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Recommendation for the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel to Review and Endorse the Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP)
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Date: June 21, 2018
To: Members of the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel
From: Lois RP Butler, Economic Development Manager
Re: Recommendation for the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel to Review and Endorse the Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP)
BACKGROUND
The City of Alameda contracted with Strategic Economics to help prepare a citywide Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP), which is the long-term (five to ten years) roadmap for business attraction, retention, and workforce development activities. The EDSP identifies specific goals, strategies, and actions necessary to create, support and attract businesses and jobs, diversify the local economy, and maintain fiscal health. The draft EDSP and its Background Report are attached as Exhibits 1 and 2. This document will replace the previous EDSP, which was originally prepared in 2001, and revised in January 2008.
City staff and Strategic Economics began work on the EDSP in 2016. At its November 2, 2016 meeting, the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel appointed four members (Erik Chubb, Remy Monteko, Brock Grunt, and David Mik) to join a representative from the Planning Board (Lorre Zuppan) on an Ad Hoc Committee for Preparation of the EDSP. The Ad Hoc Committee met twice to develop guiding principles and a framework for the EDSP.
These principles and framework were presented to the Planning Board in December 2016, and to the City Council in February 2017. In response to City Council direction, an EDSP Task Force was created to provide a broader, community-driven process for completing the Plan.
The 21-member Task Force included Adam Elsesser, David Mik, Brock Grunt, and Mark Sorensen from the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel along with two (now former) members of the Planning Board, local business owners, labor and housing advocates, developers, residents, and other community leaders representing diverse perspectives and interests. The EDSP Task Force Roster is attached as Exhibit 3.
The EDSP Task Force developed the EDSP over the course of seven meetings, held from August 2017 through March 2018. This work was informed by the results of previously completed analyses, focus group interviews, community workshops, and the EDSP Ad Hoc Committee’s work (see EDSP Appendix B for a complete list of community engagement meetings and interviews).
Following the completion of the draft EDSP, it was presented to the Planning Board. The Board provided comments on the draft EDSP at its March 28, 2018 meeting and then unanimously endorsed the document on May 29. 2018. Now the draft EDSP is being presented to the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel for its review and endorsement, before it proceeds to the City Council for final approval on July 24, 2018.
DISCUSSION
The EDSP Vision Statement. The Task Force initiated its work by reviewing the research completed by Strategic Economics. Through deliberations that spanned several meetings, the Task Force adopted a vision statement that reflects a desire to maintain and build upon what makes Alameda unique. The vision statement incorporates factors such as workforce development, small business and startups, restaurants and retail sectors, social justice, environmental and fiscal sustainability, tourism, housing, and transportation:
Alameda shall continue to evolve into a thriving and resilient economy with a range of quality jobs by supporting innovative businesses, entrepreneurs, and artists; providing a wide range of housing; enhancing the vibrancy of retail, restaurants, tourism, and cultural destinations; leveraging its unique waterfront assets; improving multimodal local and regional transportation options; and pursuing clean energy solutions, while maintaining a commitment to environmental sustainability, climate action, social equity, and fiscal health.
The Strategies. Emanating from the vision statement, the Task Force identified ten priority areas, containing the following six business sectors and four critical services to support Alameda’s economic resiliency:
Summary of Business Sectors Strategies
1. Life sciences-Alameda features a rapidly growing cluster of life science businesses. The corresponding strategies focus on:
a. actively helping Alameda to compete for a greater share of the region’s significant life sciences industry by marketing Alameda’s advantages for these businesses,
b. removing regulatory barriers to growth, and
c. deepening the network of local and regional businesses and investors.
2. Clean Tech, Green Tech, and High Tech-Alameda is positioned to capture a share of the growth in the clean, green, high tech industries, due to its central location within the East Bay region. The proposed strategies establish a multi-pronged approach for:
a. attracting startups,
b. increasing workforce preparedness, and
c. heightening awareness of Alameda and integration within the larger regional clean, green, and high tech industries.
3. Blue Tech and Maritime-Alameda should actively prioritize and pursue opportunities to support its Blue Economy, recognizing that businesses within this industry sector leverage Alameda’s waterfront assets and are a core component of Alameda’s economy and community identity. Some of the suggested strategies include:
a. creating and implementing an action plan for job growth in the maritime sector,
b. reviewing waterfront land use and zoning regulations, and
c. increasing workforce preparedness.
4. Retail and Restaurants-The retail market is rapidly changing, as consumer preferences have shifted to more online shopping and delivery services. At the same time, consumers are devoting a greater share of their spending on experiential retail (dining, personal services, and fitness), offering new opportunities for businesses to incorporate more interactive experiences into their stores. The proposed strategies include:
a. supporting existing shopping and dining districts by working with private property owners and business associations to improve retail spaces and the public realm,
b. recruiting and retaining tenants,
c. assisting with marketing, and
d. providing technical assistance to businesses.
5. Tourism and Hospitality-Alameda’s visitor destinations include museums, food and beverage manufacturing at Spirits Alley, and recreational uses, especially on the waterfront. The strategies concentrate on:
a. promoting a unified image of Alameda’s destinations,
b. facilitating hotel growth,
c. improving access to destinations, and
d. exploring opportunities to grow new destinations.
6. Artists and Small Manufacturers-Alameda has an established community of artists, “makers,” and small manufacturers, many specializing in the food and beverage sector, drawn to Alameda’s “funky” environment and historic buildings. The strategies help to:
a. facilitate the process for artists and new businesses to find space and for existing businesses to expand their facilities; and
b. enhance opportunities for artists, small manufacturers, students, and innovators to build skills.
Summary of Critical Services Strategies
1. Transportation Choices-Transportation and traffic congestion present specific barriers to economic development and each of the business sectors identified in the draft EDSP. The strategies support the implementation of the City’s new Transportation Choices Plan to access homes, jobs, schools, local businesses, and amenities by reducing drive-alone trips over the next 15 years.
2. Housing-The affordable housing and rental housing crisis impacts economic development, particularly affecting the ability of local businesses to recruit and retain employees. Protecting Alamedans who are already housed here is an immediate imperative. The strategies support the City’s Housing Element to provide a wide range of housing types and levels of affordability.
3. Workforce Development-The strategies propose to strengthen the coordination between labor organizations, colleges, the Alameda Unified School District, and other workforce development agencies to connect the local workforce with job training and employment placement in jobs that offer solid economic opportunities for residents while meeting the needs of employers. In recognition of the growing income disparity in the Bay Area, one of the strategies in the EDSP is to consider raising Alameda’s minimum wage.
4. City Services and Policy Documents-Various City departments interact with businesses to help them set-up up or expand their operations. There are opportunities to continue improving the quality of services from the City to the business community. Some of the suggested strategies include:
a. Improving the permitting process to reduce permitting costs and provide more certainty for businesses, and
b. Studying the potential areas of improvement for special event permitting processes.
c. Reviewing policies to encourage disadvantaged business opportunities.
The draft EDSP also contains some specific strategies that address the City’s land use and zoning regulations and may result in proposals to amend the Alameda Municipal Code. These strategies include:
3.2: Update land use and zoning regulations for waterfront sites in Alameda to include objective standards that ensure development projects preserve economically viable water-dependent maritime uses and maintain adequate access to the waterfront for business operations.
3.3: By 2019, identify waterfront locations and sites best-positioned to serve and retain maritime businesses, and review the adequacy of the existing zoning for these locations to support maritime industrial uses in the future. Provide recommendations on modifications to zoning to preserve these uses by 2020.
4.2: Amend the Alameda Municipal Code to facilitate inclusion of restaurants and retail stores and on-water access opportunities (floating docks with picnic tables and transient boat docks) in new projects on waterfront sites - such as the Northern Waterfront, Alameda Point, South Shore, and Bridgeside Shopping Center.
In addition, Alameda’s current General Plan contains very few policies related to economic development. The process of creating this new EDSP presents an opportunity to incorporate the community’s economic development priorities within the General Plan’s Land Use Element. Once the draft EDSP is approved, the City’s Economic Development and Planning Divisions will work together to develop specific recommendations for the Planning Board’s consideration to amend the Alameda Municipal Code and/or the General Plan, as appropriate.
Finally, the EDSP Task Force recommended that the City conduct an annual review of the EDSP to track and monitor progress in implementing the strategies. Staff intends to present annual progress reports to the Mayor’s Economic Advisory Panel, beginning first quarter 2019.
Next Steps
1. With the Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Panel’s endorsement, the EDSP will be presented to the City Council for its acceptance on July 24, 2018.
2. Once the EDSP is approved, City staff will return to the Planning Board with specific recommendations to amend the Alameda Municipal Code and/or the General Plan, as appropriate.
3. Schedule first quarter 2019 Progress Report presentation to the Mayor’s Economic Advisory Panel.
ENVIROMENTAL REVIEW
This proposal is Categorically Exempt from CEQA Guidelines Section.
RECOMMENDATION
Review and endorse the Economic Development Strategic Plan.
Respectfully submitted,
By,
Eric Fonstein, Development Manager
Exhibits:
1. Draft Economic Development Strategic Plan
2. Draft EDSP Background Report and Executive Summary to Background Report
3. EDSP Task Force Roster