2011-06-23-EDAC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town of Lexington Economic Development Advisory Committee June 23, 2011 Legion Room, Cary Hall 1605 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA 8 : 00am -9 : 3 Dam MINUTES PRESENT: Chair John McWeeney, Vice Chair Narain Bhatia, Lawrence Smith, Bruce Embry, David Pronchick, Sigmar Tullman, Joe Zink, and Jerold Michelson Liaison, non - voting: George Burnell (Selectmen), Peter C.J. Kelley (Selectmen), Greg Zurlo (Planning) Staff present: Carl Valente, Maryann McCall - Taylor, and Michelle Stevens Meeting was called to order at 8:05am. The Committee approved Minutes from May 12 April 20 and March 14 th . Discussion with Town Manager on Economic Development Officer (EDO): The Committee received an update from Town Manager Carl Valente regarding the recruitment of an EDO. Mr. Valente said the position will be advertised after Labor Day. He is considering where the tourism function should go and asked the Committee if tourism should be included in the job description for the new EDO. The Committee expressed concern regarding including tourism aspects in the job description, as well as the EDO position being unfilled for several months. The Committee had a concern that tourism would monopolize a majority of the EDO's time. John McWeeney said that the EDO position already has several responsibilities and that the Town needs to be cognizant of adding new responsibilities to the job description. Narain Bhatia said that tourism has its own set of issues and details that would be difficult for an EDO to manage on top of other responsibilities. Lawrence Smith stated that tourism was important to the local economy and appreciated the idea Town staff managing tourism. Mr. Valente said that there are funds available for a possible part -time position that could coordinate tourism efforts. Additionally, the Committee discussed the recruitment of an EDO. Jerold Michelson asked if the Town could start recruitment earlier. Mr. Valente stated that the Town wants to fill the position as quickly as possible but that the summer is not ideal for recruitment. Several Committee members said they would begin working on an informal recruitment by reaching out to the economic development network. Mr. Valente stated he will discuss the recruitment and tourism concerns with other stakeholders and report back to the Committee. The discussion will continue to future meetings. Establish Economic Development Work Plan: The Committee discussed several goals in the 2011 — 2012 work plans: • Communicate with the Townspeople the successes and economic development programs: Sigmar Tullman suggested publicizing the economic development efforts and success stories in Lexington in various newspapers. Members wanted to reach out to the business community outside of Lexington. Mr. McWeeney will explore the possibility of the Town participating in the 2012 BIO International Convention that is scheduled to be held in Boston. • Identify larger commercial sites that have capacity for growth: The Committee discussed several possible locations for new developments, including the landfill and Tracer Lane property. Joe Zink indicated a potential biomedical company is looking for space of approximately 200,000 square C: \Documents and Settings\lmaguire \Local Settings \Temporary Internet Files \OLK105 \EDAC_Minutes_06 -23 -1 Ldoc