HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCEDC 11.29.2022 Agenda Packet
Agenda
City Council
Economic Development Committee
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
4:00 pm
Emma Harvat Hall
City Hall
1. Call to Order
2. Consider approval of minutes from the October 19, 2022 Economic Development Committee meeting
3. Consider FY24 budget recommendation to full City Council for Community Development Assistance funding for business development organizations:
• Multicultural Development Center of Iowa
• Entrepreneurial Development Center 4. Staff report
5. Other business
6. Adjournment
EDC 11.29.2022 packet page 1
MINUTES CITY COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE October 19, 2022 EMMA HARVAT HALL, 3:00 P.M.
Members Present: Laura Bergus, Megan Alter, John Thomas Members Absent: Staff Present: Wendy Ford, Geoff Fruin, Eric Goers, Others Present: John Kenyon, UNESCO City of Literature; Andrew Sherburne, FilmScene; John Schickedanz, Englert; Adam Knight, Riverside Theatre, Lisa Barnes, Chace Ramey, Abby Restko, Eric Johnson, Summer of the Arts Recommendations to council:
Thomas nominated Bergus to serve as chair. Alter seconded. Motion passed (3-0) Thomas moved, Bergus second a motion to approve the minutes from October 27, 2021. Motion passed (3-0).
Alter moved and Thomas second a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $50,000 for operations and $20,000 for their festivals for a total of $70,000 to the Englert. Motion carried (2-0, Bergus recused). Thomas moved and Alter seconded a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $25,000 for operations and $7,000 for Refocus Film Festival. Motion carried (3-0). Thomas moved and Alter seconded a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $20,000 for Riverside Theatre. Motion carried (3-0). Alter moved and Bergus seconded a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $67,000 for Summer of the Arts. Motion carried (3-0). Call meeting to order: Wendy Ford called the meeting to order at 3:02 P.M.
Organization of Committee Ford noted that the committee had not met since their appointments to the committee last January and that the first order of business should be the nomination of a chairperson. John Thomas nominated
Laura Bergus to serve as chair. Megan Alter seconded. Motion passed (3-0) Consider approval of minutes from the October 27, 2021 Economic Development Committee meeting Thomas moved, Bergus second a motion to approve the minutes of the October 27, 2021 meeting. Motion passed (3-0). Consider FY24 budget recommendation to full City Council for Community Development Assistance funding for arts organizations:
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Ford welcomed John Schickedanz, Executive Director of the Englert Theater to the microphone first. He explained that the last year was big, having reopened after 18 months of being closed. They have increased programming by 30% though ticketing has dropped about 30% from pre-pandemic levels. During the pandemic, they took time to look inward, which allowed them to analyze their audience. There’s been a large increase in folks coming from outside the area. About 25% of their patrons come from 100 miles away or more. They see a lot of opportunities for future festivals. The pandemic affected ticketing in that there are more people coming but fewer at each show. This is possible
because they are doing more programming. Alter asked about whether they want to maintain increased programming. Schickedanz answered that they would like to build out a full blown educational offering and increase their rental programming. Thomas complemented work that Englert
is doing, noting that he was impressed with and grateful for collaborations going on between cultural organizations.
Ford referred to the staff memo showing a 10-year history of the City’s funding of each of the organizations. She also noted that with the invitation to this meeting was a caveat about seeking increases over past funding amounts due to the unusual budget constraints for FY24.
Alter moved and Thomas second a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $50,000 for operations and $20,000 for their festivals for a total of $70,000 to the Englert. Motion carried (2-0, Bergus recused). Ford invited Andrew Sherburne, Cofounder and Executive Director of Film Scene to speak next. He reported that FilmScene has had a tremendous year with continued challenges coming out of pandemic. He said the good news is that overall attendance was 57,000 people, and that, while the
industry is still coming back to life, more people are coming downtown to see movies than ever before. The industry as a whole is now running at about 55-60% of prepandemic levels, yet FilmScene is outperforming national numbers and running at about 65% of their prepandemic levels, he thinks,
because they are engaged with the community. For example, they just came off a record number of students in summer camp, to which they said yes to every requested scholarship. May through October they presented free movies in the park, a big hit. It is easier for partner orgs to come to screen a film which has the side benefit of raising money for local non-profits. They also raised money to Launch the Refocus Film Festival a couple weeks ago with great attendance. 23% of the ReFocus Film Festival attendees came from outside the market which is good since movie theaters tend to attract a much more local audience. Festival attendees came from 22 different states. ReFocus is already the 2nd largest film festival in Iowa.
Ford mentioned the new Tourism Grant offered by Think Iowa City for grants up to $30,000. Thomas moved and Alter seconded a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $25,000 for operations and $7,000 for Refocus Film Festival. Motion carried (3-0). Adam Knight, Executive Director of Riverside Theatre was next to speak. He said that since he last spoke to the committee, they have opened new venue downtown and begun a great new chapter for the theater. This year already they have welcomed more than 6,000 patrons to their events. Riverside is the only theater left in Iowa that employees equity actors. He talked about the Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, a Broadway musical they produced in March, and how fantastic it was in the new venue. Riverside was only one of 3 theaters in the nation that got the rights to that play, a result of
their esteemed national reputation. However, with only 150 seats to fill, selling those out, having the biggest hit in a number of years they still lost $28,000 on the show. Ticket sales are generally 40% of their annual income. Free Shakespeare in the park is a real jewel in Riverside’s programming. 2,271
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patrons attended this with 50% reporting they’d never attended a Shakespeare play before. Free Shakespeare in the Park gets new people to the theater. This year, the theater employed 100 artists,
79 of whom were local. Every single person who works at the theater is paid. This is the theater’s 4th year of gender parity, where at least 50% of the actors were female identifying, trans, or binary, and 32% were BIPOC. The new venue has afforded the theater to space to do a lot of collaborative
programming which serves build the cultural ecosystem. The new space has also required budget increases, especially in staff. One of the new staffers is an education coordinator, and one of the things they’ll do is restart Will Power and get back into the high schools. They are requesting renewed support of $20,000 but want the committee to understand the tough financial headwinds. Audiences are coming back to prepandemic levels. City’s support crucial, at 2.5% of budget, but it was once 5% of budget. Thomas moved and Alter seconded a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $20,000 for Riverside Theatre. Motion carried (3-0). Board Chair, Chace Ramey, presented for Summer of the Arts (SotA) and mentioned that Lisa Barnes and Eric Johnson, SotA staff and Abby Restko, another Board Member were in the audience, too. Ramey acknowledged understanding budget woes as his day job is with the ICCSD, also facing funding challenges. He started by reminding the committee that all Summer of the Arts events are free
to the community. The number of free arts programming hours has increased significantly, while total funding has decreased. SotA events provide a huge economic impact to community – Americans for the Arts study estimates that festival attendees spend at least $25 per person in the community.
During COVID, they expanded into the neighborhoods with Music on the Move and the Free Movie series presenting in parks and in a drive-in format at the Airport. This year, they are requesting an increase from $67,000 to $80,000 to cover increased costs. They noted that City support has been the same since 2013, and the City is getting more programming for the same amount of support. Alter asked what amount is in the budget line in Economic Development. Fruin answered that the numbers voted on here today get placed in the draft budget that council approves in early 2023. Bergus asked about the scope of programming, and if the City of Coralville has supported SotA. She also asked if the $25/pp spent goes to local businesses or businesses based out of town. Barnes answered that Coralville does not support SotA, other than to sponsor a small event. She also noted
that a majority of their food vendors are local. She also talked about collaboration with downtown businesses and being good partners in the community, for example, working to limit road closures. Alter moved and Bergus seconded a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $67,000 for Summer of the Arts. Motion carried (3-0).
Alter noted that a theme she is seeing is that programming is expanding and everyone is struggling financially. She asked why organizations do that. Ramey said the community is changing and it is becoming more important to “meet the community where they are.” The passion and love for the arts by the organizations is what drives this. Thomas stated that so many nonprofits are struggling and that it is frustrating to see how long funding has been flat, but that looking forward it is important to acknowledge the increased funding need. John Kenyon, Executive Director of the UNESCO City of Literature presented next. He said they are inching back to prepandemic levels of programming. The time during the pandemic allowed them to look inward and see things that the community needed in a different way, such as presenting events
virtually. He explained that they are still meeting these needs, because people really appreciated the
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virtual programming options, while at the same time, working back to doing everything they always did in person, as well. He too noted that collaborations are critical, and for the 40 Book Festival events
they presented this year, 18 of those were major collaborations with other organizaitons. One of the things they are trying to do with their programming is to contribute and enhance ongoing community conversations about current issues such as race. This allows people to stay engaged with the
conversation and enrich themselves intellectually. For example, the talk with Jim Throgmorton about his new book, Co-creating the Just City has much to do with equity. Kenyon noted that he is also serving as coordinator for the 42 cities of literature all over the world and as such, he knows that that the world knows IC is a literary hub. Bergus moved and Thomas seconded a motion to approve a recommendation to the full council for $60,000 for the UNESCO City of Literature. Motion carried (2-0, Alter recused). Staff Report Ford repeated information about the Think Iowa City grant opportunity. Fruin spoke about the importance of these partnerships with the City and how valued they are. Bergus was appreciative of the collaboration of the arts community, and noted she liked the recurring theme of
meeting people where they are and really wanting to bring things that are important to the community. Thomas echoed the sentiments saying that the group today is a fabulous team and deserves the City’s thanks. Alter said she was struck by the term cultural ecosystem and how all were working so
well together and recognized how difficult the times are. Committee Time
Since most of the committee was new and had not met in a year, Fruin reminded them the committee reviews these arts and cultural requests every year and when there are TIF projects, the first review of those, too, along with other programs we create. He invited the committee to provide any feedback and guidance as we continue to support workforce, arts, culture, and both small business and large. Bergus suggested looking at the broader economic development efforts, such as ongoing conversations with the Business Partnership, ICAD, Think Iowa City, and Better Together. Fruin mentioned ARPA funding and reminded the group they had prioritized some of the more urgent matters, but we did have a portion of funding set aside for Small Business, Arts and Cultural Community, and Tourism. He noted that $125,000 of that had been directed to Think Iowa City for the Tourism grant program, and $125,000 to them for lost hotel motel tax. He noted of the roughly $1M to
spend, only $250,000 had been committed to date. Bergus asked about frequency of meetings. Fruin thought a good time for the next meeting might be
after the budget was done, so perhaps, early March. Other Business
None Adjournment Thomas moved, Alter seconded that the meeting be adjourned. Motion carried (3-0)
EDC 11.29.2022 packet page 5
Council Economic Development Committee ATTENDANCE RECORD 2020-22
NAME TERM EXP.
01/27/20 07/13/20 12/09/20 10/27/21 10/19/22
Megan Alter 01/02/24 --- --- --- --- X
Laura Bergus 01/02/24 --- --- --- --- X
John Thomas 01/02/24 X X X X X
Susan Mims 01/02/22 X X X X ---
Mazahir Salih 01/02/22 X X O/E X ---
Key: X = Present O = Absent --- = not a member O/E = Absent/Excused
EDC 11.29.2022 packet page 6
Date: November 25, 2022
To: Economic Development Committee
From: Wendy Ford, Economic Development Coordinator
Re: FY24 Funding Requests
Introduction
Each year the City Council Economic Development Committee considers requests for funding
from the Community Development line in the Economic Development Division’s budget. Your
committee reviewed arts organization’s requests last month. This month, we ask you to consider
a recommendation for funding two business development organizations.
The Multicultural Development Center of Iowa is a relatively new organization which has
received funding each of the previous two fiscal years and is requesting continued support for
FY24. INCubate, a BIPOC Business Accelerator program provides training, networking, industry-
specific mentors and access to tools and resources for cohorts in the program.
To date, more than 30 small business owners have taken part in three cohorts and gained
necessary skills, mentorship and technical assistance for starting and growing their businesses.
It is a volunteer led organization and its registrants attend at no charge.
Along with the work at INCubate, Tracy Jon Sargeant also provides stem education for groups of
kids of color at no cost to families, runs the Innov8 Lab in Iowa City to help entrepreneurs bring
their ideas to life and has begun efforts to become an affiliate of the ICC, a financing organization
designed to get loan funding in the hands of entrepreneurs.
The Entrepreneurial Development Center, Inc. more familiarly known as EDC, Inc. was
incorporated in 2003 to improve the economic vitality of the region through the creation and growth
of high-impact, scalable entrepreneurial businesses. While based in Cedar Rapids, they serve
businesses on both ends of the I-380 corridor and have stories of Iowa City businesses they have
helped. The EDC is requesting continued funding in the amount of $25,000 for FY24.
EDC, Inc.’s work focuses on enabling high potential businesses to grow and thrive. Curt Nelson,
President and CEO, has developed a “recipe for business success” which EDC uses in guiding
business growth. The recipe calls for six ingredients including marketing, development, sales,
operations, information technology and finance. EDC’s approach is to ensure that clients have
the right amount of each. They gain an understanding of the client’s needs and provide expertise
by building strategic networks for their clients. They are also well connected to financial resources
for their clients.
EDC 11.29.2022 packet page 7
History of City funding
Fiscal Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
2024
request
Entrepreneurial
Development Ctr. 6,250 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000
MDCIowa 25,000 25,000 25,000
Recommendation
Iowa City has spent the last several years building a community that fosters entrepreneurs. Years
ago we assisted in getting the CoLab started and have followed that with strong support of
MERGE. These operations have proven critical to early-stage support for some very successful
companies.
For these reasons, staff supports a recommendation to the full City Council for budgeting the
requested amounts for both organizations for FY24 from the Community Development Assistance
line.
EDC 11.29.2022 packet page 8
November 22, 2022
City of Iowa City
Council Economic Development Committee
410 E Washington St
Iowa City, IA 52240
RE: INCUBATE BIPOC Business Accelerator program support
I wanted to take an opportunity to thank the staꢀ and council members for the support of the BIPOC Business
Accelerator program, INCUBATE. Without the ꢁnancial support from the City of Iowa City, this program would
not exist and many of the entrepreneurs we serve would not have been able to grow their businesses or
survive during the pandemic or recent economic uncertainty.
Since the inaugural cohort in 2021, MDC Iowa has provided training, networking, industry-speciꢁc mentors,
and access to tools and resources to more than 33 small business owners from our communities of color in
Iowa City. These businesses have contributed to our local economy with tax revenue, created new jobs, and
have started to create generational wealth for their families.
As a nonproꢁt and 100% volunteer-led organization, MDC Iowa depends on public funds to sustain this critical
program for our underserved and underestimated members of our community. The continued support from
the city will allow us to focus on making economic development more inclusive and increase the diversity of
entrepreneurs in high-growth industries like information technology, healthcare, and construction.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about how MDC Iowa supports our community, please feel
free to contact me at tracyjon@mdciowa.org or 319-333-0600.
In unity,
Tracy Jon Sargeant
Founder and Executive Director EDC 11.29.2022 packet page 9
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November 21, 2022
City Council Economic Development Committee c/o Wendy Ford City of Iowa City 410 E. Washington Street Iowa City, IA 52240
Dear Wendy & Committee,
For the past 19 years, EDC has been actively engaged in the creation and growth of high-impact businesses in Iowa, with a strong focus on the Iowa City – Cedar Rapids Corridor. Over this time, the 1,250+ businesses supported by EDC have created over $4.2 billion in economic development impact
(Please see attached 2021 Stakeholder Report for details). In the past year, EDC invested time directly in Iowa City working with the companies listed below. Exciting for Iowa City is the continued expansion of Viewpoint Molecular Targeting, and the ongoing impact of the Pear Deck exit. I will speak to both of these when I am with you on November 29th.
IOWA CITY ENGAGEMENT 2022 Company Raised Capital Created Jobs in 2021 UpStream, LLC No 0 Oasis (Hummus) No No (pandemic related) Steel Therapeutics Yes 4 Ellipsis Solar No 0 Harvest Increase Yes 0 Viewpoint Molecular Targeting Yes 22
IOWA CITY IMPACT
Impact 2021 Program to Date Capital raised & deployed $5,403,262 $48,361,457 Private vs Public ratio $2,969,731 (Private) vs.
$2,433,531 (Public)
$ 36,548,731 (Private) vs.
$11,812,726 (Public) Increased business revenue $3,233,398 $144,682,572 New jobs created 21 427
Average wage $73,802 $62,656 New payroll added $5,756,524 $64,612,332 New businesses started 2 21 Total impact $14,393,184 $257,656,361
EDC’s engagement in Iowa City and the related area has been significant and consistent year after
year. EDC is an active partner of the University of Iowa, working on the commercialization of University technology development. EDC also works with JPEC and the Venture School toward this same goal. EDC is also an active partner of ICAD and the Ed-Tech Collaborative.
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The funds needed to support EDC operations come from over 120 public and private supporters. Our largest public supporters include the City of Cedar Rapids and the State of Iowa. The Cities of
Coralville, Hiawatha, and North Liberty also provide annual support. A majority of EDC’s funding comes from supporters outside of Johnson County, so it is very important to the entrepreneurs in Iowa City / Johnson County that EDC maintain / grow the amount of support provided from that region. To
that end, EDC is requesting the same amount ($25,000) for fiscal year 2024. Thank you very much for your continued support. Sincerely, Curt Nelson
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