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09-26-2023 Agenda Packet EDCNOTES Regularly-Scheduled Meeting Agenda 4:00 Welcome Mr. Donald Long, Vice-Chairman Invocation The Honorable Gordon Powell 4:01 Consent Agenda The Honorable Merilyn Newell, Secretary a. January 17, 2023 Meeting Minutes b. July 25, 2023 Meeting Minutes c. August 22, 2023 Meeting Minutes 4:02 Duke Energy Presentation Ms. Beth Townsend, Duke Energy Local Government and Community Relations Manager Mr. Jimmy Flythe, Duke Energy Government and Community Relations Manager 4:15 UDO Presentation Mr. Chris Bowley, Person County Planning Director 4:30 Director’s Update Ms. Brandy Lynch, ED Director 4:35 Member Comments Members and Ex Officios 4:39 **Next Meeting Mr. Donald Long, Vice-Chairman Set for October 18, 2023, 4:00pm, EDC Boardroom, 303 S. Morgan St., Roxboro, NC 27573 4:40 **Adjourn Mr. Donald Long, Vice-Chairman **Action Requested Meeting Location: EDC Boardroom, 303 S. Morgan St., Roxboro, North Carolina 27573 Meeting Date & Time: September 26, 2023; 4:00 p.m. Mission Statement: “To Create Opportunities for Families & Businesses to Prosper & Compete in a Global Economy” Takeaways: WRAL Ad Campaign Golden Leaf Close Out Duke Energy Small Business Grants Advance NC Launch EDC Minutes for January 17, 2023 Minutes of the Joint PCEDC Special Called Meeting with the Person County Board of Commissioners Person County Auditorium 304 S. Morgan St., Roxboro, NC 27573 January 17, 2023 Voting Board Members Present: Mr. Phillip Allen-Chairman Mr. Kenneth Perry Dr. Scott McKinney Ms. Sherry Clayton Mr. Jay Poindexter The Honorable Gordon Powell The Honorable Merilyn Newell Ex Officios Present: Ms. Katherine Cathey, County Manager Dr. Claudia Berryhill, Agricultural Representative Mr. Brooks Lockhart, City Manager Dr. Pamela Senegal, PCC President ED Staff Present: Others Present: Ms. Brandy Lynch, Interim Director Mr. George Willoughby Mr. Michael Thibault, Asst ED Director (Minutes) Mr. Bo Freeman Ms. Julie Maybee Ms. Samantha Bagbey CLOSED SESSION #2 A motion was made by Vice Chairman Sims and carried 5-0 to enter Closed Session #2 at 10:49 am for discussion of matters relating to the location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the area served by the public body, including agreement on a tentative list of economic development incentives that may be offered by the public body in negotiations per General Statutes 143-318.11(a)(4) with the following individuals permitted to attend: County Manager Katherine Cathey, Clerk to the Board Brenda Reaves, County Attorney Ellis Hankins, Interim Economic Development Director Brandy Lynch, and members of the EDC: Mayor Merilyn Newell, Phillip Allen, Donald Long, Jay Poindexter, Sherry Clayton, Scott McKinney, Kenneth Perry and representatives of an industry or business prospect. 1 of 2 EDC Minutes for January 17, 2023 Closed Session: Chairman Powell called the Closed Session #2 to order. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to go into closed session. Motion: Donald Long Second: The Honorable Merilyn Newell Closed Session was entered into at 10:49 am A motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to come out of closed session. Motion: The Honorable Merilyn Newell Second: Donald Long Closed Session was exited at 11:52 am Adjournment: A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously passed to adjourn the meeting at approximately 11:53 p.m. Motion: Donald Long Second: Sherry Clayton _____________________________________ ______________________________________ Date Approved Secretary 2 of 2 EDC Minutes for July 25, 2023 Minutes of the PCEDC Regularly Scheduled Meeting Person County EDC Board Room 303 S. Morgan St., Roxboro, NC 27573 July 25, 2023 Voting Board Members Present: Mr. Phillip Allen-Chairman Ms. Sherry Clayton Mr. Donald Long-Vice Chairman Dr. Scott McKinney Mr. Jay Poindexter The Honorable Gordon Powell The Honorable Merilyn Newell Mr. Jody Blackwell Voting Members Absent: Mr. Kenneth Perry Ex Officios Present: Dr. Claudia Berryhill, Agricultural Representative Ms. Katherine Cathey, County Manager Mr. Brooks Lockhart, City Manager Dr. Rodney Peterson, PCS Superintendent Dr. Pamela Senegal, PCC President ED Staff Present: Others Present: Ms. Brandy Lynch, Director Mr. George Willoughby Ms. Briana Whitt, ED Specialist (Minutes) Ms. Sherry Wilborn Ms. Julie Maybee Mr. Bo Freeman EDC Welcome and Invocation: At 4:00p.m., Chairman Allen called the meeting to order. Mr. Donald Long gave the invocation. 1 of 4 EDC Minutes for July 25, 2023 Director’s Report: Director Lynch’s starts off by making the board aware that there is a new demographic report one of the things that the other counties did the second half is still in the works. This report will be updated monthly, as the information comes out. Some exciting but sad news, the Economic Director of Granville County announced his retirement. Ms. Whitt and Lynch will be attending 51st Basic Economic Development Course at UNC next Monday-Thursday. A group of Person County diligence and City of Roxboro affiliation were able to meet with The Department of Commerce on July 12th. All of the meeting minutes are all caught up, the old minutes will be added to the August agenda for approval. On August 9, 2023, the EDC will host East Carolina University Economic Development Honors Class with Charles Hayes, there are a couple spot remaining for the class. Lynch was able to have site visit at North Park Site last Friday, she was able to meet with the contractor, the site looks like a totally different site. Lynch and Whitt were able to attend the CTE meeting a few weeks ago, they were able to give some advice on for workforce and job fairs. Our WRAL ad has officially kicked off. Also, Lynch has been able to have a conversation with Polywood in regards a few needs they have Member Comments: Dr. Senegal informed the board that classes will be starting on August 15th. She also reminded the board of the upcoming annual Golf Tournament at Treyburn Country Club on September 25th. Ms. Cathey made the board aware that Person County received a second Great Grant award. The project will be given to Brightspeed for a project in Person County. Mr. Lockhart announced the City of Roxboro had hired a new finance director. Dr. Berryhill attended the 5-county beef tour around Granville County on July 21, 2023. Chairman’s Report: Chairman Allen encouraged everyone who has not signed up for the Economic Honors Seminar with Charles Hayes to sign up. Next Meeting: 2 of 4 EDC Minutes for July 25, 2023 The next meeting is proposed for Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. in the Person County EDC Board Room 303 S. Morgan St. Roxboro, NC. Adjournment: A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously passed to adjourn the meeting at approximately 4:18 p.m. Motion: Donald Long Second: Sherry Clayton _____________________________________ ______________________________________ Date Approved Secretary 3 of 4 4 of 4 EDC Minutes for August 22, 2023 Minutes of the PCEDC Regularly Scheduled Meeting Person County EDC Board Room 303 S. Morgan St., Roxboro, NC 27573 August 22, 2023 Voting Board Members Present: Mr. Phillip Allen-Chairman Mr. Kenneth Perry Mr. Donald Long-Vice Chairman Dr. Scott McKinney Mr. Jay Poindexter The Honorable Gordon Powell The Honorable Merilyn Newell Ms. Sherry Clayton Mr. Jody Blackwell Ex Officios Present: Ms. Katherine Cathey, County Manager Dr. Claudia Berryhill, Agricultural Representative Dr. Pamela Senegal, PCC President Ex Officios Absent: Dr. Rodney Peterson, PCS Superintendent Mr. Brooks Lockhart, City Manager ED Staff Present: Others Present: Ms. Brandy Lynch, Interim Director Mr. George Willoughby Ms. Briana Whitt, ED Specialist (Minutes) Mr. Bo Freeman EDC Welcome and Invocation: At 4:00p.m., Chairman Allen called the meeting to order. Mr. Donald Long gave the invocation. Approval of Minutes: Chairman Allen recognized The Honorable Merilyn Newell for the approval of the February 28, 2023, March 28, 2023, June 8, 2023 and June 27, 2023 minutes. 1 of 12 EDC Minutes for August 22, 2023 A motion made, seconded, and unanimously approved to approve the February 28, 2023, March 28, 2023, June 8, 2023 and June 27, 2023 meeting minutes. Motion: Dr. Scott McKinney Second: Mr. Jody Blackwell Director’s Report: Director Lynch starts off with discussion from the meeting with Duke and Beth Townsend on August 6, 2023 prior to the news release. Duke Energy is scheduled to have both Hyco and Mayo plants decommissioned. Now they are asking for later decommissioning date. Duke would like to retire Mayo in 2031 and Roxboro in 2034, a lot further off that original thought. They are committed to keeping power to Person County while the community transfers to cleaner energy options and lower carbon future. Duke Energy has proposed new plans to construct a hydrogen capable natural gas plant as part of the next chapter for Roxboro Plant in Person County. The site would be home of one of the most advanced Powerplant of Duke Energy’s Duke Energy emphasized that “slow and steady is the better path.” The participants of the East Carolina Universities Honors Seminar received a 5-credit hour certificate for the class, which goes toward the North Carolina Economic Development Certification. The class focused on Person County. Instructors used Ted Abernathy findings and Person County Economic Development’s strategic plan to focus on how to help Person County as a whole. Ms. Whitt and Director Lynch attended the UNC Basic Economic Development Class at the beginning of August at the School of Government. North Park project will be completed by the end of the week. Ms. Cathey signed the latest worksheet for the grant. Lynch requested the opportunity to visit other counties economic development departments after she was named Director. One of her takeaways from her visit included less meetings. Most county’s hold meetings every other month, Vance County has met twice in the last year in a half. Franklin County specifically only allows their meetings to go an hour and only have invited speakers. Ms. Lynch loved Franklin Counties demographics sheet as a model made a few tweaks, to fit Person County needs. Harry Mills gave a tour of the future economic development for Granville County. Take away from the tour was that the Economic Development departments were very remote and private, Granville County has their own house. The reason for the privacy is when you have industries coming in and projects coming in, most do not want to be seen, they would like to be 2 of 12 EDC Minutes for August 22, 2023 anonymous. Most departments were setup in different counties with two to three people, Ms. Lynch has decided to change the open position from Assistant Director to Existing Industry Specialist Position this will allow industry to know who this person is and what their job is, and they will know the direct contact to go to. Lynch is working with HR on the position and getting it ready and graded should be posted within the next couple of weeks. The Economic Development Specialist will continue to do administrative work but will grow more in the role, that means that Ms. Whitt will start looking at projects in the Director Lynch absence to have someone as a backup to submit for projects. The strategic plan was looked at by Charles Hayes and other piers at East Carolina University their plan/class was taken off of Ted Abernathy’s report. Ms. Lynch would like to take strategic plan into review to try to condense it then focus on an action plan. When Ms. Lynch was hired the Person County Board of Commissioners and the EDC Board requested that the director be more public facing, but due to the work load, meeting prep and training new staff that is not due able at this time, Ms. Lynch is trying to be more focused on getting out and letting people know who she is. Her goal is to not be in the office as much and to let the people get to know Ms. Lynch WRAL campaign is coming along, Lynch received two of the three articles for review. Director Lynch will not be available for the October meeting. Member Comments: Mr. Powell talks about changes in the energy field, wanting what is best for Person County. Duke Energy has come out with their press release on advancing the future of energy in Person County. Dr. Senegal noted that the college has an electrical power productive program, were enrollment has changed in part to fears surrounding the decommissioning. Also, the fall semester has started, Piedmont Community College summer enrollment numbers were up by 9% compared to last summer. Dr. Berryhill noted what the access to a community hospital means to our community. Ms. Lynch is working with Kerr Tar to revisit the hospital. Also, Kerr Tar asked Ms. Lynch to follow up from the previous meetings. Ms. Lynch received a phone call for Mr. Lockhart noting he was unable to attended, due to an illness. Lockhart wanted to inform the board that the Western Sewer Project timeline will begin advertising for bids no later than October or November of 2023, construction notice is no later than January of 2024, construction with substantial completion no later than January 2026 and final completion is March 2026. 3 of 12 EDC Minutes for August 22, 2023 Mr. Blackwell noted that as far as the hospital they are actually doing a hiring event for some nursing assistants at Business Development & Entrepreneurship Center. Mr. Perry noted that in the Kerr Tar Region four counties have a hospital; one county does not have a hospital at all, so if someone gets sick they have to go to another county. Noting he sees a trend on hospitals are starting to get stricter on what patients they except therefore hospitals are transferring the patients to other hospitals with in the Kerr Tar region. The Honorable Merilyn Newell complemented the programs that Person Memorial Hospital has in place to increase response time to a patients needs. Chairman’s Report: Chairman Allen expressed that we have a lot of positive momentum going on in we are doing the right things for the right reasons. Hopefully there will be more good news down the road, this board works very good together. Chairman Allen also wanted to thanks the board for their hard work. Next Meeting: The next meeting is announced for Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. in the Person County EDC Boardroom, 303 S. Morgan St. Roxboro, NC 27573. Adjournment: A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously passed to adjourn the meeting at approximately 4:57 p.m. Motion: The Honorable Gordon Powell Second: The Honorable Merilyn Newell _____________________________________ ______________________________________ Date Approved Secretary 4 of 12 5 of 12 6 of 12 7 of 12 8 of 12 9 of 12 10 of 12 11 of 12 $824.00 $1,715.00 $1,016.00 $1,259.00 $1,389.00 $922.00 $828.00 $1,575.00 $989.00 $1,159.00 $1,239.00 $887.00 $843.00 $1,666.00 $1,039.00 $1,207.00 $1,409.00 $908.00 $894.00 $1,682.00 $1,075.00 $1,235.00 $1,445.00 $924.00 $0.00 $1,000.00 $2,000.00 $3,000.00 $4,000.00 $5,000.00 $6,000.00 $7,000.00 Caswell County Durham County Granville County North Carolina Orange County Person County Average Weekly Wage 2022 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 $- $5,000,000.00 $10,000,000.00 $15,000,000.00 $20,000,000.00 $25,000,000.00 Sales Tax Person Caswell Orange Durham Granville 3.70% 3.20%3.20% 3.60% 3.10% 3.70% 2.80% 2.90% 3.00% 3.10% 3.20% 3.30% 3.40% 3.50% 3.60% 3.70% 3.80% Caswell County Durham County Granville County North Carolina Orange County Person County June 2023 Unemployment Rates 7 24 14 6 32 4 4 13 11 61 10 18 63 58 40 36 34 36 27 50 38 37 43 49 1 4 1 4 3 5 3 3 1 1 2 3 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Permit Activity SFD (Single Family Dwelling) Bldg (No-mods) Modular Homes Person County Demographic Report 12 of 12