April 24, 2019

Meeting Attendee’s: Mark, Tammy & Steve (Tammy took notes)

Steve presented a map (below) of the proposed factory location (Forte Wayne, Indiana) with distances to cities that need affordable housing.  Steve proposed a list of questions that need to be asked to key government officials of each city and the directors of CDC’s of each city in order to verify and validate the need for affordable housing.  This info will also validate the need and demand for a factory.  Steve proposed that the factory should focus solely on affordable housing based on projected demand.  Steve said the strategy would be to go after federal funds/grants rather than state. Our buyers will be from 4-5 states thereby making the plea for federal monies seems more appropriate and accessible.

Mark suggested defining our purpose to providing affordable housing to the region.  Education and employment would be secondary and the profits would be set to provide funding for Indiana food security. Having a Purdue Extension in house would be included as a tag on that can be discussed further if requested.  Having a training program in house should be added after the factory is funded as it only requires space and is not necessary to get the factory up and running.  Mark suggested talking to Scott Philips to discuss factory automation and layout.  Steve mentioned an additional contact, Mark Boston,  for the same reason. While federal grants will be our target Mark said we should not rule out a public/private partnership should one be made available. Mark suggested setting up two online forms for the questions. The first set of questions for the city official in charge of affordable housing will be:

  1. Does the city have an affordable housing crisis?
  2. What are your affordable housing needs and their deficit?
  3. What is the current average subsidy needed for each house to qualify as affordable?
  4. What percentage of that deficit is rental/home ownership?
  5. Of the rentals, what percentage will be single family dwellings or multi-family?
  6. What are the names and contact info of the directors of the cities CDC’s.

The second set of questions to the CDC directors will be:

  1. Does your area have an affordable housing crisis?
  2. What percentage of affordable housing is rental/home ownership? Why?
  3. Of the rentals, what percentage are single family dwellings or multi-family?
  4. What level of subsidy do you need for each home?
  5. What is the minimum square feet for a one story single family dwelling?

To Do’s:

Mark:

  • set up meeting with Scott Philips
  • research population of cities within our logistical reach, including those listed and unlisted
  • research city officials names and contact info
  • set up meeting with George from Purdue

Steve:

  • set up meeting with Mark Boston
  • build online question form for city official
  • put notes online