Economic Development Commission Minutes
Attendees: Tom Buccino, Jackie Silverstein (Chairman)
Minutes Taken By: Jackie Silverstein
J Silverstein opened the meeting at 9:15 AM. No one from the public was present for public comment.
On a motion made by T Buccino and seconded by J Silverstein, the minutes of the January 13, 2017 meeting were approved.
New Business
Correspondence / Email
Nothing to report
Old Business
Admin Position. J Silverstein provided members of the Commission with an updated “To Do” list and updated job description for the open EDC Administrative Assistant position. J Silverstein reported she met with Robin Campbell, Willington Office Manager, to discuss the job description and seating arrangements for the new hire. T Buccino called R Campbell on the telephone to ask if she would be willing to join our meeting to discuss posting and hiring timelines. Ms. Campbell agreed to join the meeting later, noting she was unavailable at that moment.
Business Networking Meeting. The Commission will hold a special meeting to discuss options and opportunities for a possible Business Networking Meeting in 2017. Tentative date for the special meeting has been identified as Friday, February 24, 2017.
Market Study. J Silverstein provided hard copies of the final market study report, originally provided by Fairweather Consulting in November 2015. The Commission will hold a special meeting to discuss options and opportunities for moving ahead with the suggestions that came from the market study. Tentative date for the special meeting has been identified as Friday, March 3, 2017.
Mission Statement. The newly drafted mission statement has been provided to all members of the Commission for consideration. A few additional suggestions to the mission statement were made, including the need to make it something that can be easily remembered but remain effective by the Commission and by the businesses and residents of the Town of Willington.
Plan of Conservation. Tabled.
Welcome Letter. J Silverstein provided the members of the Commission with an updated letter. While content is satisfactory, T Buccino suggested the letter be updated to reflect a professional appearance by updating the font and margins. J Silverstein agreed and she will update the letter and send a final to S Yorgensen to be added to the Welcome Package for the Town of Willington.
Willington Businesses Updates. Tabled.
Treasurer’s Report. T Buccino requested the electronic version of the 2016-2017 budget memo J Silverstein provided to the Board of Finance during the last budget season. J Silverstein will send the document to him via email. T Buccino will use the same format to prepare and submit the 2017-2018 budget to the Board of Finance. T Buccino noted the submission is due March 2, 2017.
Invited Guests
Joe Varholy and Pam Varholy from Anything Printed, joined the meeting to discuss their participation as members of the Ashford Business Association (ABA). The mission of the ABA is:
To promote and provide support to all businesses
within the Towns of Ashford, Willington, and Eastford;
To act as a collective resource of business information and education;
To create awareness of Ashford, Willington, and Eastford business within the community;
To address common business issues within Town governments.
The ABA, having started with 20 members approximately three years ago, has 70+/- members and serves as a networking resource for businesses, as well as a charitable organization who obtains those chartable funds through fundraising. They have previously raised funds by hosting Christmas in July, which comprises of collecting Christmas toys for kids, to be distributed in December. They are currently focused on hosting a car show in May, and plan to collect donations for charitable giving to Veterans. Membership in the ABA is $60 per year. The membership includes free advertising as a member of the ABA on the back page of The Ashford Citizen, a monthly publication distributed to all Ashford households. Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at 6:30 PM at Midway Restaurant & Pizza in Ashford. The EDC has been invited to attend a future ABA meeting.
Business Cards. J Silverstein discussed the need for new business cards for the members of the Commission. P Varholy suggested each member receive their own business card, which can be done for the same price of a single business card with all four member names on it. Instead of one box of 500 cards, they can print 125 cards for each of the four members of the commission. J Silverstein noted this suggestion will be discussed with the EDC members at the next regular meeting, and she will follow up with P Varholy and J Varholy in March.
P Varholy and J Varholy exited the meeting.
R Campbell joined the meeting. The timeline for posting the open EDC Administrative Assistant position was discussed with a target start date of April 1, 2017. R Campbell stated there are several budget concerns for 2017-2018 the Commission may want to take note of, as the Board of Finance may not approve EDC budget funds for the continuation of this position. J Silverstein requested clarification that, if in fact, the budget is cut the new hire would potentially only be on staff from April 1st through June 30th. R Campbell confirmed that would be the case. The Commission opted to move forward, noting the importance of this function to the EDC for the Town of Willington.
R Campbell exited the meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 11:20 AM.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for March 10 at 9:00 AM.