By Steve Laster, IDB/EDC chair
The IDB/EDC (Industrial Development Board/Economic Development Commission) met Nov. 19th at City Hall. The normal date for the monthly meeting is the fourth Thursday which was Thanksgiving this year.
Link to IDB agenda: https://tn-lakeland.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/890
Link to EDC agenda: https://tn-lakeland.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/889
At the IDB meeting, the Board approved a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Draw Request for Lakeland Commons totaling $131,449.75.
Also discussed was IDB attorney Al Bright’s recent move to the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC. The IDB will address the necessary changes in Mr. Bright’s contract in their December meeting.
The December meeting of the IDB will be Dec. 17th, due to the regular date conflicting with the Christmas holiday week.
In their meeting, the EDC members heard updates on planning activities, development projects, and economic opportunities from Forrest Owens, Lakeland planning director, and Dexter Muller, part-time economic consultant for Lakeland
EDC member Alan Johnson presented updates on both the new economic recruitment website and a new information packet for the city as part of the Marketing Plan Update.
Mr. Johnson is leading the development of the new website for the City to use for recruiting new economic opportunities by providing timely and relevant information to prospective businesses and developers. The new website has been registered: discoverlakelandtn.com. Development of the website has started and content will be added over the next few months.
Also for recruitment opportunities, Mr. Johnson is preparing an updated information packet for the City that can be distributed to interested parties. A draft of the new packet is planned to be distributed in December for review.
The EDC will not meet in December due to the Christmas holiday. Its next scheduled meeting will be Jan. 23rd.
