loch

Industry issues discussed:

• What constitutes a "quality job"
• Community should understand that manufacturing is an important and desirable industry; positive public support is needed
• Concerns about environmental impact of manufacturing must be addressed
• "Smokestake industries" have been paralyzed by permitting constraints
• Investment funding for manufacturing is being exported
• Artificial constraints are being placed on the forest industries
• Organizational support needed to promote location of tax free zones in this area

Areas of concern:

1. High cost and limited availability of transportation options
2. High cost of workers’ compensation and benefits
3. Delays resulting from permitting and licensing processes
4. Royalties and taxes increase costs of manufacturing
5. High cost and limited availability of major energy sources
6. High cost and availability of pulpwood
7. Minimal sharing of expertise among companies with similar concerns and needs
8. Anticipated high workforce turnover due to retirement --- lack of training and education for new workforce replacement
9. A market for substantial electrical demand should be developed so that locally generated electric power can be used locally
10. Need to identify and/or create opportunities for outsourcing and common purchasing to lower costs while also creating satellite opportunities for new business and employment

1. Strengthen rural health science education options and opportunities available locally through the collaborative efforts of Grand Itasca Clinic and Hospital, Itasca Community College, northeast MnSCU institutions, and the Arrowhead University Consortium colleges.
2. Support the Rural Health Science Education Center initiative through the legislative and funding process.
3. Formulate an "Educate the Educator" program to assist teachers at all grade levels in regional schools to become aware of health care professional career options for males, females and labor pool requirements for a rural health science education model.
4. Support and strengthen student opportunities to experience health care careers such as shadowing, health occupations classes and volunteering programs.
5. Identify marketing opportunities to reach parents of school age children and the community-at-large with the message of health care professionals’ importance to economic development in the region.
6. Produce an action plan to build a "spirit of shared ownership" for the center of excellence and the rural health care education model.

Next meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 3, 7:30 a.m. at Itasca Community College

ACTION TEAM 4:

Tom Osborn reporting

Goal: Help improve Blandin Paper Company’s chances of becoming a preferred UPM-Kymmene expansion site.

Objective: Positiviely influence key areas of fiber supply, lower costs and generate community support for business expansion.

Team Members: Tom Osborn, Bill Tuominen, Bob Dunnell, Dale Reed, Dave Kellin, Doug Hanson, Ed Treska, Emery McGraw, Garrett Ous, Greg Chandler, Jack Hokkanen, Jim Kent, Joe Maher, John Ward, Lowell Pittack, Marsha Miller, Mark Hawkinson, Melissa Roberts, Peter McDermott, Steve Arbour

Action steps:

• Prepare the property west of Blandin for future commercial development. Acquire the land, have it zoned for industrial commercial use, and designate it as a tax free zone. Develop an environmental component to strengthen the case (i.e., buffer zone to hide industrial development from view)

1. Support initiatives for fiber supply
2. Support initiatives for lower transportation costs — learn more about rail and truck weight issues
3. Generate understanding and support for power plant and the role it plays in business expansion and community benefit.
4. Generate community support for Blandin expansion:
   • Make a case for the economic benefits of expansion
   • Ask other JOBS 2020 action teams to show support by attending public meetings
   • Obtain Blandin’s vendor list and send vendors a letter outlining action team’s goals and seek their support
   • Invite Blandin union representatives to team meetings
   • Prepare community for business expansion
   • Develop a list of supporters to have ready when the comprehensive land use plan is brought forward and advocate for expansion

Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 2, 7:30 a.m. at Bixby’s.

ACTION TEAM 5:

Kirk Bustrom reporting

Goal: Align workforce skills to match regional employer needs.

Team Members: Kirk Bustrom, John Rajala, Paula Cleveland, Madelen Scheumann, Marge Ritter, Bud Stone

Action steps/objectives:

• Research existing data and information regarding local labor market
• Analyze data to determine what information is needed; engage in collection and retrieval of data as needed
• Conduct workforce survey of employers, workers and students
• Create alignment among key stakeholders via JOBS 2020
• Develop plans for measurement of results and ongoing sustainability

Specific plans:

• Participate with Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee
• Serve as liaison to JOBS 2020
• Develop plans to communicate findings/results and solicit feedback directly from K-14 students
• Develop and communicate defined action plan(s) to the private sector

The next meeting of the Action Team will most likely be held in conjunction with the next meeting of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee.


ACTION TEAM 6:

Sholom Blake reporting

Goal: Explore JOBZ (tax free) zones as a tool for economic development in Itasca County

Team Members: Sholom Blake, Ed Treska, Mary Ives, Rick Utech, Sandy Layman, Drew Prochazka, Kathleen Blake, John Skrbec, Ben Hawkins, Mike Birkeland, Mike McGuire, Paul LaSalle, Catherine McLynn, Ed Bolf

Issues the committee would like to see addressed in the current legislation:

The committee developed the following list to forward to local political groups to lobby for inclusion in current legislation:

• Allow the exemption from state and local taxes to begin at the time the property is utilized by an employer as opposed to when the property is designated as a JOBZ Zone.
• The state should allow for some form of relief for local governments that participate in the program and give up the tax base that currently exists.
• The re-entry onto the tax rolls should occur on some sort of phase-in basis so that the first year on the tax rolls does not cause a large increase in cost.
• The size and number of sub-zones should not be determined through the legislative process in order to provide the greatest benefit to rural area.
• There should be some provision in the legislation to create affordable housing.
• Assessments to improve property should be allowed to be collected on property that is designated as a tax free zone.

Next steps:

Although interested in seeing the above items included in the legislation, the committee is very interested in developing a JOBZ zone in Itasca County based on the current bill moving through the house. In order to assist local units of government prepare an application, the committee will focus on:

• Collection of social and economic information
• Review of potential sites within Itasca County
• Continue to develop contacts outside Itasca County for potential partnering opportunities
• Ideas on the development of a marketing plan for the application process — utilizing any existing resources available

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 9^th at 7:30 a.m. at IDC.


ACTION TEAM 7:

Steve Wilcox reporting

Goal: Create efficiency, accountability and reduce costs in public services

Team Members: Steve Wilcox, Larry Bondhus, Tarry Edington, Marian Barcus, Doug VanArkel, Marla Beaty, Wade Fauth, Bob Loscheider, Al Fritz, Rusty Eichorn

Action steps taken:

• Defined regional units of government as county, school districts, Arrowhead Regional Development Commission, DNR Region 2, Department of Trade and Economic Development, IRRRA, Arrowhead Library System, North Itasca Hospital District, Soil and Water Districts
• Defined local units of government as county, cities (15), townships, HRAs, Economic Development Authorities, and Greenway Joint Recreation Association.

Objectives:

• Determine how to accomplish goal and get things done
• How will decisions be made?
• What will the final product look like at year’s end?

The 2003 budgets for Itasca County and the City of Grand Rapids will be reviewed at the next meeting.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 9^th, 4:00 p.m., Grand Rapids State Bank Financial Services Building.


ACTION TEAM 8:

David Marty and Bernadine Joselyn reporting

Goal: Create a new community-wide event

Objective: Create a new 2-day shoulder-season festival beginning this fall that focuses on special forest products. (The ABC’s of SFP’s: the Art, Business and Careful Harvest of Special Forest Products). The event is being planned for Friday and Saturday, September 26 and 27. The intent is to create an annual destination event. This fall’s festival will be used as a vehicle to pursue future fund-raising endeavors to support future festivals. Resources and capital will need to be in place before attempts to target the Twin Cities market can be made. Demonstrations and exhibitions from the Native American community will be highlighted at the first event.

JOBS 2003 ACTION TEAM ( a.k.a., Immediate Business Opportunities and Retention Team): Peter McDermott reporting

Mission: Leverage all available resources to help the Itasca Area recover from the workforce reduction at Blandin Paper Company via job creation in 2003.

Team Members: Peter McDermott, Mike Ives, Steve Arbour, Jack Hokkanen, John Ward

Focus areas:

1. Insure business development resources are proactively supporting job creation.

   Action steps:

   • Work with IDC and others to effectively and efficiently deliver business development assistance to laid off Blandin employees and others who have expressed interest in starting a business.
2. Support existing area business efforts to create or retain jobs.

   Action steps:

   • Identify and prioritize top 25 businesses
   • Meet with company management individually
   • Identify company’s needs or obstacles to business growth and job creation
   • Determine what the community can do to help with those needs
3. Identify people with influential jobs who have a connection to the area.

Action steps:

Identify people who have an existing relationship with a company and who have a connection to the area and may be interested in bringing that business to the Itasca area.

Side Issues: The Jobs 2003 Action Team will also:

• Encourage small business counseling through the Small Business Development Center at IDC
• Promote JOBZ Zones
• Provide proactive news coverage to encourage the community to be more pro-business


The next Action Team Report Back Session is scheduled for Tuesday, April 15^th from Noon to 1:30 p.m. at IDC.