07-11-16 Community Investment - Laserfiche WebLink

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We open up the administration of our federal grants every year, and we try to work through neighborhood resources and get the word out to our neighborhood organizations and leaders and support their efforts. Mr. Pawlowski moved on to economic resources, which has been taken over by Aaron Kobb. Aaron Kobb, 14th floor of the County -City Building, we're focused on tax abatements and TIF analysis. We're doing the analysis on our economic development projects to see what makes sense fiscally. The Industrial Revolving Fund is one of the most successful in the country. We also just brought on a new staff member to internally look at some of the processes within our department to work on some efficiencies and information sharing among departments. Mr. Pawlowski stated that Mr. Cobb's accounting background guides his success. Beth Leonard Inks, Department of Community Investment on the 14th floor, stated that she helps support the other teams in the department and gives them information on what kind of money is available and she makes sure that the bills and the people get paid. Mr. Pawlowski stated that one thing that has been very impressive is that four (4) departures in one (1) department in a pretty short timeframe is sometimes pretty traumatic to handle. The first thing I learned about DCI is that it was going to keep humming no matter what, and we've still been able to do a lot. For those of you on Council, DCI in terms of its business incentive strategy has done a whole range of things. We're taking a hard look at what best business practices are now, and looking to build on the momentum that exists. Maybe the City doesn't have a need to be as involved as it has been going forward. We are just looking at what makes sense in terms of our business incentive strategies moving forward. Committeemember Regina Williams- Preston asked what the recruitment process looks like for the workforce development program. Mr. Pawlowski explained that the City contracts with a consultant that does a lot of the recruiting and placement. Sarah Heintzelman, with offices on the 14th floor of the County -City building, stated last year the City brought on a gentleman named Terry Stokes who works with churches, local organizations, labor unions and Work One. He gets a feel for what individuals are looking for in terms of training, and the individuals come in to Work One for training sessions and indicate where their interests are at and we try to line them up with job openings. Committeemember Williams- Preston asked if there is a breakdown of the number of people who have been helped. Ms. Heintzelman stated that it is hard for them to say, because they base it on the individuals' needs. Around sixty -five (65) people were helped this year.