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Home My WebLink AboutLDFA Meeting Minutes 4-24-24 'w a -V JOINT LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FINANCE AUTHORITY (LDFA) City of Lansing, City of East Lansing&Ingham County Meeting Minutes April 24, 2024 Technology Innovation Center (TIC) Attendees: Charles Hasemann, Traci Riehl, Glenn Mitcham, Christian Palasty, Nicole Millsap, Ben Bakken, Mark Meadows, Kris Klein, Dave Washburn Staff: Harrison Leffel-Jones,Angel Miller, Meghan McCormick Recorded by: Meghan McCormick of LEAP Call to Order&Roll Call Chair Charles Hasemann called the meeting to order at 8:39AM. Leffel-Jones conducted roll call. Members Present: Members Absent: Ben Bakken Nicole Millsap Abigail Tykocki Traci Riehl Kris Klein Matt Apostle Charles Hasemann Christian Palasty Jon Laing David Washburn Irene Cahill Glenn Mitcham Mark Meadows Approval of LDFA Minutes Approval of LDFA Minutes of January 25, 2024. MOTION: Mark Meadows moved, supported by Glenn Mitcham, to approve the January 25, 2024, minutes as presented. All in favor. Motion passed unanimously. Approval of Financials The LDFA/Regional SmartZone financial documents were presented to the board for review and approval. MOTION: Moved by Charles Hasemann, supported by Glenn Mitcham,to approve the LDFA financial documents as presented. All in favor. Motion passed unanimously. 1 Approval of FYE2023 Audit William Love of Rehman joined virtually and shared the auditors' report. No deficiencies were identified in internal control that are considered to be material weaknesses. The results of Rehman's tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported. MOTION: Moved by Ben Bakken, supported by Glenn Mitcham, to approve the LDFA financial audit as presented. All in favor. Motion passed unanimously. SmartZone Update • TIC/Alliance Updates o Gabriela Strom spoke on the shared documents and touched on key points. They have started including the Alliance building, that is the Lansing portion of the SmartZone. There are 8 tenants in that building, 3 are warehouse tenants. Great Lakes Crystal Technologies is the newest tenant in that building. The TIC has 23 tenants, 13 are virtual, two new starting May 1St. 31 tenants overall. o Ben Bakken asked how many people you see occupying the space on any given day. Gabriela shared that in the middle of week 5-8 walking around in the space. Some are there every day, but Mondays and Fridays are sparse. o Harrison Leffel-Jones pointed out the tenant report list, exciting to see foreign direct investment companies. We are seeing continuous interest in that. Great space for companies to land and expand in our region. o Jeff Smith touched on the financial summary, stating that they have paid off all the debt services on the TIC. They have operational expenses that continue. There are two tranches of 10,000 funding to help cover the gap -the second one is only enacted as needed. Stressed that Incubators are not money-makers, so we are doing well by breaking even. Forecasting to be $7,000 in the positive by year end. o One of the things to pay attention to is that you have MSU helping as the pipeline. Helping with the checks and balances to get these companies growing. o It was noted that we won't trigger the second ten thousand trench. Harrison Leffel-Jones added that an area of growth we are seeing is the community-based tenants who are aware of our services and starting to grow their businesses along with university-based companies. Gateway Program • Ryan Nelson, the new Gateway Representative, gave a brief introduction of himself and his background. Currently,there are no updates to report. Small Business Support Network • Harrison Leffel-Jones shared that LEAP was successful in being designated as a Small Business Support Hub for $3.5M over the next three years. There is a single source intake form that is live now and our first round of programs and grants go live May 1St. If you are talking to companies across the region, the single source intake form is a great way to connect and pull these companies together in one ecosystem. We will be getting a one pager together with a QR code for everyone to provide to others as a resource. LEAP's new Small Business Support person, Nikki Flores briefly introduced herself. 2 Metrics Update • New metrics have gone into place for this fiscal year to bring consistency across our programs that are supported by LDFA dollars.We have targets that we are looking to hit.We created this based on how we internally do it at LEAP but the board can provide feedback and adjustments. This will be on the agenda for the next board meeting for official adoption. Welcomed questions or comments through the next few months. Chair Hasemann asked if there is a way to benchmark against our state peers, pegging their metrics, to give us context. Our numbers in isolation are hard to interpret. Five-Year Plan Update • Lansing regional SmartZone had a 5-year renewal in June 2022, which expires in 2027. Based on the current state statute LDFA cannot renew/extend our TIF capture. Beginning discussions with the city of East Lansing and related parties about the approach to TIF extension. Chair Hasemann shared that we must get our sponsoring municipalities on board and then we must have a lobbying plan to get something to happen. Harrison Leffel-Jones added that LEAP is meeting with the city of East Lansing to discuss what options are available. The next step after that is to engage our partners in Lansing.Additional steps include economic modeling and then lobbying to change the law. Please be reminded that no LDFA funds will go towards that cost. LEAP has money in the budget to handle that expense. Next 12-Month Calendars • Harrison Leffel-Jones made mention of the 12-month calendar in everyone's packet Approval to send FYE2025 Budget to the City Councils of East Lansing and Lansing for Approval • Everyone has had the opportunity to review the FYE2025 Budget which needs to be sent to the City Councils of East Lansing and Lansing for Approval.As a reminder, this budget was introduced at our last meeting. The accompanying spending plan and final approval of this budget will be adopted at our June board meeting. Mark Meadows did question what it was that Lansing would be approving. Harrison informed the board that according to the bylaws, both cities must approve it. Lansing only has one area of interest in the Rising Tide Funds, as that money can be spent regionally. Ben Bakken suggested that the 10%buffer should be taken out of the forecasted financials as the financials are much steadier than they historically have been. Suggested to only include 5%, if anything, but if the TIF check is included, it should be 0 at this time. MOTION: Dave Washburn motioned, and Traci Riehl seconded to move the approval to send the FYE2025 budget to the city councils of East Lansing and Lansing.All in favor. Motion passed unanimously. 3 Introduction of the LDFA Program Committee Recommendations • As part of the Budget process, the Program Committee reviews submissions for funding and program requests and makes a recommendation to the board regarding a spending plan that accompanies the budget. Everyone had the opportunity to review the FYE2025 Spending Plan. There were no questions, and there was a reminder that we would adopt the spending plan based on feedback and reporting from grantees. Approval of the RFP Review Committee Recommendation to fund Gravity Works/Bold Growth Program for FYE 2025 • Charles Hasemann gave a brief introduction of both Gravity Works and Bold Growth sharing they were impressed with how passionate both companies are. They weren't just looking for funding,they cared about building community. Jeff McWherter was virtually attending and thanked everyone for the opportunity, as did Blake Grewal who was in person. MOTION: Ben Bakken moved, and Glen Mitcham seconded to move the approval of the RFP Review Committee Recommendation to fund Gravity Works/Bold Growth Program for FYE 2025. All in favor. Motion passed unanimously. Before public comment, Harrison Leffel-Jones had Angel Miller, the new SmartZone Director introduce herself. Harrison shared he would be "passing the baton" to Angel ahead of the June meeting and then Charles Hasemann thanked Harrison for all his efforts and hard work. Public Comment Prompted by Charles Hasemann, Jeff Smith shared that the noise next door was progress from a new restaurant and growth in East Lansing. The tenants next door are working on their second-story remodel. Adjournment: There being no further business before the board, Chair Hasemann adjourned the meeting at 9:44AM. Respectfully Submitted, 6/ 74 ft-X Angel Miller Lansing Regional SmartZone Executive Director 4