COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION

OF THE STEUBENVILLE OHIO AREA

Meeting of the Board of Trustees – January 19, 2010

CALL TO ORDER   

President Kenneth Perkins called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m.  The meeting was hosted by Ambulance Service Inc. at 1439 Sunset Blvd., Steubenville.

ROLL CALL              Present:  President Ken Perkins; Vice-President David Skiviat; Secretary Alex Marshall; Treasurer Edward Florak; Trustees Karen D’Anniballe, David D’Anniballe, Dr. Laura Meeks, James Emmerling, Patrick Hyer, Kyle Brown, Steve Bohach, Robert Chapman, John Riley, Thomas Minor, Nick Caccicario, Sam Shorac, Derek Ferguson, Craig Petrella, Susan Hershey, Dr. Thomas Graham, Thomas Bottorf, Geno Morelli

Absent:  William Blake, Immediate Past President; Trustees B.J. Smith, Anthony Mougianis, Ross Patten, Deborah Venci, Geary Bates, Robert Hargrave, Joe Luckino, Joseph Glaub, Lou Petrozzi, Richard Delatore, Huberta Siciliano, Tom Timmons, Kristin Cangrell, Lisa Quattrochi, Jay Phillipone, Frank Bovina, Fred Brower, Chuck Robinson, Jon Rogers, Don Snyder, Dave Hindman, Gary Folden, Thomas Gentile, David Maple, Domenick Mucci, David Lalich, Ed Chanoski, John Geddis, John Abdalla, Dominic Chappano, Sam Grafton

Others in Attendance:  Executive Director Ed Looman, Ruth Casey and Joanna Styczinski, Progress Alliance

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS

10-01-01          Following the board’s review of the minutes of the CIC meeting of December 15, President Perkins proposed an amendment.  Trustee Brown made a motion to approve the minutes as amended.  Trustee Emmerling seconded the motion, motion approved unanimously.

REPORTS OF TRUSTEES AND COMMITTEES

Fundraising Committee:  Chairman Ken Perkins reported that the goal for 2010 is to reach a total of sixty private sector board members.  The next committee meeting is scheduled for Feb. 10 at 8:30 a.m. in the Progress Alliance conference room.

Best of County Annual Dinner Committee:  Executive Director Ed Looman said that there is an excellent committee working on the project.  The group is still discussing dinner menu, favors, etc.  He commented that nominations are slow coming in and asked the board to make nominations.  The dinner will be held on Monday, March 29, at St. Florian Hall in Wintersville.  Mayor Jay Williams of Youngstown will be the featured speaker.  Youngstown has been named one of the top ten cities in the country to start a business. 

Mr. Looman said that it’s important to make fundraising events of the annual dinner and the annual golf outing this year.  Prior to this year, TANF funds were received for marketing but are no longer available so we need to raise marketing funds.  He said that the marketing which Progress Alliance does is what sets us apart from other small county economic development agencies.  Mr. Looman said that there are sponsorship opportunities available for the dinner and asked anyone interested in being a sponsor to contact him, and to let him know if they’re aware of anyone who might be interested.  Mr. Looman expressed his thanks to the Herald-Star for creating, printing and folding the “Best of County” brochures.

REPORT OF TREASURER

Treasurer Florak reported that he reviewed all the bank account reconciliations and found them accurate and up to date.  He drew the board’s attention to the back of the balance sheet where the amount of funds available for CIC/Progress Alliance operations was listed.

10-01-02          Trustee Skiviat made a motion that the Treasurer’s report be accepted as presented.  Trustee Ferguson seconded the motion; motion approved unanimously.

INTRODUCTION OF MEETING HOST and HOST’S REMARKS

Mr. Looman introduced Karen D’Anniballe, and thanked her for hosting today’s meeting.  He told the board that Ms. D’Anniballe is an amazing person, deeply involved in her business and in the community.

Ms. D’Anniballe welcomed everyone on behalf of her family, stating that it was a pleasure to host the meeting.  She said that she has worked with several of those present.  She said that the company would not exist today if her father had not done such a great job creating a foundation for the business, and said her goals are to assure the company’s stability for its employees and to

make the business grow.  She said that the company had moved to its present address because it needed a location to consolidate its operations; all the operations and equipment are now located at this site.  In addition to utilizing the existing building, they have built crew quarters for emergency personnel on duty.  They have invested heavily in state-of-the-art software to serve their customers, dispatch vehicles, etc.  Compensation and health care plans for employees have been completely revamped.  Ms. D’Anniballe said that as the company grows, their goal is to stay committed to this area.

The company provides service to hospitals, long-term care facilities, and the city of Steubenville, among others.  Hiring, training, dispatching and billing are all handled on site.  Checker Cab was founded in 1968 as a taxi company, and later transitioned to para-transit and non-medical transportation.  Jefferson Security began in 1972 with armed and uniformed guards.  They now provide work site protection, traffic control, training and a courier service among many other services.  The services offered range from electronic fingerprinting to CPR training. The company has a total of 170 employees, 60 vehicles, and is open 24/7/365.  In addition to her involvement in the “family” business, Ms. D’Anniballe has a consulting firm.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Mr. Looman welcomed new trustees: Tom D’Anniballe, representing D’Anniballe & Company, Tom Bottorf, representing the village of Wintersville, and Nick Cacciacarro, representing PNC Bank.

Mr. Looman said that Trustee Mucci had intended to be at the meeting to talk about the one million dollar EPA grant which Regional Planning received to fund Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies of brownfield sites in Jefferson County.  Mr. Looman said the brownfields task force is seeking sites for the studies.  After the studies are completed, help in cleaning up brownfield sites is available from the Clean Ohio program.  Mr. Mucci had provided access agreements for interested parties, and Mr. Looman said they can be submitted to Regional Planning.  Mr. Looman said that once the land is cleaned up, we need to bank it for development; he said that it is easier to get funds if there is an end user for the property.

Mr. Looman introduced the “Big Idea” contest to the board.  People with good ideas but without funds to create it can present their idea for consideration.  The winner in Jefferson County will then compete regionally, with entries to be judged by the MCI advisory board.  He said that we need another $250 sponsor for the local contest.

Mr. Looman said that the Progress Alliance has made progress in creating an inventory of land and buildings available in Jefferson County, and has increased the Revolving Loan Fund recognition.  He said that the CIC has challenges, and thanked the trustees for their support, encouragement and assistance.  He said that a couple projects are getting close, and he hopes to make an announcement by the middle of 2010.  Mr. Looman is going to work with Karen D’Anniballe to create a strategic plan for the organization to find our niche, then he wants to create a business incubator in Jefferson County.  He also wants to move forward with the eventual creation of a county port authority.

The Columbus to Pittsburgh Corridor committee will meet in April at Historic Fort Steuben.  Mr. Looman said the results of the impact study should be received by autumn.  ODOT doesn’t want to invest any money in signage; Mr. Looman and Tony Guida are working for signs, and they are revisiting political entities in the county to reques formal resolutions of support which he said will help acquire funding. 

Mr. Looman will be meeting with T.J. Justice, with whom he co-chairs the corridor committee, to discuss creation of a county-wide port authority.  He said the CIC is lucky to have the support of the public and private sectors, but a port authority can hold property, raise funds by passing a levy, has the power of eminent domain, and other capabilities which a CIC has not.

REPORT OF PRESIDENT OR OTHER OFFICERS

Mr. Perkins reported that the 2010 budget prepared by Mr. Looman was reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee. 

10-01-03          Trustee Brown made a motion to adopt the 2010 budget.  Trustee Emmerling seconded the motion, motion approved unanimously.

Mr. Perkins said that, following the Best of County dinner, we need to begin planning for the golf invitational; he said that a committee comprised of Jim Emmerling, Alex Marshall and Walt Ziemba has been formed, but could use some additional assistance.

President Perkins called upon Joanna Styczenski, Progress Alliance Program Manager, for a report on the Trails and Greenways Committee.  She said the committee is identifying points of interest and funding sources for the creation of bike and walking trails in Jefferson County.  Ms. Styczenski said that the committee would be meeting the next day (January 20).  One of the ideas the committee has is to create a walking trail in the industrial park for use by the park tenants and Wal-Mart employees.

The Personnel Committee has created an employee handbook; it was reviewed and approved by the Executive Committee.  The handbook is available at the Progress Alliance office for anyone who would like to see it.

Mr. Looman reported that he was asked by the Jefferson County commissioners to assist the Prevention and Recovery Board in the sale of their property in New Alexandria, seven minutes from S.R. 7.  The price for the property, a former school, is $150,000.  Mr. Looman is working with a realtor and hopes to sell the property soon; if it isn’t sold that way, it will go up for auction.

Trustee Graham asked Mr. Looman about the status of the company which has been interested in property at the industrial park for some time.  Mr. Looman said we are still in the loop, but the company has made no decision.  They have scaled down their plans; they will bring in a sister company, but will not move their office operations to Jefferson County.  Mr. Looman met with CEC Consultants, who advised that we appear to be the number one candidate for location of that company.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business to place before the board.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business to place before the board.

ADJOURNMENT

President Perkins declared the meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.

Kenneth R. Perkins, President                                                            Date

 Community Improvement Corporation

   of the Steubenville, Ohio, Area

                                                                                  Minutes prepared by Ruth Casey