HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-18; Economic Development Subcommittee; ; Economic Development UpdateEconomic Development Subcommittee
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Recommendation:
Oct. 18, 2021
City Council Economic Development Subcommittee
David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer
Economic Development Update
Receive an informational report regarding city economic development activities.
Discussion:
Catyof
Carlsbad
As Carlsbad's economy continues to recover from the COVID-19 health emergency, staff has been
engaged on several initiatives to support recovery and revitalization, increase business resiliency, and
foster a business-friendly ecosystem. The information below provides an update on several relevant
programs.
Small Business Support
Small businesses are the backbone of Carlsbad's economy, representing 92% of total businesses. It is
important that the city take steps to support small businesses and startups to ensure they can thrive in
Carlsbad. Staff have created a process to welcome new small businesses when they file for a new
business license with the city. Using information from the Economic Development CRM system, staff will
send a letter (Exhibit 1) to all new businesses. The letter expresses gratitude for choosing Carlsbad as a
place to do business and provides information and resources that businesses can take advantage of as
they grow. ·
Through engagement with the business community and aspiring small business owners and
entrepreneurs, it became clear that most individuals are not aware of the process they need to go
through to start a new business. Staff is creating a digital asset that will be available on the city's website
to help entrepreneurs and small business owners navigate the necessary steps to start a business. As
individuals go through this process, they will be prompted to provide information on what they have
already accomplished or need help with. Based on their responses, these individuals will receive a
customized email that provides tailored information to their needs. This process will also feed into the
Economic Development CRM system so that staff knows who is considering starting a new business and
can provide direct support as necessary.
Outdoor Activations
Through the course of the pandemic, more than 100 businesses activated outdoor space during the
health emergency. Staff surveyed those businesses that activated outdoor space and found the
following information.
Of respondents:
• 95% indicated that outdoor activations have allowed them to make up "some or all lost revenue
due to restrictions on indoor operations"
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• 79% indicated they would have interest in continuing their outdoor activation beyond the end of
the health emergency
• Of those that indicated they would have interest in continuing their outdoor activation beyond
the end of the health emergency:
o 75% were in food service or restaurants
o 55% were in the Village·and Barrio Master Plan area, while 45% were in other parts of
the city
Of those businesses that activated outdoor space, 9 restaurants currently operate curb cafes in the
Carlsbad Village. Given the interest. of restaurants to pursue potential long-term solutions, and with
general sentiment about curb cafes being positive, staff is undertaking a process to understand the
impact and potential options for curb cafes to operate beyond the health emergency. In doing so, staff is
updating the parking study and will be surveying all businesses in the Village and Barrio Master Plan
area. Once staff has sufficient data, they will return to the committee with an update and
recommendations.
Business Expansion, Attraction, and Retention (BEAR) Update
Over the past several months, economic development staff have been engaged on several large BEAR.
projects that will yield gains in employment and new investment in the city.
Thermo Fisher Scientific continues to renovate space at their facility, converting warehouse and office
space to lab and biopharmaceutical production space. The space will be used to develop media used in
both DNA and mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19 and other diseases. This critical infrastructure helps
position Carlsbad as a global leader in fighting the pandemic. Staff is supporting them through an
accelerated development process
lonis Pharmaceuticals is developing two parcels adjacent to their Oaks North facility and is pursuing two
additional parcels in the Carlsbad Research Center. The company continues to seek out additional space
to expand their Carlsbad footprint. Staff is supporting them through the development and entitlement
processes.
Aptera Motors, makers of solar powered, aerodynamic electric vehicles has selected Carlsbad for its
production manufacturing facility. The company will be locating at the previous Alphatec Spine
headquarters on El Camino Real ar,d is expected to generate significant sales tax revenue. Staff assisted
the company in their site-selection process.
Quidel has completed their development and entitlement process and will be doing a grand opening of
their Carlsbad facility in November. Staff supported them through the process as well as assisted them
on workforce recruitment efforts.
A major Carlsbad developer has secured a partnership with a prominent life sciences real estate
investment trust that will allow them to reposition two separate developments for high-end life-sciences
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space. Staff is supporting this new partnership on how to position themselves in the market and
ensuring a smooth renovation process.
Home Depot is considering a Carlsbad location to complement their current North County footprint. If
the company is successful in finding a location, the estimated impact would yield an additional
$250,000-$300,000 in sales tax revenue.
A prominent video-gaming company has secured a new building in Carlsbad that they will use for video
game production and design. The company anticipates having more than 100 people on site. Staff is
supporting them through the development and tenant improvement process.
Banner Program
The city's street banner program was paused during the pandemic. During that time, the city used the
light pole-mounted banners to promote safety messaging like masking, distance, and hand washing.
Over the summer, that campaign ended, and the Public Works Department reinstalled the previous
Carlsbad Village banner imagery. Moving forward, staff will be contracting the Carlsbad Village
Association to manage banner installation, maintenance, and storage. CVA will be providing three to
four change outs per year to align with the seasons and will save the city money over previous
contractors.
Economic Intelligence and Insights
Staff continues to build internal capacity and form new partnerships to better activate city data and
understand economic trends, impacts to business, and upcoming challenges. This information is used to
create new programs, like the cybersecurity awareness program, Gift Carlsbad, LIA recruiter and small
business support programming. The entire economic development program is now based on a data-
informed approach to business support.
As a result of these efforts around data utilization, innovation and smart-cities, the City of Carlsbad has
been invited to become a "City Possible" city. City Possible is a new model for urban innovation in which
a global network of cities, business·es, academics and communities work together to make the world's
cities more inclusive and sustainable. To engage as a City Possible city, the city would need to enter an
MOU with Mastercard to promote thought leadership, co-development, prototyping, and scaling of
solutions emerging technologies and explore potential areas of collaboration relating to smart cities
initiatives. This network would be especially useful as it relates to the city's innovation, data, and
economic development efforts. It includes broad objectives that are non-binding and some binding
agreements as well. There is no cost to join. In evaluating the MOU, the resources that would be
necessary to participate in the activities are already within the scope of the work that staff does, and the
resources budgeted.
Next Steps:
Staff will return at the next Economic Development Subcommittee with updates to these items. If
desired, committee members can provide input and direction.
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