EDAMinutes2024April4
MINUTES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
| THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2024 |
A meeting of the Frederick County Economic Development Authority was held on
Thursday, April 4, 2024, at 8:00 a.m. in the County Administration Building, First Floor
Conference Room, 107 North Kent Street, Winchester, Virginia.
PRESENT: Rick Till, Bryan Fairbanks, Diane Kearns, Stan Crockett and Gary Lofton.
Due to illness, Judy McCann-Slaughter participated by phone which was approved
by Board members present.
STAFF: Patrick Barker, Shayla Rickard, Wendy May, and Donna McIlwee, Frederick
County Economic Development Authority; and Michael Bryan, EDA Attorney;
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes from the February 1, 2024, meeting were presented. Since Ms. Kearns was
not present at that meeting, she will be noted as absent in the minutes. On motion duly
made by Mr. Fairbanks and seconded by Mr. Lofton, the minutes were approved as corrected
by the following recorded vote:
J. Stanley Crockett Aye
Bryan Fairbanks Aye
Diane Kearns Aye
Gary Lofton Aye
Judy McCann-Slaughter Aye
Karen Swecker Absent
Rick Till Aye
TREASURER'S REPORT
Mr. Barker submitted the following reports:
Checking Account - Bank of Clarke as of January 31, 2024 - $5093.22
Intrafi Account – Bank of Clarke as of January 31, 2024 - $2,909,442.96
Checking Account - Bank of Clarke as of February 29, 2024 - $25,413.22
Intrafi Account – Bank of Clarke as of February 29, 2024 - $2,894,415.39
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Frederick County EDA Meeting Minutes | April 4, 2024
On motion of Ms. Kearns, seconded by Mr. Lofton, the Treasurer’s Reports were
approved by the following recorded vote:
J. Stanley Crockett Aye
Bryan Fairbanks Aye
Diane Kearns Aye
Gary Lofton Aye
Judy McCann-Slaughter Aye
Karen Swecker Absent
Rick Till Aye
FREDCO EATS
Ms. May, Marketing Manager, gave a recap of the 2024 Restaurant Week and Agribusiness
Conference. This year, 20 eateries participated in Restaurant Week and 15 responded to a
survey showing a 100% satisfaction rate. The 2025 event will be held January 27 – February 2,
2025.
The inaugural Cultivate Your Agribusiness Conference was held on February 21, 2024, at Laurel
Ridge Community College with 113 participants. Nine workshops were offered across three
tracks focused on considerations for starting and growing an agribusiness in the Northern
Shenandoah Valley. The half-day event culminated with a keynote address by Matthew Lohr,
Virginia’s Secretary of Agriculture. Next year’s event is scheduled for February 20, 2025.
INCENTIVE POLICY
Mr. Barker reviewed the EDA’s incentive policy. He stated this policy governs all aspects of the
local economic development incentive grant process and staff recommends an EDA Board
review annually. An updated document had been distributed earlier to the Board for review.
Mr. Barker noted the most significant revision is related to the Agricultural & Forestry Industry
Development Fund. The minimum requirements for this program were inserted for consistency
and clarity purposes. Details related to necessary wage levels to qualify have been updated.
Other revisions are intended for clarity purposes. Staff is seeking approval of the document.
Mr. Lofton questioned if the Fund can be used by small start-up businesses. Mr. Barker stated
that these types of businesses would be directed to the Small Business Development Center as
the Fund requires a Performance Agreement, is ROI based, and recipients must pay tax on any
grant money received.
Ms. Kearns stated she felt the EDA Chair should be moved up to the review level and that there
was a sentence missing on the first page, 3rd paragraph. Mr. Barker then reviewed the
composition of the Review Committee.
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Frederick County EDA Meeting Minutes | April 4, 2024
Mr. Till requested that Mr. Barker circulate to the Board members a red line version of the
document for review and approval at the May Board meeting.
TARGET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS UPDATE | VALUE PROPOSITION UPDATE 2024
Mr. Barker stated that, as the Board may recall from their Target Industry Analysis update,
value propositions were created for each targeted industry segment. A value proposition refers
to the value Frederick County promises to deliver to companies in each target industry sector
should they choose to locate in Frederick County. Regular updates to the value proposition are
necessary to maintain relevancy. Initial work was completed in December 2022 and Chmura
Economics was contracted again to compare the Frederick County MSA to 28 competing MSAs
on various demographic economic indicators, as well as industry and occupation variables for
the EDA Industry Targets. He then reviewed the updated results.
PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENTS OF TARGETED INDUSTRIES
Mr. Barker reviewed a summary of announcements for the past 12 months from across the U.S.
of the EDA Targeted Industries. He stated this review aligns with the action step within the
Business Attraction goal of the EDA Strategy.
GROCERY STORE ATTRACTION
Mr. Barker gave an update on his efforts to encourage grocery stores to locate in Frederick
County. Three have shown moderate interest, 3 have long-term market consideration, and 2
have no interest.
SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS MAY COME BEFORE THIS AUTHORITY
Upcoming EDA events include the Widget Cup at Millbrook High School on April 11 and the
Employer Expo in May at Shenandoah University.
Ms. Kearns stated she would like to have a list of current industries in the area by industry
clusters. Mr. Barker will work on.
ADJOURN
There being no further business to come before this Authority, the meeting was adjourned at
8:50 a.m.
________________________________ ____________________________
Richard Till Jay Tibbs
Chairman Secretary