2020-11-12 ED! Edmonds Downtown Alliance MinutesEd! Board Meeting
November 12, 2020
Meeting called to order: 8:05 AM
Board Members/Administration in Attendance: Pam Stuller, Matt McCulloch, Jenny Shore,
Carol Sheldon, Kali Kelnero, Mark VonGunten, Cheryl Farrish, Kimberly Koening, Deandra
Peterson, Jen Lawson, Carrie Hulbert.
City of Edmonds Representative in Attendance: Patrick Doherty
Guests: None
Public Comment: None
Approval of Previous Meeting's Minutes: Two amendments were proposed: (1) Correcting
that Olivia Latham was a guest and not a Board Member at October's meeting and (2)
correcting the spelling of Matt McCulloch's name. With these amendments, Matt moved to
approve minutes. Carol seconded. All approved, none opposed
President's Report: Pam reported that the Marketing Committee has been very busy with
holiday preparations and thanked Carrie for her ability to drive implementation of our
collaborative holiday plans with varied executions and deadlines. Ed! is working towards a 2021
goal of greater member engagement and progress has already been made here with our
Membership Committee visiting more of our members this month. Effs budget proposal has
been submitted to City Council. Ed! had applied for CARES funding from the City in the spring
to execute marketing strategies for our members, but the City allocated those funds to business
and household grants as well as to reimburse the City for Covid related expenses.
Treasurer's Report: Kali utilized October billings to get a more data -driven approach to
expected revenue for the rest of 2020. This entailed removing closed businesses from the
expected revenue list, which must be done manually because the City does not currently have a
process to report closed businesses to Ed! Those businesses with outstanding bills were then
broken into categories, i.e. those with only one unpaid bill, those with 2-4 unpaid bills, and those
with 4+ unpaid bills. There are also a few new businesses which need to be sent assessments.
Based on this, Kali was able to generate expected revenue projections by factoring in those
businesses most likely to pay their bills. As far as expenses, Ed! has reduced its budget by
$12,000 to account for this year's challenges, while still leaving budget for the holidays. With the
assessment projections for the rest of the year and proactive budget cuts, we anticipate having
a minimum fund balance of $10,000 at the start of 2021.
New Businesses Added to BID: Hive & Honeycomb Counseling, Shannon Hart Massage,
Backbone Pilates, Georgia Fahl Bodywork, Waterfront Coffee Company (new owner), Soaring
Heart Natural Beds
City Report: Patrick provided a City report. The City is working on potential Code fixes to
provide for better guidance on curbside dining. Curbside dining has been extended until the City
Council approves new guidance. There is a second round of CARES Act funding. EASC also
provided a few grants to Edmonds businesses. Residential grants are in process. Patrick
addressed Effs CARES Act application reported that the City created four "buckets" for funding
and that Ed! does not fall into any of the four categories and therefore will not be considered for
funding. The Holiday Market started last weekend. Discussions for a waterfront hotel are still
underway. The City is accepting Requests for Proposals for tourism services. Interviews are in
process. The Diversity Commission created a toolkit to support diversity efforts in businesses.
Budget: See Treasurer's Report.
Committee Updates
- Communication & Outreach: The committee has made a lot of progress on visits to
new members and are continuing to make visits. Feedback has been overwhelmingly
positive. Matt made motion to spend up to $550 to publish a 2020 "Year in Review"
summary. Jen seconded. All approved, none opposed.
- Admin: The Admin committee plans to review how businesses who share space are
assessed and how we can improve upon that process.
Marketing: Kudos to Carrie for keeping all our messaging, ads, etc. on track. The
Edmonds Holiday website is up with featured articles rolled out. Ad campaigns are
running for the holidays. Posters and table tents have been distributed. The Holiday
Market is underway. First Dibs starts 11/27/2020 and there is a lot of business
involvement. A Holiday gift guide is in progress, with 21 businesses participating to date.
A Festive Drink Tour with a BINGO card will feature local restaurants and bars and will
be promoted with articles and social media advertising. Emily the Elf will be present
(socially distanced of course) on Saturdays. A Wreath Walk has been hosted by Art
Walk Edmonds. A Scavenger Hunt is underway in conjunction with DEMA. Character
cutouts will be put around town near where the trolley stalls usually are to create "Selfie
Stations." Window decals have been designed and there will be a sign-up sheet with a
limit of two per saying so there is some diversity in messaging.
- Appearance & Environment: Need to remove after hours parking signs from the Bank
of America parking lot. This lot is still in the process of transitioning to a pay lot. The City
will reach out to BOA to see how much they would charge the City to allow it to be used
as an after-hours lot.
- Grants Program: No updates.
New Business: None.
Meeting Adjourned: 9:07 a.m.