The Economic Development Board’s regular monthly meeting scheduled for Wednesday has been canceled for the second time in three months because the panel will not have a quorum.
The EDB was to hear an update on Carter’s Biz Café, the new tenant at the Commanding Officers Quarters, from owner and founder Carter Rankin.
At the EDB’s last meeting, Rankin gave a presentation of his proposed use of the COQ: The principal idea behind Carter’s Biz Café, he said, is to provide space for client-hosting and other events for independent companies that can operate anywhere in the world with a computer laptop and cell phone.
Benicia paid millions to refurbish and seismically retrofit the COQ, a process completed in 2009. By 2010 the city had begun a search for a long-term tenant. But it took until October 2014 before the building was officially leased to Rankin.
The EDB was set to hear Wednesday that there have been a few events at the COQ since the lease was approved, including an open house for Carter’s Biz Café in November that showcased artist Kerry Lee Hedrick, and the League of Women Voters Benicia’s Meet Your Local Officials event Feb. 27 that also featured Chef Joe Rodrigues, owner of the Pleasanton-based Valley Catering.
In other matters before the EDB, Jack Wolf of Wolf Communications was to provide his annual report on the status of Benicia’s tourism campaign.
Wolf, whose report was on the panel’s February agenda before that meeting was cancelled when a quorum couldn’t be achieved, was to report Wednesday on the third and fourth quarters of 2014.
Also Wednesday, the EDB was to recognize the contributions of former member Duane Oliveira, who stepped down last month after serving on the panel since June 2006.
Finally, new Benicia business licenses were slated to be acknowledged in a presentation. The businesses are: Kimono LLC; Bay Area Metal Fabrication LLC; Cornerstone Financial Group; La Fabriquita; Badger Daylighting; and One Bella Casa Inc.
The EDB is next scheduled to meet on May 20.
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