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HomeMy WebLinkAboutKitchener BIA - 2016-12-08DowNTo" Kitchc----n,--r B I A BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Minutes 8:30 am -10:45 am December 8, 2016 City of Kitchener 200 King Street W Schmalz Room, 2"d fl Present: Linda Jutzi, Darryl Moore, Lindsay Walden, Stewart Barclay, Frank Voisin, Paul Walman, Shirley Madill, Councillor Frank Etherington, Councillor Sarah Marsh, Cory Bluhm. Regrets: Ryan Lloyd -Craig, Mayor Berry Vrbanovic Darryl Moore in the Chair. WELCOME The Chair called the meeting to order at 8:32 a.m. The chair introduced Chris Farell of the Small Business Centre and introductions were made around the table. CONFLICT OF INTEREST No conflict of interest was declared by any Member of the Board at this time. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Moved by Paul Walman, seconded by Frank Etherington "That the Board approve the Agenda as provided." Carried Unanimously APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Lindsay Walden, seconded by Paul Walman "That the Board approve the Annual General Meeting minutes, pending minor changes." Carried Unanimously Moved by Frank Voisin, seconded by Lindsay Walden "That the Board approve the November 24th minutes, pending minor changes." Carried Unanimously Sarah Marsh joined the meeting (8:38am) Presentation by Chris Farrell, Small Business Centre: Digital Main Street Chris shared with the board a presentation on Digital Main Street, a project launched by the small business centre of Toronto. Kitchener's small business centre had been in contact with Toronto in the interest of duplicating the program platform. The platform was delivered in Toronto to the 80+ BIAS. Partners include Rogers, Mastercard, Yellowpages and Shopify. The program is a response to statistics which show that 36 cents on every dollar are spent in store, and that 3% of small businesses have websites paired with complimentary stats from Canada Post showing that 76% of Canadians shopped online last year along. The program supports small business with website build, analytics, and opportunities for digital presence improvement and requires ongoing services of a "Geek Squad" to support businesses. Chris shares that the Small Business Centre has applied for provincial government support to be able to pilot the project but is seeking additional support through private sector funding. Chris confirms that the service would be free to members, excepting the option to purchase ongoing support from the "Geek Squad." Cory adds that the "Geek Squad" is the differentiator between a rollout, and ongoing success of the program. Chris shares that the roll out date is estimated to be March/April, contingent on funding. Darryl thanked Chris for the presentation and information. Chris left the meeting (8:52am) Update on Board Director Recruitment Daryll shares that the online application was provided to the 7 prospective candidates showing interest but that the response on the applications was slower than anticipated. Darryl shared with the board the list of candidates who have completed the application, and notified the board that interviews would begin promptly. One element of candidate consideration will be their fit within the chart prepared by Stewart capturing industries, districts, and areas of expertise. Linda reminds the board of their commitment to come to the membership with refocused priorities in the Spring, which requires that the board sit together in February to prepare. Linda recommends that it would be valuable to have new board members in place by the January meeting. The board agrees that an online voting forum may expedite the process, without jeopardizing the important considerations to be made. Action: The Selection Committee to provide a recommendation for voting via e-mail on December 15tH, 2016 Planning for Committees Darryl shares that an e-mail will be circulated regarding areas of interest in terms of the distribution of board members onto committees. Frank Voisin requests that we wait until we receive the existing applicants areas of interest before committing to specific committees in order to ensure distribution of strengths. Linda notes that terms of reference exist only for the governance committee and will need to be generated for the additional committees. Darryl confirms with Stewart that the Finance Committee has an informal terms of references which he requests be distributed for recommendation. Darryl asks whether it is customary for individuals outside of a board to sit on a finance committee or governance committees. Shirley Madill confirms that this is not uncommon in her experience and that an expert may be sought out as support. Action: Stewart to circulate the informal terms of reference of the Finance Committee Discussion of the 2017 Business Plan Linda states that the ideal business plan would include a flow chart that includes the strategic priorities, the 3 year strategic plan, and the 1 year business plan which would flow into the strategic priorities. Linda reminds the board that the business plan is written with the board as the intended audience, and indicates that the board should anticipate that the business plan change again in April a new set of strategic priorities will be generated by the surveys, forums etc. Daryll notes the importance of providing direction to The Executive Director and reminds the board of upcoming round tables, forums etc. Action: Linda to provide a breakdown of discretionary funds versus firmly committed funds for staff, office rental, and key sponsorships. Action: Stewart to circulate application form to current board members. Action: Jeanette Macdonald from the City of Kitchener to consolidate survey data for presentation to the board following the survey and forum end dates at the end of January Action: The board to meet to write strategic priorities in February using a doodle poll to determine best dates, and whether this should be a 1 or 2 day session. Shirley Madill to stand as facilitator. Shape DTK Survey and January Forum Update Linda shares that Joseph Fung, CEO of Netsuite, will speak at the opening of the forum. Linda will follow to introduce the purpose of the forum. Board members may be asked to facilitate a table of assigned guests to ensure variety of voices within groups. Linda shares that the questions will focus on positives now, foals for the future, and ideas to achieve these goals. Small table discussions will be followed by a reflection on a summary of the themes and how these may be achieved. Cory shares that they are expecting 200 to be in attendance. Action: Linda to ensure that the BIA staff are calling and making in person follow up in order to ensure that prospective attendees received the information in person Action: Cory to provide the current list of attendees by December 25 so that individual board members can follow up with contacts, anyone not on the list. Marketing for Christie Digital Darryl speaks to the Christie Digital event occurring at Kitchener City Hall and the associated opportunity to drive traffic into the downtown core. Linda confirms that in the November board meeting there was no official approval of funds to be spent, only a confirmation that there was funding available based on the September 30th statement. Linda expresses the BIA's intention to invest in marketing the event to encourage an increase in foot traffic, creating an experience based campaign targeting family, out of towners, and suburbanites. Linda shares that the city has agreed to have a BIA but placed at city Hall for promotional activity on Monday -Thursday nights during the campaign. Linda outlines the options proposed by the BIA team as potential marketing opportunities. Action: That the BIA make contact with retailers to encourage them to be open until 10:OOpm Action: That a meeting of hotels, BIA and any other industries interested in working together to promote Christmas Downtown be considered for Summer of 2017 to promote Christmas 2017. Moved by Frank Etherington, seconded by Paul Walman "That the board approve a spend of 15K to promote the Christie Digital Holiday Card." Carried Unanimously Other Business Linda and Domini share that they have agreed upon a format for the receipt of minutes, approval of minutes, and submission of minutes to the city as well as to the BIA for public posting on the website. Domini expresses her preference that the board retain the minute services of Jen in board meetings. Action: Domini to provide a summary of the process for approval at the January meeting. Moved by Darryl, seconded by Frank Etherington "That the board approve the secretarial services provided by Jen for board minutes." In -Camera Moved by Frank Etherington, seconded by Paul Walman "Motion to go in camera." Moved by Frank Voisin, seconded by Sarah Marsh "Motion to leave in camera." ADJOURNMENT Moved by Frank Voisin, seconded by Paul Walman "That the meeting adjourn." (10:42a.m.) Carried Unanimously Carried Unanimously Carried Unanimously Carried Unanimously