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CITY OF LAKEVILLE
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
October 24, 2023
1. Chair Seiler called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. in the Marion Conference Room.
Members Present: Comms. Jessica Christiansen, Lowell Collman, Bob Gillen, Jack
Matasosky, Don Seiler, Glenn Starfield
Ex-officio Members Present: Mayor Luke Hellier, City Administrator Justin Miller,
Chamber President Krista Jech
Members Absent: Comm. Rick Bjorklund, Joe Eykyn, Sara Lundberg, Andrew Phillips
Staff Present: Tina Goodroad, Community Development Director; Kati Bachmayer,
Economic Development Coordinator
Guests: Lucas Ritchie, Civil Engineer
2. Approval of August 22, 2023 Meeting Minutes
Comms. Matasosky / Starfield moved to approve the minutes of the August 22 meeting.
Motion carried unanimously.
3. Update on Transportation Improvements
Lucas Ritchie, Civil Engineer for the City of Lakeville provided transportation improvement
updates to the EDC. Mr. Ritchie highlighted 2023 projects that are complete/soon-to-be
complete and planned projects for 2024-2028 - including the interchange improvement
scheduled for the I-35/County Road 50 corridor in 2026. Mr. Ritchie noted the largest 2023
project was the 179th Street connection from Highview Avenue/Dodd Boulevard to Cedar
Avenue. Mr. Ritchie also informed the EDC about the City’s recent Pedestrian Safety Study
that was conducted over the last several months. The public feedback received will be used to
inform and plan future pedestrian safety improvements throughout the community.
4. Business Survey Results Presentation
Ms. Goodroad presented the 2023 National Business Survey (NBS) results. Polco conducted
the survey from July-September 2023 by contacting all private businesses in Lakeville via
mail. Lakeville’s NBS had a 13% response rate. Overall, the survey results were very positive
Economic Development Commission Minutes October 24, 2023 Page | 2
and demonstrate that Lakeville is a place where businesses thrive. The full report will be
presented to the City Council during a future work session and is available online at
lakevillebusiness.com. A recommendation was made to consider including a custom question
in future surveys that asks what the City can do for Lakeville businesses.
5. Website Update
Ms. Bachmayer informed the EDC that Lakeville’s new community and economic
development (CED) website is live as of mid-October. The newly updated site has customized
information specifically targeted to small businesses, developers and site selectors and can be
found at a new URL: lakevillebusiness.com. It was noted that the new CED website is linked
in several places on the City of Lakeville’s main page (lakevillemn.gov), to make it easy for
users to find. EDC members were encouraged to check out the new site and provide
feedback.
6. Project Updates
a. 2023 Manufacturing Appreciation event – Ms. Bachmayer shared information
about the 2023 Manufacturing Appreciation event. This year, the City hosted an
Automation in Manufacturing panel discussion with guest speakers Timothy O’Neill,
DEED Twin Cities Labor Market Analyst; Tom Schmeling, CEO Dalsin Industries;
and Bob Kill, CEO Enterprise Minnesota. Both the panel discussion and reception
were well attended.
Comm. Matasosky recommended offering a tour of a local manufacturing facility that
uses automation and encouraged staff to consider artificial intelligence as a topic in
2024.
b. Development Update – Ms. Goodroad highlighted a few recent business
developments in Lakeville, including ribbon cutting ceremonies held at New
Creations Childcare & Learning Center and Suite Living of Lakeville.
7. Marketing Efforts
a. Outreach – Community and Economic Development (CED) staff will be hosting a
booth at the 2023 MNCAR Expo on October 25. This event is an opportunity for staff
to promote the community and its development opportunities to Twin Cities brokers
and site selectors.
b. Events – CED staff will be partnering with the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce to host
the second annual Made in Lakeville Teacher Tour on November 15. This event is
designed to introduce Lakeville teachers from all grade levels to the wide variety of
careers offered in Lakeville’s industrial park, in order to create better connections
between students and STEM careers in the classroom.
Economic Development Commission Minutes October 24, 2023 Page | 3
c. Other – set date for combined Nov/Dec meeting – Members discussed combining
the November and December meetings into one meeting to be held in early December.
The date change was recommended because the remaining regularly scheduled EDC
meetings are very close to major holidays. Members chose December 12 for the new
combined meeting date.
8. Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 5:13 p.m.
Respectively submitted by:
Kati Bachmayer, Economic Development Coordinator