Economic Development Committee

min113015.pdf (86 KB)

Economic Development Committee members present: Marty Krueger, Dennis Polivka, Nathan Johnson, Brian Peper, Donna Stehling, Dave Riek.

Others present:    Keri Olson, Brian Simmert, Jenny Erickson, Caitlin Shanahan, and others.

At 5:20 p.m. Chair Krueger called the Economic Development Committee meeting to order and certified to be in compliance with the open meetings law.

Adopt Agenda:  Motion by Polivka/Johnson to adopt the agenda.  Motion carried, all in favor.

Approval of minutes from prior meetings:  Motion by Johnson/Polivka to approve the September 16, 2015 and October 29, 2015 minutes.

Public comment:  None.

Communications:  None.

Millennial Task Force/ Next generation Sauk County Initiative:

1. Summary of Task Force Peer reviews. 

Caitlin Shannahan spoke about task force peer reviews as an informal method to gain insights, in addition to the survey.  There were 19 responses with an age range of 19-35.

When asked, “What is most important to you when choosing a community in which to live?” 

 “Stuff to do” such as arts and culture and active night life ranked the highest, followed by affordability, followed by (good) schools/higher education (opportunities). 

When asked, “What are the best characteristics of Sauk County?”

Natural features/scenic beauty ranked highest, followed by outdoor recreation (opportunities), followed by resident/community character.

When asked, “What would make Sauk County a better place to live?”

Stuff to do ranked the highest, followed by “other, followed by support for small businesses.  Other includes family and dog family, openmindedness, population diversity, etc.

Reick asked for clarification of what stuff to do includes:  Shannahan explained a diversity and lots of different options of things to do (to pick from) on any given day.  This includes opportunities to interact with others in a social setting. 

2. UW-River Falls Survey Updates

Erickson reported on the survey.  In September 2015, the UW-River Fall Survey Center mailed a postcard invitation to a random sample of 1,830 Sauk County residents age 25 to 35 years of age who have completed some college. The 6% response rate fell well below expectations so survey sponsors decided to open to the survey to all young adults in the area age 18 to 35 without restriction. The number of competed surveys from the randomly selected group plus the open access group totaled 312.

Respondents were asked to rank the top five most desired characteristics of a community as a place to live from a list of 16. The top five desired characteristics were community safety, affordability, access to quality schools, job opportunities, and proximity to family and friends.

Respondents were next asked to rank the best characteristics of Sauk County using the same list of 16 characteristics in the previous question. Natural and scenic beauty ranked first, followed by community safety, affordability, and proximity to family and friends. Outdoor recreation and access to quality schools tied for fifth place. 

The alignment between desired characteristics and the best characteristics of Sauk County is reasonably good.  However, job opportunities ranked lower among the best characteristics of Sauk County (9^th) than it did among desired characteristics (4^th), suggesting a priority to focus on economic development to create jobs.

3. Current Timeline for Task Force

The Next Generation Sauk County Task Force was scheduled to meet for an hour in the Executive Dining Room following last evening's brainstorming session to review what they had learned from the discussions. Their next meetings are as follows:

Monday, December 14 - Review survey results, begin forming two strategies

Monday, January 11, 2016 - Solidify the two strategies

Monday, February 1, 2016 - Develop the report to the Economic Development Committee with their strategy recommendations

Date TBD in February - Report those recommendations to the EDC

4. 6:00 p.m. “Brainstorming Session” details

Olson reviewed the process for the brainstorming session, questions to be asked and how the information gathered will be used by the Millennial Task Force to formulate strategies.

Next meeting date(s) and agenda items

January 21, 2016 and February 18, 2016.

Committee will relocate to the cafeteria at 6:00 p.m.

Participate in the Millennial Task Force “Brainstorming Session”

Adjourn

Motion by Peper/Stehling to adjourn at 7:50 p.m. Motion carried, all in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna Stehling

Economic Development Committee Secretary