TOWN OF
Chairman
Excused
Absence: Michele Couture
Other attendees: Town Manager
EDC Committee: Chairman Steve Melamed, Thanassi
Kuliopulos, William Dougal, Bonnie Adams-Campbell,
Other Attendees:
Various Business and Community Members
Recorder: Amy Germain
The following are meeting minutes, in brief.
Lisa Bowden: Call to order and housekeeping -- 2008 calendar published, Restaurant Guide looking for businesses missed, website links
Mary-Jo Avellar: Welcoming Remarks
Sharon Lynn: Opening Comments, Session Structure and Ground Rules
Thank summit sponsors VSB, PBG, Chamber of Commerce and
hospitality of Bill Dougal and Rick Murray.
Polite, hear everyone, focus on solutions, limit complaining, keep it positive, keep it moving towards solutions, be brief, descriptive and direct.
Improving communication between town government and the business community.
Brief recap of Business Summit I which developed the breakout groups.
Breakout Groups
Need for Marketing Plan
Need to define
Define the message and the groups that it is directed to
Destination marketing – why would people want to come to Ptown?
“Like nowhere else” logo
Cooperative plan among all marketing groups (PBG, Chamber, Tourism Office, VSB, non-profits), Team approach
“If the Pilgrims landed here today, they’d stay” to be available to everyone
Technical assistance for businesses that do not belong to any of the marketing groups to attract and foster new businesses
Visibility and consistency in marketing
Communication among business, town govt., town residents – this is a face-to-face community Communication issues outside of our community
Use of internet as communication tool
Weekly schedule of events to be distributed throughout town
Road blocks
Inclusion – reaching individual business owners that are not part of organized group (membership organizations)
Competition or collaboration? Good competition v. bad competition
Lack of collaborative efforts for marketing
We need to get people to come here!
Competition between events
Need to promote: Ecotourism, Cultural tourism, Culinary tourism
International tourism – capitalize on weak $$
Universality of issues – interrelatedness of areas of concern
Business Season
Incentives for year-round businesses
Incentives for water and sewer
Incentives to extend business
season
Revamp fee structures for business
Need to look for grants to help businesses to extend season
Chicken & Egg – need business for people to come, need people to come to grow business
Market for longer season
Hospitality is main economy for town at the moment
How to reconnect to the year-round community that used to exist in town.
Transportation
Importance of FLEX
How to improve local transit – Trolley?
Street Paving
Parking Master Plan
Best use of MPL for parking? Satellite parking, revenue from parking, town employee parking
Air transportation – PVC limitations of runway length.
Transportation issue to overcome geography – weather issues effect visitors
Resources for public transportation – local, state, federal
Public transit center?
Technology
Concern about consistent high quality electric transmission
Full Wi-Fi infrastructure in town, specifically in business center
Some cell dead zones, town is currently investigating addition of new cell tower
Town Website utilization to communicate, conduct business
Utility companies
Municipal commitment to Wi-Fi
Develop Green energy sources
Town Infrastructure
Explore full-scale commercial district revitalization
Repaving project
Accessibility issues including sidewalk repair
Public restrooms
Public facility master plan
Municipal funding and financing
Revisit pay toilets? [Historical note: discriminatory as only women were using them.]
Nobody is in town to work year round. Winter jobs can’t compete with unemployment. Unlikely (less than 20% chance) that the H2B workers will be able to return. H2B workers holding 2-3 jobs for the time they are here. 1000 jobs in hospitality will be lost without the H2B workers.
Worst Case Scenario
J1 visa holders on a 4-month season.
Need to market for workforce
College outreach/ college year begins mid-August rather than mid-September.
Local job fairs in spring and fall
Priorities
Affordable housing focus – emphasize summer workforce housing
FEMA-type trailers as possible housing
Package job & housing
Transportation – Need FLEX Bus
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Sharon Lynn – Wrap-Up
Thanks to the EDC.
How’d we do?
Need National Seashore involvement as they are a part of all of this,
Only 1 Ptown in
the whole world –
Too much talking, not enough action – Keep caring, keep making things happen
Lynn Davies – Wrap-Up
Next steps
Formation of 3 working groups to
present potential solutions to be presented in March; PLEASE sign up! Next
Check online postings on line of
Possibly create a Business Summit BLOG on town website to continue discussion
Motion to
adjourn at
Minutes
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