Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Service Provider Agreement with Harris & Associates to Complete an Economic Development Strategic Plan in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $250,000. (Economic Development 10061810)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Gerry Beaudin, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The last Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) was completed in 2018. The City of Alameda (City) is now at the stage where it needs to update the existing EDSP to meet the needs of Alameda and the Economic Development program over the next five years. In response to this need, the City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) on July 9, with responses due by August 17. A total of nineteen proposals were received and evaluated by City staff. The top four finalist proposals and work products were reviewed by the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel (EDAP), and staff conducted interviews before selecting the Harris & Associates team to recommend to the City Council.
BACKGROUND
In 2018, City Council adopted the existing EDSP, which was designed to guide the City’s economic development activities over the following five to ten years. The EDSP served as Alameda’s roadmap for achieving economic growth and improving the quality of life for residents and employees. The overall goal of the EDSP at that time was to focus limited City resources for economic development on the business sectors for which Alameda was an attractive option, there was room for growth, and which met Alameda’s long-term goals.
The 2018 EDSP identified ten priority areas, divided into two major categories to support Alameda’s economic resiliency:
Business sectors identified as opportunities for growth:
1. Life Sciences
2. Clean Tech, Green Tech, High Tech
3. Blue Tech and Maritime
4. Retail and Restaurants
5. Tourism/Hospitality
6. Artists and Small Manufacturers
Critical services to support the retention, expansion, and growth of businesses in Alameda:
1. Transportation Choices
2. Housing
3. Workforce Development
4. City Services and Policy Documents
Following major economic shifts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, changes to the market for development, including housing, office, retail, and industrial space, and the growth of the Artificial Intelligence sector in the San Francisco Bay Area, staff believe it is now time for a new EDSP to be developed. The new EDSP will provide a roadmap for the City to determine where to allocate resources and to identify the City’s five-year priorities for business attraction, retention, and expansion.
Based on feedback received from the EDAP during its June meeting, the Economic Development Strategic Plan RFP contained the following three sections:
1. Evaluation of Current Conditions and Trends
The consultant should provide the context and analysis needed to develop the strategic plan, work plan, and roadmaps, and to evaluate the characteristics of Alameda and how those characteristics compare with those of the surrounding communities.
2. Stakeholder engagement
The consultant should develop and execute a stakeholder engagement plan to solicit thoughtful participation and input from various stakeholder groups and individuals.
3. Developing an Economic Development Strategic Plan
The Consultant is to complete the following analysis:
• Given current economic conditions, determine whether the six business sectors previously identified are still opportunities for growth to be focused on and whether there are more nuanced North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes/industries that require more targeted focus.
• Identify which industries to continue to target and develop attraction strategies and a roadmap to follow tied to the individual sectors.
o Within this section, identify the extent to which the focus should be on retention and growth versus attraction.
• Given existing staff resources and budgets, determine the role economic development staff can play in the four previously listed “critical services” categories and determine which service categories to continue to focus on.
Based on the information and understanding gained from the evaluation of Alameda’s current conditions and trends, the stakeholder groups, and the background evaluation described above, the Consultant will be expected to develop an Economic Development Strategic Plan that:
• Identifies industry best practices for utilizing data in developing programs, allocating resources, and making decisions.
• Compares the City’s current development project processes, including setting fees, taxes, rates, and incentives to regional best practices, and provides recommendations to City staff for improvement.
• Identifies best practices for developing and enhancing strategic partnerships with entities such as county government, trade associations, business groups, schools, labor unions, etc.
• Defines the City’s role in workforce development, including the development of strategies to enhance educational opportunities and job training, and the required relationships with trade and professional schools and higher education.
The Strategic Plan should also include specific efforts to:
• Support small businesses and foster entrepreneur development.
• Support business attraction for targeted sectors.
• Support business retention and expansion.
• Include an Economic Development Marketing Plan that is multi-pronged and includes, but is not limited to, the creation of branding, campaigns, collateral, and website and social media content.
Finally, the Plan should include the following components:
• A road map for any necessary modifications to the Economic Development Work Plan within the resources provided, and alternatives requiring more resources, with costs and benefits.
• A plan for telling the story of the Economic Development program, activities, and successes internally and externally.
• An explanation of the important economic development roles tangentially assumed by other City departments (i.e., Alameda Municipal Power, Planning, Building and Transportation, Public Works, Alameda Police Department)
• Identify appropriate economic development performance tracking metrics and methods, and the cadence for performance monitoring by metric (quarterly, annually, biannually, every five (5) years).
• Identify priorities and resources necessary for implementing recommendations.
• Provide recommendations for the frequency of future Economic Development Strategic Plan updates.
The City received 19 proposals in response to the RFP. Staff reviewed the proposals based on their understanding of the project requirements and their experience of doing similar work. In addition, proposals were graded on the cost and time to complete the project.
Overall, staff were pleased with the number and quality of the responses and felt that the pool represented some of the top firms in the Bay Area and beyond. Based on the criteria listed above, staff narrowed down the responses to the top four listed below (not in order of preference), which were presented to EDAP and interviewed by staff:
1. Willdan Financial Services
2. Good City Company
3. Harris & Associates
4. BAE Urban Economics
Based on the feedback from EDAP, the oral interview, and reference checks, staff is recommending the proposal from Harris & Associates as the one that best fits the needs of Alameda and the requirements listed in the RFP.
ANALYSIS
Consultant Team
Harris & Associates (Harris) is a consulting firm focused on helping public agencies solve complex challenges. For over 50 years, their Municipal and District Finance group has served more than 100 public agencies with expertise in economic and fiscal analysis, real estate economics, and public finance. For this project, Harris will be the lead consultant to manage the schedule, budget, quality control, performance measurement, City coordination, and final deliverables.
Subconsultants
The subconsultants for this project include Chabin Concepts, Economic Forensics and Analytics, Inc. (EFA), and Urban Scenarios.
• Chabin Concepts
Chabin Concepts, based in Chico, has served over 400 communities since its founding in 1989. Over the last six years, they have completed ten economic development strategic plans and sixteen comprehensive economic development strategies throughout California and the Bay Area. For this project, Chabin will be responsible for the economic identity and positioning work, the targeted attraction and marketing strategy, and the implementation and performance support work.
• Urban Scenarios
Urban Scenarios, based in Portland, specializes in translating market and real estate information into place-based strategies and visual tools using ESRI StoryMaps. For this project, they will lead the workforce, industry, and real estate analysis; stakeholder engagement; and the place-based and industry strategy support.
• Economic Forensics and Analytics, Inc. (EFA)
EFA, based in Petaluma, is an economic and public-policy consulting firm established in 2000. They specialize in economic and workforce development planning, economic impact modeling, forecasting, and data analysis. For this project, they will lead on economic conditions and trends; regional competitiveness and trend analysis; and place-based asset analysis.
The Harris and subconsultant team bring extensive experience in their field and has produced the highest number of comparable economic development strategic plans among the four finalists reviewed. The lead managers and principals of the firms have decades of experience doing similar projects in California and throughout the Bay Area. In addition, the subconsultant team has worked together on numerous projects.
Cost
The RFP listed an allocated budget of up to $250,000 to complete the EDSP. The Harris proposed budget totaled $243,868. It should be noted that the Harris proposal included the highest number of hours allocated for the project, with a corresponding lowest per-hour rate. Although the proposed budget came in lower, the contract will be written for $250,000 to allow for a contingency factor.
Timing
The Harris proposal will meet the timing goals set forth in the RFP of completing the evaluation of current conditions, and the trends and background materials to align with the City Council Strategic Plan update process in early 2027.
ALTERNATIVES
• Do not authorize the City Manager to execute the service provider agreement.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The contract is not-to-exceed $250,000, with costs paid on an ongoing basis. Funds for this agreement are included in the City Council-approved Fiscal Year 2025-27 Biennial Budget. (Economic Development 10061810)
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The City’s Economic Development activities are based on the existing Economic Development Strategic Plan, which will be replaced with this contract. This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a Service Provider Agreement with Harris & Associates to complete an Economic Development Strategic Plan in an amount not-to-exceed $250,000.
Respectfully submitted,
Abigail Thorne-Lyman, Base Reuse and Economic Development Director
By:
Dwayne Dalman, Economic Development Division Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. EDSP RFP
2. Harris & Associates RFP Proposal
3. Service Provider Agreement