Page 1 GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES Georgia Aquarium 225 Baker St NW Atlanta, GA 30313 February 17, 2016 Compiled by: Commissioner's Office Georgia Department of Economic Development 75 5th Street, NW, Suite 1200, Atlanta, Georgia 30308 404.962.4003 office I 404.962.4009 fax
Pa ge 2 Pursuant to notice duly given, the Board of Directors of the Georgia Department of Economic Development met on date, time, and place stated above. Call to order Chairman Jay Neely called to order the regular meeting of the Georgia Department of Economic Development Board at 2:00 pm on February 17, 2016 at the Georgia Aquarium. Roll call Monty Osteen conducted a roll call. The following Board Members were present: 1. Mike Campbell 2. Pedro Cherry 3. Wayne Christian 4. Rene Diaz 5. Kent Fountain 6. Mark Glass 7. Tom Griffith 8. Allen Gudenrath 9. Randy Hatcher 10. Eric Johnson 11. Jay Neely 12. Monty Osteen 13. Randall Pugh 14. Marisa Simpson 15. Felker Ward
Page 3 The following Board Advisors were present: 1. Mike Cassidy 2. Anne Kaiser 3. Sean McMillan 4. Pat Merritt 5. William Pate 6. Matt Sawhill 7. Kevin Shea Approval of minutes from last meeting Monty Osteen read the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved as read. Meeting called to order at 2:00 pm by Chairman, Jay Neely. Minutes from November 5, 2015 were read, seconded, and approved. Welcome by Joe Handy, COO & Executive Vice President, Georgia Aquarium Opening Remarks & Georgia Aquarium Update David Palinski, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Georgia Aquarium 10 year anniversary of the Georgia Aquarium. In 2015, the Georgia Aquarium was named Number 1 Aquarium in the United States and Number 2 Aquarium in the world. Also, in 2015, the Georgia Aquarium was named #1 lnstagram Place in Georgia. One million plus students have visited - 250,000 being Title 1 and 80% of those students have never seen the ocean. o In 2015, the Aquarium sponsored 38,000 students. Google presented grants for 3,300 students to visit the Aquarium during Googleweek. This money included transportation costs, meals, and all money needed for travel. $30 million in labor for direct jobs $1.35 million in out-of-state visitors 4% of these visitors were international
Page 4 The announcement of the Georgia Aquarium was made in 2001 Land was negotiated and bought in 2002 Construction began in 2003 Doors opened in 2005 Since 2003, the Georgia Aquarium has supplied 11,000 jobs o 2,000 jobs supplied on an ongoing basis, 73% are in Fulton County o $8 million in taxes paid o $22 million in 10 years with projected $2.4 million in 2016 o The development pipeline for 2016-2017 is $136.4 million The Georgia Aquarium has one of the largest vet clinics in the world TV series, Ocean Mysteries, featuring Jeff Corwin Tourism o 13 million+ tourist o City Pass - tourists buy the pass and have the choice of four Georgia venues. There have been over 400,000 sold and 97% of the passes sold feature the Aquarium as its anchor venue. It is a vital piece in bringing tourism to Georgia. There are 6,000 hotels within walking distance. Visitors who purchase the City Pass have a 4-day average stay. The Aquarium is a not for profit organization that has a total fiscal impact of $8.1 million per year. Coming In 2016 o Sea Lions o Dolphin educational series o Penguin Walk featuring the Waddlesworth Family What is ATL Next? Frank Rucker, Assistant General Manager for Planning & Development - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport The Atlanta Airport has done $4.7 billion in recent work with the following priorities: o Cargo development - job creation o Master Plan 2031 completion {191 gates & building more, parking, cargo expansion) o Lease negotiations o Maintenance Modernization of Concourse E which was built in 1994 o Canopy on the North Side which will provide shelter from the elements for passengers that are being dropped off Concourse T & N expansions Replacement parking (parking will double by the year 2025, estimated cost of $1.2 billion) performed under live operations - parking will go from 4 levels to 8 levels Cargo is the #1 priority o Raise the elevation - built on the Flint River which is 14-18 feet wide
Page 5 o $217 million o 1 million square feet of cargo A third party developer is working on a 4-star hotel, office space, fuel extension, etc. 63,000-65,000 employees Challengers to the busiest airport in the world o Chicago - number of flights o China Tourism Update Kevin Langston, Deputy Commissioner of Tourism, Georgia Department of Economic Development Tourism is o $57.1 billion industry o $3 billion in taxes o 426,000 jobs 2016 is the Year of Georgia Music o Singer/Songwriter Series in 6 venues across Georgia from July - December o Music portal on exploregeorgia.org o Music tours o Music blitz with Lisa Love o Music blogger - Glen Sarvardy o Please use hashtag #GAMusic Just opened a new visitor information center at the Atlanta Airport o New series of tourism videos play on a giant screen Atlanta: Building on Success William Pate, CEO, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau Tourism drives economic development. We live by the motto: Get more here today than were here yesterday. Why Georgia? o It is easy to get here and get around while here. o The weather In the last six years there has been a 40% increase in domestic visits to Atlanta which also causes a growth within the state of Georgia. Visitors drive development, such as : Center for Civil and Human Rights Street cars Airports Football Hall of Fame Construction =jobs
Page 6 New hotels= new jobs (500-700 each) Some Developments in the Pipeline o Now there are 30 major conventions that the State of Georgia cannot accommodate. The GWCC hotel & connector that will be built in Building C will help us with some of these conventions while adding 800-1,000 jobs. o Atlanta Civic Center o Underground o Centennial Park Apartments o Roxy Theatre o The Battery/SunTrust Park - 7 minutes from Atlanta (very convenient for convention visitors) o Mercedes-Benz Stadium - 70+ new events o Hard Rock Hotel (500-700 jobs) o Philips Arena Redevelopment 2016 National Semi Finals Atlanta History Center Update Sheffield Hale, President and CEO, Atlanta History Center The goal of the Atlanta History Center is to make Georgia tourist stay longer! The Atlanta History Center is o 22 acres of gardens o 3 historic houses o Movies and tours o A farm and animals o Festivals once a month o Veterans Park o The Margaret Mitchell House o Meet the Past Experience o Sheep to Shawl o 4-H Club and History Center AND - in April 2016 - Sou per Jenny Restaurant and Bookstore o 300 people a day for lunch o A first for a museum Coming o Cyclorama ($55 million) o Texas Train o Smith Family Farm Distillery (hopeful) From Presbyterian to Pasqquan - Creating New Tourism Product Cindy Eidson & Chris Cannon, GDEcD Product Development Team, GDEcD Tourism Division The Product Development Team at GDEcD educates cities and counties how to spend their hotel/motel tax revenue to promote their tourism products.
Page 7 41 cities/counties have been helped $196,000 budget Product development grants Fun Facts o Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his first speech in Dublin, Georgia at the age of 16 o Meriwether Moonshine - 150 years o Kaolin Mines - zip lines, monster buses o Mcintosh Jelly Ball Industry- 50-75 jobs (Jelly fish) gloatl performances for places in peril (Splost funding passed to renovate) ACCG Passport Program (stamps for each county courthouse visited) Historic Rural Churches Initiative assisting two gentleman heading up the project: Sonny Seals on their support of highlighting historic rural chruched all over Georgia. The Tourism Product Development Office supported their efforts by helping them establish audio of the history of the churches and establishing a trail to draw visitors to visit these sites. For details, please visit their website: www.hrcga.org Pasaquan o Marion County is struggling with tourism yet they have a great product - a local artist, farmer and character - Eddie Owens Martin - known as Saint Earn who was inspired by a dream to begin his life work of his home-which is now named Pasaquan. o Kohler Foundation, Inc. has teamed up with the locals and Columbus State College to renovate and save the folk art site. This news came at the same time that Marion County learned that Tyson would be closing. Columbus State College has helped with website development, etc. Opening in Fall 2016 Pasaquan has been named as one of the 16 Intriguing Things To Do and See in the US in 2016 The Chamber of Commerce will now have a store front location - they have never had a building before Annie D's -100 Plates Locals Love is booming GDEcD Commissioner's Remarks Chris Carr, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Economic Development Legislative Update o SB 320 (Drivers License Bill) o Tax Bills - HB 935, HB 936, & HB 937 are all in the House Ways & Means Committee today o SB 323 (Open Records)
Page 8 Adjournment Chairman Jay Neely announced that the next Board Meeting with be May 18-19, at Lake Lanier. There being no further business, Chairman Neely adjourned the meeting at 4 :48 pm. Respectfully Submitted: ctt/m. Monty Osteen Board Secretary,~~;fa~ / chary{.an of th-::!l