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Action Team Meeting Minutes IDC / Jobs 2020: Action Team Report Back Meeting Present: Matt Romanik, Karen Campbell, Catherine McLynn, John Ward, Bud Stone, Tom Osborn, Steve Arbour, Bernadine Joselyn, Rob Mattei, Kirk Bustrom, Peter McDermott, Sandy Layman, Lucy Flessner, Brian Hanson, Rick Anderson ACTION TEAM REPORTS AIR SERVICE ACTION TEAM Team members presented a 19-passenger aircraft plan involving Big Sky to Northwest Airlines on July 26. The plan offered passenger feed to Northwest Airline without any financial risk to them. Northwest said they were not interested because 19 passenger aircraft are not part of their strategic plan for hub operations. Small aircraft compete for runway usage and gate space without providing sufficient passenger loads. Northwest representatives indicated that they feel Grand Rapids is well served by Mesaba/Northwest Airlink at Hibbing. Team members discussed the poor flight schedule from Hibbing and Northwest indicated that our area has several “weak markets” and suggested that better schedules could occur if the weak markets joined together to form a regional airport. The Airport Commission has taken under advisement the recommendation of the Air Service Action Team to consider forming an Airport Authority. Team members have learned that Great Lakes Aviation has a code sharing agreement in place with Frontier Airlines. Frontier offers service to all major cities and several popular leisure destinations in the west through its hub in Denver. Team members are also gauging the interest of a second low cost carrier that would offer service to Florida and the Eastern Seaboard through its hub in Atlanta. Team members speculate that by offering a connection in Minneapolis to two low cost carriers, passengers from across northern Minnesota may be attracted to the Grand Rapids airport. Meetings are scheduled to take place with each of the low cost carriers.
The Tourism Action Team has laid out a plan to create a new organization that would promote tourism for the entire Itasca County area and have board representation from all areas of the county. They have presented the plan to the county board and the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce recommending formation of the new organization that would consolidate the current Convention and Visitors Bureau, the tourism marketing portion of the Chamber of Commerce, and other area wide efforts. The organization would be funded by a county wide lodging tax of 3% and associate memberships. Minnesota state law mandates that lodging tax can only be spent on tourism marketing activities. The Action Team believes, that in order for the Itasca region to remain competive, having one marketing organization funded by a lodging tax is a positive and essential direction to take. The Chamber of Commerce will complete a membership survey regarding the lodging tax issue some time in October. The Action Team anticipates the county board to take action on their recommendation this fall.
The Health Care Action Team has five subcommittees working on five key goals. 1. Development of a locally owned and controlled primary care coverage product A very active and involved subcommittee is studying the viability of developing a local primary care healthcare insurance program or product. Group consensus is to develop a program that would consist of a basic, limited coverage with a conceptual cap of $5,000 per year. It would include an educational component, chronic disease mangement program with a primary focus on preventive care. The program would be available to everyone who is without healthcare coverage and would require minimal financial participation by the enrollees. 2. Improvement in work comp delivery The subcommittee is working to put together an education day or forum within the next three months. The forum will include medical providers, employers, consumers, and area lawmakers. The purpose is to educate local legislators on how costly it is for employers to do business in this region. 3. Appropriate and efficient transfer of medical information (HIPPA) The goal is to create the most efficient and cooperative system possible for the sharing of medical information to facilitate patient care and treatment. An informational forum is being planned for late September. The format for the forum would be a panel of HIPPA experts with a variety of experience and backgrounds, such as hospital and clinic medical records, legal, data system integration, etc. Opportunity of Q & A will proceed the development of a work plan. The subcommittee hopes to create a network to allow efficient interaction with the multiple health care providers in the area. HIPPA allows for the transfer of medical information related to treatment of the patient, heath care operation, or payment. 4. Re-establish consortium of health care leaders The goal is to build trust between area health care providers by developing a health care network while respecting and preserving the individual hospitals’ autonomy and business plans. Plans are underway for a kick-off event this fall which will include hospital administrators, board members and physician leaders. Contacts are now being made for a guest speaker for the event. 5. Itasca County Health Network The subcommittee is working on expanding the Itasca County Health Network data system to include all individuals living in the Itasca region.
The Action Team is reviewing information available from existing service providers. Qwest is the incumbent carrier in the area and owns the local switches. Other companies that resell telephone services using Qwest infrastructure include: McCloud, USLink, ATT, Sprint, MCI and DTI. Superior Broadband offers data-only wireless services. Options available for broadband service in the area include: T-1 lines, DSL, Dial-up, wireless, and fiber. The Action Team is trying to find a map of currently available telecommunications infrastructure in the area or will be developing one. Public education subcommittee: The subcommittee is exploring two options for public education opportunities to promote broadband use in the area: 1) hosting a technology fair, or 2) leveraging training sessions regarding technology currently being organized by ISD 318 for their staff. Business User Survey subcommittee: The subcommittee proposed some edits to the business user survey and will seek additional input from outside sources. When completed, the survey will be administered by mail using databases from the Greenway Business Association, Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, and Workforce Development Survey.
The Itasca Economic Development Council will be visiting approximately 20 area governing councils and boards within the next two months. The Economic Development Action Team will provide the Council members with the most recent community profile information available on each community. Council members will be asked to obtain updated information from each community regarding 1) an updated community resource inventory, 2) the names and email addresses of 2 or 3 stakeholders from each community that could serve as a response team. The Action Team will use this information when matching business requests with area community resources.
Surveys were sent out in June to area employers for the purpose of collecting data on their employees child care needs. Approximately 800 surveys have been returned to the Action Team and they expect to receive at least another 200 surveys. The Team will compile and tally all the information received into a final report. The Team has discussed putting an article in the local newspapers in order to offer the opportunity to include employees that work for smaller companies that did not receive the survey through work channels. They will be encouraged to call and have a survey mailed to them so their data can be included with the rest of the returned surveys.
UPM’s decision to proceed with the feasibility study and environmental impact study (EIS) was positively influenced by community support shown to the company. The state is working to expedite the permitting process but in the meantime it is “wait and see”. The Action Team has publicly supported the expansion plans and will continue to work with Blandin Paper Mill in that endeavor. Other factors Blandin faces are energy costs and supply, labor issues, fiver supply and transportation.
Thirty-four of the targeted 100 local businesses have had personal visits from one or two team members. The companies are given a survey to fill out as part of the Minnesota Chamber’s Grow Minnesota initiative and 34 surveys have been completed. Future visits have been scheduled and an anticipated 50 business visits and surveys will be completed by mid-September. Survey data will be entered into the Minnesota Chamber’s Survey Gold software which will enable the information to be recalled in report form. Survey results will include the top ten issues cited for the county and the top ten issues for the state. The visits have been very well received by area businesses.
Several coinciding lakes management events will take place in Grand Rapids on September 10th. IDC/Jobs 2020 will host a Lakes 2020 forum to promote collaboration between public and private sectors to effectively improve the management of the lakes and rivers in the Itasca area as a strategy for sustainable economic prosperity. The keynote speaker will be Keith Hanson of Minnesota Power whose primary responsibility is policy development and regulatory compliance programs related to water. Panel presenters will be John Chell of the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission, Peg Landin, owner and operator of Buckhorn Resort on Caribou Lake and Carl Bergquist, owner of Bergquist Switch Company. Following the forum, the North Central Lakes Project (NCLP) will meet. The forum and the NCLP will offer the opportunity to showcase the area and promote public and private collaboration on lake management. The next Action Team Report Back is scheduled for September 7th from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. in the IDC/Jobs 2020 conference room.
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