June 30, 2005     Arenac County:  Standish, AuGres

 

Meeting convened in Commissioners’ meeting room, Arenac County Courthouse, Standish at 9:30AM.  Present:  Bill Carpenter, Andy Hayes, Mary Ann Heidemann (host), Dave Ivan, Ed Kerr, Sue Pigg, Van Varner.

 

Activities

  • Informal discussion and welcoming (roasting) of Andy Hayes, Executive Director, Northern Lakes Economic Alliance.
  • Presentation by Ruth Caldwell, a Standish community leader and prime mover on railroad depot/Arenac Historic Welcome Center renovation project and fund raising. 
  • Tour of depot project grounds followed by tour of original Arenac County courthouse in Omer and discussion with historic society members highlighting community involvement.[1]
  • Brief tour of DNR marina and new library building in AuGres.  Discussion of MSU Small town Design Initiative project to begin soon in AuGres. 
  • Lunch with Arenac Independent Reporter Lesley Stanley and guest speaker Brandon Schroeder, District Sea Grant Agent, MSU Extension. 
  • Presentation Great Lakes Values: Opportunities for Coastal Community Development by Brandon Schroeder PDF file accompanies).  Lively discussion ensued.  The prime area of focus for the new multi-discipline Community Assessment process is Access to Great Lakes as part of Sustainable Coastal Community Development.
  • Visit by Pat Killingbeck, AuGres City Manager who answered questions about the new library building and its financing.

 

Brandon asked for ideas on AoE cooperation which consensus reply was yes, we would want to be involved in the Community Assessment process (funded by Sea Grant research money) in Northeast Michigan (the pilot area).  Also, consensus reached that this presentation would be appropriate for Land Use, Community Development or Tourism AoEs.  Dave Ivan will pursue other AoE involvement in the Community Assessment process or linkages with Sea Grant, which is also an MSUE AoE.

 

Business meeting chaired by Mary Ann Heidemann:

 

Topics and Issues

  1. Finances:  Dave thought approximate balance $7,200.  Bill reported he and Diane Smith took about $1,400 each for travel and training in NxLevel.  Additional costs:  ~$570 for a complete set of NxLevel books for those AoE members certified to teach NxLevel:  Mark Thomas, Van Varner, Dave Ivan, Diane Smith and Bill Carpenter. 
  2. ED AoE classes for fall conference: All class proposals listed in last meeting’s notes were apparently completed and posted on the portal.  Decisions apparently to be made in August by Fall Conference planning committee. 
  3. Calendar Items:
  • Dave Ivan is organizing two Cultural Economic Development Conferences—October 4 and 5 in Mt. Pleasant and October 6 and 7 in Ishpeming. 
  • Next AoE meeting October 13 (day after Fall Conference) at Kellogg Center, East Lansing.
  • Community Resource Development Association (CRDA) meeting August 29 and 30 at Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) in Hickory Corners. 
  • Community Development (CD) AoE meeting August 31 also at KBS.
  • January 20, 2006 ED AoE meeting will replace the usual December meeting.  Dave Ivan will approach the CD AoE as this is our usual annual joint meeting with them.

 

  1. Future funding of AoE:  Dave Ivan reported that the new system will likely give $2,000 minimum to each AoE with increases in steps based on number of members; exact amounts not yet determined; first step increase likely to be at 12 members.   Dave has applied for a competitive grant of $5,000 for the Entrepreneurial Conference in 2006.

 

  1. 2006 Entrepreneurship Conference: Target time frame is March. Possible-ANR Week?  Discussion of keynote speaker: One approach suggested by Scott Loverage is to review articles in Journal of Community Development Special Issue on Entrepreneurial Community Development and invite authors to phone discussions and then select speakers to invite for the conference.  Dave provided us with copies of the journal issue.  Contact Dave Ivan to get your journal copy if you don’t receive one soon.

 

Entrepreneurial Conference, cont’d:

Sue Pigg suggested there would be two views of “entrepreneurial”—one dealing with private business development and the other with community development and that perhaps we could garner both interests in the conference. Consensus agreement. To that end, Sue will approach MEDA for co-sponsorship so that we can interest their membership in this conference.

 

Dave has approached Bob Johnson of State of Michigan’s DLEG as a possible co-sponsor and there is interest from him. 

 

Agreed:           

  • We need to make this a memorable event as it is the first statewide event our AoE has developed. 
  • One day event.
  • We will need--a big draw speaker; budget, Dave suggests, of $8-10 thousand including 10% PREF; target audience of ~150; invitations to members of several AoEs; and a central location for travel but one perhaps not in a congested area.  Locations discussed: East Lansing (accessible to state policy makers), Clare (Ed Kerr to check on Dougherty Hotel), Traverse City.
  • Conference call will be needed on conference planning—perhaps September.  Dave will email those involved.

 

More Topics and Issues of the AoE Business Meeting

  1. Merger of AoEs: A much beloved topic.  We discussed how difficult multiple memberships can be and how our subject matters overlap with Land Use, CD, and Tourism, to name a few key AoEs. While actual merger(s) may not be easy, we believe we can further harmony and working relationships by selecting AoEs to invite to the March Conference; by keeping the annual joint ED/CD AoE meeting; by encouraging joint activities; and, newly thought of, by sending AoE meeting notes to these AoEs.   They may see that we are indeed working on similar types of projects and may want to join us on some. 

We are asking Diane Smith to send these minutes with an explanation to members of the Tourism AoE with an invitation to them to stay involved with us.

 

  1. PREF:  Question of AoE approval for programs rather than Department Chairs or CEDs being confusing and potentially fraught with conflict. Members had a number of questions.  For next meeting, members are asked to bring examples of programs so we can discuss how they relate to PREF.
  2. AoE campus co-chair candidate:  Zenia Kotval was very positive about Extension in her conversation with Dave Ivan.  She has a summer EDA contract in another state, has worked with small towns in Massachusetts, requires no Extension support for her role, and brings economic development and land use planning backgrounds.  Dave will invite her to the next AoE meeting.

 

 

 

 

 


[1] Editor’s note: Near unanimous movement to leave Mr. Hayes in Omer’s old county lockup was overridden by our hosts.