Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 02/10/2022

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Economic Development Authority (EDA) 4. 3. Meeting Date: 02/10/2022 By: Sean Sullivan, Community Development Title: Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce: Manufacture Cohort: 2021-2022 Renewal Purpose/Background: The purpose of this case is consider renewal payment for the 2021-2022 Manufacture Cohort Season Chamber Background The City of Ramsey is a member of the Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce. The Anoka Area Chamber of Commerce has a rich history of success in catering to the needs of retail, food, and professional service industries. The Chamber specializes in events,marketing, and networking. Manufacturing Coalition/Manufacture Cohort Background In 2015,the Chamber identified the need to better serve the large "manufacturing" sector physically located in the Chamber's service territory. Commonly,the Chamber's standard "events/marketing/networking" opportunities do not provide significant value to manufacturers.NOTE: the Cities of Ramsey and Anoka share a roughly 1,000 acre business park that includes over 10,000 jobs-most of said jobs are manufacturing (or related to manufacturing). With this in mind,the Chamber began a"sub-group" known as the "Manufacturing Coalition" about five years ago. The group has now self identified as the Manufacture Cohort. The mission of the Manufacture Cohort is to: become a catalyst for strengthening community manufacturing; accelerating transformation into a more efficient and powerful engine of innovation,job creation and economic growth. In summary,the Manufacture Cohort is a group of leaders from local manufacturers that meet periodically to discuss and address issues unique to their industry and identify an ongoing topic list. In some cases,meetings are purely the exchange of best practices. In other cases,the Manufacture Cohort asks the Chamber to implement and develop a service or product to help the group. This past year the Manufactures Cohort was able to secure a $120,000 Dual Training Pipeline Grant to train incumbent(Current)workers in advance manufacturing related skills related to their employment. The Manufacture Cohort,through Chamber Staff,has routinely facilitated outreach with Legislators,businesses, and school districts to drive initiatives developed by this group. Although the Chamber does receive some funding for the Manufacture Cohort via subscriptions from manufacturing businesses,this initiative needs financial support to keep operating. The purpose of this case is to consider continued support of the Manufacture Cohort by providing $5,000 for the 2021-2022 program year. These dollars would be utilized for"facilitation/operation" expenses related to the Manufacturing Cohort (meetings/communications/etc.).NOTE:the City has supported the program 2016-2021. Chamber President Pete Turok will be in attendance to provide addional information if needed. Staff has compiled information provided by John LeTourneau in included in the case. The information includes a 2021-2022 Workplan, Recap of work done, Questions and Answers related to the program and some financial information. The current focus is on workforce development, education and coordination. Mr. LeTourneau serves as the facilitator of this process on behalf of the Anoka Area Chamber. Notification: N/A