Tara Mastel

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  www.jldcmt.com/about-us/staff.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/4/2009    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Tara Mastel, Manager Email: tmastel@montana.edu
  
  Tara Mastel, the manager for JLDC has been on staff since early 2006. Tara has a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning with a focus on Regional, Economic and Workforce Development from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Tara worked in marketing research for 7 years before turning her focus to rural economic and community development in 1998.

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  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/jan2308minutes - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/23/2008    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Present: Barbara Sunderland, Joe Calnan, Pat Lewis, Darrell Miller, Byron Stahly, Ed Handl, Mike Molitor, Tom Lythgoe, Tara Mastel,
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  Tara said Team Vivrette is progressing on the subdivision and are talking covenants now.
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  Tara said the JLDC has a signed lease option to purchase the property and have budgeted to buy it this year.
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  Tara said there was no downside that she could think of.
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  Tara will check with MACO and report findings at the next meeting. She said the office has unsuccessfully contacted other insurance agencies for quotes.
  
  b. Youth Dynamics Maintenance Agreement Tara said there was discussion at the last meeting about working with YDI to readjust the bills submitted to JLDC. Tara has talked with the controller at YDI and they are working on it.
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  Tara said staff has met with Peter Degel of YDI and they are still very interested.
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  Tara said from Whitehall Andrea Sarchet, the new Extension Agent in the office, and she attended the Rural Community Conference in Billings January 15 & 16.
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  Tara said people came away with a good understanding of the impact that Horizons has had on communities. In each the Whitehall and Boulder communities, Community Development boards are formed and are working.
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  Tara said there is not a lot of progress since last month.
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  Tara said Earthtalk Studios is working on the logo and will forward the concepts to the board members when she receives them. Tara is working on the web content and would like to have it done within the next month or two; her goal is to have the web launched by the end of this fiscal year. Tara told the designers the county may also use the logo or would like a logo that blends with the JLDC logo so they designed JLDC's logo with that in mind.
  
  9. Review Mid-Year Planning Session This was tabled last meeting. Barbara said she has talked about this a couple times with Tara and asked for comments on the session. Tara and Tom H. put together a summary for the mid-year planning review session of what was decided at the annual planning session and where staff was in accordance with those projects.
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  Tara said each goal and the budget were reviewed, programs and projects were discussed, and an overview given. Tara is now using the same format used for the planning session for the monthly staff reports. She said the mid-year review was a good exercise to see where we're at and how we're doing.
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  Tara distributed a sheet with four draft elevator speeches for discussion. Ed's idea for an elevator story was different from the Tara's draft speeches as his initial idea was to include numbers in the speech as far as jobs created, loans made, and tax base added. Tara said it was hard to do that in the last couple years due to the projects being worked on. Tara's speeches are to give people a sense of what JLDC does. Tara read and explained each speech. Ed feels adding numbers to the speech would enhance it as he believes the numbers JLDC can portray are very impressive. He said JLDC can honestly say we've impacted hundreds of primary mining jobs over the last several years. Additionally, JLDC has done BEAP and similar projects where we could go back over the last five years and add up the number of employees that have worked in businesses that were helped through these projects. He thinks it makes the presentation of the speech a lot more meaningful to start out with a sentence of what JLDC is and does and then follow up with numbers and impactions.
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  Tara proposed that as she's working on the new web site content, she work on blending both concepts together in an elevator speech. She will present the speech to the board within the next couple months.
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  a. Tara said the audit is in process now and the auditors were in the office last week.
  
  b. Staff is facilitating a meeting at 4:30 in Boulder regarding an Animal Shelter in Jefferson County.
  
  c. Tara is offering business planning classes throughout the county. The purpose of the classes fulfills the mission of MSU Extension, which is providing economic and community development education. There is also a slight amount of nervousness with some people regarding the mine's future, and staff may find potential tenants for the business park. She distributed a draft flier and will email the final to the board within the next week after details have been confirmed. This curriculum was developed in Virginia, Minnesota, a rural mining town, and has been successfully offered throughout the country. The course focuses on the very core elements of business and is applicable for those starting a business, for those that have an existing business they'd like to expand, and for those that want to take a fresh look at their business. Please email your comments/ suggestions on the flier to Tara.

• 
  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/dec1907minutes - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/19/2007    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Present: Joe Calnan, Pat Lewis, Bob Marks, Dick Norden, Darrell Miller, Jan Speirer, Byron Stahly, Jim Jacobson, Tom Lythgoe, Tara Mastel, Tom Harrington, and Nancy Wheeler.
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  Tara reported the sewer study has been completed.
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  Tara said JLDC has no financial commitment; however, the city did write a letter stating they were in support of the project and would take over the sewer once it was upgraded.
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  Tara said she thinks it will be one grant application, but did not have a firm answer on that.
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  Tara said they are and, once the subdivision is set, it will be listed with a broker and YDI will have an opportunity to buy.
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  Tara said that's what the board decided to do so it would be fair to all.
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  Tara said the property has to go through the subdivision process before they can purchase.
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  Tara said this was discussed at the Human Service quarterly meetings and there is potential for sharing resources but it has not yet happened.
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  Tara emailed information about the Planning Grant to board members yesterday. Staff is interested in applying for a Planning Grant through the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund (BSTF). The upper limit to apply for is $25,000. Tara said this is a great opportunity as some studies are needed to progress and said one need is a Master Plan and Strategic Implementation Plan. This is a living document that is used to manage Missoula's business park. It helps them decide what type of businesses would be good for the health of the park, where to take the park basically and how to make it happen. Staff would like to apply for the grant to refine the master plan JLDC now has, to validate it as it's been several years since initial thought of the idea, and to update and expand it to include more than the core ideas. Also included would be a marketing plan on how to market the park; to give the tools needed when someone calls saying they're interested in locating in the park. JLDC would have something comprehensive to send interested persons/businesses which would include detailed analysis of the area, the regional economy, the workforce, the housing, etc. informing them as to why they should locate here, this is what we have and this is what we don't have. Tara said another key piece is an organizational and management structure. Obviously staff is busy now, once the business park is ready, will need to develop a management structure to manage the infrastructure, market the park, take care of lease holders, etc. Tara said through discussions with EDA, it would be good to include a structure in the park to be a business incubator; a set building where a business could come in. The structure would have a front office and some space in the back for manufacturing, building, storage or whatever the business may need to come in, start, and grow. Right now, commercial space is simply not available in Whitehall. Tara said EDA is very interested in incubators; in fact, that is what they are interested in from discussions with them. Staff thinks that including an incubator would be beneficial for local businesses and for funding.
  
  Tara called and spoke with quite a few firms and people and discovered people that do this are hard to find. The cost is higher because JLDC would need to tap into a national firm that does analysis and development for business parks. Tara talked with a couple firms that work nationally. One firm quoted the cost to be $40,000-$50,000. Another firm quoted $35,000. Tara is recommending JLDC write the grant for $35,000. The highest amount available from BSTF would be $25,000; JLDC would need to put in $10,000. Tara said this is something that JLDC needs to have done as more tools are needed to make the business park happen.
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  Tara said one of the assets to the incubator is having JLDC right there as a neighbor, etc. to offer technical assistance to businesses as needed.
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  Tara said what staff is thinking of for an incubator is a broader concept description in that the building would be like a turn-key operation with affordable rates.
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  Tara said it's a place with physical space for businesses to start and grow. It's not intended to be a permanent location for the business. She said it would be a condo-type building where there are offices and open space in the back; a large warehouse type place where businesses could store things, build things, etc.
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  Tara said JLDC's plan would be tailored to what JLDC would need and want done. Tara feels we need a strategic plan as there is no full blown out plan and the park needs to have businesses to generate money. She did say the businesses that have expressed interest in locating in the park fit within the general guidelines of what is envisioned for the park; the businesses are clean, have decent paying jobs and some longevity.
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  Tara said we may not need management for a year or possibly even five years and staff can probably handle it for the first while but, at some point, will need to have a management structure in place.
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  Tara confirmed this.
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  Tara said this will happen when contacting the different contractors and talking with them more specifically as to where we're at and would be defined through the scope of work.
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  Tara said staff will manage the park until it's too much to handle.
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  Tara will have Barbara sign the draft support letter from JLDC for the Planning Grant tomorrow.
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  Tara said staff met with Janet Cornish and Harold Stepper to talk about the work plan and what needs to be done to set up the Tax Increment Finance District for the Sunlight Business Park.
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  Tara said how Janet explained it, essentially the income from a TIF district is property tax, so in order for property tax to be spent on something, that something needs to be public.
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  Tara said both Whitehall and Boulder are wrapping up their Action Plan.
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  Tara said there was a housing meeting in Boulder on December 13th.
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  Tara said it's a five acre parcel and needs to be subdivided, so it's because of subdivision process.
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  Tara said all comments from the last meeting were submitted to the web developer and they are working on that now. The next step is working on the content and confirming the navigation and Tara will do that in January-February.
  
  7. Review Mid-Year Planning Session Tara said she felt it was a good thing to have on the agenda because JLDC never had a mid-year review before and felt it beneficial to have a quick discussion on how things are working and how to make improvements if we do it again next year. The topic was tabled until next meeting to give the board president a chance for her input.
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  Tara said at the last JLDC meeting, she was asked to call the county auditor and check on the cost for an audit.
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  Tara distributed a sheet with four draft elevator speeches for discussion. Ed's initial idea was to have numbers in there as far as jobs created, loans made, and tax base added. Tara said it was hard to do that in the last couple years due to the projects being worked on. Tara then read the four draft speeches.
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  a. Tara explained the advertisement that was released recently for a position in Jefferson County to work on community and economic development.
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  Joe asked Tara if Steve Siegelin was the person to contact.
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  Tara doesn't think there would be a problem with a citizen representative on the screening committee.
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  Tara said she is on the committee and she will also let Steve know JLDC is interested in having perhaps the JLDC president on the committee also.
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  b. Tara said Dave Kirsch called her regarding the copper issue in the Boulder water.
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  Tara said Dave may have called her before the settlement between Boulder and DEQ.
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  d. Tara said she will leave tomorrow for Minnesota for the holidays and will fly to Texas from there to attend a Core Four Instructor Training in San Antonio. She will be back in the office January 10th.

• 
  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/aug1606minutes - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/16/2006    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Present: Darrell Miller, Bob Marks, Jan Speirer, Byron Stahly, Tom Lythgoe, Barbara Sunderland, Ed Handl, Tara Mastel, Tom Harrington, Nancy Wheeler.
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  Tara distributed a list of key highlights from the July 12th planning session and gave updates.
  
  a. Tara spoke with a TIF consultant and found it is possible to implement a Tax Increment Financing District (TIFD) for the Sunlight Business Park and South Campus property.
  
  b. Steve S., MSU Extension Western Region Department Head, is attending today's JLDC meeting to discuss the tenure role and requirements Tara needs to meet as a new MSU faculty member.
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  f. Tara met with Peter D., AYA.
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  g. Tara met with Jan S. and initiated a Human Services quarterly meeting with other leaders of Boulder's human service organizations.
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  h. Tara met with Mike R. regarding the Elkhorn Community Screening Committee.
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  Tara has done lots on research and attended the Headwaters RC&D retreat on housing. Tara said there are many assistance programs available, but they require an assessment of needs and the time and people to put a proposal together.
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  m. Tara has started increasing the visibility of the JLDC by committing to present summary reports of JLDC meetings at Commission meetings.
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  o. The need to challenge the conventional wisdom and look at innovative ways to think outside the box has actually been integrated into daily discussion, Tara reported.
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  q. Tara is talking with the Sunlight Business Park contractors on a regular weekly basis. The contractors are working and making progress on finalizing the drafts. A meeting will be scheduled to review and finalize the drafts after Tom and Tara receive and review them.
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  Tara met with the landowner who was considering giving an easement. However, the land is currently for sale and could inhibit the sale, so the landowner is no longer interested in giving an easement. JLDC will need to look at what other land may be available. Tara has a CTEP application from Tom L. Tom L. recommends Tara get started on filling out the application and work on obtaining easements after the application is submitted.
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  Tara reviewed last year's work plan and reported that what was listed on the work plan and what was accomplished are two very different things. She used the Meth Treatment Center as an example of a project not on the work plan but JLDC took on.
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  Ed stated the work plan is lacking a statement to pursue different financial sustainable funding for JLDC, a statement is needed that allows for flexibility to take on other projects not listed on the work plan, and educational obligations Tara needs to fulfill MSU obligations added to the list.
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  Tom and Tara will add needed items and bring to next meeting for approval.
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  Tara needs to conduct at least five true educational programs each year. Evaluations from students are required and her peers also need to evaluate her.
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  Steve stated that being Manager of JLDC does nothing for Tara for her tenure.
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  Tara has done a good job teaching and explaining the Farmer's Market concept. He is wondering if this is considered one of her required educational programs or is the criteria intended to be more formal. Steve answered that this would not qualify as it needs to be a program where Tara receives evaluations from her students and her peers also have an opportunity to evaluate her.
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  It's almost a two-year process and teaching is involved, which Tara could use for tenure.
  
  Bob inquired as to who judges qualifications for Tara.
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  Tara asked the board for ideas for shortening the JLDC meeting length.
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  Tara said that some items do not fit into the agenda but still need to be discussed at the end of the meeting.
  
  Tara has spoken with other economic development organizations who keep their meetings to one hour plus have a speaker at each meeting. Some of the discussion could be streamlined into a committee structure, she proposed.
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  Tara appreciates the responses and would like everyone's point of view as she feels the organization can benefit from that.
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  Tara suggested not going around the table for each item, just at the end for comments.
  
  c. Vacancies Tara said three terms are expiring and are up for nomination.
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  Pat was not present so Tara will contact her to see if she will accept her nomination. Tara also said there is a flexibility in the by-laws to have from 9-12 directors. We have ten directors presently. She asked if the board would like to fill the two vacant positions.
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  a. Tara reported the AYA expansion is still on hold, they are having trouble finding staff needed to expand. The roof and boiler materials are at AYA and work on both will be started soon.
  
  b. Tara received a request from Peter D. for assistance to fund an additional $2,181.13 that was omitted from their initial expansion fund request.
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  Tara asked if the board would consider his request.
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  Tara met with Peter D. in July.
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  Tara said she met with the appraiser, but did not ask for an update on the appraisal.
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  b. Tara is talking with the Sunlight Business Park contractors on a regular weekly basis. The contractors are behind schedule and are working and making progress on finalizing the drafts. A meeting will be scheduled to review and finalize the drafts after Tom and Tara receive and review them.
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  c. Tara and Tom met at the mine recently with GSM General Manager, Mark Isto, and Barrick's lawyer to review the lease.
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  Ed would like to discuss the lease with Tom and Tara after today's meeting.
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  Tara and Tom met with the private individual last week.
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  a. Tara had a meeting with Mike Ruppert regarding the research opportunity (brain UCLA connection) at the new meth treatment facility.
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  b. Tara discussed the housing issue. Tara has done much research and attended Headwaters RC&D retreat which was focused on the housing issue. There are a lot of programs and resources available and is wondering if it would be appropriate for a group interested in housing to meet and see what they want. Tara would appreciate input from board.
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  Tara will send an email out to indicate interest in being on this committee and schedule a meeting to proceed on this. There was a suggestion that perhaps a grant could fund someone to help with this project.
  
  Tara stated putting an application in for a grant for housing gets in-depth and more participation and involvement is needed. A more focused discussion to decide what is wanted and what to do and a coordinator/staff person for this subcommittee to compile data, determine needs, etc. is needed.
  
  c. Tara met with Mary Ellen Earnhardt at the Boulder Elementary School regarding their after school innovative program.
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  Commissioner Weber referred Tara to her. This is a great program that they need to make self-sustaining as their grant funding will run out in two years and they are then on their own. Tara wants JLDC to be aware of this important early childhood education program.
  
  d. Tara met with small business providers that serve Jefferson County. Headwaters RC&D is Jefferson County's primary regional economic development organization. Northern Jefferson County is served also by someone else. Tara plans to tune into other organizations serving Jefferson County and may attend some board meetings to help with this. It seems there are territorial issues between Headwaters and Gateway.
  
  e. Tara agrees with Steve that the Horizons Grant Program is a program JLDC should think about in the future.
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  Nancy Owens from the Artists Refuge in Basin gave Tara a tour of Basin; they are looking for funding for a community center.

• 
  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/dec2006minutes - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/20/2006    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Present: Bob Marks, Darrell Miller, Byron Stahly, Jan Speirer, Pat Lewis, Jim Jacobson, Joe Calnan, Ed Handl, Dick Norden, Barbara Sunderland, Tom Lythgoe, Tara Mastel, Tom Harrington, Nancy Wheeler.
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  Tara gave an update on the South Campus. Not much progress has been made on the subdivision since the last meeting.
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  Tara is investigating umbrella insurance requirements and will contact the mine manager with recommendations.
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  Tara gave the board a quick update. The BEAP project approved at last month's meeting is moving along. The business met with Headwaters RC&D's small business specialist. The next step is infrastructure. Staff will have more information for the next meeting.
  
  Tara received another BEAP project proposal. She distributed an overview sheet to the board members on the interested business. The proposed business is a mushroom growing business in Clancy. They have been growing mushrooms full time for seven years and currently sell 50,000 pounds of mushrooms per year through a distributor to Helena restaurants primarily and their goal is to increase production up to 200,000 pounds of mushrooms per year. Tara gave the pros and cons of the proposal. She said this would be a high profile project with not a lot of work commitment from the staff. Discussion followed.
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  Tara said JLDC budgeted for two BEAP projects this year and have not received any other proposals.
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  Tara will contact the business owners and proceed with the project
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  Tara will prepare a cover letter to forward the drafts and transmit to Commission.
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  Tara distributed a DRAFT North End Metal Mine Fund Disbursement Proposal based on the $1.7 million available to Jefferson County.
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  There was a consensus to reflect on this and pass constructive thoughts on to Tom or Tara and it will be discussed at next month's meeting.
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  Tara asked if JLDC would come forward again next year for operation funds.
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  Tara said the Horizons program is an 18-month grant funded program administered through MSU Extension.
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  Tara said the process will be fairly time extensive this spring.
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  Tara said she is involved as an MSU Extension agent as this program is administered through MSU Extension. Some board members are also involved.
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  Tara and Tom H. helped facilitate the program to get it off the ground, but it consists mainly of community people.
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  Tara said Joe has a valid concern.
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  Tara said she has an annual review coming up and feels JLDC is trying to be everything to everybody, but can't be. She said being overbooked and overworked is part of economic development and she will try to keep all projects going.
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  Tara agreed with Ed.
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  Tara gave a quick update.
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  Tara distributed applications to board members to give to people interested in applying for the single-family housing to be built this spring.
  
  The Human Services Committee held their quarterly meeting December 11th in Boulder. Tara said it was a good meeting; heard first hand about the groundbreaking event scheduled for that week for MDC's new high-security unit. The project is moving forward. Tara advised Kathy Zeeck, MDC's Superintendent, that she may want to hold public meetings regarding the new construction of the facility as there are some public concerns and misinformation out there about the facility.
  
  7. Staff Annual Review Joe said Tara found a good proposal for non-profits to use as a model evaluation for Tom H. and herself.
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  Tara distributed her MSU job description from when she was hired by MSU to board members.
  
  8. Staff Reports a. Tara said the MERDI report needs board approval to pay. The report will be discussed at next month's meeting due to lack of time.
  
  b. Tara distributed information on the upcoming Outlook Seminar that Tom and Tara will attend February 1st in Butte. b. Tara distributed information on the upcoming Outlook Seminar that Tom and Tara will attend February 1st in Butte.
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  c. Tara distributed a DRAFT Communication Strategy for Economic Development Efforts in Jefferson County. The goal is to increase the public's understanding of Jefferson County's economic development efforts and the role and function of Jefferson County's Economic Development Extension Agent, the purpose and structure of JLDC, and updates on specific projects or issues. Tara read through the proposed ideas to enhance exposure of the JLDC.
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  Tara will draft a letter.
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  Joe would like Commissioner Notbohm's letter to Tara emailed to board members along with Tara's draft response.

• 
  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/feb2107minutes - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/21/2007    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Present: Pat Lewis, Joe Calnan, Ed Handl, Dick Norden, Jim Jacobson, Mike Molitor, Tara Mastel, Tom Harrington, Nancy Wheeler.
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  Tara reported the sewer on the South Campus had blockage problems.
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  Tara gave an update on the Architecture and Engineering (A&E).
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  Tara and Tom assured Joe they are very aware of this; they receive the meeting minutes.
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  Tara said we actually need to do this and get the grant closed out and pay them as soon as possible.
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  Tara distributed and read aloud a Resolution staff completed for the board's approval.
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  Tara reported the bankers were excited about the business park and they thought it would be a very appealing and interesting location for businesses. They may have clients interested in moving there right now.
  
  Tara had comments on the build out of the business park. She did some research into an EDA grant as a build out of Phase 1 and it looks a little tougher than she thought. With cutbacks in budgets and a lot of development going on in our region, there are more grant applications in than money available from EDA; time is running short and there is not a lot of money. She said JLDC will need to look at two or three different sources of funding.
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  Tara said Boulder is close to wrapping up their Study Circles.
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  Tara said all is going very well in Whitehall also. Eight Study Circle groups meet Tuesday evenings and there are two day groups. There are a total of about 125 people involved in the process; an average of ten people per group and 21-22 facilitators. The Steering Committees are now starting to look at the next step in the program, which is Leadership Plenty leadership training. Three community members plus Tom H. and Tara will attend the leadership training.
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  Tara said it has now been approved by the committee.
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  Tara and Tom H. had their MSU evaluations by Steve Siegelin earlier this month.
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  Tara said Steve Siegelin, her MSU Supervisor, said four things in order for MSU to agree to the agreement with all parties.
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  Tara took other things took away from meeting. Mat will work on a contract with input from all folks involved. Tara pressed the self-sufficiency issue as she wanted to know as an MSU employee what that means. She asked Chuck if that meant he was not in support of having a relationship with MSU, which results in MSU paying one-half of the extension agent's salary. Chuck said he voted in favor of it. She took that to mean that self-sufficiency means that yes, they will maintain the staff support with MSU but look for JLDC to be self-sufficient in regards to operating funds.
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  a. Tara said OT Mining got approval to do their drilling; something that JLDC has written in support of. Tara, Tom and Barbara Sunderland attended the Bureau of Business and Economic Research's Annual Economic Outlook Seminar in Butte.
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  Tara said they are looking at a couple different sources for grants; however, both grants need matching funds, anywhere from $5-$15,000. She needs an indication from the board if this is something they are in favor of. She said staff will be more specific where funds would come from as they get closer to deciding which fund to go after. Funding could come from JLDC operations, the RLF, or the county commission, but a sense from the board as to if they are in support of this extension is needed. She feels it would be a great opportunity. There is a lot of land on the other side of the highway south of town that, once it has infrastructure, it could be a great place for businesses to expand. She said there are two businesses interested in going there now and more might be interested if there were sewer and water.
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  Tara said the Commission paid for him at JLDC's recommendation for an analysis of Jefferson County. Tara said his report is not yet completed but will be by the end of the month.
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  Tara gave an update on the Farmers Markets in Whitehall and Boulder. She said the Whitehall Farmers Market can officially be called independent.
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  Tara is thinking more and more about her tenure. The Tenure Committee is being strict and she is thinking very seriously about the tenure process. A minimum of five training programs is needed per year. She was going to do the trainings using just the Horizons Program.
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  Tara also wants to encourage the board to think of Ed's plan to review the Work Plan quarterly.
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  Lisa will be working with Tara and Tom.

• 
  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/july1807minute - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/18/2007    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Present:: Barbara Sunderland, Pat Lewis, Bob Marks, Byron Stahly, Jan Speirer, Joe Calnan, Dick Norden, Darrell Miller, Ed Handl, Tara Mastel, Tom Harrington, and Nancy Wheeler.
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  Tara said the County Commission reviewed and signed the two documents. The JLDC now needs to adopt and sign them. Tara said the County Attorney congratulated Chuck and the Committee for their hard work in doing this. He said it is long overdue and serves a great purpose to document the relationship and helped everybody understand more clearly the relationship between the three organizations (JLDC, County Commission, and MSU).
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  Tara said Dan Clark was the facilitator and his general idea was community development is a larger umbrella and economic development fits under that.
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  Tara will bring the yearly meeting schedule that was devised to the next JLDC meeting.
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  Tara will bring the coming year's schedule to the next meeting.
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  Tara said the group talked mainly about the location of the meetings and the date for next year's Annual Planning Session. They talked about rotating the monthly meetings around the county. Tentative plan for the August meeting is to have an optional tour before the meeting at Ash Grove Cement and Gold Country Mushroom with the regular meeting starting at 2:00 p.m. at the Clancy School. Nothing has been confirmed on this. Joe offered to talk with Dick Johnson, Ash Grove Cement, about touring his facility and get the information to Tara.
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  Tara has contacted Gold Country Mushroom.
  
  e. Board Vacancies and Officers The Nominating Committee, consisting of Tara, Joe, and Barbara met prior to today's meeting.
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  Tara talked about officers for next year. JLDC bylaws state officer elections happen the meeting after the annual meeting; so that would be the October meeting. Anyone interested in holding any of the officer positions on the JLDC Board, please contact Tara, Joe or Barbara.
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  Tara said the board elects the officers. She said we may need to advertise in the newspapers for the board positions and Tara will look into this.
  ...
  Tara said the board requested JLDC advertise for a vendor to do the web site and logo and try to find someone from Jefferson County. JLDC advertised in the newspapers for three weeks in all three Jefferson County newspapers. Several vendor proposals were received. Tara would like a couple board members to look at the proposals and help Tara decide who to go with for each of these items. Tara said the same group would deal with both items.
  ...
  Pat and Dick volunteered to be on this committee with Tara and Tom.
  ...
  Tara would like to meet within the next week and will contact Pat and Dick with details.
  ...
  Tara said staff has done some work on the subdivision of the South Campus.
  ...
  Tara said Headwaters put together a criteria sheet for selecting and helping with the interview process and each firm will be evaluated based on the criteria. Headwaters is organizing the selection process. Tara (JLDC), the City of Boulder, and Headwaters will make the decision.
  ...
  Tara said the grant is actually awarded to Headwaters so they will be monitoring throughout.
  ...
  Tara said Headwaters is handling the process but she will ask them.
  ...
  Tara said the proposals have been received and they have specific timelines and all are very similar.
  ...
  Tara said staff received a figure as to how much it would cost to build infrastructure for Phase 1, which would be 13 lots, at the business park. The engineer gave a large figure for Phase 1 that would have some of the infrastructure to serve the whole park. Tara said grant funding is becoming more and more scarce, so staff has asked the engineer for a bare bones figure to get funding and also for an interim system to get someone in the park within the next couple months. She said this is related to the Phase 2 grant application. A dollar figure is needed before the grant application can be finalized.
  ...
  Tara said it is the same engineer from Bozeman they have been working with.
  ...
  Tara said staff has been participating in the planning of the next phase of the project which is a community visioning process and community action. That should wrap up August through October. There are a lot of things going on in Boulder and a few in Whitehall resulting from work done the first part of the year. Tara said Horizons is an 18 month project and will end next June.
  ...
  Tara said National Affordable Housing Network (NAHN) had a buy-sell on 15 acres of land in Whitehall; discovered there was actually no access to the land. NAHN's plan was to develop 45 plus units on the land, which is now not possible.
  
  7. Staff Reports Tara said she switched the format of the staff report to be in line with the work plan for the year. Tara contacted Gold Country Mushroom about the BEAP project. They have increased their production so marketing is an issue. Tara said there are a lot of resources to help with marketing. She will connect them with those resources and watch their business grow.
  ...
  Tara said that person apparently has spoken at another one of JLDC's meetings.
  ...
  Tara said she was impressed with Elkhorn Goldfields; they are very sincere about doing it right and doing the right thing. She said they have five salaried and five hourly employees; the hourly employees are all residents of Boulder.
  ...
  Tara said Cameron Clark, MSU Extension Agriculture/4-H Agent for Madison-Jefferson Counties, resigned and accepted a position in Wyoming with the NRCS be a soil scientist.
  ...
  Tara said she had an opportunity to attend the Pacific NorthWest Economic Development Council Conference in Helena Monday-Wednesday. She said the conference was amazing and relevant to what JLDC was talking about in their annual planning session. It makes her think about what we can do in the future with the economic climate we are in and demographics, etc. She will write something up on the conference to share. She said speakers were people actually speaking from their experiences and gave examples.
  ...
  Tara commented that a third of the people at the conference she attended in Helena were from Canada.

• 
  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/aug1507minutes - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/15/2007    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Tom Lythgoe, Tara Mastel, Tom Harrington, and Nancy Wheeler.
  ...
  Tara gave an update on the sewer study. Ken Weber, a Headwaters RC&D representative, the Boulder Mayor, and Tara Mastel met as a committee and heard presentations from three engineering firms.
  ...
  Tara said this would be great timing as JLDC needs to apply for some grant funds to get the actual work done. Tara informed the board that Stahly Engineering's contact is with Headwaters RC&D and the contract was signed prior to her having a chance to review it.
  ...
  Tara said one of the items discussed at the annual planning session in June was the subdivision of the South Campus; the status and the reason for the holdup of the project. In preparation for today's meeting, Tara spoke with a couple different individuals recommended by the county planner about getting assistance with doing the subdivision and asked for bids. Team Vivrette submitted a bid of $2,500 to do the subdivision. This is above and beyond the regular costs of doing a subdivision. They have extensive experience doing subdivisions and work with the county planner regularly. Team Vivrette said they may possibly be able to get something going by mid-September. Once the subdivision is going, JLDC can enter into some serious conversations with YDI about buying the buildings. Tara said Team Vivrette are also brokers. If JLDC does sell the buildings, it was previously decided to go through a broker to be fair and open to everyone. Once the buildings are sold, the EDA funds can be rolled over into another project. The RLF fund would also be fully funded giving a good resource for some county businesses to borrow from. Tara said Team Vivrette lives and works in Jefferson County and, technically, they are the only bidder; the other bid was verbal only.
  ...
  Tara said that is true. They did state they are interested in being the brokers and would like to be considered. She said a land plan is already surveyed and ready to go.
  ...
  Tara said Team Vivrette could start on it right away and have something before the Commission possibly mid-September.
  ...
  Tara said Horizons is now on the next phase which is visioning, where the community comes together and works on the vision they have for the future. Staff is working with another Extension Agent from White Sulphur Springs to help Whitehall and Boulder work through their visioning. Whitehall will tentatively do their visioning on October 10 & 11. The Horizons program statewide has asked Tara to help Forsyth and the Crow Agency with their visioning. Tara will attend Crow Fair the end of this week to meet the people she will be working with and learn more about their culture. Fifteen percent community member participation in one way or another is required.
  ...
  Tara said invitations are also being sent in the mail. Tara said the gentleman has an impressive resume. He has turned this part of Las Vegas around and the Boulder community wanted to bring him to speak and get some ideas.
  ...
  Tara said there were some cost overruns on cleaning up the land purchased. Tara went before the Commission to ask for additional assistance on behalf of NAHN.
  ...
  Tara said if NAHN if doesn't build now, there are some costs involved.
  ...
  Tara said it will happen, it's just a matter of time.
  ...
  Tara emailed the meeting schedule for the coming year to board members. Next month is the annual dinner in lieu of the monthly meeting. It was decided the annual meeting will be held September 19th. A committee consisting of Jan Speirer, Bob Marks, Tara Mastel and Tom Harrington will meet to work out ideas and details.
  ...
  Tara emailed board members his biography.
  
  c. Elevator Story Tara said an elevator story should communicate the core of the organization. She has written several draft versions and would like to wrap the story in with the web page project as she feels the elevator story will fall out of that nicely.
  
  8. Web and Brand Identity Committee A committee consisting of Dick Norden, Pat Lewis, Tom Harrington, and Tara Mastel met recently to review the proposals submitted for the logo and web site projects.
  ...
  Tom L. reminded Tara the county is also looking at redoing their logo.
  ...
  Tara said she didn't talk with Earthtalk Studios on that issue but it would be nice if the same person did both JLDC's and the county's logo design so they would compliment each other.
  ...
  Tara said JLDC's By-Laws state officers are elected by ballot by a majority of directors at the first meeting following the annual dinner, which would be the October meeting. All officer terms expire annually; board member terms are staggered. Barbara said anyone interested in serving on the at-large position on the executive committee should contact Tara, Tom H., Joe, or herself.
  ...
  Tara said the By-Laws state additional names of candidates for directors can be nominated by a petition bearing the genuine signatures of at least 10 qualified members of the Jefferson Local Development Corporation. Such petition shall be filed with the nominating committee within 10 days after publicity has been given the names of those nominated. Tara said the By-Laws state we need to publicize in the official newspaper of Jefferson County the persons nominated at least twice in the 21 days prior to the annual meeting.
  ...
  Tara said staff is continuing to refine the new format. If anyone has suggestions or comments, please email them to Tara. Another person approached staff to be a potential BEAP project. He is a "serial entrepreneur" involved in high growth companies. He has less than 20 employees currently with a potential for high growth and is looking for assistance with the growth.
  ...
  Tara said he would like management help.
  ...
  Tara said she plans on contacting and talking with them.
  ...
  Tara said some of our office computers have new software, Microsoft Office Word 2007.
  ...
  Tara gave an update on the two BEAP projects.

• 
  www.jldcmt.com/meeting-info/jldc_minutes/nov1506minutes - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 11/15/2006    Last Visited: 10/4/2009  

  Tara and Tom H. met with Tim on the lease status for the Sunlight Business Park.
  ...
  Ed, Tara, and Tom met with the engineer and architect to review documents.
  ...
  Ed, Tara, and Tom went over details with them and refocused them on details.
  ...
  Tom L. said the Commission wants Tara and Tom H. to come forward with a metal mines grant and loan program for the north end of the county.
  ...
  Joe said that Tara and Tom H. need to develop the programs and bring to the JLDC board for approval before presenting to the Commission as Tara is employed by the JLDC.
  ...
  Tom L. asked Tara and Tom H. if they would be the "architects" for the program.
  ...
  Barbara Reiter asked if Tara didn't also work for the county and not just JLDC.
  ...
  Joe said Tara works 100 percent for JLDC (employee) and is funded by the county.
  ...
  Tom and Tara met with a prospective client interested in BEAP.
  ...
  Tara and Tom H. met with banking representatives and a housing developer who specializes in affordable housing on land available in Boulder.
  ...
  b. Joe discussed the upcoming evaluation to be done by board and staff members on Tara Mastel, JLDC Manager.
  ...
  Joe will keep in communication with Tara.

• 
  www.whitehallmontana.org/news/index.shtml - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/26/2008    Last Visited: 4/26/2008  

  The group, with Jefferson Local Development Corporation manager Tara Mastel serving as facilitator, decided to distribute pre-applications, beginning this week, at several locations throughout Whitehall (i.e. Whitehall Ledger, town hall, High Peaks Federal Credit Union, Extension office, Senior Center, bank, grocery store and elementary and high schools).

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