WEBVTT 00:00:00.258 --> 00:00:07.399 - Welcome everyone. Thank you for attending the meeting of the Monroe County Economic Development Commission. 00:00:07.399 --> 00:00:14.539 - Today's date is June 9th, 2026. We're meeting at four o'clock in the Natt Hill Room here at the courthouse. 00:00:14.539 --> 00:00:21.283 - My name is Fred Schultz and other members of the commission state their names for the record and then 00:00:21.283 --> 00:00:25.118 - we'll have a roll call of who all is in attendance today. 00:00:27.618 --> 00:00:46.930 - My name is Isak Asari. I'm a member of the commission. Greg, can you hear us? You are muted. We cannot 00:00:46.930 --> 00:00:55.742 - hear you. Can you hear me now? Yes. All right. 00:00:56.994 --> 00:01:05.110 - What am I supposed to say? I'm supposed to say my name is Greg Travis and I'm here. Right, attaboy. 00:01:05.110 --> 00:01:13.308 - All right, would those else in attendance who please identify themselves? My name is Liz Fiddle. I'm 00:01:13.308 --> 00:01:21.505 - county council at large from Monroe County. I'm Jeff Cockeraw. I'm with the county legal department. 00:01:21.505 --> 00:01:25.726 - Doug McDaniel. I'm president and managing member of 00:01:25.826 --> 00:01:35.614 - Skyentia LLC and also the managing member of interchange investments. My name is Clark Greiner. I'm 00:01:35.614 --> 00:01:45.890 - the interim CEO with the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation. Great. Right. Next on our agenda. 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:55.678 - Now, let me call the meeting to order. Next on our agenda is an election of officers for this year. 00:01:58.018 --> 00:02:07.770 - I've been the past president of the commission for a couple of years in a row and would be more than 00:02:07.770 --> 00:02:17.522 - happy to hand off the baton to any of those willing to just reach out a little bit. I heard that Mr. 00:02:17.522 --> 00:02:25.246 - Travis was very excited at the opportunity, but I have not heard that from him. 00:02:26.658 --> 00:02:36.184 - I've already done it once before. Sorry, I interrupted you. Say what you were saying. Oh, I was going 00:02:36.184 --> 00:02:45.709 - to say I've already done it once before. I don't want to impose that on anyone else. I'd like to move 00:02:45.709 --> 00:02:55.328 - that Fred Schultz be elected our president for this year. You want to second that, Greg? I don't know. 00:02:55.328 --> 00:02:56.542 - I like Fred. 00:02:58.402 --> 00:03:07.634 - But I'll second it. You're the best leader. And I don't know if you want to do the total slate, but 00:03:07.634 --> 00:03:17.236 - you also need a secretary. I would then nominate Greg Travis as secretary of the Monroe County Economic 00:03:17.236 --> 00:03:20.190 - Development Commission. Second. 00:03:26.338 --> 00:03:34.916 - All of those in favors of that slate of officers. We do need to do a roll call because we have one member 00:03:34.916 --> 00:03:43.089 - attending virtually. Oh, we cannot all in favor. Okay, so great. Well, more than willing to call the 00:03:43.089 --> 00:03:51.425 - roll on this. Okay. Atta boy. Commissioner Schultz. Yes. Commissioner Sarri. Yes. Commissioner Travis. 00:03:51.425 --> 00:03:55.390 - Yes. The motion that was approved three to zero. 00:03:56.674 --> 00:04:05.380 - All right, there we go. That's efficiency. My understanding is next on the agenda, we have a review 00:04:05.380 --> 00:04:13.999 - of a tax abatement request from Skentia. Did I pronounce that correctly? Yes, it is. Oh, good. OK. 00:04:13.999 --> 00:04:22.792 - All right. All right. Mr. Greiner and Mr. McDaniel, feel free to take it away. I will pass this over 00:04:22.792 --> 00:04:24.446 - to Doug McDaniels. 00:04:24.610 --> 00:04:31.449 - president of the of scantia and he is seeking tax abatement for expansion of his operations here in 00:04:31.449 --> 00:04:38.287 - Monroe County and I'll let Doug talk a little bit about that and some of the benefits. I will first 00:04:38.287 --> 00:04:45.194 - off I really want to thank you for the opportunity to come before you today and especially thank you 00:04:45.194 --> 00:04:51.486 - for let me go first here because I have a 7 to 8 year-old tournament baseball game tonight. 00:04:51.842 --> 00:04:58.769 - first base coach and if I'm not there for the first pitch, my son who's the head coach is likely to 00:04:58.769 --> 00:05:05.904 - fire me. So I really appreciate that. And full disclosure here, Mr. Travis and I go way back. In fact, 00:05:05.904 --> 00:05:08.190 - I've known Greg for a long time. 00:05:08.290 --> 00:05:17.404 - And in fact, his father was one of my favorite professors at IU. And I still think very fondly of both 00:05:17.404 --> 00:05:26.430 - Dr. Travis and his son, Greg. So I wanted to let everybody know that we have a history and we're good 00:05:26.430 --> 00:05:33.598 - friends. And I hope that doesn't have any impact whatsoever on what we're doing. 00:05:33.794 --> 00:05:41.241 - But anyway, I wanted to give you just a brief overview of what Skientia is, who we are and what we do. 00:05:41.241 --> 00:05:48.615 - And Greg could probably do this better than I, since he worked with us for quite some time. But we're 00:05:48.615 --> 00:05:55.917 - a software, basically a software engineering firm here. We're located, as you're probably aware, out 00:05:55.917 --> 00:06:01.918 - on Loesch Road here. And we work almost exclusively for the Department of Defense. 00:06:02.274 --> 00:06:09.363 - Most of our focus is on force protection systems. So the software that we work on generally is used 00:06:09.363 --> 00:06:16.948 - for sensor integration, for persistent surveillance systems. So we've supported virtually all the branches 00:06:16.948 --> 00:06:22.974 - of the service, not the Space Force, because mostly what we work on are ground-based 00:06:23.234 --> 00:06:30.232 - persistent surveillance systems. Now we're moving now into more of the counter UAS or unmanned aerial 00:06:30.232 --> 00:06:37.435 - systems realm, as well as integrating artificial intelligence into these systems. We're doing everything 00:06:37.435 --> 00:06:44.570 - we can to help keep our warfighters as safe as they could possibly be, which I consider a huge blessing 00:06:44.570 --> 00:06:50.950 - to be able to do that and to make a living knowing that we're keeping our warfighters safer. 00:06:50.950 --> 00:06:53.214 - I never served, but my son spent 00:06:53.666 --> 00:07:04.296 - virtually all of 2008 in Afghanistan. So I know, or actually in Iraq, and so I know what that's about. 00:07:04.296 --> 00:07:14.617 - We currently have 40 employees, a vast majority of whom live here in Monroe County. We have about a 00:07:14.617 --> 00:07:23.390 - handful of employees who are no longer in Indiana. Well, just really about three who 00:07:24.354 --> 00:07:33.220 - Originally we're here in Bloomington and then for whatever reason their spouse got a job elsewhere and 00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:41.914 - moved. And then we have a couple up in West Lafayette where that P school up north is located. We're 00:07:41.914 --> 00:07:51.038 - kind of outgrowing our current capacity. We have a 6,000 square foot office and lab space building there. 00:07:51.938 --> 00:07:59.657 - I probably should explain how interchange investments and Skientia are related. The co-founder of Skientia 00:07:59.657 --> 00:08:06.870 - and I, the remaining co-founder, there were three of us initially and one of them retired. But both 00:08:06.870 --> 00:08:14.517 - of us are also the members of an LLC called Interchange Investments. And Interchange Investments actually 00:08:14.517 --> 00:08:19.422 - owns the real estate. And when you work for the federal government, 00:08:19.906 --> 00:08:27.074 - It's just advantageous and makes more sense to have a setup like we have. But at the 6,000 square foot 00:08:27.074 --> 00:08:34.241 - building that we currently occupy, we're about outgrowing that, not only the office and lab space, but 00:08:34.241 --> 00:08:41.618 - also the parking that we have and all that. So we undertook an effort to look at expanding on our current 00:08:41.618 --> 00:08:49.342 - plot. And our plot is big enough for an additional building. We've got a little bit over two and a half acres. 00:08:50.274 --> 00:08:58.150 - property there. And so we've gone through the design phase on that and we're in the process of getting 00:08:58.150 --> 00:09:05.797 - final numbers for what it would cost us to build another 6,000 square foot building. So essentially 00:09:05.797 --> 00:09:14.132 - doubling our current capacity. And in that process, I have learned an awful lot, I can say without question. 00:09:14.132 --> 00:09:19.102 - But we're trying to now get down to does it make economic sense? 00:09:19.298 --> 00:09:28.603 - for us to do this. Can we afford to do the building here or should we look at other options? Now, as 00:09:28.603 --> 00:09:37.816 - you might imagine, since we do a lot of our work through and with NSWC crane, there's kind of a big 00:09:37.816 --> 00:09:47.028 - push for the support contractors to have their facilities out at Westgate. I've been in Bloomington 00:09:47.028 --> 00:09:48.318 - full time for 00:09:48.578 --> 00:09:56.030 - about 50 years now. And I have a great affinity for Bloomington and my great preference is to stay here 00:09:56.030 --> 00:10:03.196 - in Bloomington and in Monroe County. But we're still trying to work on doing the financials on this 00:10:03.196 --> 00:10:10.433 - to make sure it makes sense for us. And if we did have the opportunity to get some abatement of some 00:10:10.433 --> 00:10:12.798 - of our taxes, it would certainly 00:10:13.122 --> 00:10:21.063 - be beneficial for us and obviously greatly appreciated. So again, I thank you for letting us come to 00:10:21.063 --> 00:10:28.926 - present today. Thank you for your time and greatly appreciate any consideration that you would give 00:10:28.926 --> 00:10:36.868 - to our request for tax abatement. I'm more than willing to take any questions you may have. How many 00:10:36.868 --> 00:10:42.686 - additional employees would you anticipate adding over the next few years? 00:10:43.682 --> 00:10:51.808 - We're hoping to add 30 additional employees over the next five years or so. Now, when I tell my partner 00:10:51.808 --> 00:10:59.699 - that, he looks at me kind of like I'm crazy. But we are a team. So I guess I should have explained a 00:10:59.699 --> 00:11:07.747 - little bit. We're, by design, we are subcontractors. But we're subcontracted to a lot of the big prime 00:11:07.747 --> 00:11:11.966 - contractors around here, SAIC, Amentum, HII, which is 00:11:12.642 --> 00:11:21.422 - what bought a lion. So we've been working for a lion for a long time. But in fact, this week, I'm in 00:11:21.422 --> 00:11:30.723 - the process of putting in three proposals. And two of those are for an electro-optic infrared integration, 00:11:30.723 --> 00:11:39.677 - big multiple word contract. Another one, Purdue University, for a little effort we would be doing with 00:11:39.677 --> 00:11:41.502 - them. But we're also 00:11:42.562 --> 00:11:50.876 - I can't say who the prime is, but we're also teamed with another one of our partners on a big counter 00:11:50.876 --> 00:11:59.679 - UXS. So it's not just UAS, it's for surface and underwater. And those, I don't know if you're very familiar 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:08.156 - with how the government in particular DOD does its contracting now for support services. Typically what 00:12:08.156 --> 00:12:10.846 - they do is they award very large 00:12:11.042 --> 00:12:18.272 - what they call MAC, multiple award contracts. And so when you get a contract, then you basically compete 00:12:18.272 --> 00:12:25.846 - for the task orders under that. But my, I believe we're in a very strong position because of the technologies 00:12:25.846 --> 00:12:32.869 - that we support, because of the threats that are out there, the emerging and the current and emerging 00:12:32.869 --> 00:12:37.758 - threats out there, especially the drones and a lot of the technologies 00:12:38.114 --> 00:12:47.561 - And actually, even a lot of the products that we've been supporting for quite some time are very useful 00:12:47.561 --> 00:12:57.008 - in detecting, classifying, identifying the drones. And so I believe with the big push for DODs, if they 00:12:57.008 --> 00:13:04.638 - get anywhere close to a trillion and a half annual budget, I believe the floodgates 00:13:04.994 --> 00:13:11.774 - We'll kind of open. We want to be in a position where we're able to take advantage of that and bring 00:13:11.774 --> 00:13:19.091 - a lot of that work here to Bloomington, to Monroe County, and also to help keep some of the recent graduates 00:13:19.091 --> 00:13:26.005 - from most, we have about half of our staff from Rose-Hulman. Okay, a lot of engineering. About a third 00:13:26.005 --> 00:13:32.382 - of our staff are from the school right up the road here, IU. And so we actually have somebody. 00:13:32.482 --> 00:13:40.652 - from Purdue on our staff too, but. So our goal is to be able to provide opportunities for these new 00:13:40.652 --> 00:13:48.823 - graduates so they don't have to go outside this area to be able to work in a high tech, high paying 00:13:48.823 --> 00:13:57.075 - career. So you're expecting an increase of about 30 over the next five years. What's the amount that 00:13:57.075 --> 00:14:00.670 - you're expecting to invest in the property? 00:14:00.994 --> 00:14:08.569 - For us to build this building, we're looking at about a million dollars. And you need to expand the 00:14:08.569 --> 00:14:16.522 - footprint of, I mean, can a lot of this be done remotely? Do you have a secure facility, or is it? Well, 00:14:16.522 --> 00:14:24.172 - yes, we are a secure facility. That answers the question. Because you actually need things to happen 00:14:24.172 --> 00:14:28.414 - within your facility. Right. And while some of the work 00:14:28.546 --> 00:14:35.646 - We are different from a lot of the support contractors because we don't do what I refer to as butts 00:14:35.646 --> 00:14:43.101 - in seats where our employees actually go out and sit at crane or someplace else. We do allow some remote 00:14:43.101 --> 00:14:50.201 - work, but my philosophy has been when we hire, especially when we hire kids, the young graduates, I 00:14:50.201 --> 00:14:57.514 - want to sit them next to somebody who's got experience. We've got folks there who have a decade or two 00:14:57.514 --> 00:14:58.366 - or three or 00:14:58.818 --> 00:15:06.637 - close to four, designing, developing, deploying, and supporting these systems. And there's virtually 00:15:06.637 --> 00:15:14.842 - no substitute for that kind of experience. I was just trying to get at the need to expand the facilities. 00:15:14.842 --> 00:15:22.196 - Well, it's because I want them sitting together, like we're sitting together today. Fantastic. 00:15:22.196 --> 00:15:26.686 - So as a mentor, mentee kind of thing, I'm a firm believer 00:15:26.786 --> 00:15:32.477 - I know I'm a little bit old-fashioned, but I'm a firm believer in face-to-face. Yes. The point is you're 00:15:32.477 --> 00:15:38.005 - going to expand, and the folks that you intend to hire, you expect them to be in Monroe County and to 00:15:38.005 --> 00:15:43.587 - be working physically here as well. Absolutely. So even if they were to live outside, they'd be coming 00:15:43.587 --> 00:15:49.277 - into Monroe County. That's absolutely correct. In fact, when we have applicants who say, oh, I'm looking 00:15:49.277 --> 00:15:53.342 - for remote work, I tell them, thanks. You say we'd rather do it in person. 00:15:53.442 --> 00:16:02.080 - pretty much require our new hires to be willing to dedicate time in the office with our experienced 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:11.063 - experts. I'm sure Mr. Travis also has questions, but could you talk to me a little bit about how you're 00:16:11.063 --> 00:16:19.614 - integrated into the rest of the ecosystem? Are you working closely with other organizations out of 00:16:19.714 --> 00:16:26.460 - the mill or out of the amplified Bloomington? Are you working closely with the university? Tell me about 00:16:26.460 --> 00:16:32.948 - this, because particularly this space and UAS, we're trying to be sort of the center of the universe 00:16:32.948 --> 00:16:39.630 - here in Indiana. Everything that's going on in Crane, there's a lot of really exciting things happening 00:16:39.630 --> 00:16:43.870 - with particularly unmanned and awareness and all of those things. 00:16:44.034 --> 00:16:49.872 - on board in terms of, I see where this is going economically. But just curious, could you tell us a 00:16:49.872 --> 00:16:55.826 - little bit of the picture of how this is also benefiting other businesses that are in this space that 00:16:55.826 --> 00:17:02.131 - are in the region? Sure. Well, one of our biggest primes right now is TriStar. And you're probably familiar 00:17:02.131 --> 00:17:07.969 - with them. We're working with them. In terms of our association with Crane, I should have mentioned 00:17:07.969 --> 00:17:13.982 - that I have almost 20 years experience working at Crane. And so we still have a lot of contacts there. 00:17:14.306 --> 00:17:22.717 - A lot of the work that we do is with and through Crane right now. Where I'm also potentially going to 00:17:22.717 --> 00:17:31.294 - be named to a working group for the Indiana Initiative for Drone Dominance. Because I have been talking 00:17:31.294 --> 00:17:39.952 - to the Indiana Economic Development Corp. And I actually know Jan Shuler Hicks pretty well. And Governor 00:17:39.952 --> 00:17:44.158 - Braun had designated her as the lead for the I2D2. 00:17:44.290 --> 00:17:53.130 - Fantastic. So yeah we're trying to get as engaged and as active in those things as we possibly can because 00:17:53.130 --> 00:18:01.722 - we see that as our future. And if you guys don't mind if I just interject a few things here. Mr. Mcdans 00:18:01.722 --> 00:18:10.148 - is also when you look at kind of his the human side of this 75 percent of his employees approximately 00:18:10.148 --> 00:18:11.966 - live in Monroe County 00:18:12.098 --> 00:18:17.965 - Which if you look at some of the other traded sector companies that we work with, it's approximately 00:18:17.965 --> 00:18:23.890 - 50%. So I think that's an outstanding thing. Wages are going to be well above average by the time you 00:18:23.890 --> 00:18:29.698 - calculate benefits and everything else. It's going to be right around that $100,000 range. And then 00:18:29.698 --> 00:18:36.030 - Scantia also pays about 90% of its employees health insurance premiums and 100% of their premiums for short. 00:18:36.162 --> 00:18:42.382 - long-term disability and things like that. So I think there's a wonderful upside to this. And the types 00:18:42.382 --> 00:18:48.901 - of jobs we're going to be hiring for are going to be software development, cybersecurity, and data analysts. 00:18:48.901 --> 00:18:52.190 - So very high-end types of jobs and professions for us. 00:18:52.578 --> 00:18:58.502 - I apologize, but that's something I failed to mention and my cyber guys are probably shooting me for 00:18:58.502 --> 00:19:04.837 - that, but we've grown into a fairly large contingent of cybersecurity specialist analysts. We have several, 00:19:04.837 --> 00:19:10.996 - we have a handful, and Greg's familiar with this because he was a cybersecurity guy who are SISPs, which 00:19:10.996 --> 00:19:17.214 - is the gold standard for cybersecurity and the DOD, Certified Information Systems Security Professionals. 00:19:17.378 --> 00:19:24.289 - And in fact, we just had another employee obtain a CISP. And one of the things that we do, obviously, 00:19:24.289 --> 00:19:31.201 - we always encourage continuing education, because if you're not continuing in the area that we're in, 00:19:31.201 --> 00:19:38.045 - you're falling behind big time. So we encourage that. We pay for folks to get there. And we just had 00:19:38.045 --> 00:19:43.262 - one of our cybersecurity professionals finish her master's in cyber as well. 00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:57.709 - Greg, any questions or? So I mentioned to Jeff yesterday, obviously, that my background was Schiantia. 00:19:57.709 --> 00:20:06.004 - So I don't know if there's any, you know, if I need to recuse myself in any way, shape, or form from 00:20:06.004 --> 00:20:14.299 - this. But I will, at risk of imprisonment, I'll say that I've known Doug for well over a decade. And 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:17.502 - I know him as a man of just impeccable 00:20:17.794 --> 00:20:24.570 - integrity, so I absolutely wouldn't have any problem with this at all. I would just say that, you know, 00:20:24.570 --> 00:20:31.085 - unless you're going to get a pecuniary interest in the business, I think you're free to vote if you 00:20:31.085 --> 00:20:38.056 - wish. If you don't feel that you can be that neutral overseer, you're more than welcome to kind of abstain 00:20:38.056 --> 00:20:44.702 - or recuse as well. We have people vote on things, people who they used to work with all the time, and 00:20:44.702 --> 00:20:46.526 - that's never been an issue. 00:20:46.626 --> 00:20:55.139 - I would just add a couple of things. I think the average over 10 years that this abatement is going 00:20:55.139 --> 00:21:03.651 - to receive property tax is about $10,000. So over 10 years, it's going to be about $100,000 savings 00:21:03.651 --> 00:21:12.164 - to that, $2.7 million in wages. We currently pay 2% at local income tax, which is well over $10,000 00:21:12.164 --> 00:21:14.718 - a year. So I think from a net 00:21:17.602 --> 00:21:24.025 - funding, I think this process and this program will bring in more revenue to local governments than 00:21:24.025 --> 00:21:30.448 - it will take away. I think that's particularly important given what's happened with our Senate roll 00:21:30.448 --> 00:21:37.000 - act one from a couple years ago and those are the kind of things we need to keep in mind when we look 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:43.230 - at it. Greg, I don't perceive any sort of actual, well there's certainly not an actual conflict. 00:21:43.330 --> 00:21:50.781 - ask you to recuse yourself if there was an actual conflict. But not only is there not an actual conflict, 00:21:50.781 --> 00:21:57.881 - I don't see a perceived conflict. So I have no issue with you voting. Okay. I always like to keep it 00:21:57.881 --> 00:22:05.262 - on the on the up and up. Well, I have any additional input or are there is there anybody from the public 00:22:05.262 --> 00:22:07.582 - online that would like to speak? 00:22:12.130 --> 00:22:26.565 - hearing none, I would entertain a motion to approve the recommendation for the tax abatement. So moved. 00:22:26.565 --> 00:22:41.278 - Is there a second? Seconded. All in favor? I know we have to do the roll call. Commissioner Schultz. Yes. 00:22:42.082 --> 00:23:07.567 - Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. 00:23:07.567 --> 00:23:11.390 - Yes. Yes. Yes. 00:23:12.642 --> 00:23:19.832 - I'm very grateful for your kind words and I'm humbled that the group here has agreed that we're doing 00:23:19.832 --> 00:23:26.880 - good stuff and that you're willing to pass this along as approved. So thank you so much. Thank you. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:34.281 - Thank you. I'll also just generally make some comments if it's okay. Of course, yeah. I meant, I didn't. 00:23:34.281 --> 00:23:40.766 - I think if we're able to add comments to our, I mean, and I'm happy to go to County Council 00:23:41.986 --> 00:23:49.377 - Councilmember Fiddle is here. I thought it would be useful to say I think generally this space, 00:23:49.377 --> 00:23:57.076 - it's one, a target investment area for us in Monroe County. Two, it is going to grow. I mean, we're 00:23:57.076 --> 00:24:04.774 - seeing hundreds of millions of dollars putting toward just this question of anti-drone things, what 00:24:04.774 --> 00:24:06.622 - they're doing at crane. 00:24:06.882 --> 00:24:12.976 - tens of hundreds of millions of dollars that are being invested there to expand that economy there. 00:24:12.976 --> 00:24:19.191 - So I just, it's like, I mean, then the fact that they're localizing this here is a really good place. 00:24:19.191 --> 00:24:25.346 - So I'm just, it's, yeah, it's exciting. Cause I think a lot of that's being located in other places. 00:24:25.346 --> 00:24:31.684 - So our whole goal of creating that corridor of defense work. So I'm excited about it. All right. Moving 00:24:31.684 --> 00:24:36.254 - on next on the agenda, we have a review of tax abatement compliance forms. 00:24:39.618 --> 00:24:47.653 - Yes, I think maybe I'll go through these kind of generally, and then I think there's one in particular, 00:24:47.653 --> 00:24:55.379 - and I believe Mr. Smith from Alverweiner may have joined the meeting. I guess we have six different 00:24:55.379 --> 00:25:03.105 - companies applying for or who have had their compliance forms for their tax abatements. I would say 00:25:03.105 --> 00:25:09.054 - of those six, there have been four who are in absolute compliance with their 00:25:09.442 --> 00:25:17.038 - with their SB1s and their compliance firms where they've exceeded both in the number of employment and 00:25:17.038 --> 00:25:24.634 - the wages. And those are Phoenix and Lazarus. That's one company Phoenix owns the property, or Lazarus 00:25:24.634 --> 00:25:32.082 - owns the property, Phoenix is the company. GLC, Bloomington, LLC, Tacis, and Baxter. And I will just 00:25:32.082 --> 00:25:37.982 - note that Baxter is above compliance, even though we are unsure whether they're 00:25:38.114 --> 00:25:44.239 - final abatement is even going to be operational yet because we don't know if the improvements have been 00:25:44.239 --> 00:25:50.364 - made. I would say Prevelli, LLC, if you look through the minutes, at the last, at the meeting two years 00:25:50.364 --> 00:25:56.253 - ago, they made a presentation that says, hey, our headcount is going to be lower, right? But we are 00:25:56.253 --> 00:26:02.378 - hiring people at higher wages. And so if you look at that, their headcount is still 12 above where they 00:26:02.378 --> 00:26:04.734 - were before the abatement was approved. 00:26:04.834 --> 00:26:11.689 - but their wages are over $300,000 more than where they expected them to be. So what they said two years 00:26:11.689 --> 00:26:18.280 - ago is that, you know, we're kind of doing a trade-off where we're going to hire people at a higher 00:26:18.280 --> 00:26:24.937 - rate, but we're not gonna necessarily hire as many. So that one is not technically in compliant with 00:26:24.937 --> 00:26:31.198 - their SB1, but it follows the logic that they had explained at pre. And I remember that, yeah. 00:26:32.130 --> 00:26:40.960 - And then the last one is Oliver Winery. Hopefully you received the email update. We looked at the form 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:49.619 - and it just didn't look correct with their wages and numbers and all that. They indicate, well, when 00:26:49.619 --> 00:26:58.449 - the SB1 said when they got the abatement, they had 63 employees and they were going to add 21 more and 00:26:58.449 --> 00:27:01.278 - their total wage was going to be 00:27:01.794 --> 00:27:20.564 - right around $5.5 million. Where they are at is they're at 59 employees. And I think their wages are 00:27:20.564 --> 00:27:27.998 - just north of $4 million at this point. 00:27:29.026 --> 00:27:36.919 - Mr. Smith is here, maybe he can explain it. But the response that working with the BEDC that we got 00:27:36.919 --> 00:27:44.891 - was, the industry they're in has taken a little bit of hit since COVID ended, which is probably, and 00:27:44.891 --> 00:27:52.783 - this is all rewiring, so it might be a good thing for society as a whole, but probably not the best 00:27:52.783 --> 00:27:56.414 - for their business. What happened, I believe, 00:27:59.138 --> 00:28:07.358 - Go on, go on. And plus, the numbers we're looking at, the 59 does not include any of their part-time 00:28:07.358 --> 00:28:15.578 - wages. And I think when we looked at this two years ago, when you included the part-time wages, then 00:28:15.578 --> 00:28:23.961 - it was much closer to being compliant. But the information we have just doesn't include the part-time. 00:28:23.961 --> 00:28:28.030 - Where are we in terms of years of this abatement? 00:28:28.130 --> 00:28:38.685 - This was approved in 22. Their estimated completion date hasn't occurred yet. So it's in 2027. Typically, 00:28:38.685 --> 00:28:49.440 - we would take that into a little bit more of a count. But since their actual employment number of full-time 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:55.614 - employees is less than it was when the abatement was granted, 00:28:56.290 --> 00:29:04.158 - That's why we invited the company to come and explain to you what's going on and what's going on in 00:29:04.158 --> 00:29:12.340 - the processes because that is, we certainly don't expect or hope that there will be less people working 00:29:12.340 --> 00:29:20.365 - there after you get an abatement. So that's kind of... In terms of the infrastructure and development 00:29:20.365 --> 00:29:25.086 - investments, where are we at with that? Well, it looks like 00:29:26.370 --> 00:29:35.592 - If you go on the assessed value of what was put in there at about 50%, if you go to the actual cost, 00:29:35.592 --> 00:29:44.905 - they're at a third. So they've put, they estimated that they would have eight million, I think that's 00:29:44.905 --> 00:29:53.214 - eight million 300,000 and it looks like they've actually put in $3,350,000 worth of money. 00:29:55.234 --> 00:30:02.213 - Of course, the assessed value is different than the actual cost of the equipment, but that seems to 00:30:02.213 --> 00:30:09.542 - be that maybe they haven't also put in the investment that they had anticipated. You mentioned something 00:30:09.542 --> 00:30:16.731 - about 50% on this piece of paper. It's not on that piece of paper. That piece of paper, we reached out 00:30:16.731 --> 00:30:23.710 - to the company and there was a clerical error. Okay, so where would that be on this piece of paper? 00:30:24.450 --> 00:30:39.652 - So instead of 34, the actual is 59. Oh. Salaries of 2.8, it's 4. Okay, that's critical. Sorry. It is. 00:30:39.652 --> 00:30:53.662 - I did not see that. Somebody from the company is? It's Eric Smith. Can he be promoted to TSD? 00:31:11.554 --> 00:31:20.712 - Hi, sorry, let's try and figure that out. Well, can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you. Hi, Mr. Schultz. 00:31:20.712 --> 00:31:29.608 - Okay, great. Thank you for joining us today. Sure. Were you able to overhear the conversation and Mr. 00:31:29.608 --> 00:31:38.679 - Cockerill kind of explaining the numbers, giving us an update, were you able to hear all of that? Yeah, 00:31:38.679 --> 00:31:41.470 - yeah, I heard most of it, yeah. 00:31:41.890 --> 00:31:52.513 - Okay, one of the things he had mentioned is that the numbers don't include part-time staff that Oliver 00:31:52.513 --> 00:32:03.445 - has. Do you have an estimate as to how many part-time staff are currently with? Yeah, I checked yesterday 00:32:03.445 --> 00:32:10.974 - and it's about 49 part-timers. And do you have a sense of what that what 00:32:11.330 --> 00:32:22.284 - Um, kind of on an average of, of, of what part-time employees are being paid and how much that total 00:32:22.284 --> 00:32:33.455 - payroll would be. Uh, it's probably, um, gosh, I can tell you real quick, hold on a second. Apologize, 00:32:33.455 --> 00:32:38.878 - you've been ready for that. It's gonna be around. 00:32:56.898 --> 00:33:14.988 - roughly I mean probably about two or three thousand two hundred fifty thousand a year there was a little 00:33:14.988 --> 00:33:23.774 - garbled I apologize I'm like 250 a thousand a year 00:33:26.690 --> 00:33:46.511 - Is that 49 port timers? Yeah. I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm sorry. That's wrong. So I am reading the report 00:33:46.511 --> 00:33:55.486 - right now. That was way off. Sorry, almost 700. 00:33:55.874 --> 00:34:11.626 - 600,000 Did you hear that yes, okay That would average out to approximately $12,000 a year part-time. 00:34:11.626 --> 00:34:23.518 - Yeah for each part-time person Yeah, okay And what was the if you know? back 00:34:26.914 --> 00:34:38.712 - when the application was made am I correct here yeah should be yes so at the time of the application 00:34:38.712 --> 00:34:51.678 - there were there was a projected 63 full-time and I believe the application says there were maybe 21 part-time 00:34:54.594 --> 00:35:01.011 - Is that correct? Am I reading it correctly? No, I think they had 63 full-time or full-time equivalencies 00:35:01.011 --> 00:35:07.367 - in 2022, and they were going to add 21 new positions. 21 new positions. Right, right. Do you anticipate 00:35:07.367 --> 00:35:13.661 - or do you recall or do you have information about the number of part-time employees that were employed 00:35:13.661 --> 00:35:19.773 - back at the time of the application? I'm just wondering if... Yeah, it would have been very similar 00:35:19.773 --> 00:35:23.806 - to what it is now. We haven't really... Our business is pretty... 00:35:24.482 --> 00:35:32.856 - as you imagine in our tasting room, it's a brick and mortar building and we're somewhat constricted 00:35:32.856 --> 00:35:41.398 - about how many people we can have in there any one time. Our business is improving there, but I would 00:35:41.398 --> 00:35:50.024 - say it's probably very similar. I can get actual numbers to you later, but it's probably very similar. 00:35:50.024 --> 00:35:53.374 - Thank you so much, Mr. Smith. Could you 00:35:53.634 --> 00:36:02.033 - Because our job is to look at this tool of a tax abatement and see whether or not it's working. And 00:36:02.033 --> 00:36:10.515 - so I guess I'll just ask you straight up, what is this tax abatement allowing you to do? Because the 00:36:10.515 --> 00:36:17.150 - story on paper makes it seem that you've got a tax abatement to do investment. 00:36:17.250 --> 00:36:23.670 - that we haven't yet been really able to do the investment, that market has changed, and I mean, we can 00:36:23.670 --> 00:36:29.904 - make a recommendation of compliant, not compliant, or substantially compliant, and then leave it to 00:36:29.904 --> 00:36:36.199 - the county council to say, well, maybe this was totally outside of your hands, but do you, like, can 00:36:36.199 --> 00:36:42.806 - you make the economic argument that having this tax abatement has helped your company in some way, shape, 00:36:42.806 --> 00:36:46.110 - or form, and then consequently helped Monroe County? 00:36:47.266 --> 00:36:54.762 - Yeah, I mean, it's definitely helped our business. I mean, it's allowed us to continue to invest in 00:36:54.762 --> 00:37:02.408 - the property. So we've added manufacturing equipment over the course of the last few years. And we're 00:37:02.408 --> 00:37:09.904 - continuing to do that. We have another piece of equipment we're putting in later this year. Has the 00:37:09.904 --> 00:37:16.350 - rate of investment been what we hoped it would have been? No. And that's just because 00:37:16.578 --> 00:37:24.553 - like, as I mentioned, the email I sent, you know, we did this investment at a time when we were coming 00:37:24.553 --> 00:37:32.528 - off three years of incredible growth, and we are expecting to continue to grow. That has not happened. 00:37:32.528 --> 00:37:40.658 - Now, we have had a really good start to the year. We're like six months in, and we've grown every month, 00:37:40.658 --> 00:37:46.078 - so it seems like we've turned the corner. And we'd like to think that 00:37:46.690 --> 00:37:55.754 - those investments are gonna increase as this goes on. We just need the case volume to support it. 00:37:55.754 --> 00:38:05.096 - But yeah, I mean, it's allowed us to continue to invest in the business. We do hire in Indiana where 00:38:05.096 --> 00:38:13.790 - we can and especially Monroe County, we just hired two people this week. So that helps. Yeah. 00:38:14.242 --> 00:38:22.303 - Help us understand. So you mentioned that you have seen growth since beginning of the year. So kind 00:38:22.303 --> 00:38:30.444 - of talk to us a little bit about that. What have you seen? Is there like a particular niche that you 00:38:30.444 --> 00:38:38.828 - found or is there kind of a geographic area that's opened up? Yeah, so what's happened is we are really 00:38:38.828 --> 00:38:41.246 - pushing to gain market share. 00:38:41.570 --> 00:38:48.715 - across the country. It's not really like one particular market. We've been really trying to like, 00:38:48.715 --> 00:38:56.225 - I guess, in national accounts, which is like Walmart, Kroger, Meyer, and Sam's Club, we've been really 00:38:56.225 --> 00:39:03.662 - pushing to get place in Target. We've been pushing to get placements in those that are permanent, not 00:39:03.662 --> 00:39:11.390 - just like they come and go. We've also released some new wines, the Spritz wines, as well as a new cider. 00:39:11.490 --> 00:39:19.497 - The ciders are in cans. That's not the old brown bottle that you've probably seen. And we're also going 00:39:19.497 --> 00:39:27.196 - to be putting sprits in cans as well. So we're trying to respond to what's popular right now, which 00:39:27.196 --> 00:39:35.126 - is the ready to drink format. So that's what gave us hope. And like I said, the wine industry is still 00:39:35.126 --> 00:39:41.054 - declining. It just is, but we've been gaining market share every month since 00:39:41.282 --> 00:39:48.652 - since beginning of the year. So while our competitors are dropping, we're actually increasing. So it's 00:39:48.652 --> 00:39:56.093 - more just out-hustling people than anything else. It's really just working hard to improve where others 00:39:56.093 --> 00:40:03.463 - are dropping. If I can add something there that... Sure. Eric, you also, one of the things, you picked 00:40:03.463 --> 00:40:10.046 - up, what, 11 new states for distribution. Is that accurate? Maybe you could expand on that. 00:40:10.434 --> 00:40:19.080 - So future growth would be anticipated? Yes, future growth is anticipated, and we're anticipating it. 00:40:19.080 --> 00:40:27.896 - We're already ahead of last year. Right now, we were beating our budget thus far. And if our expansion 00:40:27.896 --> 00:40:36.456 - keeps going throughout the country, then we'll definitely have a good year. We are trying to, well, 00:40:36.456 --> 00:40:39.966 - I guess what I want to say is we haven't 00:40:40.706 --> 00:40:47.271 - We're not adding any new states this year, but we're trying to really grow our footprint outside of 00:40:47.271 --> 00:40:54.164 - the Midwest. And we were in 45 states, but the Western states, we're not that strong in. So we're really 00:40:54.164 --> 00:41:00.926 - trying to like, whereas like Gallo, which is the biggest brand in the country, they're saturated every 00:41:00.926 --> 00:41:07.622 - state in the country. Well, we're saturated in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, right, in Michigan. We're 00:41:07.622 --> 00:41:09.854 - trying to oversaturate the market 00:41:10.082 --> 00:41:16.768 - in these Western states and in Texas, in Florida. We're trying to break into Publix in Florida, which 00:41:16.768 --> 00:41:23.324 - is really hard, but obviously if anybody's been to Florida knows that there's a Publix around every 00:41:23.324 --> 00:41:30.404 - corner. And we have not been able to get into Publix yet. So it's little things like that and like breaking 00:41:30.404 --> 00:41:37.483 - into, oversaturating these other markets around and breaking into new stores. And in terms of the continued 00:41:37.483 --> 00:41:38.270 - investment, 00:41:38.402 --> 00:41:46.831 - you have every intention of continuing with what was proposed? Yes, we intend to continue to invest 00:41:46.831 --> 00:41:55.345 - in the property and continue to. Our footprint in terms of the buildings is somewhat limited, right? 00:41:55.345 --> 00:42:04.702 - But we know if you've been out there, you know we're sort of behind the property. There's a ravine and there's 00:42:04.802 --> 00:42:13.128 - private property to the size of it. So we're kind of boxed in in terms of like, is that a whole lot 00:42:13.128 --> 00:42:21.787 - more room to build new buildings? But we 100% intend to invest in the property and improving. I thought 00:42:21.787 --> 00:42:30.363 - the amendment was for like more manufacturing rather than more footprint on the land. Well, I was just 00:42:30.363 --> 00:42:34.110 - saying if we wanted to like, if we needed to 00:42:36.450 --> 00:42:42.967 - It is from the equipment and that's worth spending it on, but I was more just saying we were somewhat 00:42:42.967 --> 00:42:49.612 - limited in the space we have, but we are investing in the equipment for sure. In the original proposal, 00:42:49.612 --> 00:42:56.193 - it was focused on that equipment growth to expand the business opportunity, right? I think that's what 00:42:56.193 --> 00:42:58.174 - got approved. I think that the 00:42:58.722 --> 00:43:05.456 - If we go back in time to when they came to us, they had a real estate component to what they wanted 00:43:05.456 --> 00:43:12.594 - and they had a personal property state or component, the real property component due to state law because 00:43:12.594 --> 00:43:19.395 - they have to have a liquor license or a title, whatever license. They weren't eligible for that. And 00:43:19.395 --> 00:43:26.398 - so they just got the personal property. And I apologize, I was not involved in the original discussion. 00:43:27.490 --> 00:43:33.989 - But to answer your question, we are continuing to invest in equipment. We are continuing to look for 00:43:33.989 --> 00:43:40.617 - ways we can increase our bottling line efficiency so we can get more products out in the market. We're 00:43:40.617 --> 00:43:47.245 - looking for ways to improve the capacity of our warehouse through pallet racking and things like that. 00:43:47.245 --> 00:43:53.937 - So we are definitely investing in the business. And if we get the volume that we're hoping to get, then 00:43:53.937 --> 00:43:56.382 - we'll be able to have more employees. 00:43:58.050 --> 00:44:04.094 - So I mean, my theory of change here would be, and tell me if I'm wrong in interpreting it this way, 00:44:04.094 --> 00:44:10.260 - that the tax abatement has allowed them to continue to invest in the property. It has not yet yielded 00:44:10.260 --> 00:44:16.546 - the return on investment that we expected. But they're continuing in that direction. And the idea would 00:44:16.546 --> 00:44:22.711 - be if they grow as a business that they'll hire more people and then we'll get all of the public good 00:44:22.711 --> 00:44:23.678 - that we wanted. 00:44:23.938 --> 00:44:30.439 - but we're still in that risk sort of, you know, it's not exactly working yet thing, but it's been outside 00:44:30.439 --> 00:44:36.572 - of their hands. And I think the outside of their hands is kind of one of the key components because 00:44:36.572 --> 00:44:42.828 - we hold people accountable unless it's due to factors beyond their control, right? And he's indicated 00:44:42.828 --> 00:44:46.078 - that the market has changed dramatically and I think 00:44:46.786 --> 00:44:52.335 - group right for what they're doing and it probably is still changing it sounds like that some of the 00:44:52.335 --> 00:44:57.829 - the changes are now maybe starting to favor the company at this yeah their market shares increasing 00:44:57.829 --> 00:45:03.378 - and all those kind of things so i mean i think that's ultimately the question for the county council 00:45:03.378 --> 00:45:08.927 - that they'll have to answer when they look at this is well are they in compliance and if they're not 00:45:08.927 --> 00:45:11.070 - in substantial compliance is it do you 00:45:12.226 --> 00:45:19.124 - decisions the company made, or is it due to factors that they didn't make and they had to react to? 00:45:19.124 --> 00:45:26.229 - I just remind me, because we only do this once a year, so I always forget. Because ultimately, we make 00:45:26.229 --> 00:45:33.266 - a recommendation to the county council. Is it within our space to say that something is substantially 00:45:33.266 --> 00:45:39.198 - compliant, for example, instead of saying that it's fully compliant? I think what you 00:45:39.586 --> 00:45:46.446 - What I think you recommend is whether you recommend whether the council should or should not approve 00:45:46.446 --> 00:45:53.373 - continuing the baby, right? And so if you wanted to say, hey, we find Revelli and Revelli is the kind 00:45:53.373 --> 00:46:00.301 - of the question mark of whether you'd want to include in there because they are over in salaries, but 00:46:00.301 --> 00:46:07.365 - under a number, right? Find them in compliance with their SB1 and then when to make a different finding 00:46:07.365 --> 00:46:09.470 - for all of our winery like we, 00:46:09.730 --> 00:46:16.200 - don't think they're necessarily in compliance, but we think it's due to our factors. Certainly can, 00:46:16.200 --> 00:46:22.669 - or you could just say, hey, we recommend approval. I would tend to suggest with Audra Weiner, maybe 00:46:22.669 --> 00:46:29.139 - you give a little sub, what your decision is on that, because I think that would be helpful for the 00:46:29.139 --> 00:46:30.174 - county council. 00:46:40.514 --> 00:46:49.813 - out loud would it would a six-month well I think it was statutorily they have a year right they'll check 00:46:49.813 --> 00:46:59.023 - in every year you could do a six-month check-in that certainly is okay it's just you know if they check 00:46:59.023 --> 00:47:07.614 - in it's more free are the counties information gathering right as opposed to having I mean we're 00:47:07.714 --> 00:47:16.122 - We're here. They have an annual. All right. I understand that they have an annual. Right. But if we 00:47:16.122 --> 00:47:24.531 - maybe schedule something in six months and just say, hey, how's it going? I wonder if that's if so. 00:47:24.531 --> 00:47:32.939 - But to recommend noncompliance, the county council would still have to make that decision. Correct. 00:47:32.939 --> 00:47:35.966 - And if we if we said not compliant, 00:47:36.258 --> 00:47:42.919 - Does that require that the county council hold like a hearing or something? Is there like a more official 00:47:42.919 --> 00:47:49.517 - way that they do non-compliance? The county council, if they find it non-compliant, I believe that kicks 00:47:49.517 --> 00:47:55.989 - off a hearing schedule. It's just not automatic then, yeah. Right. And so I just feel like amongst the 00:47:55.989 --> 00:48:02.399 - three of us that the conversation is just about. Right. I mean, is this, was this outside their hand? 00:48:02.399 --> 00:48:05.918 - Are they doing what he said they're going to do? Right. 00:48:07.202 --> 00:48:16.038 - If we were to recommend not to say that they were non-compliance, or the county council would be the 00:48:16.038 --> 00:48:24.962 - same thing, then in my experience, what happens is that four horsemen of the apocalypse appear. We've 00:48:24.962 --> 00:48:34.060 - never done that. My thought process does not assume that they're, that it should, that I'm not assuming 00:48:34.060 --> 00:48:36.510 - that they're not compliant, 00:48:37.026 --> 00:48:44.605 - because of something they've done wrong. I am fully that they have not hit the goals as stated in the 00:48:44.605 --> 00:48:52.258 - application because of things outside of their control. I certainly expect that. I don't think anybody 00:48:52.258 --> 00:48:59.986 - predicts that every state around Indiana, for example, would allow infused THC, but Indiana and somehow 00:48:59.986 --> 00:49:03.998 - or other that just might impact alcohol sales, right? 00:49:04.098 --> 00:49:12.645 - you know, so I fully understand that it's, I'm just trying to think of what, you know, as being responsible 00:49:12.645 --> 00:49:20.955 - to the role that we've taken, what's the, what is the information or what can we do to assist the county 00:49:20.955 --> 00:49:29.344 - council within, about why we feel they're not compliant, but it's not in their control and they're doing, 00:49:29.344 --> 00:49:32.510 - and they're working towards compliance. 00:49:33.794 --> 00:49:46.189 - I was just, I'm here on the city side, we had a situation very similar where, you know, economic development, 00:49:46.189 --> 00:49:56.894 - amended, not compliant. And this conversation and to your point about should we do a six month 00:49:58.594 --> 00:50:05.998 - I think basically that council was able to set up a hey, okay Here's some things that we really want 00:50:05.998 --> 00:50:13.402 - you to focus on And I just you know, so as I think about that allowed also thinking aloud as you are 00:50:13.402 --> 00:50:20.953 - I mean, it's like but What would even the recommendation be? well over winery This is what we'd really 00:50:20.953 --> 00:50:27.038 - like to see this Take and and that that leads me to say that I mean I think that I 00:50:28.450 --> 00:50:34.807 - I think that it is evidently completely outside of their hands in the sense that we couldn't come up 00:50:34.807 --> 00:50:41.163 - with, hey, in six months, we hope this. No, no, right. It's not our job to manage their job. And nor 00:50:41.163 --> 00:50:47.520 - am I suggesting that you suggest that. I'm also thinking aloud off of your thought, right, is that I 00:50:47.520 --> 00:50:49.534 - think that that's a really good 00:50:49.922 --> 00:50:58.647 - test for whether or not, if you could create a remediation plan, then it wasn't outside of their hands. 00:50:58.647 --> 00:51:07.624 - We can't create a remediation plan, so it's clearly outside of their hands. I guess if that's the feeling, 00:51:07.624 --> 00:51:16.349 - I think what you could do is separate out the Oliver Winery and recommend approval of the tax abatement 00:51:16.349 --> 00:51:18.782 - due to the noncompliance was 00:51:18.978 --> 00:51:26.191 - due to factors beyond the control of the company. Saying that we're recognizing they're not making their 00:51:26.191 --> 00:51:33.061 - goals, because I don't think there's a way to not recognize that, but to say, hey, but we discussed 00:51:33.061 --> 00:51:40.274 - with the company and we found factors beyond their control. And that's the recommendation to the county. 00:51:40.274 --> 00:51:44.190 - When they can infuse THC into the honey meat, they will. 00:51:46.754 --> 00:51:53.706 - But I also think that the indicators that the market might be favoring is positive, and that the investments 00:51:53.706 --> 00:52:00.148 - that they've made via this tax abatement have allowed them to position themselves well for that. And 00:52:00.148 --> 00:52:06.654 - so I recognize that we're still, as a county, taking on risk. And I mean, I also think that we should 00:52:06.654 --> 00:52:13.032 - state that out, you know, forthright. But of a couple of years where, realistically, the investment 00:52:13.032 --> 00:52:15.966 - is, I think that we're really putting in here 00:52:24.098 --> 00:52:32.693 - Greg, you have any thoughts? Well, I've been on the Economic Development Commission off and on for over 00:52:32.693 --> 00:52:41.287 - 20 years. And this has always been a perennial question that we have, which is basically very few firms 00:52:41.287 --> 00:52:49.799 - that have ever come before us have been in any form of strict compliance. Because the metrics that are 00:52:49.799 --> 00:52:53.022 - used to originally grant the abatement 00:52:53.346 --> 00:53:01.499 - are kind of a necessity, they tend to be pretty aspirational. And what they don't capture very well 00:53:01.499 --> 00:53:09.978 - are changes beyond the control of the individual companies that happen. And we know that, for instance, 00:53:09.978 --> 00:53:18.295 - that alcohol consumption, irrespective of things like THC infusion, is declining significantly in the 00:53:18.295 --> 00:53:22.942 - country. So challenges like this for the company are not 00:53:23.042 --> 00:53:31.152 - is certainly not unexpected to me. And I think that we would do best to do what we've always done in 00:53:31.152 --> 00:53:39.262 - these circumstances, which is we can forward to the county council. We wanna show the county council 00:53:39.262 --> 00:53:46.729 - that we've done our job and our due diligence. And we need to note that there are shortfalls 00:53:46.729 --> 00:53:52.350 - or discrepancies. But what we've done in the past is said that, yeah, 00:53:52.450 --> 00:54:05.801 - You know, there are changes in the industry that are going on and the company is making a good faith 00:54:05.801 --> 00:54:20.606 - effort to address that. Agreed. And then what we would do is with regard to the five that we're finding clients 00:54:21.378 --> 00:54:29.596 - separate those out from a vote or from a winery vote would then say the reason they're not in compliance 00:54:29.596 --> 00:54:37.423 - is outside, we find that it's outside of their control. Would that be a separate form that we sign? 00:54:37.423 --> 00:54:45.328 - What I did with the one that you have, I just I separated out, I took all of the winery and I put it 00:54:45.328 --> 00:54:51.198 - down in its own category and I said approve the tax evadement and that the 00:54:51.330 --> 00:55:02.009 - that the noncompliance was due to factors beyond the control of the company, if that's what you so choose. 00:55:02.009 --> 00:55:09.694 - I would move, or do we have a motion? Do we want to talk about Prevelli too? 00:55:15.074 --> 00:55:26.472 - I think I say that and then now own the responsibility of saying something. But I think Greg's point 00:55:26.472 --> 00:55:38.096 - is sort of sustained here, which is that we are seeing economic public benefit in this case, exceeding 00:55:38.096 --> 00:55:42.046 - in one area from where we thought. 00:55:43.842 --> 00:55:49.930 - We have any sense though, have they given any information of why the, why there was a, because their 00:55:49.930 --> 00:55:56.018 - salaries are higher, but their employees are far less, so. I think the last time, two years ago when 00:55:56.018 --> 00:56:01.684 - they made a presentation, they kind of went through it. The company presented, hey, you know, 00:56:01.684 --> 00:56:07.893 - we are higher, we are upgrading our equipment a little quicker than we thought we were going to, which 00:56:07.893 --> 00:56:13.438 - is going to lead to less employees, but we're paying them more because we need more skills. 00:56:14.434 --> 00:56:25.324 - Yeah, so with that, I have nothing else to say, sorry. Just making sure we did. I would move that we 00:56:25.324 --> 00:56:35.243 - approve with the added comment for all of our winery recommendations to the county council. 00:56:35.243 --> 00:56:40.958 - Is there a second? Craig seconded, but he was muted. 00:56:41.922 --> 00:56:53.679 - I got busted seconded. All right. We'll have a roll call. Mr. Schultz. Yes. Mr. Sorry. Yes. Mr. Travis. 00:56:53.679 --> 00:57:04.984 - Yes. Motion is approved 3 to 0. Thank you, Mr. Smith for for helping us work through that. I really 00:57:04.984 --> 00:57:09.054 - do appreciate it. And we absolutely 00:57:09.858 --> 00:57:16.688 - I appreciate your business and the fact that you guys are doing everything very competitive and in a 00:57:16.688 --> 00:57:23.518 - stressful market right now. I appreciate you guys too. Thank you very much for your understanding. I 00:57:23.518 --> 00:57:30.281 - know we're definitely frying. We want the sales to be there for sure. I'm very optimistic for sure. 00:57:30.281 --> 00:57:37.246 - Great. Come out and try a spritz. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Appreciate it. Have a good evening. 00:57:38.754 --> 00:57:48.911 - All right. Now it is time to approve the minutes according to my agenda. Yes. All right. We have minutes 00:57:48.911 --> 00:57:58.585 - from the last two meetings, which one was August 9th, 2024, and one was June 17th, 2024. You recall 00:57:58.585 --> 00:58:03.518 - we didn't quite have a meeting last year, which is 00:58:04.578 --> 00:58:12.722 - My fault? I'll take it. I went on vacation. You're not allowed to do that, Jeff. Ever. That's OK. I 00:58:12.722 --> 00:58:20.948 - had a great time. You did have a great time. I saw the pictures. All right. I seem to recall that it 00:58:20.948 --> 00:58:29.255 - was me that was on vacation. I don't remember it being your fault at all. Anyways. That was a heck of 00:58:29.255 --> 00:58:32.350 - a vacation. Didn't you go to Germany? 00:58:33.090 --> 00:58:43.108 - started in Amsterdam and up in Vienna. It was a heck of a vacation. No regrets. You're here. I second. 00:58:43.108 --> 00:58:52.834 - Motion to approve the minutes. I will second that. All right. Roll call. Commissioner Schultz. Yes. 00:58:52.834 --> 00:58:59.934 - Sorry. Yes. Commissioner Travis. Yes. Motion is approved. Three to zero. 00:59:02.722 --> 00:59:10.275 - Right on time. That's right. All right. Any comments for the good of the order? When is our next meeting? 00:59:10.275 --> 00:59:18.042 - Next year? Hopefully not. Hopefully we get another tax abatement request prior to that and we will schedule. 00:59:18.042 --> 00:59:24.812 - Great. Excellent. All right. I'm going to get something for you guys to sign. All right. Well, 00:59:24.812 --> 00:59:26.878 - with that, we are adjourned.