May 10, 2022 Minutes Approved - Laserfiche WebLink

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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD May 10, 2022 Orange County Economic Development Office 131 W. Margaret Lane Hillsborough, NC 27278 Minutes Members Present: Sharon Hill, Johnny Morris, Dave Gephart, Estella Johnson, Barbara Jessie-Black, Tom Proctor, Jane Saiers, Kristen Young, Elise Tyler, Hasan Abdullah Guest Speaker: Sheryl Waddell Orange County Staff: Steve Brantley, Amanda Garner, Lindsey Hirni Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Johnny Morris at 11:43 a.m. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Dave Gephart and seconded by Sharon Hill to approve the Minutes from the March 8, 2022 meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Open Discussion A couple of Advisory Board members provided feedback on their meetings with a few of the Commissioners. The board discussed the BOCC retreat that will take place in late June. They spoke about attending that as well as meeting with other Commissioners to discuss Article 46 funding. Staff spoke about the upcoming July and September scheduled meetings to get an idea when a consultant-led retreat would best fit. Committee agreed that we need to have a separate meeting to get Grant Guidelines updated. Old Business Lindsey Hirni provided status on the reappointed Advisory Board Members for another term and mentioned the BOCC will vote on May 241"for partial terms to be given a full term. New Business The two new Advisory Board Members, Elise Tyler and Hasan Abdullah introduced themselves and the board gave introductions as well. Elections were held for the Chair and Vice Chair for FY 22-23. A motion was made by Dave Gephart and seconded by Kristen Young to nominate to elect Sharon Hill as the new Chair. The motion passed unanimously. A motion was made by Sharon Hill and seconded by Dave Gephart to nominate to elect Kristen Young as Vice Chair. The motion passed unanimously. Barbara Jesse-Black was elected to remain the Secretary. All five Grant Committee Members will remain serving another year. Our guest speaker was Sheryl Weddell from UNC/INNOVATE CAROLINA who presented an exciting Economic Development Initiative. Sheryl gave an overview of the Innovation District Phase I and main projects that are in the approval process with the University, Town of Chapel Hill and Downtown Partnership. The first phase is going to be an Innovation HUB, which will include a co-working space that will offer start-up businesses a place to grow. The project is currently scheduled to launch in April 2023 and there will be five additional projects to follow. Sheryl answered the boards questions and they