City of Centralia Industrial Commission met May 20.
Here is the minutes provided by the commission:
Chair Jim Rueter called the meeting to order at 12:06 p.m.
Members Present: Jim Rueter, David Agee, Bob Feig, Ty Orr, City Manager Forrest Langenfeld, Dick Cary, Bo Baer, and Bill Sprehe
Members Absent: Jack Mann, Travis Etheridge, Jerry Beguelin, and Bryan Kuder Also Present: Derek Sherman, Assistant City Manager & Connor Woods, Sentinel Reporter Public Comment: None
Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Cary moved and Commissioner Baer second a motion for approval of the minutes from the special meeting on April 15, 2021. With all in favor the motion passed.
Ongoing Business:
1. Industrial Site Visits
a. Method/Order of Industrial Site Visits
i. Bo suggested doing a mix. Most in-person at our meeting but do a few site visits if there has been any expansions or updates.
b. Analysis of Industrial Business Retention & Expansion Survey
i. Derek presented the BRE Survey’s for industrial businesses. He asked the Commissioners to review the BRE surveys for suggestions of what to add or remove on the surveys.
2. Analysis of Current Industrial Sites
a. Review List of Available Properties
i. Derek asked for the Commissioners to review the LOIS property lists to help the city have a congruent narrative & description of the LOIS properties to help potential developers see the available properties. Bill mentioned that Centralia Industries have available property in the Prime Meridian Industrial Park. It is raw land but has all utilities ready for a developer.
b. Determine Marketing Approach for the Available Properties
i. It was mentioned to make sure to contact the property owners for specifications.
New Business:
1. SWOT Analysis for Centralia Industrial Development
a. There is an old SWOT analysis done under Grant, and we should find it to give a comparison between a the old one and new one. It was mentioned a lot of these SWOT analysis don’t get used, and we should use them if we have a new one completed.
2. Outreach for Job Fair
a. Forrest mentioned that we are having several businesses struggling to get more workforce and putting expansions on hold. During Balloon Fest, we are going to have a career fair at Castle Ridge to get some of these open employment opportunities filled. We are reaching out past our immediate area to pull new workers into Centralia, and adding resources for childcare, home buying, and banking for people to get set up to move here & work here. The marketing is going through institutions of higher education and reaching out from Champaign to Paducah and St. Louis to Evansville. Forrest mentioned we need to increase the city’s revenue by having more workers in town to spend money in town and grow the businesses already in town.
3. Industrial Business Appreciation Event
a. Where? & When?
i. Agee mentioned that we need a sponsor to pay for the event, and a host location for the event. Forrest stated he would like to have it in the next month to get everyone fired up for the Career Expo, and he is planning to have Castle Ridge host the event. Forrest said we will plan for a Thursday evening around 5:00PM. Bo mentioned that People’s would sponsor, if we can get a budget together & keep it under $100 a head.
Discussion: None
Commissioner Sprehe moved and Commission Agee second a motion to adjourn. With all in favor, the meeting adjourned.
https://cityofcentralia.org/vertical/sites/%7BFC680FE7-BE5C-4903-A103-67AF5EF51655%7D/uploads/5-_May_20_2021_Industrial_Development_Commission_Minutes.pdf
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