For the record, this is the BUEA meeting for September 10, 2025. And we are starting at 12.02 PM. So
we need to do a roll call. Phil, do you want to start? Phil Emerson, BUEA. Michael Hover, BUEA. Kate
Rosenberger, BUEA. Heather Robinson, BUEA. Jane Coopersmith, BUEA. Dee Delarosa, BUEA ESD.
Jessica McClellan, city controller. Virginia Gutierrez, BUEA. Alisa Spinelli, BUA. And Jayvon? Jayvon.
Oh, sorry. Did I misspeak? No. You're good. I will introduce Jayvon Whitmill. He is my O'Neill fellow
for the next two years. So he'll be sitting in on the BUEA meetings regularly. Welcome.
All right. Good deal. Let's see. We do need approval of minutes from the August meeting. Did anyone
have any questions, comments, corrections to the minutes? If none, do we have a motion to approve the
minutes? I'll motion to approve.
Do we have a second? Second. And we'll need to do a roll call for approval on the minutes. Phil, do
you want to start us again? Yes. Michael Hover, yes. Kate Rosemarger, yes. Heather Robinson, yes. Jane
Cougar Smith, yes. Virginia Gutierrez, yes. Felicia Spinelli, yes.
Thank you. D, director's report. Sure. So it is a pretty short director's report, but I'll stretch it
as long as I can, since we're waiting for Brad. So the first item is that I met with IB Tech and SBDC
about a strategic plan for the BUEA.
It was really great to be able to sit down with a group of people and have them ask me, ask questions,
because you can sit in a room and try and think of a plan, but until you have an outside perspective,
it really is hard to form one. So the plan that we drafted out is for the next 12 months. It's a lot
of administrative things, so it is getting things organized on my end as far as marketing and
bolstering the board's income stream, which kind of go hand-in-hand, because if people don't know about
the incentives that we have, they aren't able to contribute to the pool of money that we have. So a
lot of it is getting us more forward-facing. I'm pretty excited about it. There is some more
board participation within that, so it'll be
getting the members of the board more engaged with the community as much as we can following the open
door policy and not having all the board members at one place and having to call public meetings. But
I'm pretty excited about it. I'm pretty excited about the idea of moving forward with larger initiatives,
like when we help CDFI friendly become CDFI friendly. So really getting us more involved, not just
within the zone, but having larger initiatives that could potentially affect the entire city as well.
So really exciting to move forward with that. I'm hoping to have that draft of that plan in front of
you within the next few months. So we can start some of the marketing stuff is an initiative that I've
been working on for a while, which fits into the plan, which will start January 1, regardless of whether the board
approves of this strategic plan because the board has approved marketing in the past. So I don't know
if anybody has any questions about that. I actually was just wondering, and I think it's a great idea
to have more of a strategic plan for the board. I think that we've seen growth in the organization.
And when I say growth, the interest in grants, we've had greater applications.
which is wonderful, businesses are becoming, businesses and nonprofits and individuals are becoming
more aware of the VUEA and what's available to them. And I know we've also had some kind of tough questions
in front of us too about boundaries of the zone and different things like that. So I wonder through
this strategic plan if, and again, I know time is difficult for everyone, if we should have maybe a special
strategic planning meeting, like call a meeting when we could try to meet everyone's calendars for maybe
a 90-minute meeting or something to really talk about the strategic direction of the BUBA and how that
kind of aligns with our mission, definitely aligns with our mission, but can also fit within what the
overall city's goals are as well. I think there's some,
There's some symbiotic relationship pieces there. I think what we're trying to accomplish as an organization,
of course, goes into the bigger picture of what the city is. So I think just having a conversation,
potentially a special meeting, to talk about a strategic plan. And do we need to look at updating the
bylaws? And how would that work? And if we made updates, what would those updates be? And so to have
a special meeting specifically
where we carve out the time to only focus on that. I'm just throwing that out there. I know Dee is still
in the process of just getting kind of a draft for us. But I just wanted to maybe throw that out there
and see how others feel about the possibility of that. Yeah. I agree. I agree. I agree. And I think
that would lead to us more supporting Dee because she has to work on this more than one time a month.
So spending the time to make a meeting to fit our schedule, of course, but to support her doing her
process would be very helpful. Yeah. I appreciate that. Yeah. And how can the board be more engaged
in those efforts as well to raise awareness and different things like that? So I think it could be a
good opportunity to just kind of look at a
a more specific strategic plan and have some change-ups to the bylaws or whatnot if we think that makes
sense for the organization at this point. Next, all of the documents have been submitted to Catalan
Novo Nordisk. We had a slight reversal of a couple numbers on one of the credit memos.
I put down $1.71 instead of $1.17. So that held up the process. So I apologize for that clerical error.
But now we're just waiting for the payout. So that is on track. I do have plans to have a draft budget
prepared for the October meeting with some of the changes that we will be speaking about.
today as far as the RF loan conversion, which I believe that via this process will probably not hit
our books until 2026. So I will be drafting that into the budget as we've discussed it prior to. And
then just some
minor adjustments as far as how we've been spending grant money. I think we got rid of a lot of building
improvements money this year so maybe readjusting some of those to keep the overall amount the same
but just kind of putting it in different areas.
And Holly and I are going to be working on a detailed arts budget. I feel like annually, we've kind
of been like, oh, well, there's zone art grants. And then there's city art grants. But what are they
really? So really defining those lines. So it's much easier for the board to have some transparency
for the board to see where that money is actually going and who we're giving it to and where we're putting
it within the zone.
And then I wrote down in my director's report that there was no change to the budget and grant disbursements.
That's not true. Let me pull that up so you guys can see the change that I have in that. And I guess
I need to share my screen. Duh.
Although it's not been dispersed, I have accounted for in our business building improvement line the
$10,000 to the warehouse that we awarded last week. So as you can see, we have expended and overexpended
that line in our grants budget. I will be considering moving maybe a little bit from the accessibility
modification and the safety and security
or I'm sorry, not safety and security, the business and community support into building improvement,
as those were two lines that we just haven't fully expended. So when you say move money, are you suggesting?
For 2026. Oh, thank you. For 2026, not for this year. OK, thank you. No.
If we overexpend in a line, I'd like to know for 2026, so I can adjust the numbers for 2026. So we should
just spend out what we can, however, and then we make the adjustments for next year. Agreed. I think
that that's helpful to see the overs and unders in the budget that we originally set, which will be
a tool to help you set the 2026 budget.
Um, and, uh, that is it for me, unless, um, the board has any questions or would like any updates on
anything else that might be going on. That's great. Thanks. Next month, we're going to get that updated
financial report. Yes. Um, we were just waiting on one document, um, and the, uh, that Cheryl needed
to run the full report. Um, but it'll be a quarterly report, so it'll be.
everything for Q3. So we'll be set on that. I do have a quick question for Alex. So we're moving into
the portion about the RF loans. Do I need Felisa and Virginia to step away from the table? Do they have
to leave? Or can we wait till the vote?
Um, because they hold loans, because they hold RRF loans. Um, I think it's fine for them to stay. Okay.
For the conversation, just not for the vote. Okay. All right. Sorry, just to clarify, and they participate
in the conversation or listen to it? Okay. Yeah. So, yeah. So, um, Felisa and Virginia, you can stay.
You just can't participate in the conversation.
I am done, and I'm going to hand it over to control down the phone. Hi, everybody. Dee and I worked
together and reviewed what Dee worked out for a loan forgiveness program for the RRF loans. And we reviewed
those together, and we talked to kind of about the pros and cons of forgiving those loans.
And from the city's perspective, we think that it's OK for this nonprofit to forgive your loans and
that the loan program, it had some challenges anyway to begin with as far as just administering it.
It's hard to administer a loan program. And that we think that we, the city, and me, the controller,
this process looks very fair and equitable to businesses. They're going to demonstrate. They're going
to ask for forgiveness. They're going to apply for that forgiveness
And they're going to supply some information that the board can review. I assume there is a review process.
And then everybody will have the chance to sign off on whether or not those loans are forgiven. And
we think it's a really good process. I'm really just here to lend my support to this application process
and answer any questions that you have. I don't really have much of a presentation prepared. But I think
that if you have any questions, that will really guide some good conversation about it.
You mentioned not-for-profits. It's being available to everyone, not just not-for-profits, right? Oh,
yes. Us as a not-for-profit. That's what I meant. OK. Just want to make sure it's everybody included.
OK. Because that's been a point of everything we've been talking about recently, is treating businesses
like businesses, not one or the other. So OK, good to know. And you used the word forgiveness here.
I think, ultimately, what this
will be, as I read through this, is a conversion. So it's not necessarily. I mean, it is, I guess, forgiving
the loan in the sense that those that apply and that are approved will no longer have that
debt responsibility. But from the perspective of our organization, we're converting.
these two grants. So just for the record, I want to clarify that this is actually a conversion from
a loan to a grant. I think that's a very good point to make. I appreciate that. And so that, therefore,
would hit our income statement differently, as opposed to bad debt versus
Grants and so this would be a new line item to our income statement showing that these are actually
now grants So how they're bad bad or just a bad debt would hang around but this is getting converted
from an asset to Grant that we're paying out and then it'll disappear after it. Mm-hmm, right So it's
just like we're taking it from the balance sheet and we're gonna put it on our income statement and
we're gonna call it grants as opposed to
an allowance for write-offs or whatever you might want to refer to it otherwise. And then once that
hits the income statement, it will not any longer be on our balance sheet. For those that qualify, I
should say, right? I'm correct in that. What were the original repayment terms on these?
So the loan originally, the money was granted in 2020. And then there was an extension given in 2021,
I believe. I can speak to that. Yeah, please do. So they were issued in 2020, like summer of 2020. There
was initially supposed to be a six-month grace period where there were no loan repayments. And then
that grace period was extended to 12 months.
And I think it was ultimately extended to two years. And so repayment started in summer 2022. And then
the loans themselves, I think, were extended to be four years from that 2022 start date to 2026. So
presumably some of these loans are nearly repaid. Who said?
There are a good portion of loans that are nearly repaid. Within the BUBA, yes, we do have a few loans
that are close to being paid off. We do have an additional portion that are not being paid back at all
because of dissolution of businesses. I'm sorry? Or they're delinquent. Or they're delinquent payments.
And then some businesses early on
The program was originally created to be bridge funds while people awaited their federal COVID support.
But they held on to it longer. So a few businesses did immediately repay when they got their PPP forgiveness.
So there are some loans that are paid off that way. In the chart, it says fully repaid borrowers or
near completion are ineligibles.
What is the near completion amount? Or how are you, I guess, determining that part? It's in the eligibility
matrix. Yeah, the third or the last row. Numbers on that I haven't determined necessarily because I
haven't looked at other programs that would mirror something like this.
I would think that anything under at or under 10% would be probably wouldn't qualify because I mean
that that's almost paying off the loan. I can make a recommendation for the program here. I think if
you just limit it to loan fully repaid is not eligible for forgiveness because
If someone is 90% repaid and they're financially healthy, they will not be able to demonstrate need
anyway. So I think it just doesn't need to be mentioned in that part of the matrix. Do you think it
makes it less? Yeah, I agree on that. Because some of the businesses are paying on schedule, can fully
pay, wouldn't qualify, and they'll just finish out the term of the loan, and that'll be that.
So. But is there some demonstration of hardship required here? I mean, if I just simply just didn't
pay my loan back, am I going to be eligible, even though someone who did pay?
So that was something that we had a lot of discussions about. And I think that might have been before
you jumped on the board. So no, you're fine. I'm happy to explain. So in response to that, I've created
the draft of the application for your approval has pretty
basic information at the beginning, just who you are, what's your business, all of that, the details
of your loan, and then application rationale is kind of the meat of the whole thing, where it's a statement
of need, it is supporting documentation of financial documents. Jessica, you may not have that. Is it
in the packet? Yeah. Thanks. OK.
Financial documents, so profit and loss statements, tax returns, bank account balance sheet, anything
that any official financial document that would indicate that there is some type of hardship. And then,
or if not that, proof of dissolution because
That is an excellent way to show that you cannot pay this loan back for this business. Additionally,
if you are out of business, there needs to be some type of dissolution with the state so that these
don't end up being liens or anything worse on a former business owner. Additionally, with confidentiality,
we can make sure that the personal information is redacted.
There are only going to be a few people looking at these loans. I've reached out to John Zote from CDFI
Friendly and Steve Bishop from First Financial Bank to be the reviewers of these applications, just
to take it out of my hands, the board's hands, just two objective reviewers of the applications.
I will be removing and redacting all of the information from the loans except for the pertinent information
for hardship. So we just have the most fair and objective view. So timeline on this. I think the information
here, I think as it was put together originally, was suggesting it would happen this year.
I think you're looking at this happening early next year. I mean, by the time it moves through the process.
So I think from that perspective, then it makes sense for it to be part of the 2026 budget. We wouldn't
be an amendment to our budget for this year. Something for next year, D, that you would put in a line
item for it, whatever that's
So I'd agree with what they've listed here for it. I know it'll be something of an estimate, but to
at least put some kind of estimate in there or... Absolutely. So we'll have some sense of what that
impact will be for next year.
And with that, I think that's my entire program. So if there are any additional questions or concerns.
So do we need to vote on this? Do we move this forward or where are we on this? Yes, I think that we
need an official vote to move forward with the application process to be able to get the borrowers to so I can
issue this, move this forward. This is going to be an online application through CIVA form. It will
only be available to those within the guidelines of, you know, only UEA loan holders, kind of the same
way people apply for our other grants. But it's
much easier to be able to manage these via online and probably much easier for people to be willing
to apply. One of my concerns is that people might not be willing to apply if they have to show up in
person with things or business owners don't want to show that they are struggling and understandably so.
So I think that an online application is best. So with a vote, I can move forward to pushing this to
ITS and getting them to put it on civil form. We can get these applications out there and start the
process. Can I ask another process question? So the reviewers, excuse me, there are two outside reviewers.
And they will review conversion applications. And then they'll make a recommendation to the board.
then the board will up or down vote. I guess I'm just wondering if there should be one board member.
OK, you don't want to have a committee of two, because there can be a deadlock. So you want three. And
there's not board visibility. And so I just wonder if, and I don't
I think I'm too close to this project. I don't think I'm a good person. But I just wondered if somebody
might want to be on that review committee. I don't mind doing that. And that can represent the board.
That puts a non-banker with two bankers, which I think is a good balance. Yeah, it's good to have another
voice. Yeah. I don't think John Sorry would call himself a banker. Sorry, John is reviewing too.
So it's John, Steve. OK.
Yeah, so John has a CDFI-friendly executive director, banker, and then I think a board member. I think
that'd be great to have. Sorry to ask this question, but then is it three white men on the board? Is
that who's reviewing at that point? I guess it definitely was a person. Sorry, yeah. I think about that,
I guess. That's fair. Because I looked around, and I'm like, I feel like we're the only women who aren't
abstaining from it.
I mean, I'm a finance person. I could be a part of that if we need to. But I don't want to not invite
somebody who wants to be part of that. By all means. So I could review as well if you want me to. I
would do it. I would appreciate that. I'm a numbers person. So from that perspective, at least, it won't
be unfamiliar to look at financial
documents and so on. Thank you very much. Sorry, is that OK? Thank you. No, no, everybody.
I almost gave it. That's what we need. OK, so we need a vote to approve the overall program with the
application and adding Heather as the board member for, as a reviewer. I'll move that.
will need a roll call on that. Bill Anderson, yes. Michael Hover, yes. Kate Rosenberger, yes. Heather
Robinson, yes. Jane Cougarsmith, yes. Brad Whistler, yes. We'll get our abstentions. Do they need to
recuse themselves out of the way? No? You just said what? I'm sorry. Abstain. Oh, OK. OK. Virginia,
get theory abstain.
Oh, Felicia, can you abstain for us? Abstain, please. All right. Thank you all so very much. It looks
like there's somebody in the waiting room. I don't know. Eric? There's someone there. Yeah. God, I'm
sorry about that, Eric.
All right. Good work. Yeah, I'm really glad to see this come to fruition. Thank you. We've been talking
about it for like two and a half years. Yeah. I really appreciate your patience and controlling McClellan's
support and Jane's support on all of this. And all of you, thank you so much. And I'm glad that we can
do this for some folks, for sure. Good plan. With that, on to unfinished business.
This is real early. I didn't think that was going to happen so fast. I thought it was going to be a
quick one, yeah. No one wants having time back in their schedules. Yeah. Is there anything for the go
to the order? I thought there was something last month that we didn't vote on. We're waiting on the
financials for the church. Yes. We saw it work. Thank you. OK. OK, thank you. That's it. Go to the order.
All right. Thank you all so much.