By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
One is a gaming league development company; the other is exploring software development options. Both share a common bond by calling Whitewater home and are receiving a new infusion of cash after reporting growth.
After meeting behind closed doors, the Whitewater Community Development Authority (CDA) has agreed to award additional loan funds to Mobile Mesh Games and Meeper Technology.
Both companies are in their infancy and operate in the city through an incubation program that includes collaboration between officials at the municipal level and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Patrick Cannon, executive director of the CDA, reported on Jan. 28 that Mobile Mesh is increasing its staffing levels by one person, while Meeper Technology is adding four staffers to its offices.
To help facilitate the expansion, the CDA has agreed to allocate Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the two companies. For each new staffer brought on, the CDA is offering the companies a $20,000 loan.
This means Mobile Mesh’s newest CDBG loan totals $20,000, while Mobile Mesh’s is $80,000. Both companies received CDBG loans in the past and are in good standing with the repayment terms.
Cannon said the news for both companies is good as the incubation program continues its own upward trajectory within the city.
“These are companies that have actually exceeded what they’ve planned,” Cannon said.
Other CDA new
In other recent business, the CDA:
- Discussed the proposed purchase of a 5-acre parcel within the city’s business park along Innovation Drive.
The purchase was to have been consummated last fall, Cannon said, but was delayed for a variety of reasons, including environmental testing of soil within the impacted area.
Jeffrey Knight, who chairs the CDA, said the planned purchase falls in line with market rate conditions within the community.
- Discussed the preparation of the CDA’s annual report, which will be formally presented this month. Tentative plans call for unveiling the document at the next Common Council meeting on March 15.
In addition to nuts-and-bolts financial data, the report will touch on some of the projects that have come to fruition this past year through assistance from the CDA. The document also will glean data related to job growth.
“We’ve got a strong track record when it comes to economic development,” Knight said.
- Adopted a resolution to allocate $75,000 toward the city’s fourth tax-incremental financing (TIF) district. The shift in funds, which are being pulled out of other TIF districts, is occurring to help cover administrative expenses within TIF No. 4.
- Discussed what steps and procedures should be taken when a business is delinquent in paying back a loan, based on the terms of the initial agreement. CDA members discussed a hybrid approach that includes making phone calls and providing written correspondence.
“You’ve got to have a paper trail to make it stand out,” Cannon said.
- Discussed some of the CDA’s most recent marketing efforts. Cannon helped prepare a document that was distributed at a business-themed conference held by Gov. Scott Walker in February.
