04-B PEDC Min 10-9-07
Paris Economic Development Corporation
Board Meeting Minutes
October 9, 2007
Board Members
Present: John Wright
Dick Severson
Chad Brown
Glen Bawcum
Dan Smith
Staff Present: Pete Kampfer
Rachel Schory
Ex Officio Members
Present: Kent McIlyar
Jesse Freelen
Guest Present: Laurin Prather
Dan Smith called the meeting to order at 4: 10 p.m.
Minutes from the September 20,2007 meeting were approved unanimously on a motion made by
John Wright seconded by Chad Brown.
Financial reports from the month of September have not been prepared by the City yet; they will
be distributed and acted on at the next Board meeting.
Pete Kampfer reported that he is currently implementing the recruiting phase of the strategic plan
by attending trade shows and recruitment visits in the next month. Mr. Kampfer advised that he presented
a quarterly report Monday night to the City Council. Jesse Freelen, mayor, verified that there were no
questions that arose as the result of the report. Mr. Kampfer also advised there was a retail development
presentation held at the Chamber on Monday afternoon. The presentation was not for the purpose of
discussing 4A or 4B sales tax issues. It was simply for a retail development consultant from Buxton to
present his services and how they could work for Paris.
Laurin Prather presented the findings of his completed target market assessment for Paris. A copy
of the report was presented to all board members. Points of concern that Mr. Prather pointed out as
needing attention were as follows:
Trained workforce-community education and labor force availability information needs to be updated
for the area. These figures will include true unemployment rate.
Primal)' targets-Mr. Prather introduced food manufacturing and plastics and rubber manufacturing as
primal)' targets of interest. These were recommended because of the availability of water in Paris and the
fact that Paris is an air attainment area at least until 20 10.
Marketing plan-ideas mentioned included Industrial Park fountain, constructing a spec building, and
maintaining regional/state group affiliations for marketing purposes.
Following Mr. Prather's presentation, the board discussed options for improving the city
aesthetically, such as tearing down the old building adjacent to the industrial park, as well as ways that the
board can become more involved in EDC operations (e.g. retention visits). It was decided that a
workshop for brainstorming and prioritizing would be held the first part of November.
With no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned by Dan Smith at
5:55 p.m. on a motion by Glen Bawcum seconded by John Wright.
Respectfully submitted,
Rachel Schol)'
Administrative Assistant
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