Good morning Plymouth. Welcome to Discover Plymouth. I'm Dave Kaiser from CCX Media, honored to be back again to help MC this event. But it doesn't take much of me because the city is all here with a lot of great information for you.

Good morning everyone. And welcome to the annual State of the City address. This is one of my favorite events of the year. I always look forward to sharing the wonderful news coming out of this incredible community. However, unfortunately, I won't be able to deliver the address in person this year due to a previously scheduled medical procedure. So for today's presentation, I'm happy to invite at-large council member and deputy mayor Clark Gregor to share the news from the city.

As Plymouth has developed, we've grown to become a global player in the medtech industry. We also feature an impressive array of research and development facilities for some of the biggest, most cutting-edge companies in the world.

It's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.

Daikin Applied Americas is headquartered right here in Plymouth, Minnesota. We were formally McQuay International. We've been here for decades. We are part of Daikin Industries Limited, which is a global HVAC manufacturer. In fact, it's the largest heating, ventilation, air conditioning company in the world.

And in turn, we see almost the same philosophy here in Plymouth and in Minnesota. So culturally, it fits. And I would say the second, but probably more important reason is the people. We are able to find very good people. And that means good-hearted people, people that care for each other, but also high-quality people, well-educated people, hard-working people.

Our city has been hard at work throughout the past year with a sharp focus on continuing to provide high-quality city services and finding innovative ways to efficiently, effectively, and professionally serve our Plymouth residents.

One important example is our climate action and resiliency plan, which is now in development. This plan will help guide thoughtful, practical environmental decisions across the city, uh and they are going to be shaped by community input.

In 2025, Plymouth Metrolink's fixed route ridership grew as we expanded park and ride across the city with access at the new permanent structure at the Northwest Greenway.

We really continue to see strong community engagement at our events and facilities. And 2025 had the distinction of record-breaking attendance at several events, including Discover Plymouth, this event, our Kids Fest, Halloween at the Lake, and our Artisan Market.

So we're requesting authorization from the state to allow voters to consider a half-cent local sales tax to help fund those projects. What that will do is more equitably distribute the cost among users of the facilities, including visitors to our city.

I'm also excited that we are the first city in the state to complete a smart tree inventory, which built a digital inventory of public trees citywide. Nearly 40,000 trees were scanned, and we used artificial intelligence to analyze all those trees.

In fact, 94% of respondents from that survey noted that the overall feeling of safety in Plymouth was either either good or excellent.

The tactics used by federal immigration enforcement officers stood in stark contrast with the consistent community-focused approach practiced by our local police. The concern that many felt during those encounters underscores how professional and respected the Plymouth Police Department is. And for that, I'm truly grateful.

Officer Weinmann has had an incredible past year. His focus is on DWI enforcement in the city, and he is highly effective at detecting and stopping impaired drivers on Plymouth roadways.

So last August, firefighters were dispatched to a call for a patient experiencing difficulty breathing. Brandon arrived on scene finding an adult on the living room floor under the care of nursing staff. The patient was unconscious and had no pulse. Brandon immediately initiated CPR. He directed staff to retrieve an AED, and chest compressions and ventilators were performed. After which, a pulse was restored.

For more than four decades, our city has been recognized by the Government Finance Officers Association with a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting. This is the highest recognition available for government financial reporting. We've also maintained AAA bond ratings from two bond credit rating agencies since 2010.

And Jody earned the Certified Municipal Clerk designation from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks. These certifications require years of dedication, education, and experience, and they are important to ensure that our government functions as it should with high-quality services for licensing, elections, data practices, and more.

Housing has been a major priority for the city and for our city council, especially in the last year. And the community and economic development department has been hard at work advancing that goal.

Pilgram is now a successful business owner in Plymouth. In fact, her company, Pilgram Consulting Group, recently made the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Business Journal's list of largest minority-owned businesses. Armetha's story illustrates that these programs not only benefit the recipient, but also our community as a whole.

Plymouth's future is bright, and we are ready to lead all the way to 2050 and beyond. And every day, in our neighborhoods, our council chambers, and gathered together like this, we see what makes us strong. Plymouth is where we live, where we work, and where we proudly call home.

Great job here for the city of Plymouth. Let's talk about the wide range of businesses that open here. Can you share a little bit more about what the city does to support and retain businesses right here in Plymouth?

Plymouth currently has 27 over 2700 businesses and they employ over 50,000 people. So we have an amazing economy. And so the the council we look to support businesses of all types and sizes, the the one-person company all the way up to the really large ones because they all contribute to that stability and vitality and that's really important to us.

So we're happy to welcome new businesses always but most of the new jobs they come from the pre-existing businesses that exist in Plymouth. So it's important that what we do, we make efforts to support them and retain them.

So the city we do visits, we'll do website features, we'll go to ribbon cuttings. I mean if I ever get an email from a company, I try to go to pretty much everyone.