Siler City NC STEP Community Leadership Team Meeting



Siler City NC STEP Community Leadership Team Meeting

June 9, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Community Leadership Team Present (27): Zoann Adams, Ann Bass, Travis Cohn, Pat Dawson, Nita Dukes, Dr. John Dykers, Marti Greene, Dewitt Griffin, Diana Hales, Pamela Hawe, Sarah Kuhn, Sarah Long, Sara Lambert, Vieda Mazur, Cheryl Meads, Steve Meads, Donna Moye-Smith, Jonus Nobles, Roger Person, David Poe, Dianne Reid, Donna Sivulka, Sammy Slade, Alyssa Stepusin, Chuck Stires, Dan Sundberg, and Donna Worthington.

Elected Officials Present: Commissioner Sam Adams

NC Rural Center Staff Present: Chilton Rogers (NC STEP Coach)

Town Staff Present: Joel J. Brower (Town Manager), Jack Meadows (Director of Planning and Community Development, NC STEP Community Coordinator) and Dee Lee Thompkins (Administrative Support Specialist)

Welcome and Announcements: The Community Leadership Team met on Thursday, June 9, 2011, at First United Methodist Church at 5:15 p.m. Commissioner Adams welcomed and thanked everyone for coming.

Small Towns Creating Opportunities: Investing in People Workshop Report: Pam Hawe, Donna Moye-Smith, Steve Meads, Dianne Reid, and Jack Meadows attended the workshop in Red Springs on Monday, May 23. In summary the attendees reported the following: 1) recommended “A Guidebook for Connecting Individuals to Opportunity”; 2) each economy class runs by unspoken rules; 3) invest in people and look after one another; and 4) it is really about people and making life better.

NC Rural Center Information: Chilton Rogers shared that Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and the NC Recreation & Park Association have joined forces to establish a community garden in all 100 counties by the end of 2013. The program, Nourishing NC, is a collaboration with local health departments, cooperative extension agencies and parks, and recreation departments to initiate community garden programs. She also recommended viewing the website and the 2011 NC Workforce Report workforce/report.

Branding Steering Committee: Jack Meadows asked for six volunteers to join him on the Branding Steering Committee and meet with ArnettMuldrow on Wednesday, June 29 at 2:00 PM. Marti Green, Chuck Stires, Zoann Adams, Diana Hales, Donna Moye-Smith, and Dan Sundberg volunteered. Arnette Muldrow will be touring the Town and holding eight one-on-one interviews during their first visit to Siler City. Jack encouraged team members to send him marketing materials from their respective businesses and organizations that can be shared with Arnette Muldrow. The second visit will be in early October and will consist of facilitated focus group sessions. The draft community branding and implementation strategy is scheduled to be submitted near the end of October.

Chatham County Economic Development Corporation: Dianne Reid announced that the Town and County together will save ~$4,000.00 by combining the branding projects. Dianne reported that Gabriel Soltren’s preliminary survey of all business and nonprofits in Siler City totals 884.

Economic Development Strategies and Strategy Committee Structure: Chilton Rogers asked for a representative from each strategy committee to present their strategic statement. Chilton also asked each strategy committee to appoint a chair/co-chairs, and to identify people or groups they would like to invite to their next committee meetings.

Page 2 – Siler City NC STEP – June 9, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Art Strategy:

• Strategic Statement: Develop and build on the existing downtown arts community…especially engaging local population groups and showcasing arts for the outside market consumption.

• Chair: Ann Bass and Jonus Nobles

• Invites: Chad Gaines, Chatham Arts, NC Film Commission, Schools music and art departments

Business Strategy:

• Strategic Statement: The town of Siler City lost more than 1,000 jobs during the 2009 recession and needs to improve its economic condition. The strategy for business development should include short term and long term goals. The short term strategy is designed to bring more visitors and shoppers to Siler City. The long term strategy cultivates entrepreneurship to encourage economic development innovations. The strategies build on Siler City’s past successful efforts to revitalize its downtown by attracting visitors and arts related businesses.

• Chair: Gabriel Soltren and Carol Straight

• Invites: Gary Kibler, Margaret de st Aubin, Denis de st Aubin, John Pleasants, Debbie Roos, Harold Hart, Abdul Chaudhry, Bill Walden, Ed Spence, Joan Thompson, Hal Milholen, Scott Harris, Hispanic Liaison

Marketing Strategy:

• Strategic Statement: A successful marketing strategy will influence and promote the benefits of living and working in Siler City and to attract newcomer’s into the community.

• Chair: Alyssa Stepusin

• Invites: Sarah Long, Karl Ernst, Richard Fox, Norma Boone

Pride Strategy Committee:

• Strategic Statement: Energize the Siler City economy through revitalization with emphasis on building façade/streetscape improvements, energy efficiency of existing and future structures, and development of additional parks and green spaces.

• Chair: Dan Sundberg

• Invites: Hal Lindley, Laura Lauffer, John Dellifield, CJ Hart, Zoann Adams, Dennis Sawyer, downtown Hispanic business owners

Retirement Strategy:

• Strategic Statement: Siler City as a retirement destination would benefit from a new and financially stable population infusion. This new demographic would provide a net cash inflow with low demands on new, tax revenue based infrastructure. It would also increase demand for services many of which would be available to the general population, such as restaurants, movie theater(s), shopping, community center, wellness center, etc.

• Chair: Chuck Stires and Donna Sivulka

• Invites: Lisa Reynolds, Heidi Lineberry, Susan Gaylords, Joel Brower, Lois Crowder, Don Holzworth, Faye Tillman, Triangle Community Foundation, Timothy Scheetz, Pam Scheetz, Eddie Liles, Charles Gross, Fred Sparling, Fred Smith

Next Steps:

Chilton Rogers asked each Strategy Committee to meet at least twice and to submit a half page (or less) Strategic Statement before our next meeting. She also would like each group to start brainstorming and identifying projects. She explained that you can begin filling out the project templates for each proposed project. Chilton stated that at our next meeting we will work on finalizing the strategic statements and begin working on projects.

Adjourn – Next Meeting Date: The next meeting will be on Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 5:15 PM. The meeting adjourned at 7:45 PM.

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