Advisory Board: Economic Development Committee
Subject: RECEIVE updates from staff and/or PROVIDE direction to staff regarding Economic Development Work Program
Presenter: Alyson Greenlee, Economic Development Manager
Contact: 925-655-2783
Information:
Since the last meeting of the Economic Development Committee on December 4, 2024, various elements of the economic development work program have proceeded. This report includes updates on multiple efforts.
Referral History and Update:
Since the December 4, 2024 meeting of the Economic Development Committee, various elements of the economic development work program have proceeded to help advance projects under the Countywide economic development umbrella. Recent and proposed economic development activity to implement the County’s economic development work program includes:
• Economic development staff from the County continued to participate in the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative (BAJFC), which is the Bay Area’s regional association, convened by All Home, for re-envisioning regional economic development planning centered around the values of equity, high-road employment, sustainability, and climate resilience, and shaped by workers and community members and funded by the State of California’s $600 million California Jobs First Regional Investment Initiative. A Next-Generation Battery Innovation and Manufacturing Hub in the Bay Area is one of the projects that has been prioritized for funding by the BAJFC. Through the Catalyst Program, the BAJFC Steering Committee has allocated $1.5 million to the Bay Area High-Road Manufacturing Initiative, which includes a focused effort to build the battery innovation and manufacturing ecosystem. The Bay Area High-Road Manufacturing Initiative includes several key initiatives that align with the Green Empowerment Zone, the Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative, and the Priority Production Area Pilot Program. Economic development staff from the County will continue to participate in this project to support a pilot project to cultivate high-road battery manufacturing in Contra Costa by identifying key assets and needs to site advanced battery manufacturing activities; working with employers to identify needs related to land, facilities, infrastructure, workforce, regulatory processes, financial resources, and community engagement, and with community and labor stakeholders to identify concerns and strategies to ensure high-road outcomes (See: Bay Area High-Road Manufacturing Initiative Project Description: <https://www.allhomeca.org/catalyst-projects/bay-area-high-road-manufacturing-initiative/>).
• Met with the U.S Economic Development Administration (EDA) on February 12, 2025 to discuss the County’s application as the lead for the FY2023 Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance (PWEAA) Funding Opportunity for a $1.2 million grant for a project called “Just Transition to Battery Manufacturing Along the Northern Waterfront of Contra County,” with project co-applicants Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County. If funded, the grant would be used to conduct a pre-development strategy for a next-generation battery manufacturing tech innovation hub along the Northern Waterfront. Staff are continuing to work with the EDA Project Officer and anticipate the next step will be investment review in March 2025.
• Economic development staff will participate, with the Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) Administrator, in CalRecycle’s Spring 2025 Zone Works Training Workshop from March 4-5, 2025 in Sacramento, in order to convene with program partners to convene, address current challenges, and collaborate on business assistance strategies that continue to market and support companies that are seeking to locate in Contra Costa County’s Recycling Market Development Zone. Economic development staff are continuing to work with the Zone Administrator to support recycling manufacturers to access RMDZ funds, and start-ups and small businesses to access Zone Incentive Funds (ZIF) for manufacturing test pilots using recycled materials.
• Economic Development staff participated in the Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) Strategic Planning Forum on January 14, 2025, to connect and address key topics such as strengthening partnerships to meet the needs of students and communities in Contra Costa County.
• Economic development staff participated in the Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County’s Regional and Local Planning Session - East County on December 7, 2024, to provide input on working together to improve the ability of the local workforce system to meet the workforce and education needs of the community.
• Economic development staff will convene the virtual Quarterly Economic Development Meeting with the economic development staff from the 19 cities on February 26, 2025, from 10am - 1pm. The featured presentations will include updates from the cities, a discussion on partnering to coordinate regional business resource events, and a designated discussion item for Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative partners that will include discussion of the November 5-7, 2025, TeamCalifornia Site Selectors’ Conference, and the November 7, 2025 “Fam” (“Familiarization”) Tour.
• Economic development staff from the County are in the process of submitting an initial list of businesses into the database of the new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform for our business engagement activities. The next step is that County staff will participate in an orientation from Bludot Technologies.
• Economic development staff from the County moderate a session on “Contracting Opportunities with Local Governments” at the East Bay Small Business Development Center’s First East Bay Procurement Summit in Hayward on February 19, 2025 (See Event: <http://www.eastbaysbdc.org/2025-procurement-summit>).
• Since the last quarterly meeting on December 4, 2024, economic development staff from the County have continued to conduct direct assistance to businesses including start-up, expansion, retention, and attraction efforts, and referrals of assistance to businesses and organizations seeking to locate or expand in the unincorporated areas. Since the last quarterly meeting on December 4, 2024, County economic development staff have responded to over 30 businesses. These forms of assistance have focused on contacts with County purchasing, site selection information in Byron, funding/business resources for small businesses, information on recruitment assistance, relocation information assistance for manufacturing operations (permitting, zoning, and locational assistance, strategic partnerships), contracting opportunities for construction firms, business expansion opportunities, green business information, and small business trainings/workshop/advising resources.
• Economic development staff from the County, as project leads, participated in regular project management meetings for implementation of the two-year, Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC-ABAG) approved, Northern Waterfront Technical Assistance Project funded by a $500,000 Pilot Grant from Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Priority Production Areas (PPAs) Program for technical assistance for the planning and infrastructure for multiple PPAs in the Northern Waterfront-namely the two PPAs within unincorporated Contra Costa County-Pacheco Manufacturing Zone and Bay Point Industrial Center-and those in the Cities of Concord, Pittsburg, Antioch, and Oakley. The County is the lead on this project, and coordinates with the Cities and with MTC-ABAG’s Technical Assistance Provider Placeworks. On January 31, 2025, Placeworks delivered the final (revised) scope of work, and the anticipated next step is the development of a GIS inventory of industrially zoned land with various functionalities that will act as an online resource with various search functions with an inventory of the Priority Production Areas sites in April 2025.
The economic development activities are funded by a General Fund allocation of $500,000 dating from 2017-2018. As of December 31, 2024, there was a current balance of $92,798.42 for Economic Development.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
RECEIVE updates from staff and/or PROVIDE direction to staff regarding Economic Development Work Program.