Sharon Economic Development Committee

3 April 2006

 

In Attendance

Eli Hauser

Ehauser@yahoo.com

Keevin Gellor

barneylumber@aol.com

Alan Lurie

Alury@yahoo.com

Jeff Seul

jrseul@verizon.net

Bill Heitin

Wheitin@mit.edu

Mike Bossin

mbossin@comcast.net

Rob Maidman

romarintl3@comcast.net

Tan Lee

isotoped2o@yahoo.com

Ben Pinkowitz

benpink@comcast.net

Ben Puritz

 

David Spiegel

dspiegel@gallerygroup.com

 

 

 

7:30        Introduction and welcome

1st effort in Sharon in quite a while to assemble a dedicated and large team for economic development.

 

7:45        Agenda review

Personal introduction roundtable

Discussion of team purpose and charter

Review of economic baseline study

Discussion of next steps

Group assignments

Agree on meeting schedule

 

7:50        Economic baseline study presentation and discussion.

Notes

Identification for need for point person for business contacts

Fast track of projects within Town

There may be a challenge to sell “$400 per family.”

The Town is not a Greenfield – it is harder to retrofit than to start from scratch.

Value or qualitative benefits to Town and individuals.

Update by Bill Heitin on new business activities coming into town.

Value of 20-40 contiguous acres to a bio-tech or other similar corporation – few left in State/128 area.

 

8:50        Next steps

1)       Identification of benchmark communities

High residential tax component (> 95%)

Low industrial base

High percentage of community developed

6,000 – 10,000 households

3,500 student population

2)       Management of publicity on business initiatives to gain awareness and support

3)       In addition to individuals on the teams, we may want to list an additional column for “Partners.”

4)       Suggest to co-ordinate with one of the colleges to have a project for them to study.

5)       Discussion of suitability of team assignments. General agreement they worked.

6)       First deliverable – a presentation or write up on key concerns, themes, approaches to addressing the assignment

a)       Development Loan – what is the framework, guideline, examples of other Towns we can use.

b)       New Business – outline for what types of business to attract to which part of Town. Is there an opportunity for S. Main development?

c)       New Revenue – identification of new revenue sources; ideas on how to identify new revenue sources; examples of how to leverage our resources; other Towns experiences.

 

9:15        Next Meeting

Quarterly group meeting in general.

To assure a healthy initial start, we should meet Monday, the 15th of May.

 

9:30        Adjourn