Minutes 01-27-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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there will be follow up required six months after the money is allocated. He said the committee is ready to go with this program as soon as the Board is ready. Delores Bailey is the Executive Director of Empowerment, Incorporated, which owns the Midway business center, the first small business incubator in Orange County. She discussed her incubator and the ways in which it has helped grow businesses. She believes this small business grant program will stimulate small business development and expansion in Orange County. Commissioner porosin asked how the amount of$1,000 was chosen as the size for the small grant. He said this seems small, and he wonders if$3,000 might be more useful. Jim Kitchen said the committee had heard that there were some businesses that only needed $500 to $1000 for specific needs. He said the goal was to make it fast and easy for those who just needed a low price stimulus to their business. He said this low amount requires less of a burden for providing data. He said the committee will learn quickly what the right numbers are. He said the program will start out with these numbers and then see what needs to be tweaked. Commissioner porosin said the amount is a threshold, and not everyone will ask for the full amount. He worries that the $1000 is a very small grant. Commissioner porosin referred to the scoring sheet on page 12 of the abstract. He said some of the criteria seem to be fairly on or off. He questioned how you can distinguish between someone whose need is a 7 versus a 9. He said some of the criteria seem more suited for a checklist. Jim Kitchen said it is clear when an applicant tells them there is a need that that is critical to their success and then can provide information to validate that. He said there are others who are more indifferent about their needs. He said this criteria has also been used successfully for the LAUNCH incubators and accelerators. Commissioner porosin said he appreciates the explanation. He said he thinks of applicants more at the grassroots level. Jim Kitchen agreed. He welcomes feedback if there is something that is missing from the criteria. Commissioner Pelissier said she appreciated all of the work their group has done on this. She asked about the requirement for a 6 month mentorship, and she said this seems a bit onerous for a $1000 grant. She said it seems that a lot of the questions are geared toward existing businesses and expanding businesses. She asked if it is anticipated that there will also be applicants for new businesses who might need a mentorship. Delores Bailey said a lot of start up businesses are being brought out of applicants homes or are just growing, so the applicants have no experience with actually talking with a professional. Commissioner Pelissier asked if there can be some flexibility in the mentoring requirements. Jim Kitchen said the goal was to spend Orange County's money wisely, and to ensure that if money was taken, the applicants would have the support to do something useful with it. Commissioner Price said she thinks the mentoring is good, but she wonders if the mentorship is too long. She suggested checking in with applicants after 4 months. Commissioner Price asked if business owners are required to be an Orange County resident. Jim Kitchen said the business has to be located in Orange County, but the owner does not. Commissioner Price said Orange County already has a precedent for the grant amounts, if you consider the arts commission, which has a $1,500 grant without further reporting. She is okay with $1,000 or $1,500 for a grant.