Industrial & Commercial Development Commission

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 3 COMMISSION 4 Village Hall Terrace Room 5 July 26, 2016 6 Members Present :, Tensley Garris, Dave Gottlieb, Mark Freeman, Larry Herskovitz, Chairman Patrick 7 Lederer, Brian Lee, Steve Lewis, Richard Rushkewicz, Tom Washburn, Curtis Wilens 8 Members Absent: Dick Leopold 9 Staff Present: David Schoon, Assistant Director, Development and Planning Services 10 Guest Speakers: Mark Bernhard, President - Bernhard Woodworking; Stu Rosen, CEO - Highland Baking 11 Public Present: None 12 Recorder: Sue Anetsberger 13 Call to Order & Introductions 14 ICDC Chairman Patrick Lederer called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall at 7:30 15 a.m. Chairman Lederer welcomed the guest speakers. 16 Review of Minutes 17 On a motion made and seconded, the June 28, 2016 ICDC meeting minutes were approved as submitted 18 by unanimous voice vote. 19 Comment-Hear from the Audience - None 20 Discussion Regarding Workforce Recruitment & Retention 21 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison, opened the discussion by stating that last month the Commission 22 invited representatives from retail and service industries located within Northbrook to discuss work 23 force issues. This month Liaison Schoon and Member Garris inquired how representatives from the 24 manufacturing and construction industry recruited their employees, efforts made to retain employees, 25 obstacles specific to Northbrook when recruiting and trying to retain employees, and how the Village or 26 the Chamber could be of more assistance to the community. Two representatives from the 27 manufacturing sector were welcomed. Also any members of the Commission involved in 28 manufacturing/construction were invited to add their thoughts. 29 Mark Bernhard, President of Bernhard Woodwork, stated his company manufactures high end 30 architectural woodwork with very skilled bench laborers. The company employs 80 people with 65 of 31 those in the shop. They work with an agency to attract employees. Bernhard tries to attract skilled 32 laborers but will train new talent. Employee numbers are down. Bernard stated that formerly many of 33 their skilled employees came from Eastern Europe. Many of their USA skilled carpenters/cabinet makers 34 and European employees are of retirement age. The Unions have stopped supporting their 35 apprenticeship programs; therefore it has been difficult to attract young skilled laborers. Bernhard 36 Woodworking began their own in house apprenticeship program and currently has four participants. 37 The Apprenticeship Program teaches safety around the manufacturing machines, basic math, CAD, and 38 other requirements.  ICDC Meeting Minutes – July 26, 2016 1 Bernhard Woodworking employees come from all over the Chicagoland area. His building location in 2 Northbrook is good and the route is accessible by car. Employee start time is 6 a.m. to avoid traffic 3 congestion. None of their employees use public transportation. Laborers are recruited from Waukegan 4 and North Chicago as contract employees. Students are brought in from the wood shop classes from 5 New Trier. The rate of pay is handsome, inside the shop, non-union salaries of $65-$70K per year are 6 offered with a great benefit package. Outside the shop, union contract wage is approximately $46 per 7 hour and yearly income is approximately $100K. Average employee length with the company is 8 approximately fourteen years. To offset the lack of skilled laborers, the company is investing heavily in 9 automation and integrated manufacturing systems, i.e. CNC equipment. 10 Mark Bernhard asked for the Commission's help in two areas; 1) Bernhard stated that the electrical 11 power is bad in his area, that they often lose one leg of power. His equipment is power sensitive. He is 12 using monitoring equipment to monitor the power loss. He is incurring equipment damage when power 13 is down a leg. The hidden damage is costly to his manufacturing processes. 2) Bernhard asked when the 14 new water tower would be phased in. He only has 25 lbs. of pressuring going to his building. He stated 15 that water pressure is at the lowest state mandated level of health and his water faucets only trickle 16 within the building. 17 Mark Bernhard stated that there is a stigma to being a blue class worker. The North Shore only supports 18 college bound students and not the trades. Shop classes are not being taught within the schools. He 19 stated that there is good money in the trades. 20 Stu Rosen, CEO of Highland Baking reiterated a lot of the same concerns as Bernhard Woodworking. 21 Highland Baking maintains two business manufacturing sites, Northbrook and North Carolina. Their 22 employees are unskilled, average rate of pay is $16-17 per hour with full health benefits for the 23 employee only. It is a non-union shop but Highland Baking matches their benefits to the bakery union 24 contract. Highland is understaffed and seeks employees. The job is physical and mandates employees to 25 be on their feet most of the day. The first part of their interview process is to show perspective 26 employees the job floor so recruits see firsthand the expectations involved. A temporary agency (10% of 27 employee total) and direct hire are used for recruiting. An employee referral program whereby the 28 referring employee receives a bonus at 30 days and another at six months after a new hire starts is 29 Highland's best source to attract new employees. The ratio of getting one new employee to stay for six 30 months is 20:1. New employee turnover is great in the beginning, however, valued employees move up 31 quicker than normal with the opportunity for advancement. Rosen offers new employees the chance to 32 visualize their future in 5-10 years down the road. 33 Member Rushkewicz asked what is most problematic with employees. Stu Rosen replied that there is no 34 work ethic and that there used to be more willingness to do a job. Rosen stated that the heat in the 35 building is taxing, it is 10 degrees warmer than the outside temperature. New immigrants are not as 36 motivated. Highland's workforce is highly Hispanic. Immigration and paperwork is an issue. An 37 immigration check removed 300 employees a few years back with only a two week notice. 2  ICDC Meeting Minutes – July 26, 2016 1 Highland Baking has invested heavily with automation and balances it with manual processes. Rosen 2 states that packing and shipping are smart places to invest automation in. One robot can replace 20 3 workers on two lines. Rosen stated that it not the investment cost of the robot, but that he cannot find 4 the necessary 20 workers needed. He stated that the price of robotics has come down over the last ten 5 years. The plant runs 24 hours per week with three work shifts. Rosen went on to say that they were 6 looking at the acquisition of another company just so that they could acquire those workers. Rosen 7 stated he has 570 direct hires, 65 from temporary agencies (total employees - 635) but requires 10% 8 more employees to meet a workforce total need of 700. Overtime is not a cost involved worry. It's a 9 physical issue. 10 Member Garris inquired if Chicago raises their minimum wage, what the effect for Highland Baking 11 would be? Rosen replied Highland Baking offers a better career path but in order for his employees to 12 commute to Northbrook due to expense and time, there is a $3 difference per hour in pay that he must 13 offer. Rosen stated that benefits are great but his employees look at the net paycheck. Highland's 14 benefits mirror union contracts. Seniority is built into promotions and vacation schedule. Rosen was 15 asked if operating a plant in Northbrook presented any special challenges. He replied that all of the high 16 end suburbs were facing the same challenges. Affordable housing has waned. It is becoming difficult to 17 find individuals to keep our businesses open. Highland Baking has worked with a few of their employees 18 to help make it possible for them to live in the area. If there was a way to work with other companies to 19 get employees to Northbrook and to defray transportation costs, it would be helpful. 20 Member Garris asked if a job fair in the area would be helpful to solicit potential employees. Rosen 21 replied that he thought taking a job fair "to where the people live" would be more advantageous than 22 holding one in Northbrook. He stated Northbrook should go to an area where a bigger job fair is held, 23 the results might be better for all involved. Mark Bernhard stated that there is a lack of awareness about 24 Sky Harbor, that it exists. Bernhard felt that there is a lack of awareness in areas such as Waukegan, the 25 City of Chicago, and North Chicago that there are jobs in Northbrook. 26 Chairman Lederer asked if the Village of Northbrook and the Chamber of Commerce could help out in 27 any way. Rosen replied that transportation was a big issue and working with another company looking 28 to transport employees by shuttle from the north side of Chicago would be a positive. 29 Liaison Schoon asked the Commissioners to comment, if they had any similar work issues. Member 30 Hershkovitz added that in his own HVAC business he could use another eight employees. The wage paid 31 is scale within the industry. He stated he is turning down certain work on the commercial and industrial 32 side due to lack of workforce. 33 Community Planning & Economic Development Coordinator Report 34 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison provided information on the current status of development projects; 35 1) A wall sign for Kemper Sports on Skokie Highway was approved; 2) Applicant seeks Zoning Text 36 Amendment and Special Permit for a Sober Living Facility at 1620 Voltz Rd. to create supportive 37 environment for individuals staying for 3-12 months; 3) Orangetheory physical fitness had prelim review 38 to locate and use a part of the space of the former Ace Hardware on Dundee; 4) Prinz Ltd., 512 Lindberg 3  ICDC Meeting Minutes – July 26, 2016 1 seeks small retail sales area due; 5) Prelim review was held for 2420-50 Landwehr, seven lot subdivision 2 with a new developer; 6) CrossFit on Janke Rd. - August 9th Board will vote on Special Permit and 3 rezoning of property; 7) 2990 Dundee Rd wants to build a 7,000 sq. ft. multi tenant building. Plan 4 Commission is concerned with location of parking; 8) EDC discussed at previous meeting what should 5 the Village be doing, if anything, to encourage reinvestment in older areas beginning with industrial 6 areas and then next other non-residential properties. The concern is trying to retain a non-residential 7 tax base within the community. Committee will address concern at October meeting. 8 A Member questioned if there is a lot of industrial vacancy within the community. Liaison Schoon replied 9 the South Shermer vacancy has a higher vacancy than Sky Harbor. 10 A Member questioned the status of Vinnie White's building across from the railroad station. Liaison 11 Schoon stated the current building will be demolished. There are no immediate plans but demolition is 12 due to the condition of the building. 13 A Member questioned the status of Lucky Fish Deli on Shermer. Liaison Schoon stated that the owner 14 continues to work on the space. 15 A Member questioned the streetscape between Waukegan and Shermer. Liaison Schoon stated the plan 16 is to covert from four lanes of traffic to three lanes and be built independent from the Jacob's project. 17 Update Regarding Pace Bus Shelter in Sky Harbor 18 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison stated that Pace in an email stated they continue to study the issue. 19 The Village sent Pace the right of way information. They are confirming if they can put a shelter in the 20 right of way or if an easement is needed from the adjacent property. 21 Old Business 22 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison reported that the business visits will pick up again in September. 23 New Business 24 Member Garris, President of Northbrook Chamber of Commerce thanked those who attended the 25 Business Expo and After Hours on Monday, July 25th. Applications are being accepted for Leadership 26 Northbrook. U. S. Representative Dold will address the Chamber on August 10, 2016. Meal packing will 27 take place on August 25, 2016. 28 The next discussion regarding Workforce Recruitment and Retention with more significant employee 29 numbers will take place at the September meeting. Suggested businesses were Allstate, W.W. Grainger, 30 Underwriters Laboratories, and UPS. They will represent union and non-union businesses. 31 Adjourn 32 On motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled 33 for Tuesday, August 23, at 7:30 a.m. 34 Respectfully Submitted 35 Sue Anetsberger 4