City Council Work Session

Melvin Municipal Building

300 W. Washington Street

Greensboro, NC 27401

City of Greensboro

Meeting Minutes - Final

City Council Work Session

3:30 PM Plaza Level Conference RoomTuesday, October 18, 2016

1. Call To Order

This City Council work session of the City of Greensboro was called to order at 3:30 p.m. on the above date in the

Plaza Level Conference Room of the Melvin Municipal Office Building with the following members present: Mayor

Nancy Vaughan, Councilmembers Marikay Abuzuaiter, Mike Barber, Jamal Fox, Sharon Hightower, Nancy

Hoffmann, Justin Outling and Tony Wilkins.

Mayor Pro-Tem Yvonne Johnson participated via telephone in the closed session portion of the meeting.

Also present were City Manager Jim Westmoreland, City Attorney Tom Carruthers and City Clerk, Betsey

Richardson.

2. Presentations

City Manager Jim Westmoreland outlined that there were four items for discussion today; asked presenters to be

mindful of their time; and recognized Brent Christensen for an update on the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.

1. ID 16-0856 Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and Guilford County Economic

Development Update - Brent Christensen

Mr. Christesen spoke to the name change to the Chamber of Commerce; informed Council they were in their new

location a block away; invited Council to an open house on Friday, November 4th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.; stated

Downtown Greensboro, Inc. had scheduled their open house for the same evening; and that it would also be First

Friday. Mr. Christensen provided a handout to Council; outlined the 2016 project overview by Request For Inquiries

(RFI) responses and client visits; voiced the need to close deals; spoke to upcoming projects; and highlighted the

work the Chamber was doing with existing industries. Mr. Christensen stated the Chamber had one employee who

was dedicated solely to addressing the needs of existing businesses; provided an overview of the process in

maintaining relationships with existing businesses; spoke to the need to grow local businesses; addressed the

Minority Business Excelorator Program; and outlined a list of companies involved in the program. Mr. Christensen

highlighted the work of the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance; provided a copy of the press release

where the Alliance had received the Excellence in Economic Development Award; and highlighted projects the

Alliance was involved in.

Councilmember Wilkins asked what qualifications put the Alliance in front of others for the award, to which Mr .

Christensen provided an overview of the collaborative work and process for the international award.

City Manager Westmoreland voiced that he had received feedback from business contacts and executives about the

seamless nature provided when obtaining information about the City, Guilford County and the region.

Mayor Vaughan interjected that Greensboro, High Point and Guilford County were all at the table; and had come a

long way in working together.

Councilmember Barber inquired if there had been discussion regarding changing the name Triad to something else;

and stated that several people had advocated for a change.