Minutes of the September 15, 2021 EDAB Meeting
Extracted text (via pymupdf)
5692 characters
Page 1 MINUTES OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY BOARD OF THE CITY OF CHANDLER, ARIZONA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2021, HELD VIRTUALLY VIA WEBEX. Board Present: Ryan Nouis, Chairman Micah Miranda, Secretary Cecilia Ashe, Boardmember Chase Farnsworth, Boardmember Terry Locke, Boardmember Brent Menzel, Boardmember David Moss, Boardmember Ryan Smith, Boardmember Mike Spangenberg, Boardmember Larissa Spraker, Boardmember Julie Trujillo, Boardmember Nick Woodruff, Boardmember Terri Kimble, Ex-Officio Joshua Wright, Ex-Officio Board Absent: Jonvieve Bryant, Vice-Chairman Karla Moran, Boardmember Kari Zurn, Boardmember Angela Creedon, Boardmember Others Present Councilmember Terry Roe Kelly Schwab, City Attorney Dawn Lang, Deputy City Manager and CFO Kimberly Janes, Tourism Program Manager Edyie McCall, Economic Development Manager Chelsey Faggiano, Economic Development Specialist Ryan Kaup, Economic Development Specialist Michael Winer, Economic Development Specialist Odette Moore, Economic Development Research Analyst Kristen Williams, Tourism Marketing Coordinator Ken Sain, Public Member of the Audience 1. Call to Order/Roll Call Mr. Miranda called the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m. 2. Approval of Minutes Mr. David Moss made a motion to approve the minutes from Wednesday, April 14, 2021. The motion was seconded by Ms. Cecelia Ashe. Minutes approved unanimously. 3. Unscheduled Public Appearances None Page 2 4. Scheduled Public Appearances None 5. Briefing Items A. City of Chandler Special Bond Election Deputy City Manager/ Chief Financial Officer, Dawn Lang presented on the upcoming City Bond Election. Ms. Lang stated that the last bond election held was in 2007 and the purpose of the new bond election is to seek property taxpayer authorization to issue General Obligation Bonds that will fund planned capital improvements. She discussed the public participation process and the exploratory committees that were formed to provide guidance on the necessary projects and areas including Parks, Fire, Police, Streets and Facilities. Ms. Lang mentioned that City Council’s fiscal discipline allows us to maintain AAA bond ratings from all three rating agencies and among a small group of municipalities nationally with this distinction. Mr. Miranda added that this is a recognition that the economic development division promotes to demonstrate that Chandler is a stable place to invest. The bond election is scheduled to appear on the November 2nd ballot. B. Arizona State Gift Clause City Attorney, Ms. Kelly Schwab provided an overview of the Arizona Gift Clause including historic cases and recent State Supreme Court opinion on a project in another Phoenix-area community. Ms. Schwab went into details on how this impacts State Economic Development projects and the ability for municipalities to offer incentives. She noted that it is still possible for Cities to support economically significant projects such as through infrastructure reimbursements. Mr. Miranda remarked that the City of Chandler is not largely affected by the Gift Clause Opinion because it has been able to successfully land projects due to the community’s attractive business climate. C. Economic Development Update Ryan Kaup, Economic Development Specialist, provided an update on recent business activity within Chandler. Projects highlighted included: Page 3 • ASML, expansion project for semiconductor supplier that will add on 38,000 SF to their existing building and 100 jobs; • Bestway, a recreation product company that is relocating their headquarters to a 130,000 SF facility bringing 150 jobs; • SCHEELS, a sporting goods company opening a 220,000 SF store at Chandler Fashion Center and expected to create 400 jobs; • Array Technologies, a global provider of solar tracking solutions has leased 28,000 SF of office space at Chandler Viridian and is expected to create 115 jobs; • Mechanical Keyboards, a gaming device company that recently purchased a 74,000 SF facility in West Chandler; • Cirrus Aircraft, a Aerospace and Engineering company that leased 1,200 SF of office space to further development of the SR-Aircraft and act as one of two Cirrus Aircraft Innovation Centers; • Cranial Technologies, a children medical device company that will be relocating to a 20,000 SF facility in West Chandler. Mr. Kaup then gave an overview of commercial real estate trends in Chandler, including vacancy rates and construction activity for retail, office, and industrial space. 6. Action Items None 7. Advisory Boardmember Comments a) Mr. Miranda asked Ms. Janes to provide the board with an update on a recently held Industry Roundtable meeting with Chandler hotels to discuss the current meeting market and our continued efforts to attract meetings and events to Chandler. b) Ms. Trujillo informed the board of an upcoming UA Eller College of Management Alumni Event on September 22nd at the Crowne Plaza Phoenix Chandler Golf Resort. c) Ms. Faggiano congratulated Mr. Mike Spangenberg on the expansion of State Forty Eight’s headquarters in Uptown Chandler. 8. Next Meeting Mr. Miranda announced that the next meeting date has not been determined and that City staff will follow up to inform the board. 9. Adjournment Mr. Miranda adjourned the meeting at 9:58 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, ________________________________ Ryan Nouis, Chairperson ________________________________ Micah Miranda, Board Secretary