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GOOD MORNING EVERYONE.UM, CARLOS WILL BE A LITTLE LATE, AS WILL, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA.
SHE'S READING TO CHILDREN THIS MORNING.
SO, UM, WE ARE GOING TO HEAD AND I THINK COUNCIL MEMBER KA HDA IS ON THE LINE.
WE'LL JUST NEED YOU TO TURN ON YOUR, UM, VIDEO, PLEASE.
BUT IT LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE ALEX, JUSTINA, AND, UH, ANN, AND EVERYONE AND MICHAEL, SO PLENTY OF PEOPLE HERE WHO CAN ANSWER ALL OF OUR QUESTIONS.
SO, WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED WITH THE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8TH ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, MADAM CLERK, IF YOU'LL PLEASE TAKE ROLE.
COUNCIL MEMBER SHIRLEY GONZALEZ, PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER COVEO HDA CHAIR, COUNCIL MEMBER MANNY
OUR FIRST, UM, TWO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA ARE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER 22ND AND NOVEMBER 3RD, ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR APPROVAL, AND I FORGOT TO TELL THE AV PEOPLE TO START, SO I THINK THEY STARTED ALREADY.
[Items 1 & 2 (Part 1 of 2)]
UM, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES ON OCTOBER 22ND AND NOVEMBER 3RD, 2020.ALL RIGHT, WE HAVE A MOTION, A SECOND FOR APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
UM, NEXT HONOR THE AGENDA IS PUBLIC COMMENT.
DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS SIGNED UP TODAY? NO, MA'AM.
[3. 20-7186 Update on the Small Business Support and Workforce Development Pillars within the COVID-19 Community Recovery and Resiliency Plan [Carlos J. Contreras, III, Assistant City Manager; Alex Lopez, Director, Economic Development] ]
SEEING NO PUBLIC COMMENT, WE WILL MOVE ON TO OUR BRIEFING AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON OUR FIRST ITEM.NUMBER THREE, UPDATE ON THE SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PILLARS WITHIN C OVID 19, COMMUNITY RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY PLAN.
ALEJANDRA, ALEX, TAKE IT AWAY.
THANK YOU, CHAIR AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
AND IT'S ACTUALLY MY PLEASURE TO INTRODUCE A COUPLE OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS WHO ARE GONNA BE DOING TODAY'S PRESENTATION.
SO, FIRST YOU'RE GONNA HEAR FROM ANNE EATON, UH, FOLLOWED BY THOMAS DAVIS, WHO, OUR TOUR OF OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS THAT HAVE BEEN WORKING ON OUR SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM AND OUR SMALL BUSINESS OUTREACH PROGRAM, RESPECTIVELY.
AND THEN YOU'RE GONNA HEAR FROM ONE OF OUR ASSISTANT DIRECTORS, MICHAEL SINDEN, ON OUR WORKFORCE PLAN.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO ANN.
AND, UM, OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THANK YOU FOR, UH, ALEX, FOR PROVIDING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE THE GRANTS UPDATE THIS MORNING.
UM, IT'S BEEN A WONDERFUL PROJECT TO BE A PART OF, AND I WANNA THANK OUR PARTNERS AT LIFT FUND, SELENA AND JANIE AND THEIR TEAM.
UH, WE COULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS WITHOUT THEM, SO THANK YOU TO THEM.
SO I WANTED TO PROVIDE, UH, AN UPDATE OF WHERE WE STAND TO DATE ON THE AWARDS AND THE FUNDING AS OF DECEMBER 4TH.
SO, AS OF DECEMBER 4TH, THERE HAVE BEEN A TOTAL OF, UM, 1,222 AWARDS, UM, IDENTIFIED AND BEING PROCESSED.
OF THESE 1222, UM, 1099 ARE FOR MICRO BUSINESSES.
WE'VE IDENTIFIED 67 NON-PROFITS FOR AWARD.
56 OF THESE ARE GRANTS FOR THE LOAN BUYDOWN FORGIVENESS GRANTS THAT PROVIDED UP TO 10 MONTHS OF, UH, LOAN PAYMENT FORGIVENESS THROUGHOUT 2020.
AND ALSO WANTED TO SHARE WITH THE COMMITTEE THAT OF THE OVERALL AWARDS, TOTALING JUST ABOUT 25, 25 0.5 MILLION, 175 OF THESE ARE FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE AWARDS.
UM, THAT SHOULD ACCOUNT FOR $8 MILLION.
NOW WE HAVE A, UH, WANTED TO NOTE HERE.
WE ARE STILL PENDING FINALIZATION OF, UH, COUNCIL'S DIRECTION TO ADD THE 3.5 MILLION IN EARLY NOVEMBER.
AND THEN THE ACTION, UM, LAST WEEK TO ADD THE ADDITIONAL 1.5, THIS 67 GRANTS IS, UM, EXHAUSTING THAT FIRST ALLOTTED 3.5 MILLION.
SO THIS NUMBER WILL INCREASE AND WE'LL SEE WHAT THE EXHAUSTION OF
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FUNDS WE'RE WORKING NOW WITH LIFT FUND TO IDENTIFY THE FINAL FOOD AND BEVERAGE GRANT FOR THE, UM, AWARD OF MONEY THAT COUNCIL PROVIDED DIRECTION LAST WEEK.SO WE SHOULD HAVE THAT DONE HERE BEFORE DECEMBER 18TH.
AGAIN, GOING BACK WITH THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE RECOVERY PLAN AND THE DIRECTION WE RECEIVED FROM COUNCIL AND FROM THIS COMMITTEE, UH, HAPPY TO SHARE THAT WE ARE SEEING THAT MORE THAN 70% OF THE AWARDS ARE BEING IDENTIFIED IN THOSE AREAS WITH THOSE COMBINED EQUITY SCORES OF SIX THROUGH 10.
SO, ACCOMPLISHING THE OBJECTIVE THAT WAS SET OUT AND ESTABLISHING AGAIN, THE, THE EQUITY SCORING MATRIX AND THE DIRECTION THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE.
OF THE TOTAL AWARDS WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES ARE, UM, 56% OF THE AWARDS.
AND WE HAVE A BREAKDOWN OF THE AWARDS, UM, BY EACH OF THE RACE AND ETHNIC ETHNICITY GROUPS.
AGAIN, UM, GOING BACK TO THE OUTCOMES, IF YOU'LL RECALL, THE ESTABLISHED OF GOALS OF REACHING THE MINORITY SMALL BUSINESSES AND THE WOMEN'S SMALL BUSINESSES.
SO OUR METRICS ARE STILL EXCEEDING THOSE TARGETS, SO WE'RE HAPPY TO SHARE THAT WE'RE STILL FALLING IN, IN THE, INTO WHAT WE HAD ACCOMPLISHED TO DO WITH THE OBJECTIVES THAT FORTH, UM, IN THIS GRANT PROGRAM.
SO THIS BREAKDOWN IS A, THE NUMBER OF AWARDS BY COUNCIL DISTRICT AND THE TOTAL POTENTIAL AWARD.
AND AGAIN, I I WANTED TO EMPHASIZE THAT AGAIN, YOU'LL SEE THIS NUMBER HERE, THE, AT THE, IN THE FAR RIGHT COLUMN, THAT BOTTOM HIGHLIGHTED NUMBER, THE 25.5 MILLION, WE'RE STILL 10, UH, FINALIZING THOSE LAST 67 FOOD AND BEVERAGE GRANTS.
UM, SO ONCE THOSE ARE ALL FINAL, WE'LL HAVE MORE FINAL NUMBERS OF THE ACTUAL BREAKDOWN OF FUNDS.
BUT THIS HERE ACCOUNTS FOR WHAT'S BEEN APPROVED TO DATE.
SO YOU CAN SEE, AGAIN, THE BREAKDOWN BY EACH COUNCIL DISTRICT, THE NUMBER OF GRANTS AND THE NUMBER OF AWARD, I'M SORRY, THE PERCENTAGE OF THE AWARD AMOUNT AS OF DECEMBER 4TH.
THERE WAS A QUESTION, UH, WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO ADDRESS THE KING, UM, FROM THE LAST DISCUSSION ABOUT WHO WOULD WE NOT REACH AND THE GRANT APPLICATION COGNIZANT OF THE FUNDS THAT WE'VE EXHAUSTED TO DATE, AND EVEN THE 1.5 ON THE HORIZON WITH THE, THE NEW DIRECTION FROM COUNCIL.
SO THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY OF THOSE APPLICANTS NOT AWARDED AS OF DECEMBER 4TH, THAT THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE BUSINESSES, WE, THERE ARE 49 APPLICATIONS STILL PENDING.
THESE ARE UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR AWARD WITH THE, AGAIN, THE ADDED 1.5 MILLION.
WE'RE OPTIMISTIC IN WORKING WITH LIFTFUND THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO REACH A MAJORITY, IF NOT ALL OF THEM, WITH THAT LAST SET OF FUNDING THAT WAS, UM, DIRECTED BY COUNCIL.
SO WE'RE WORKING WITH LIST FUND.
THEY'RE WORKING NOW, ACTUALLY TWICE WE'VE EXECUTED THAT AMENDMENT.
SO THEY'RE WORKING, UM, TO GET THIS LIST TO US HERE PROBABLY THIS WEEK, SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO GET ALL THOSE FUNDS OUT AGAIN BEFORE THAT DECEMBER 18TH DEADLINE.
SO THOSE THAT WE HAVE NOT REACHED, AND, UH, AGAIN, WITH THE EXHAUSTION OF FUNDS, MOST, MOST LIKELY NOT REACHED, THERE ARE A TOTAL OF WHAT WE'RE CALLING NON-FOOD INDUSTRY.
SINCE WE, WITH COUNCIL'S DIRECTION TO KIND OF DELINEATE BETWEEN FOOD AND BEVERAGE, THERE'S A TOTAL OF 767 APPLICATIONS, UM, WHO WOULD NOT BE REACHED THE FIRST.
UM, THE SECOND GROUP YOU'LL SEE THERE IS, SO THERE'S ABOUT 695 MICRO BUSINESSES THAT ARE NOT FOOD AND BEVERAGE.
NOW, THESE APPLICATIONS, UM, HAVE SCORES OF OVERALL SCORES OF 22 OR LESS.
UM, 90, JUST ABOUT 97% OF THEM ARE IN THOSE EQUITY SCORE AREAS OF FIVE OR LESS.
AGAIN, UM, THOSE WERE THE AREAS THAT DID NOT RECEIVE POINTS ON THE SCORING MATRIX, AND THIS IS WHY THEY YIELDED SCORES OF 22 OR LESS.
FOR THE NON-PROFITS, AGAIN, THERE ARE 72 APPLICANTS WHO WERE NOT SELECTED FOR AWARD.
THESE APPLICATIONS HAVE SCORES OF 12 OR LESS, OR THEY DID NOT PROVIDE SERVICES, UH, PRIORITIZED BY THE COMMITTEE, UH, WITH THE DIRECTION THAT YOU PROVIDED US BACK IN SEPTEMBER TO FOCUS ON THOSE THAT PROVIDED THOSE DIRECT IMPACT RESOURCES, ESPECIALLY TO THE YOUTH AND ELDERLY COMMUNITIES.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE SAY, IN WORKING WITH, UM, WANTED TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE AGAIN ON THE STATUS
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OF THE GREATER SAFER TOGETHER PLEDGE.IF YOU'LL RECALL MANY OF THE INITIATIVES THAT, THAT OUR DEPARTMENT AND WORKING WITH OTHER, UM, DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE CITY, WE'VE BEEN SURE TO EMBED THE GREATER FAVOR TOGETHER PLEDGE AS MANY OF OUR INITIATIVES.
UH, FIRST OFF BEING THE LARGE P P E EVENT THAT WE DID BACK IN MAY.
UM, THE NUMBERS REFLECTED HERE WITH, UM, SHOW THE NUMBERS OF BUSINESSES THAT SIGNED UP FOR EACH OF THESE INITIATIVES AND THAT HAVE TAKEN THE PLEDGE.
WE ALSO WORKED WITH OUR OUTREACH TEAM, WORKED WITH, AGAIN, WITH THE COUNCIL OFFICES TO DO, UH, P P E DISTRIBUTION EVENTS AT DIFFERENT AREAS AROUND THE CITY.
AND THAT 7 91 REFLECTS HOW MANY TOOK THE PLEDGE THROUGH THAT INITIATIVE.
AGAIN, WORKING WITH OUR OUTREACH ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS SAGE, UM, W D C, MAESTRO AND SOUTHSIDE FIRST, UM, 444, UH, ADDITIONAL BUSINESS TOOK THE PLEDGE THERE.
AS PART OF THE GRANT APPLICATION, WE, UH, DID ASK BUSINESSES THAT APPLIED TO ALSO TAKE THE PLEDGE, AND THERE WAS JUST ABOUT 22,750 THERE.
AND THEN ALSO WORKING WITH, UM, IN DISCUSSION WITH THE AIRPORT, THE AIRPORT'S BEEN WORKING WITH THEIR CONCESSIONAIRES TO TAKE THE PLEDGE AND TO ALSO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE POSTING THE PLEDGES AS PART OF THE TOOLKIT.
UM, I DID PROVIDE A PICTURE THERE.
YOU'LL SEE IT'S A PICTURE OF VINO BOLO AT, UM, TERMINAL IN THE AIRPORT.
SO AGAIN, THANK YOU TO OUR AIRPORT TEAM FOR, AGAIN, BEING A PART OF TRYING TO PUSH OUT THE MESSAGE AND GET PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE AND TO TAKE THE PLEDGE VISIT.
SAN ANTONIO'S HAD 2200, UH, ONLINE PLEDGES FROM BUSINESSES, UH, BUSINESSES, BOTH LARGE AND SMALL, FROM HOTELS TO, UM, TO GYMS TO ENTERTAINMENT VENUES AND THINGS OF THE NATURE.
SO, B S A IS STILL ACTIVELY, UH, AGAIN, WORKING WITH, WITH OURSELVES AND WITH E DF TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CONTINUING TO PUSH THE MESSAGE ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO FIND WAYS TO EMBED THESE IN ANY MAJOR INITIATIVE THAT WE DO TO CONTINUE TO IN ENCOURAGE BUSINESSES TO LEARN ABOUT THE TOOLKIT AND TAKE THE PLEDGE.
ALSO, OUR PARTNERS WITH THE COUNTY HAVE DONE THE SAME THING, UM, WITH SEVERAL OF THEIR EFFORTS.
UM, THEY'VE HAD, UH, A P P E EVENT.
THEY ALSO REQUIRED, UM, OR THEY HAD BUSINESSES ENCOURAGE THEM TO SIGN UP AND TAKE THE PLEDGE.
AND THEN AS A PART OF THEIR GRANT APPLICATION, THEY ALSO EMBEDDED THE PLEDGE AS PART OF THAT EFFORT TOO.
SO OUR NEXT STEPS, UM, AS I MENTIONED, WE'RE WORKING WITH THE FUND TO FINALIZE THE AMOUNTS FOR THE, UM, EXHAUSTION OF THAT, THOSE FUNDS FOR THE 67 FOOD AND BEVERAGE BUSINESSES TO, UH, AGAIN, EXHAUST THAT 3.5 MILLION, UM, DIRECTED IN EARLY NOVEMBER.
AND THEN WORKING WITH THEM TO NOW IDENTIFY AND AWARD THE FINAL 1.5 MILLION.
UM, THAT 1.5 MILLION SHOULD REACH BETWEEN 20 AND 35 BUSINESSES.
SO WE'RE HOPING TO BE ABLE TO EXHAUST THAT AND GET ALL THE FUNDS AND AWARDS OUT NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 18TH.
SO, I'LL GO AHEAD AND TURN IT BACK OVER TO ALEX FOR THE NEXT UPDATE.
ACTUALLY, I BELIEVE THOMAS IS GOING TO, UM, COVER THE NEXT UPDATE IN RELATION TO OUR, UM, SMALL BUSINESS OUTREACH PROGRAM.
GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND, UH, APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THIS UPDATE ON THE OUTREACH PROGRAM.
UH, AS OF THE END OF NOVEMBER, THE OUTREACH PARTNERS, UM, HAVE CON HAVE CONTACTED AND SURVEYED 2,270 BUSINESSES.
UM, THE BREAKDOWN OF WHICH, UM, YOU CAN SEE HERE, UH, NEXT SLIDE.
AS PART OF THE OUTREACH, UH, ACCELERATION EFFORT THAT, UM, THE PARTNERS UNDERTOOK STARTING IN MID-OCTOBER, WE ALSO ASKED THAT EACH ORGANIZATION BEGIN TRACKING SOME ADDITIONAL METRICS, UH, TO HELP US BETTER UNDERSTAND GAPS AND CHALLENGES IN GETTING BUSINESSES TO ENGAGE, UH, WITH THE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS.
UH, AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, WE TRACK DATA ON THE NUMBER OF CALLS MADE, DOORS KNOCKED AND EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE SENT, AND THEN THE NUMBER OF BUSINESSES, UM, WHO TOOK THE SURVEY AND WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION, UM, TO THE, TO THE PARTNERS.
THROUGH THOSE EFFORTS, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE PARTNERS HAVE MADE NEARLY 6,800 CALLS KNOCKED ON NEARLY, UH, 1700 DOORS, UM, AND SENT OVER 1700 EMAILS, UM, UH, OVER SINCE, UH, MID, MID-OCTOBER AND THROUGH THE END OF NOVEMBER.
UM, AND, AND THAT 14 TO 20% OF THOSE EFFORTS, UM, TURN INTO A CONTACT WHERE THE BUSINESS PROVIDES INFORMATION, UM, AND THE PARTNER CAN REFER THEM TO A COMMUNITY RESOURCE.
UH, DURING OUR INITIAL PROGRAM DESIGN THIS SPRING, WE'D SET A GOAL OF 5,000 BUSINESSES CONTACTED AND SURVEYED, AND HAD REALLY ANTICIPATED A MUCH HIGHER, UM, CONVERSION RATE, UM, OR THE RATE AT WHICH, UH, THE ORGANIZATION WOULD TURN A CALL OR A DOOR KNOCK INTO A COMPLETED SURVEY AND A RESOURCE FU UH, REFERRAL.
UH, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, IT HAS BEEN MORE OF A CHALLENGE THAN WE'D ANTICIPATED.
AND SO I DO WANT TO CREDIT OUR OUTREACH PARTNERS FOR THEIR EFFORTS
[00:15:01]
OVER THESE LAST FEW WEEKS AS THEY'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK TO REACH OUT AND ENGAGE WITH THE BUSINESSES IN THE COMMUNITY, EVEN AS WE'VE SEEN, UM, THE COVID CASES IN THE COMMUNITY GROWTH.UH, IN A PREVIOUS E W C MEETING, UM, ONE OF Y'ALL, AND I'M SORRY, I CAN'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHO HAD ASKED IF OUR SURVEY GATHERED INFORMATION ON THE TOP CHALLENGES BUSINESSES ARE FACING.
AND SO, UM, WE DO GATHER THAT INFORMATION, AND THIS SLIDE ILLUSTRATES, UM, WHAT THE OUTREACH PARTNERS ARE FINDING.
AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, IT'S NOT MUCH OF A SURPRISE THAT THE TWO TOP CHALLENGES INCLUDE GENERAL FINANCIAL HARDSHIP AND A REDUCTION IN CUSTOMERS, UM, AT THESE BUSINESSES.
UM, OTHER AREAS THAT WE ASK ABOUT ARE HEALTH AND SAFETY CHALLENGES, GENERAL BUSINESS CHALLENGES, WHICH INCLUDE THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, ARE THEY HAVING TROUBLE WITH MARKETING, MANAGING CASH FLOW, TECHNOLOGY NEEDS, WEBSITE NEEDS, ET CETERA.
UM, OTHER, OR NONE OF THE ABOVE ARE AREAS WHERE WE CAPTURE, UM, SORT OF LIKE THE CATCHALL RESPONSES THAT THE BUSINESSES PROVIDE.
UM, THAT, UM, THAT HAS INCLUDED EVERYTHING FROM, UM, THE GENERAL STRESS THAT THE BUSINESS OWNERS ARE FEELING, UM, AS PART OF THE PANDEMIC TO STAFFING CHALLENGES, THE LACK OF EVENTS, SELLING OPPORTUNITIES, UM, UH, NO FESTIVALS.
AND, YOU KNOW, A REDUCTION IN LOCAL TOURISM IS IS SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN SEEING QUITE A BIT AS WELL.
UM, LACK OF PROFESSIONAL, UH, ASSISTANCE, UM, IS THINGS LIKE ACCOUNTING OR, UH, LEGAL SERVICES AND THEN PUBLIC SERVICES, UM, UH, PUBLIC SERVICES ARE THOSE, UM, CHALLENGES THAT THEY MIGHT BE HAVING, UM, UH, WITH, UH, UH, PERMITTING, UH, UH, ANY ISSUES WITH REGARDS TO WATER OR SEWER OR ELECTRICITY.
SO WE, WE DO ASK THAT QUESTION, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT, UM, IT'S NOT A, A RESPONSE THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, BEEN FREQUENTLY GIVEN.
UM, FINALLY, AS PART OF OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS AND SURVEY COLLECTION, THE PARTNERS ALSO, UH, WITHIN THE SURVEY TOOL, UM, ARE ABLE TO MAKE, UH, BUSINESS REFERRALS TO LOCAL RESOURCE PARTNERS.
AND THIS IS A BREAKDOWN OF ALL THE, THE TOTAL REFERRALS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE, UM, THROUGH THE END OF NOVEMBER.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY'VE MADE OVER 5,800 REFERRALS.
UM, AND ONE OF THE INTERESTING ELEMENTS I WANNA POINT OUT, UH, TODAY, UH, HAS BEEN THE REFERRALS TO THE SMALL, TO OUR SMALL BUSINESS OFFICE HERE AT THE CITY, UM, AND TO OUR SMALL BUSINESS LAYS ON HUGO, UH, HUGO VIAL, UH, HUGO.
AND THE WORK HE DOES IS A KNOWN COMMODITY FOR MANY OF OUR PARTNERS.
UM, AND SO THE REFERRALS TO SS B O I, IT, IT LOOKS LIKE FROM THE DATA WE'VE BEEN GATHERING HAVE SERVED AS SORT OF A CATCHALL FOR MANY OF THE BUSINESSES CONTACTED.
AND HUGO AND, AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SMALL BUSINESS TEAM HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD TO, UM, CLOSE THOSE OUT AND, UM, DIRECT, UH, THE BUSINESSES TO THE RESOURCES THAT THEY NEED.
AS FOR THE PROGRAM'S NEXT STEPS, UH, IN LOOKING AT THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY PLAN FUNDING, UH, WE ARE CONSIDERING POTENTIAL CONTRACT REDUCTIONS FOR SOUTH SIDE FIRST AND LIFT FUND AS WE WORK THROUGH THIS FINAL MONTH.
UH, BECAUSE THE PROVISION OF SERVICES AND ASSOCIATED FUNDING, UM, THROUGH THE CARES ACT, UH, ENDS ON DECEMBER 30TH, AS Y'ALL KNOW, UH, WE WILL ALSO BE WORKING WITH E D F AND OUR PARTNERS ON A FINAL OUTREACH SUMMARY REPORT IN, UH, BY THE END OF JANUARY, UH, OF 2021.
AND, UM, PART OF THE THING WE BUILT INTO OUR, UH, PARTNERSHIP, UH, AND AGREEMENTS WAS, UM, CONDUCTING SOME FOLLOW-UP ENGAGEMENTS, UH, MOSTLY WITH E D F, UM, AND OUR OWN STAFF, UM, WITH THOSE BUSINESSES SURVEYED REGARDING THEIR REVENUES AND RESILIENCY, UH, IN APRIL OF 2021, AND THEN AGAIN IN, UH, 2022.
SO THAT'S ALL I HAVE FOR THE OUTREACH PROGRAM UPDATE.
UM, AND I THINK I'M GONNA HAND IT OVER TO MICHAEL AT THIS POINT.
GOOD MORNING, CHAIRWOMAN GERRAN AND OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORKFORCE COMMITTEE.
UH, MY NAME IS MICHAEL SINDEN, I'M AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, AND THIS MORNING I'LL PROVIDE THE, UM, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT UPDATE REGARDING THE TRAINING FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM.
SO TO KICK US OFF, YOU'VE ALL PROBABLY SEEN THIS SLIDE, UM, THE LAST TIME WE MET, AND IT KIND OF GIVES AN UPDATE ON THE ENROLLMENT PIPELINE, WHICH TO THIS POINT LOOKS STRONG AND HEALTHY.
WE'VE HAD 3,636 CITY RESIDENTS, UM, COMPLETE PRELIMINARY INTAKE AND EXPRESS INTEREST, UM, IN ENTERING THE TRAIN FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM.
AND SO FAR, 2,444 OF THOSE RESIDENTS HAVE IN FACT, BEEN DEEMED ELIGIBLE AND REFERRED OVER TO A TRAINING PARTNER TO IN FACT, ENROLL IN THE PROGRAM OF THOSE FOLKS, 1,178 RESIDENTS HAVE IN FACT, ENROLLED IN THE TRAINING.
AND 1,266 RESIDENTS ARE PENDING ENROLLMENT, UM, BASICALLY TRYING TO JUST MAKE SURE THEY GET THEIR PAPERWORK IN ORDER AND, AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE TO ACTUALLY GET ENROLLED IN THE TRAINING.
LOOKING FORWARD, AND THIS IS A LOOK WE HAVEN'T TAKEN HISTORICALLY, AS MORE DATA STARTS POURING IN AS THE, UH, PROGRAM KIND OF SETS UP OVER A FEW MONTHS NOW, IS OF THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE ENROLLED IN TRAINING, WE HAVE ABOUT 1,018 THAT ARE STILL ACTIVELY ENROLLED.
UM, AS YOU ALL KNOW, TRAINING ISN'T ALWAYS FAST.
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UM, IT DOESN'T ALWAYS START ONE DAY AND END THE NEXT.UM, IT, IT IS A LENGTHY PROCESS, AND EVEN FOR SHORT TERM TRAINEES, UM, CAN LAST UP TO THREE MONTHS.
SO FOR THOSE OF Y'ALL WHO RECALL, WE SET THIS UP BACK IN SEPTEMBER, UH, SO IT'S BEEN ABOUT THREE MONTHS SINCE THEN.
HOWEVER, IT HAS ALLOWED US TO START SEEING SOME LEVEL OF COMPLETION RATES AND THOSE WHO RECEIVED THE JOB.
SO, SO FAR, 66 RESIDENTS HAVE COMPLETED THE PROGRAM, OF WHICH 25 HAVE RECEIVED THE JOB.
SO PLEASE RECALL ALSO THAT, UM, OUR METRICS FOR THIS NUMBER ARE 50% OF ALL RESIDENTS WHO COMPLETE TRAINING WITHIN THREE MONTHS DO RECEIVE THE JOB.
SO THIS IS SOMETHING WE'LL BE EVALUATING, UH, MOVING FORWARD, AND WE FEEL CONFIDENT THAT FOLKS WILL ACTUALLY COMPLETE THE TRAINING AND FIND THAT JOB.
WE HAVE RECEIVED VERY FEW FOLKS, 94 TO BE EXACT, WHO'VE ACTUALLY ENROLLED IN THE TRAINING, BUT DID NOT COMPLETE, UM, FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, INDICATING THAT FOLKS ARE JUST MOVING THROUGH THE PIPELINE, CONTINUING TO STAY IN THEIR TRAINING AND EDUCATION AS THEY WORK TO COMPLETE OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
UM, 164 OF THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE BEEN REFERRED OVER TO D H S FOR CHILDCARE SERVICES, AND 39 HAVE BEEN ENROLLED.
YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO THE ON THE JOB TRAINING CONSTRAINTS YOU'VE HEARD US TALK ABOUT, UM, IN PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS.
WHILE ALL THESE FOLKS ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE CARE, UM, MANY ARE OPTING OUT DUE TO C OVID 19 CONCERNS, BUT D H S STANDS READY TO SERVE AND HELP, UM, AS THEY CAN.
SO, AS FOR THE ENROLLED DEMOGRAPHICS, AND WE STARTED INTRODUCING SOME OF THESE FIGURES LAST TIME TO YOU ALL, UH, THIS SIDE WILL BREAK DOWN THE COUNCIL DISTRICT GENDER, RACE, AND ETHNICITY AND EQUITY MATRIX ATLAS SCORE OF ALL ENROLLED RESIDENTS.
AND WE SEE SOME FAIRLY POSITIVE FIGURES, UM, COMING FORWARD FROM THESE NUMBERS.
FOR EXAMPLE, 72% OF ALL ENROLLEES ARE IN FACT, WOMEN CITY OF SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS.
AND THEN FOR RACE AND ETHNICITY, WE SEE HIGH NUMBER OF HISPANIC RESIDENTS AND A HIGH NUMBER OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN RESIDENTS, UM, EXCEEDING OUR ASPIRATIONAL GOALS FOR THOSE CATEGORIES.
AND AS FOR THE EQUITY MATRIX ATLAS SCORE, AS YOU RECALL, OUR PRIMARY FOCUS WAS ON THOSE LIVING IN, UM, EQUITY, UH, CENSUS TRACKS OF OF EIGHT, NINE, AND 10, WHERE YOU DO SEE SOME OF THE BULK OF THE FIGURES START TO RISE, UM, IN, IN THE DATASET.
THESE ARE ADDITIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS THAT WE, UM, DID NOT PROVIDE LAST TIME, THAT, AGAIN, AS WE STAND UP THE PROGRAM, WE'RE ABLE TO DISCOVER AND REPORT BACK ON.
SO THE FIRST IS EDUCATION LEVEL AS YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN.
SO 17% DON'T HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, AND ARE NEEDING TO ENROLL IN HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY TYPE TRAINING.
UH, 34% JUST HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE AND ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING BETTER, SO ON AND SO FORTH.
UM, BUT WE ALSO WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OTHER, UH, DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON HERE IN RELATION TO ASPIRATIONAL GOALS THAT WE TRACK AGAINST.
FOR EXAMPLE, UM, WE'RE TRYING TO HELP FOLKS WHO ARE FORMERLY INCARCERATED ENTER THE PROGRAM AND COMPLETE, UH, THOSE WHO ARE VETERANS, UM, THOSE IN THE HARDEST HIT INDUSTRIES OF HOSPITALITY, RETAIL, AND FOOD AS THE DATA HAS SUGGESTED.
UH, AND ULTIMATELY THOSE IN POVERTY, WHICH, WHICH TAKE, WE TAKE PRIDE IN THE FACT THAT WE ARE IN FACT TARGETING AND REACHING FOLKS WHO ARE IN POVERTY TO GET THEM INTO THIS PROGRAM AND, AND WITH THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF PULLING THEM OUT AFTER THEY COMPLETE AND ENTER A JOB.
AND THEN THE LAST PIECE TO HIGHLIGHT ON HERE IS OUR SERVICE OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN FOCUSING ON AND COORDINATING WITH THE CITY OF DISABILITY ACCESS OFFICE, AS WELL AS THE DISABILITY ACCESS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
UH, WE BASICALLY RECEIVE FEEDBACK FROM THEM, AND WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH EACH OF THE WORKFORCE PARTNERS TO EVALUATE THEIR EFFORTS AND SERVING THIS COMMUNITY, UM, SO THAT WE CAN ADJUST.
AND THEN EVEN MORE SO, UH, THEY'VE BEEN WANT, THEY'VE BEEN WILLING TO HELP US DEVELOP AN EMPLOYER GUIDE, IF YOU WILL, ON HOW TO BETTER SERVE, UM, UH, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AS THEY ENTER THEIR THEIR JOB SITE.
SO, TO PROVIDE A SLIDE UPDATE ON THE, ON THE JOB TRAINING THAT WE DISCUSSED LAST TIME, WE HAVE HAD MORE SMALL BUSINESSES SIGN AGREEMENTS WITH WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS ALMO TO PROVIDE O J T.
SO NOW WE'RE AT 45 AND COMBINED THERE ARE 275 ON-THE-JOB TRAINING SLOTS AVAILABLE.
HOWEVER, EVEN THOUGH SOME EFFORTS HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED, ONLY TWO RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN PLACED INTO ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, UM, DUE TO SOME OF THOSE CONCERNS WE DISCUSSED EARLIER REGARDING C OVID 19.
SO TO TRY TO MITIGATE THAT MOVING FORWARD, AND WHAT WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK ON, UM, ONCE WE OPEN THIS UP FOR QUESTIONS, IS THE BLUE BOX YOU SEE ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS SLIDE, WHICH ARE POTENTIAL AMENDMENTS TO ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.
SO A LOT OF YOU MAY RECALL, UM, BUSINESSES ELIGIBLE ARE SMALL BUSINESSES IN THE CITY LIMITS, UM, AND THERE WAS NO STACKABLE CREDENTIALS, IF YOU WILL, FOR FOLKS TO GET TRAINING AND THEN BE READY TO ENTER THAT ON THE JOB, UM, SITE TO KIND OF TAKE THEIR SKILLS FURTHER.
SO THESE POTENTIAL AMENDMENTS THAT WE'D LIKE YOUR FEEDBACK ON INCLUDE ALLOWING BUSINESSES WITHIN BEXAR COUNTY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM.
OF COURSE, STILL SERVING A CITY RESIDENT, UM, ALLOWING BOTH SMALL AND LARGE BUSINESSES TO PARTICIPATE.
[00:25:01]
WE HAVE RECEIVED A REQUEST, UM, OVER AT TOYOTA AND THEIR SUPPLIERS TO PROVIDE ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.AND, AND THIS WOULD ALLOW THAT TO, TO IN FACT HAPPEN AND THEN ALSO ALLOW PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS TO COMPLETE CLASSROOM TRAINING PRIOR TO STARTING O J T.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HEAR FROM TIME TO TIME, ESPECIALLY FROM OUR PARTNERS MANAGING THIS EFFORT, UH, ESSAY WORKS, IS THAT SOMETIMES THEY DON'T ENTER THE DOOR WITH THE SKILLSET NEEDED TO BEGIN ON THE JOB TRAINING, AND EMPLOYERS AREN'T EXACTLY ENGAGING TO MOVE FORWARD.
SO LET'S GET THEM THOSE SKILLS THROUGH THOSE TRAINING PARTNERS TO THEN ENTER INTO O J T MOVING FORWARD TO BOLSTER THOSE NUMBERS AND HELP THOSE PARTICIPANTS.
SINCE WE LAST MET, WE ALSO CONDUCTED FOCUS GROUPS, UM, IN THE COMMUNITY TO GET FEEDBACK ON THE PROGRAM, AND WE ESSENTIALLY HAD THREE FOCUS GROUP SESSIONS WITH 16 PARTICIPANTS.
UM, THE FIRST SESSION FOR WERE FOR THOSE WHO WERE ACTUALLY ENROLLED AND TRAINED FOR JOBS SA.
THE SECOND SESSION WAS FOR THOSE WHO ACTUALLY DID EXPRESS INTEREST IN TRAINED FOR JOBS SA BUT DID NOT ENROLL.
UM, AND THE THIRD SESSION WAS THOSE WHO HAVE NOT APPLIED OR TO OUR KNOWLEDGE HAVE NOT EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE TRAIN FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM.
WE WERE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY DIDN'T THEY ENGAGE? WAS IT JUST A SIMPLE LACK OF AWARENESS OR SOME TYPE OF BARRIER SET UP THAT THEY FELT WASN'T THE RIGHT PROGRAM FOR THEM? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND THE FOCUS GROUPS PRODUCE SOME INTERESTING FEEDBACK.
SO I'VE KIND OF BROKEN THIS DOWN INTO SOME POSITIVE TAKEAWAYS AND AREAS IN WHICH, UM, THEIR GUIDANCE ALLOWS US TO IMPROVE MOVING FORWARD.
SO FIRST AND FOREMOST, THEY DO BELIEVE THE PROGRAM HAS POTENTIAL TO INCREASE THEIR INCOME.
SO AS THEY ENTER, THEY DO FEEL IT WILL BETTER THEIR LIVELIHOOD.
AND THE BIGGEST INCENTIVES ARE THE FACT OF THE FACT THAT WE HAVE FREE TRAINING AND STIPENDS AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE THAT SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME.
AND PARTICIPANTS DO BELIEVE THEY WILL FIND A NEW JOB IF THEY DO ENROLL IN THE PROGRAM.
THAT IS THE MESSAGE WE WANNA PORTRAY AND THE OUTCOMES WE WANT TO ACHIEVE.
AS FOR AREAS TO IMPROVE, UM, WHILE THEY AGREED THAT THE INTAKE PROCESS WAS FAST AND EASY, IT WASN'T ALWAYS CONSISTENT FROM ONE AGENCY TO ANOTHER.
SO THAT'S A PIECE OF TRAINING WE CAN TAKE BACK IN WORKING WITH THE AGENCIES TO MAKE SURE IT IS AS CONSISTENT ACROSS THOSE FOLKS.
IF YOU CAN MOVE BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, AND THEN THEY ALSO ASKED FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION THAT THEY COULD FIND ONLINE, KIND OF IN A CENTRALIZED REPOSITORY.
SO THAT'S AGAIN, A MARKETING EFFORT THAT WE CAN TAKE BACK AND IMPROVE UPON TO MAKE SURE THAT IT IS A LITTLE EASIER TO FIND AND IS A LITTLE MORE EASIER TO ACCESS AND UNDERSTAND THE PROGRAM IN PLACE.
UH, ANOTHER AREA TO IMPROVE INCLUDED, UH, BETTER TRAINING OF CASE MANAGERS TO GUIDE RESIDENTS TO THE PROGRAM.
AND THIS ONE KIND OF TIES INTO THE BOTTOM ONE BELOW.
BASICALLY JUST IMPROVING COMMUNICATION.
HOW ARE WE MAKING SURE THAT THE RESIDENTS WHO ENTER THE PROGRAM, WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, TAKING THAT LEAP OF FAITH, YOU KNOW, MAYBE LEAVING THEIR JOBS TO START THIS TRAINING, FEEL LIKE THEY ARE GETTING THE COMMUNICATION AND ASSISTANCE THEY NEED ALONG THE WAY, EVEN AFTER THEY'VE ENROLLED, RIGHT? NOT JUST PUTTING 'EM IN A CLASSROOM AND GOOD LUCK.
IT'S, IT'S LITERALLY TAKING THEIR HAND AND WALKING 'EM THROUGH THE PROCESS SO THEY CAN COMPLETE.
NOW TO, UM, KIND OF VALIDATE THESE FINDINGS AND FURTHER EXPAND ON FOC, UH, FEEDBACK WE WANNA RECEIVE FROM THE COMMUNITY.
WE PLAN ON SURVEYING RESIDENTS IN A VERY SIMILAR GROUPING TO WHAT WAS ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE OF THE FOCUS GROUPS TO VALIDATE THESE FINDINGS AND, AND EVEN FIND ADDITIONAL ONES TO HELP US IMPROVE AND CONSISTENTLY TWEAK AND MODIFY THE PROGRAM FOR THE BETTER.
WE ALSO WERE ABLE TO ENGAGE WITH THE CITY AUDITOR'S OFFICE TO RECEIVE SOME PRELIMINARY FEEDBACK ON THE TRAIN FOR JOBS ESSAY PROGRAM.
AGAIN, ALL THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE OUR RUNWAY FOR THIS PROGRAM IS THROUGH SEPTEMBER OF 2021, AND WE'RE GEARING UP TO THE READY TO WORK SA PROGRAM.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE AS MUCH FEEDBACK WE CAN ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW TO SPIN OUT AND MAKE THE BEST PROGRAM MOVING FORWARD.
SO SOME OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, INCLUDED, UH, REGARDING THE INTAKE ASSESSMENT AND REFERRAL PROCESS, JUST CREATING A CENTRALIZED DATABASE TO STORE ATTESTATION DOCUMENTS.
SO ALL RESIDENTS COME IN AND BASICALLY GIVE A LOT OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION YOU'VE SEEN, UM, AND STATE WHO THEY ARE, AND THEY NEED TO ATTEST TO THAT.
SO BASICALLY JUST CREATING A REPOSITORY IN WHICH ALL THOSE FORMS ARE STORED AND ACCESSIBLE BY THE CITY AT ANY TIME TO, TO VALIDATE THAT PROCESS IS IN FACT HAPPENING.
UM, THEY ALSO WANT US TO ADD A LITTLE MORE SPECIFICITY AROUND ELIGIBILITY DOCUMENTS.
FOR EXAMPLE, IT'LL SAY TO VERIFY ELIGIBILITY DOCUMENTS THAT YOU CAN USE TO DO THAT INCLUDE A C P S DRIVER'S LICENSE, UH, C P S BILL OR A DRIVER'S LICENSE.
SO THE SPECIFICITY, SPECIFICITY AROUND THIS LANGUAGE WOULD SAY MUST BE A A C P S BILL OR A DRIVER'S LICENSE.
AS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT, THEY WANTED A LITTLE MORE SPECIFICITY AROUND THEIR TERMS AND INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW THEY HANDLE RESIDENTS.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT EVERY CASE MANAGER IS ONE AND THE SAME.
SOME HAVE SPECIALTIES OVER OTHERS.
FOR EXAMPLE, CHRYSALIS MINISTRIES, UH, FOCUSES ON FORMERLY INCARCERATED RESIDENTS.
SO ADDING IN A LITTLE MORE SPECIFICITY THAT WHEN SOMEONE COMES THROUGH THE DOOR, SAY, AT ALAMO COLLEGES, WHO MIGHT NEED THAT SERVICE.
SO THAT LEVEL OF CASE MANAGEMENT CAN CLEARLY HAND
[00:30:01]
THAT OFF TO CHRYSALIS MINISTRIES AND UNDERSTAND, HEY, THIS IS YOUR FOCUS AND YOUR SPECIALTY AND YOU'RE BEST SUITED FOR, FOR THIS RESIDENT.AS FOR TRAINING IN STIPENDS, THEY REQUESTED THAT WE ADD A LITTLE MORE SPECIFICITY TO THE, UM, TERMS AND RANGES IN WHICH THEY ARE PAID, AND REALLY DEFINITION AROUND, UM, HOW A RESIDENT IS PAID FOR STIPENDS.
SO IS IT, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY'RE IN THE CLASSROOM OR ALSO AT HOME, UM, KIND OF WHEN THEY'RE DOING HOMEWORK AND KIND OF MAKING SURE THAT'S VERY CLEAR.
MOVING FORWARD ALSO WITH COMPLIANCE TRAINING, JUST MAKING SURE, UM, THAT THE PARTNER SUBMITS SEMI-MONTHLY REPORTS TO US WITH A BULK OF DATA, MAKE SURE WE'RE MATCHING THAT AGAINST THE 3 1 1 C R M SYSTEM THAT PAULA STALK UP AND I T S D CREATED FOR US, JUST AS A WAY OF AUDITING DATA.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE WERE ALREADY MOVING TO, JUST AS A WAY OF CROSS VALIDATION TO MAKE SURE THE NUMBERS ADDED UP.
UM, ALSO ENSURING A CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION PLAN, UH, CAPTURES NON-PERFORMANCE CLAUSES SUCH AS INSURANCE.
THAT'S ALL THINGS WE CAN BUILD IN MOVING FORWARD.
AND LAST THEIR RECOMMENDATION WAS REGARDING DISBURSEMENTS AND FISCAL MONITORING.
UM, JUST MAKING SURE WE HAD A FORMALIZED PROCESS FOR COSTA TO RECAPTURE UNSPENT FUNDS FROM PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE NO ONE'S SITTING ON A LARGE SUM OF CASH.
MAKE SURE THERE'S PROVISIONS WITHIN THE AGREEMENT TO PAY THOSE BACK TO US, UM, IF THAT IN FACT HAPPENS.
AND, AND THAT'S SOMETHING AS YOU ALL KNOW AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN A LITTLE BIT THROUGH THE AMENDMENT PROCESS.
AND LAST, JUST DETERMINING AND ACCEPTABLE PERCENTAGES OF REVIEW OF FISCAL REPORTS.
THEY ARE VAST WHEN THEY COME OVER AND THEY SUGGESTED THAT WE DEVELOP SOME TYPE OF ACCEPTABLE AUDITING IF THOSE FISCAL REPORTS, IF YOU WILL, TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING CHECKS OUT AND IS ON PACE WITH WILL BE APPROVED.
NEXT, UM, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CONTRACT RENEWALS, BOTH SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM.
SO A LOT OF YOU MAY RECALL THROUGH THE PAST PRESENTATIONS WE'VE DONE THAT OUR CONTRACTS, UM, HAVE RENEWAL CLAUSES FROM JANUARY 1ST, 2021 THROUGH SEPTEMBER, UM, OF 2021.
AND WE PLAN ON DOING SHORT-TERM RENEWALS WITH ALL PARTNERS, BUT IT, BUT IT'S GONNA BE JUST FROM JANUARY 1ST, 2021 THROUGH FEBRUARY 28TH, 2021.
AND THIS WILL GIVE US SOME MORE TIME TO, TO REALLY INCORPORATE THE FEEDBACK FROM THE FOCUS GROUPS AND THE AUDITORS, UM, AS WELL AS THE SURVEYS INTO THE LONG-TERM AMENDMENTS.
HOWEVER, WE ARE PLANNING TO DO A, A FEW AMENDMENTS IN THE SHORT TERM.
SO NUMBER ONE, YOU ALL MAY RECALL, UM, AT THE TIME WE DEVELOPED THE AGREEMENTS, WE DID NOT HAVE, UH, A SPEC, A SPECIFIED PARTICIPANT SERVICE PLAN FOR EACH AGENCY.
UM, IF SOMEBODY SAID THEY WERE GONNA SERVE 12 FOLKS AND THE PROGRAM WAS 12 MONTHS, THEN WE WOULD DO ONE PARTICIPANT PER MONTH TO KIND OF MAKE THAT SIMPLE.
AND AS WE'VE LEARNED, THAT'S NOT EXACTLY HOW THEY SERVE FOLKS.
SO, SO THEY'VE GIVEN US AN UPDATED PLAN AND WE CAN MATCH THAT TO THEIR EXHIBIT.
WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THE BUDGET REFLECTS THAT PLAN TO MAKE SURE WE'RE SPENDING WITH THEM IN THE METHOD IN WHICH THEY'RE SERVING OUR RESIDENTS, SO THAT IF THEY SERVE MORE ONE MONTH, THEY'RE GETTING MORE FUNDS, AND IF THEY SERVE LESS THE NEXT, THEY GET LESS FUNDS.
AND THEN LAST, SOME OF THOSE O J T UPDATES THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, IF THAT'S SOMETHING WE GET POSITIVE FEEDBACK ON HERE TODAY, SOMETHING WE CAN INCORPORATE INTO THE SHORT TERM, UM, UM, AMENDMENTS.
AS FOR LONG TERM, WE WOULD BE COMING BACK TO YOU IN FEBRUARY TO BE BRIEFING ON WHAT WE EXPECT THOSE TO BE.
UM, THAT, THAT TERM WOULD BE FROM MARCH 1ST, 2021 THROUGH SEPTEMBER OF 2021, BASICALLY CONCLUDING OUT-TRAIN FOR JOBS AS SAY, AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE, UM, KIND OF LARGER AMENDMENTS, LIKE I SAID, THAT FOCUS, THAT, THAT EVALUATED THE FOCUS GROUP RECOMMENDATIONS IN CITY AUDITOR'S OFFICE AND OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES.
AND THAT'LL COME, LIKE I SAID, IN THE FEBRUARY E W D C PRESENTATION.
SO THAT CONCLUDES, UM, THE PRESENTATIONS FROM ANNE THOMAS AND MYSELF.
UM, OBVIOUSLY ALEX AND CARLOS ARE ALSO ON THE CALL, SO AT THIS POINT WE'LL OPEN IT UP FOR ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE.
UM, IT WAS NICE TO HEAR FROM A COUPLE DIFFERENT PEOPLE FROM E D D.
NOT THAT I DON'T LIKE HEARING FROM YOU, UM, ALEX, BUT YOU DO NEED A BREAK NOW.
AND, AND THEN, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UM, I'M GOING TO FIRST, UM, OPEN IT TO SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES FOR THEIR QUESTIONS.
AND THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA FOR JOINING US.
UM, AS WELL, WE, WE DID MENTION THAT YOU WERE, UM, OUT WORKING WITH SOME, SOME KIDS TODAY.
UH, SO WE'RE, I'M GOING TO START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, GONZALEZ.
I KNOW YOU WERE GONNA CALL ON ME BECAUSE I WAS EATING
UM, SO LET ME JUST, UH, LEMME JUST, UH, THAT IT, IT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION.
UM, AND, UH, I KNOW THAT THE TIMELINE IS COMING TO AN END.
SO COULD YOU JUST ALSO CLARIFY WHAT MONEY HAS TO BE SPENT BY THE END OF THE YEAR, WHICH IS LIKE THREE WEEKS AWAY? SO, COUNCIL MEMBER, THIS IS ALEX AND I CAN GO AHEAD AND JUMP IN HERE.
THAT THE WORK, THE FUNDING ASSOCIATED WITH THE SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS, THE OUTREACH PROGRAM THAT THOMAS TALKED ABOUT, AND THE GRANT PROGRAM THAT
[00:35:01]
ANNE BRIEFED ON THAT IS CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDING THAT MUST BE SPENT BY THE END OF THE YEAR.UM, BUT EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH, WITH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING THE ON THE JOB TRAINING PROGRAM, UM, THAT, UM, CAN KEY IT, IT'S NOT CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDING.
SO WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE TO SPEND THAT THROUGH SEPTEMBER.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER, THIS IS SCOTT ROSE
BY DECEMBER 18TH, ALL THE MONEY WILL BE OUT THE DOOR FOR SERVICES RENDERED OR FOR GRANT PROGRAM.
'CAUSE I KNOW I'M STILL GETTING REQUESTS ALL THE TIME.
UM, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE FELT LIKE THEY COULD PROBABLY WAIT IT OUT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THEY WERE, UM, MAKING ADJUSTMENTS.
BUT I HAVE, I'M STILL GETTING APPROACHED ALL THE TIME BY, UM, SMALL BUSINESSES THAT SAID, YOU KNOW, LIKE, WE THOUGHT WE COULD HANG IN THERE, BUT IT'S JUST GOING ON TOO LONG.
UM, AND SO I, I GUESS, UM, UH, WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS, RIGHT? WAS THAT WHAT YOU ALL DETERMINED? CORRECT.
WE HAD ABOUT 2,700 APPLICATIONS, NOT ALL, WHICH WERE QUALIFIED, UM, BECAUSE IT MIGHT'VE BEEN TOO LARGE OR OUTSIDE THE CITY, BUT WE HAD 2,700 APPLICATIONS.
UH, WE WORKED OUR WAY TO OVER A THOUSAND, MAYBE 1100 THAT HAD BEEN APPROVED.
BUT WE'RE WORKING WITHIN THE APP APPLICANTS WHO HAVE APPLIED.
WE, WE, ONCE THE APPLICATION PROCESS ENDED, IT ENDED.
OUR HOPE IS THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FEDERAL SUPPORT, EITHER DIRECTLY THROUGH THE PAYMENT PROTECTION PROGRAM OR IN PROVIDING, YOU KNOW, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND STATE GOVERNMENTS WITH ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO BE ABLE TO, TO GIVE OUT SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO, TO BUSINESSES IN THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE DESPERATELY LEADING IT.
BUT THAT'S UP TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, I GUESS.
I, I I THINK I HEARD THE OTHER DAY IT WAS POTENTIALLY LIKE 980 BILLION, CORRECT? CORRECT.
HOW IS THE, IS THE STATUS, DO YOU HAVE AN UPDATE ON THAT? I MEAN, I, I HEARD IT ON THE NEWS, BUT I MEAN, I KNOW THAT'S NOT THE PURPOSE OF THIS, THIS COMMITTEE, BUT, UM, AND, BUT WE DO HAVE OUR COUNCIL MEMBER FROM I G R, WHO'S THE CHAIR, AND I THINK SOME OF THE OTHER MEMBERS ARE HERE.
SO WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF THAT? WELL, UM, WE'RE HOPEFUL, UH, THERE SEEMS TO BE MOMENTUM FOR A, UH, PANDEMIC, ADDITIONAL PANDEMIC, UH, STIMULUS FUNDING OR, OR RECOVERY ASSISTANCE.
RIGHT NOW, THE DISCUSSION IS A LITTLE OVER $900 BILLION.
UM, THE, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS TO PASS, UH, NECESSARY, UM, LEGISLATION TO KEEP THE GOVERNMENT FUNDED.
AND SO THE THOUGHT IS THAT THIS STIMULUS FUNDING WOULD BE ATTACHED TO THAT FUNDING.
UH, INITIALLY THE DEADLINE WAS THIS WEEK, UM, AND SO THEY'RE GONNA DO A SHORT-TERM EXTENSION UNTIL DECEMBER 18TH WITH THE HOPE THAT THIS ADDITIONAL FUNDING WOULD BE INCLUDED IN A, IN MUST UH, UH, IN NECESSARY LEGISLATION TO KEEP THE GOVERNMENT OPEN.
SO AGAIN, THERE'S BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR THIS, AND WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT IT'LL PASS.
I HOPE SO, BECAUSE I, UH, I, UM, I, I KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO BE PREPARED TO CONTINUE, RIGHT? IN THE EVENT THAT THAT FUNDING COMES AND THAT WE DON'T GO REINVENTING THE WHEEL OR, YOU KNOW, TRY TO COME UP WITH SOME SORT OF ALTERNATIVE PLAN BECAUSE WE'RE STILL GETTING, YOU KNOW, CALLS ALL THE TIME.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK ALWAYS THERE WAS SOME EXPECTATION THAT IT WOULDN'T LAST THIS LONG, UM, WHEN THINGS WOULD GET BETTER.
UM, SO, UH, LET ME JUST, UH, SHIFT GEARS TO A COUPLE OF OTHER QUESTIONS.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE BECAUSE WE REALLY NEED THAT, UM, SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT.
AT LEAST THAT'S WHERE I'M HEARING IT RIGHT NOW.
UM, YOU ASKED FOR SOME FEEDBACK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER OR NOT WE OPEN IT UP AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I, I'M, I AM OPEN TO LARGE OR SMALL BUSINESSES, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO PUT PEOPLE TO WORK.
UM, I, I AM RELUCTANT TO SUPPORT ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THE CITY.
UM, I FEEL LIKE THEY HAD, YOU KNOW, THEY HAD PROGRAMS AS WELL, AND I FEEL LIKE WEREN'T THEY ALSO EXCLUSIVE TO COUNTY? UH, OR PERHAPS YOU DON'T, MAYBE YOU DON'T KNOW THAT ANSWER, BUT, UM, THAT THE COUNTY SAID THAT THEY WOULD ONLY, UM, DISTRIBUTE TO PEOPLE THAT WERE NOT IN THE CITY.
[00:40:02]
MICHAEL.SO ALEX, WHY DON'T YOU TAKE A STAB AT THAT AND THEN IF IT'S OKAY, I'LL JUMP IN AFTERWARDS.
AND MICHAEL MIGHT HAVE SOME SPECIFIC DETAILS ABOUT THE COUNTY'S PROGRAM AS WELL, BUT I THINK WHERE WE HAD INITIALLY DIFFERENTIATED WAS PARTICIPANTS THAT WE WERE FOCUSING ON SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS AS PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM, AND THE COUNTY WAS FOCUSING ON, UM, UNINCORPORATED OR SUBURBAN CITY RESIDENTS OR AS PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM.
I'M NOT SURE THAT THEY LIMITED THE, UM, ON THE JOB TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES TO ONLY OH, OKAY.
SO THE, THE ON-THE-JOB PIECE IS WHERE YOU'RE ASKING FOR MORE INFORMATION, CORRECT.
NECESSARILY TO SUPPORT, UM, BUSINESSES OR, YOU KNOW, WELL, RIGHT.
SO IT'S, IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT THE PEOPLE LIVE IN THE COUNTY.
UM, WELL, UH, FOR THE, ON-THE-JOB TRAINING PIECE.
I MEAN, I, THAT'S NOT, THAT DOESN'T IMMEDIATELY INSPIRE ME, JUST GIVEN THE FACT THAT WE ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE REPRESENTING THE CITY.
UM, AND, AND THERE WERE THREE, SO COULD YOU GO BACK? THERE WERE, YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT FEEDBACK, WHETHER OR NOT PEOPLE LIVED IN THE CITY ABOUT LARGE AND SMALL, AND THEN WHAT WAS THE THIRD ONE? SO JUST TO BE CLEAR, COMES WHILE HE'S PULLING IT UP HERE, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS HAVING THE ABILITY TO DO ON-THE-JOB TRAINING WITH A BUSINESS THAT'S NOT LOCATED WITHIN THE, THE GEOGRAPHIC, UH, CONSTRAINTS OF THE CITY.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, SOMEBODY COULD GET TRAINED EVEN IN THE, EVEN IN THE, IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM, SOMEBODY COULD BE TRAINED WHO'S A RESIDENT OF SAN ANTONIO, AND THEY GET A JOB WITH RACKSPACE THAT'S NOT IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO LIMITS.
OR SOMEBODY COULD GET TRAINED AND GET A JOB WITH TOYOTA IF IT WAS LARGE, IF THOSE, IF THE, IF WE WEREN'T LIMITING IT TO SMALL BUSINESSES.
THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
HALLIBURTON, UH, AND THAT KIND OF DEAL.
THERE'S STILL SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS.
WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT ANY ASSISTANCE TO BUSINESSES OUTSIDE THE CITY.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RESIDENTS WHO GET TRAINED OR WHO DO ON THE JOB TRAINING, BEING ABLE TO DO THAT AND WORK OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS, BUT WITHIN THE COUNTY.
THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, ABOUT.
I, I THINK I'M OKAY WITH THAT THEN.
NOW I UNDERSTAND YOU A LITTLE BIT BETTER.
UH, AND THE LAST PART WAS ABOUT COMPLETING THE CLASSROOM TRAINING BEFORE STARTING, WHICH IS, I, I KNOW IT HAS BEEN AN ISSUE, UM, OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
IN FACT, I'VE, I, UH, FEEL LIKE IT'S REALLY WHERE WE SHOULD BE SPENDING THE MAJORITY OF OUR ATTENTION ON THOSE PEOPLE THAT, UM, DON'T HAVE THE CLASSROOM, UM, EXPERIENCE OR, OR THAT NEED REMEDIAL HELP.
UM, SO, UH, I, I, I, I CAN SUPPORT, UM, THOSE AMENDMENTS, UH, TO THE O J T, SO I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT.
THANKS FOR THE BRIEFING AND THE PRESENTATION.
YES, THAT IS WHAT, UM, JUST SOME FEEDBACK THAT WE NEED TO GIVE TO OUR, OUR TEAM ABOUT THE, UM, ON THE JOB TRAINING DIRECTION.
SO IF YOU HAVE IT, THAT'S SLIDE NUMBER 21 IN YOUR PACKETS, IF YOU WANNA LOOK THROUGH THAT.
UM, NEXT, I'M GONNA GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER ELIAS.
UH, NOT, NOT TOO MANY COMMENTS.
YOU GUYS ARE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB AT, UH, KEEPING US UP TO SPEED AND, UM, PULLING US INTO THE WEEDS.
I THINK THAT A LOT OF US WANT TO GET INTO THE WEEDS ON THIS ONE.
AND SO, UM, I, I DO, UH, WANT TO HIGHLIGHT, UH, SLIDE THREE, UM, $8 MILLION FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE GRANTS.
UM, AND THAT'S, UM, THAT'S, UH, PROBABLY MORE THAN, UM, THE IMPRESSION THAT WE GOT YESTERDAY, CARLOS.
UH, JUST FOR, FOR MY COUNCIL MEMBERS YESTERDAY, CARLOS AND ALEX AND I, ALONG WITH, UH, JEFF COYLE AND COUNCILMAN TREVINO GOT TO MEET WITH THE BOARD OF THE, UH, TEXAS, I'M SORRY, WITH THE SAN ANTONIO RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION TO TALK ABOUT THEIR GRIEVANCES.
AND THEIR, THEIR PRIMARY GRIEVANCES IS THAT THE CITY'S DOING NOTHING FOR, UH, UM, RESTAURANTS AND, AND, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE.
AND THAT WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, ALL THE MESSAGING ABOUT ASKING PEOPLE TO STAY, UH, STAY SAFE AND, YOU KNOW, NOT BE WITH CROWDS THAT IT'S, UH, DRIVING CUSTOMERS AWAY FROM RESTAURANTS.
AND SO THEY'RE PARTICULARLY ALARMED BY THAT AND ANXIOUS, AND YOU CAN'T BLAME THEM.
AND, UH, THIS COVID, UM, CATASTROPHE HAS BEEN FELT, UH, PARTICULARLY HARD, UH, BY THEM.
SO, UM, YESTERDAY, THEY, THEY WERE ASKING US TO FIGURE OUT WAYS TO EXPAND, UM, THIS PROGRAM IN PARTICULAR, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, INCLUDE RESTAURANTS THAT WERE NOT MICRO BUSINESS.
UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THE FOLKS WHO WE MET WITH ALL TOLD US THAT, YOU KNOW, MOST
[00:45:01]
RESTAURANTS EXCEED AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND, UH, YOU KNOW, EXCEED, UH, THE, UH, THE LIMITS OF, UM, THE CRITERIA FOR MICRO BUSINESS.UM, AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IN FACT, WE GOT A, A MESSAGE FROM 'EM THIS MORNING WONDERING WHETHER OR NOT WE COULD, UM, MOVE FUNDS AROUND FOR WORKFORCE TRAINING TO, YOU KNOW, TURN THOSE INTO GRANTS DIRECTLY TO RESTAURANTS.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR SOME CREATIVITY FROM OUR PART.
AND, UH, CARLOS AND ALEX, UH, REALLY THE REASON I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THIS IS JUST FOR, UM, TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS, UM, TAKING THAT SERIOUSLY AND FOR, UM, AND FOR HEARING US OUT YESTERDAY.
UM, I KNOW THAT COUNCILWOMAN, UM, GRO HAS BEEN MENTIONING, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE, UM, INDUSTRY FOR A WHILE, AND, UM, SO HAS COUNCILMAN NU AND SO HAVE I, AND, UM, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE MAYOR'S GONNA, HAS BEEN WEIGHING INTO AS WELL.
UM, SO A, ANYWAY, TO THE EXTENT THAT IT MATTERS, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT ENCOURAGEMENT FROM ME, UH, TO KEEP LEANING IN ON SOLVING THIS PROBLEM FOR, UM, FOR THE, OUR RESTAURANT AND, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY, THAT, THAT'S IT.
THANKS, COUNCIL COUNCILOR, MADAM CHAIR, IF I COULD JUST PIGGYBACK ON THAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, ONE THIRD OF THE GRANTS DID GO TO FOOD AND BEVERAGE, AS YOU SEE HERE ON THE SLIDE.
UM, AND THE REASON WE PICKED 20 AND BELOW WAS AFTER HAVING SOME CONVERSATION WITH OTHER FOLKS ON THE P P P, UH, ON THE PAY PROTECTION PROGRAM, IT BECAME FAIRLY OBVIOUS TO US THAT THE ENTITIES THAT WERE A LITTLE BIT LARGER HAD A BETTER CHANCE, HAD BETTER, A LITTLE BIT MORE ADEPT AT APPLYING FOR P P P.
AND WE FELT LIKE THE MICRO BUSINESSES WOULD HAVE THE MOST TROUBLE APPLYING FOR THOSE.
AND IN FACT, IN THE, IN, WE, AS WE REVIEWED 'EM, THE REALLY, REALLY SMALL BUSINESSES WERE UNSUCCESSFUL IN OBTAINING THE P P P GRANTS.
AND SO THAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE 20 AND BELOW, UH, RECOGNIZING THAT BUSINESSES BIGGER THAN 20 EMPLOYEES HAVE ALSO SUFFERED IN THIS INDUSTRY.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT REMIND US ALL OF THAT PERFECTLY CLEAR PER, AND, AND THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THAT, BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR FOLKS TO REALIZE THAT THERE REALLY IS A METHOD TO THE DECISION MAKING.
AND THERE WAS, THERE REALLY WAS DATA, UH, THAT BACKED IT UP.
AND, UM, AND I'M ALSO CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT THE FOLKS, FOLKS THAT WITH THAT MAKE UP THE BOARD OF THE SAN ANTONIO RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION ARE SOME OF YOUR LARGEST RESTAURATEURS IN TOWN.
AND SO OF COURSE, THEY'RE ALL GONNA HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, OPERATIONS WITH, UH, FOLKS THAT EXCEED, YOU KNOW, UM, THE NUMBERS FOR THE DEFINITION OF MICRO BUSINESS.
BUT, UH, NONETHELESS, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, UH, THEIR, THEIR, UH, THEIR CONCERNS OR THEIR CONCERNS, AND, UM, I THINK WE DID A GOOD JOB YESTERDAY OF, OF TAKING THEM SERIOUSLY.
AND, UH, I THINK THAT WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO DO A GOOD JOB OF, OF TAKING THEM SERIOUSLY.
BUT AGAIN, UH, MY, MY THANKS ON BEHALF OF MY CONSTITUENTS WHO, UH, OWN, UH, LITTLE RESTAURANTS.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER NEXT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GABRIEL VARDA.
MY, MY CONCERNS CONSISTENTLY INVOLVE METRICS AND OUTREACH TO SMALL BUSINESSES, AND I'M GLAD TO SEE SOME ADJUSTMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE.
UM, I, I APPRECIATED THE SLIDE ABOUT OUTREACH AND, AND THE, THE ADJUSTMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE.
HAVE YOU IDENTIFIED IMPROVED PRACTICES FOR, FOR BOTH, FOR BOTH METRICS AND OUTREACH TO SMALL BUSINESSES THAT WE CAN USE FOR FUTURE PROGRAMS? AND HAVE YOU, IF SO, CAN YOU EXPLAIN HOW EXACTLY, HOW WE'VE IMPROVED? SO I'LL JUMP IN HERE FIRST.
IT'S A, THIS IS ALEX, BUT I'M SURE, UM, ANN AND THOMAS MIGHT HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL IDEAS AS WELL.
I THINK WHAT, UM, AND, AND ESPECIALLY WITH THAT SLIDE THAT THOMAS SHOWED YOU, UM, SOME OF, SOME OF THIS MIGHT BE, UM, UNIQUE TO THE COVID SITUATION, BUT WE DEFINITELY LEARNED THAT PHONE CALLS, UM, GET US THE HIGHEST CONVERSION RATE.
KNOCKING ON DOORS IS NOT NECESSARILY AS SUCCESSFUL AS WE THOUGHT IT COULD BE.
UM, AND, AND KIND, I'M KIND OF PUTTING DIFFERENT SOURCES TOGETHER HERE.
THE OTHER THING THAT WE'VE TRIED WAS MAILING OUT POSTCARDS, LIKE WHEN WE WERE, UM, TRYING TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO APPLY FOR THE GRANT PROGRAM, UM, IN, IN JULY, UM, THAT DIDN'T NECESSARILY CONVERT AS MUCH IN CERTAIN GEOGRAPHIES BECAUSE WE HAD LESS APPLICATIONS THAN IN OTHERS.
SO THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT UNIVERSALLY WORK, WHICH PHONE CALLS TEND TO BE THAT.
UM, AND NOT NECESSARILY A ROBOCALL, BUT AN ACTUAL PERSON, YOU KNOW, TALKING AND, AND TRYING TO COMMUNICATE AND CONNECT.
UM, AND THEN IN SOME AREAS, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO LAYER, UM, BY GEOGRAPHY, WE'RE SEEING THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO LAYER THE TYPES OF APPROACHES THAT WE MAKE, UM, TO REACH CERTAIN POPULATIONS.
THE OTHER THING I'LL ADD IS THAT THIS HAS GIVEN US A VERY RICH SOURCE OF DATA.
[00:50:01]
KNOW OFTENTIMES THIS, THIS, UM, BODY AND, AND THE ENTIRE COUNCIL HAVE ASKED US FOR A LIST OF BUSINESSES IN YOUR DISTRICT, AND WE CAN BUY SOME OF THESE LISTS FROM DIFFERENT PRIVATE SOURCES, BUT WE DON'T REQUIRE A BUSINESS LICENSE IN SAN ANTONIO OR IN TEXAS.SO WE DON'T HAVE THAT LEVEL OF, YOU KNOW, A LIST OF EVERY TYPE OF BUSINESS.
EVEN, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THEM AREN'T REQUIRED TO HAVE CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY.
THAT MIGHT BE ANOTHER LIST WE COULD GO TO, TO, SO RIGHT NOW WITH THESE DIFFERENT TYPES OF OUTREACH ENGAGEMENTS, THE APPLICATION, THE LOAN PROCESS, OR THE GRANT PROCESS, THE DIFFERENT DISTRIBUTION PROGRAMS THAT WE'VE HAD AND THAT YOU HAVE, HAVE HELPED US WITH, IT'S HELPED US DEVELOP A DATA SET OF BUSINESSES IN, IN ALL OF OUR, OUR CITY THAT WE CAN REALLY, UM, CONTINUE TO BUILD UPON AND REFINE, UM, AS, AS WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO DO OUTREACH EFFORT IN THE COMING YEARS.
BECAUSE, UM, LIKE THOMAS MENTIONED, WE'RE GONNA BE FOLLOWING UP IN APRIL AND WE'RE GONNA BE FOLLOWING UP AGAIN THE FOLLOWING APRIL, JUST TO SEE WHERE THESE BUSINESSES ARE, ARE AND TO CONTINUE WITH THAT.
DID Y'ALL WANNA ADD ANYTHING ELSE? YES.
UM, WE, WELL, WE'VE ALSO LEARNED, UM, AGAIN, TO ALEX IS BUILDING OFF OF ALEX'S COMMENTS.
WE LEARNED A, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH, UM, OUR I T SS D DEPARTMENT AND SOME OF YOUR OFFICES.
AND, AND OUR GOAL IS TO BE ABLE TO MAP, NOT ONLY MAP THE OUTCOMES OF THE AWARDS, BUT ALSO LIKE THE P P E INFORMATION AND WHO SIGNED UP AND ALSO FOR THE APPLICATIONS.
WE'VE DONE THAT FOR SOME OF THE DISTRICTS, BUT SO WE CAN VISUALLY DEPICT WHO APPLIED IN WHAT AREAS, AND THEN WHERE ARE THOSE CORRIDORS THAT ARE NOT GETTING INFORMATION.
WHAT WE LEARNED, UH, IN THE GRANTS MAILERS, WE FOCUSED ON COMBINED EQUITY SCORE AREAS OF SEVEN THROUGH 10.
UM, AND WHAT WE LEARNED IS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE CATERED DOWN A LITTLE BIT LOWER TO EVEN INCLUDE SIX.
AND I BELIEVE WE GAVE THAT FEEDBACK TO MICHAEL AND TO THOMAS.
AND SO THEY WERE ABLE TO ADJUST AND PIVOT IN THEIR OUTREACH EFFORTS.
AGAIN, EXPANDING THAT, THAT AREA, UM, WHAT WE LEARNED FROM MAPPING SPECIFICALLY AND, UH, COUNCILMAN ROSA GARCIA'S DISTRICT, RIGHT? LEARNING THAT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY DID A BREAKDOWN OF WHAT THOSE SCORES WERE.
SO AS ALEX SAID, LOTS OF GREAT, UM, DATA THAT WE'RE COLLECTED.
WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO TRY TO LEARN FROM IT AND WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS TO BUILD UPON OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS.
UH, AND I JUST WANNA BE CLEAR, ARE THE PRACTICES THAT WE, WE, UM, IMPLEMENTED THIS TIME AROUND THE LAYERING AND THE PHONE CALL? WERE THEY NOT USED BEFORE? NO.
THIS OUTREACH PROGRAM THAT WE'VE, WE'VE IMPLEMENTED, THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE HAVE, WE HAVE DONE IN THE PAST.
WELL, I, YOU KNOW, I'M ALWAYS HAPPY TO HEAR, UH, DATA DATA'S GOOD, RIGHT? UM, VERY PLEASED TO HEAR THAT.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE TO PRO TO, TO PROCURE THAT DATA EVEN WHEN WE'RE NOT IN A PROGRAM.
I MEAN, IF THERE'S SOME KIND OF ONGOING, UM, OUTREACH, WE CAN CONTINUE TO, TO BUILD OUR OWN DATABASE AS A CITY, I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL WHEN A NEW PROCESS, A NEW PROGRAM COMES UP AND WE CAN JUST DIVE RIGHT IN WITH THE DATA THAT WE ALREADY HAVE.
UM, BEFORE I GET TO COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, I'M GONNA ASK SOME QUESTIONS JUST SO SHE CAN CONTINUE TO READ THROUGH SOME OF THE SLIDES AS WELL.
UM, I WANNA STAY ON THE TOPIC OF SMALL BUSINESS ON SLIDE NUMBER 14.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE OUR, OUR RESOURCE PARTNER AND I THINK THAT SIX NINE OH ALMOST 20 RESOURCE PARTNERS, UH, FOR OUR SMALL BUSINESS OUTREACH.
AND I THINK THAT GOES TO ONE OF THE, UM, THE QUESTIONS THAT COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL ASKED LAST WEEK AT B SESSION ABOUT A ONE STOP SHOP FOR OUR SMALL BUSINESSES.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHEN LOOKING AT THAT LONG LIST OF OUR RESOURCE PARTNERS, AND THEN ALSO REFLECTING ON SOME OF THE FEEDBACK REGARDING MESSAGING AND CONSISTENT MESSAGING, I THINK THIS SPEAKS TO THE, TO THE CASE OF, TO MAKE OF A ONE STOP EITHER PHONE NUMBER OR MORE TRAINING IN ORDER TO GET THAT, THE RESOURCE OR THE INFORMATION TO OUR SMALL BUSINESSES.
UM, THAT'S ONE OF MY COMMENTS.
AND THEN, UM, SLIDE NUMBER, THE TOP BUSINESS CHALLENGES, UH, FOR THE FINANCIAL HARDSHIP REDUCTION IN CUSTOMERS.
UM, ACTUALLY LET ME GO TO SLIDE NUMBER.
WELL, THE OUTREACH TRACKING WHERE YOU TALKED ABOUT TOTAL CALLS, MADE SURVEYS, GATHERED BY CALLS, TOTAL DOORS KNOCKED, WAS THIS COMBINED OF ALL OF THE, THE PARTNERS, UH, COUNCIL, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, THIS IS THOMAS.
[00:55:01]
UM, WE HAVE THE DATA EVERY, EVERY ORGANIZATION SUBMITS TO ME EVERY WEEK.THE TRACKING THAT THEY DID, NOT JUST, I HAVE THE SURVEY BACKEND DATA ON MY END, BUT THEY PRESENT TO ME, UM, EVERY WEEK THEIR INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATIONS, UH, DATA.
AND THEN I COMBINE THEM FOR THIS HIGH LEVEL, UM, THIS HIGH LEVEL COUNT.
SO, SO YES, THIS IS, THIS IS EVERYBODY, UM, ALL FOUR PARTNERS, UH, CENTRO SAGE, SOUTH SIDE FIRST, AND, UH, W D C COMBINED.
FROM OCTOBER 12TH TO NOVEMBER 3RD.
AND THEN, UM, SO CENTRO ONE OF THE OUTREACH ORGANIZATIONS, CENTRO, THEY ARE, WHAT I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO SEE, UM, IF POSSIBLE, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE THIS DATA, BUT FROM OUR OUTREACH ORGANIZATIONS WITH THE BUSINESSES CONTACTED, UM, YOU KNOW, CENTRO'S 646, WE KNOW THAT'S THE DOWNTOWN AND EVEN VERY, UM, VERY SPECIFIC DOWNTOWN.
OUT OF THOSE BUSINESSES THAT THEY CONTACTED, HOW MANY OF THEM ACTUALLY APPLIED FOR A GRANT, A MICRO BUSINESS GRANT, AND RECEIVED ONE? I'D LOVE TO BE ABLE TO SEE IF WE HAVE ANY OF THAT OVERLAP, JUST SO, UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE GOOD DATA TO, TO HIGHLIGHT IF WE DO HAVE THAT.
UM, AND SO THEN I WANNA GO INTO, UH, THE, UH, MICRO BUSINESSES AND NON-PROFIT GRANTS.
UM, ON SLIDE NUMBER SIX, WELL ACTUALLY ON, UH, THE REMAINING, THE 47, IS THAT RIGHT? 47 THAT ARE STILL REMAINING TO GET, UH, TO GET MICROGRAMS ON THE INCLUDING BEVERAGE INDUSTRY? HMM.
LAURIE, MAY YOU PLEASE BRING UP THAT SLIDE.
I BELIEVE IT'S SLIDE FIVE APOLOGY.
SLIDE SEVEN, COUNCILMAN 49 REMAINING APPLICANT IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY.
IT'S SLIDE SEVEN FOR REFERENCE 49.
UM, SO WERE THESE 49 APPLICANTS TOLD THAT THEY DID NOT GET A GRANT AND WE'RE BRINGING THEM BACK? OR ARE THESE JUST STILL THE REMAINING 49? NO, MA'AM.
WE WORKED, UM, WE WORKED WITH LIST FUND TO CATER SPECIFIC COMMUNICATION TO THE REMAINING APPLICANTS, UH, BACK IN EARLY TO MID-NOVEMBER.
SO ALL THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES AND EVEN, UM, SOME THAT WE BELIEVE WE WOULD REACH, WE'RE TOLD THAT THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT.
WE'RE STILL REVIEWING AND THEY HAVE NOT RECEIVED A DECLINE NOTICE.
AND OF THOSE, DO WE KNOW WHAT THEIR EQUITY SCORE IS? SO IN THE REMAINING, UH, THE 49, YOUR QUESTION ON THE EQUITY SCORE, ARE YOU REFERRING AGAINST TO THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY, OR WERE YOU ASKING FOR JUST THOSE 49 AND FOOD AND BEVERAGE? THESE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES, THEY'RE FALLING IN EQUITY SCORES BETWEEN, UH, TWO AND FIVE AND WE DOWN.
WHAT, AND CAN YOU, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT ALSO THE MATRIX THOUGH? THAT'S THE EQUITY SCORE, THAT'S THE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION.
WHAT ABOUT THE EQUITY MATRIX IN TERMS OF WOMEN OWNED MINORITY OWNED.
THEIR OVERALL SCORES ARE, WE'VE REACHED 12 TOTAL CUMULATIVE SCORES OF 12 FOR THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY AND THE NON-FOOD, I REFERENCED THE 22, BUT WE'VE GONE DOWN TO 12 ALREADY FOR THESE FOOD AND BEVERAGE BUSINESSES.
SO NOW WE'RE REACHING, UM, THE, THE ONES THAT REMAINING ARE PRIMARILY MALE OWNED.
UM, THOSE THAT ARE ALSO REMAINING ARE TO COUNCIL, UM, MENTALIZED COMPANIES.
THESE ARE THE LARGER BUSINESSES, THE 11 TO TWENTIES, UM, WHO ARE GETTING THE LARGER GRANTS, UM, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T, AGAIN, THEY WERE MALE OWNED, MOSTLY NON-MINORITY, NON-MINORITY.
BUT WE'VE REACHED THE DOWNTOWN AREA WITH WHERE WE'RE SEEING, AND NOT ONLY DOWNTOWN, BUT ANYONE WHO HAD AN EQUITY SCORE OF FIVE AND BELOW WHO ARE MINOR MINORITY OWNED, WE'RE REACHING THEM NOW.
AND SO WE'RE OPTIMISTIC THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY ALL THOSE WITH THE REMAINING ADDED 1.5 WEST COUNCIL'S DIRECTION LAST WEEK.
AND THEN I'M JUST LOOKING TOO AT, UM, SLIDE NUMBER SIX AND KNOWING THAT, UM, ABSOLUTELY WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY AND JUST IN GENERAL, BUT TO CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR FOCUS ON THE EQUITY MATRIX BECAUSE
[01:00:01]
ALL OF OUR DISTRICTS, UM, HAVE SMALL AND MICRO FOOD AND BEVERAGE, UH, BUSINESSES IN OUR COMMUNITY.AND SEEING THAT THE ONE WITH THE TOTAL POTENTIAL AWARD AMOUNT IS DISTRICT ONE WITH 6.5 MILLION, WHICH IS DOUBLE THE SECOND HIGHEST AMOUNT, WHICH IS DISTRICT TWO AND 3.3 MILLION.
UM, AND I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT OUR DOWNTOWN BUSINESS, OUR DOWNTOWN BUSINESS DISTRICT, HAS ALSO BEEN PARTICULARLY HIT HARD WITH ALL OF OUR SMALL BUSINESSES BECAUSE OF NOT JUST THE LACK OF TOURISM, BUT ALSO THE LACK OF WORKERS COMING DOWN AND WORKING HERE.
IT, THEY'RE HAVING TO REMOTE IN.
AND SO YOU DON'T HAVE THE POPULATION DOWN HERE GOING AND ATTENDING, GOING TO THE RESTAURANTS, UM, GOING TO RESTAURANTS FOR LUNCH, BUYING IN THEIR SMALL BUSINESSES DOWN IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA.
SO THAT'S EXTREMELY, UM, THERE'S AN EXTREME NEED FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO WORK ON OUR EQUITY, UM, CONTINUE TO MAKE EQUITY SCORES AND THAT THE INCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION, UH, IMPORTANT THERE.
AND THEN, UH, LAST POINT ON THIS WOULD ALSO BE THAT WE HAVE THIS INFRASTRUCTURE SET UP NOW.
SO I AM, I AM OPTIMISTIC THAT WE WILL SEE SOMETHING FROM CONGRESS OR, OR FROM, I SHOULD SAY THE SENATE TO APPROVE SOMETHING HERE SOON.
AND BECAUSE WE HAVE THIS INFRASTRUCTURE, WE'LL BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD AND THEN MAKE ADDITIONAL CHANGES WHEN NEEDED TO THE LARGER, MORE THAN 25, UM, EMPLOYEES IN THE FUTURE.
UM, AND THEN I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA PAUSE HERE AND LET COUNCIL MEMBER ROJA GARCIA ASK HER QUESTIONS.
THEN I'LL GO INTO THE, UM, THE OTHER PORTION, THE TRAIN FOR JOBS ESSAY.
SO COUNCIL MEMBER ROJA GARCIA.
UM, AND, AND, AND MY APOLOGIES TO, TO MY COLLEAGUES, UH, AND, AND TO STAFF WHO WERE, UM, UH, WE'RE PRESENTING AND, AND I WAS AWAY.
I DID HAVE A, A STAFF MEMBER THAT WAS JOINING AND LISTENING IN ON THE CONVERSATION.
UM, I'LL JUST START OFF AND, AND YOU ALL WILL KNOW THE FIRST THING THAT I'M GONNA SAY, UM, BECAUSE I, I, I ALWAYS SAY IT.
AND SO PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS, UM, UH, I FEEL, AND, AND IT HAS HAD THE LOWEST NUMBER, UM, ON THE, UH, SMALL BUSINESS, UH, LOANS, IF YOU WILL.
AND SO I'M, UM, DISAPPOINTED THAT WE HAVE BEEN AWARDED, UH, ONLY 50 GRANTS.
AND SO I KNOW THAT IT TOTALS A A MILLION DOLLARS.
SO I, UM, I'M, UH, HAPPY THAT IT'S ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS, BUT I'M STILL NOT HAPPY WITH THE AMOUNT OF THE PERCENTAGE OF THE AWARDS THAT WE'VE RECEIVED.
SO IT'S THE LOWEST, UM, IT'S, UH, IT'S JUST DISAPPOINTING.
I, I, I DON'T KNOW HOW ELSE TO SAY IT.
UM, BUT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE WHAT THE REACH AND FREQUENCY WAS WHEN YOU ALL MADE PHONE CALLS AND POSTCARDS.
I THINK THAT IF, IF I, I'M GONNA START USING MY MARKETING TERMS, RIGHT? AND SO I WAS TRYING TO BE JUST GENERAL AND, AND KIND OF GIVE SOME ADVICE AND GUIDANCE.
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION IS, UH, IS, IS DEFINITELY THE WAY TO GO ON THIS, ESPECIALLY IF WE HAVE DIFFERENT, UM, DEMOGRAPHICS AND, AND DIFFERENT GROUPS THAT WE HAVE TO REACH.
UM, BUT DEFINITELY IT CAN'T JUST BE ONE POSTCARD THAT GOES OUT.
IT CAN'T JUST BE ONE PHONE CALL THAT GOES OUT.
SO I WANNA SEE REACH AND FREQUENCY.
I DON'T SEE HOW MANY TIMES THESE PEOPLE REACHED OUT.
UH, IT'S GONNA TAKE, UM, A, A COLLECTIVE EFFORT, RIGHT, UH, WITH OUR PARTNERS.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALL HAVE THAT INFORMATION, UM, ABOUT THE REACH AND, AND, AND FREQUENCY.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE A VERY TARGETED SEGMENTATION STRATEGY.
OBVIOUSLY THIS, THESE NUMBERS THAT WERE PRESENTED BACK IN OCTOBER, THEY'RE JUST AS LOW.
UM, AND SO WE DIDN'T MOVE THE NEEDLE ANYWHERE, I THINK, IN MY DISTRICT.
UM, AND I'D BE HAPPY MAYBE TO WORK WITH SOMEONE, I DON'T KNOW WHO YOUR MARKETING PERSON IS IN E D D OR IF YOU ALL HAVE A MARKETING PERSON THAT'S ASSIGNED, BUT I'D BE HAPPY TO MAYBE WORK WITH THEM, UH, AND, AND SEE IF WE COULD, WE COULD HELP, UM, WITH, WITH, AND MAYBE WE CAN TAKE THE APPROACH OF WHAT THE HEALTH, UH, N D H SS DID ON THE, UH, NUMBERS, UH, OR ON THE, UH, DOOR TO DOOR AND THAT TYPE OF OUTREACH, BECAUSE WE WERE ABLE IN ONE MONTH TO GET THE CASES OF COVID AND D FOUR DOWN BY ABOUT 10%.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF
I KNOW WE ONLY HAVE EIGHT DAYS THOUGH, SO IT'S KIND OF LIKE, UM, THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S NOT SO MUCH THAT WE CAN DO.
I THINK IT SAYS DECEMBER THE 18TH.
SO I JUST, I'D LIKE TO BE PREPARED FOR NEXT TIME, RIGHT? SO WHAT'S THE OUTREACH STRATEGY? UM, WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP GOING ON THAT.
[01:05:01]
DO WE HAVE A BREAKDOWN ON SLIDE 12? YOU ALL HAVE THE, UM, UH, JUST IN GENERAL, YOU ALL HAVE, FROM OCTOBER 12TH TO NOVEMBER, THE 30TH ACCOUNT, UM, OF TOTAL CALLS MADE AND DOORS KNOCKED AND, AND SURVEYS GATHERED IN PERSON.CAN WE BREAK THAT DOWN BY DISTRICT? CAN I KNOW HOW MANY CALLS WERE MADE TO DISTRICT FOUR BUSINESSES? CAN I KNOW HOW MANY DOORS WERE KNOCKED ON WITH DISTRICT FOUR BUSINESSES? I DON'T KNOW IF THE PARTNERS COLLECTED THAT LEVEL OF INFORMATION.
UM, I APPRECIATE THE CONVERSION RATE.
I THINK THAT THAT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO HAVE.
UM, BUT I'M WONDERING IF WE CAN KIND OF HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE BREAKDOWN IN THAT DATA.
UM, BECAUSE IF WE'RE NOT TRACKING THAT, THEN WE'RE NOT, UH, EVEN TRYING TO MOVE THE NEEDLE WHERE WE SHOULD BE IN, IN MY OPINION.
SO I, I'D LOVE TO LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
UM, ALEX, DO YOU KNOW, DO YOU KNOW IF YOU HAVE THAT, THAT SORT OF A BREAKDOWN? AND, AND WE, YOU CAN SHARE THAT WITH ME OFFLINE.
I JUST WANNA SEE, UM, IF, IF THEY COLLECTED THAT DATA.
I WAS ACTUALLY GONNA CHECK WITH THOMAS, BECAUSE I KNOW WE HAVE THE CON, THE ONES THAT CONVERTED, BUT DO WE HAVE THE ONES THAT DIDN'T CONVERT THE ATTEMPTS, PER SE, RIGHT? YES.
UH, UM, COUNSEL, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, I, I WOULD NEED TO ASK, UM, I WOULD NEED TO ASK THE PARTNERS, UM, ABOUT THAT.
EVERYBODY KIND OF DID THEIR, A DIFFERENT, SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SYSTEM THAT WORKED FOR THEIR ORGANIZATION.
SO I WOULD NEED TO ASK THE PARTNER.
I DID NOT ASK FOR THAT SEGMENTED.
UM, BUT BE, BUT BECAUSE THE, THE PARTNERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN GEOGRAPHIC AREAS, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO, I MEAN, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GO AND ASK.
I JUST DON'T KNOW IF THEY TRACKED IT TO THAT LEVEL.
WE WERE USING, UM, LISTS AND OTHER RESOURCES FROM THE GRANTS FROM THE P P E SIDE, SO WE KIND OF KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, WHO THEY WERE USING.
BUT I, I WOULD NEED TO GO BACK AND ASK FOR THAT SPECIFICALLY.
BUT, BUT, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING I CAN DO, UM, HERE, UH, BEFORE OUR NEXT, UH, PRESENTATION OR NEXT TIME, BEFORE THE NEXT TIME WE GET TOGETHER WITH YOU.
AND, UM, I'LL, I'LL REMIND YOU ALL, MOST OF THESE FOLKS, UM, THAT WE'RE PARTNERING WITH ARE SMALL.
SO DO THEY ACTUALLY HAVE MARKETING EXPERTS ON STAFF? PROBABLY NOT.
THEY PROBABLY CAN'T SUPPORT IT.
SO I THINK THAT IT HAS TO BE ONE CENTRALIZED, UM, MESSAGE.
UH, I THINK THAT A, AGAIN, WE HAVE TO BE THE LEADERS.
WE HAVE TO BE THE ONES THAT SAY, THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING, THIS IS WHAT WE SHOULD BE MEASURING.
THIS IS WHAT THE MESSAGE SHOULD BE, AND THIS IS WHAT THE GOAL IS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S GOALS, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S METRICS.
I, BUT DEFINITELY TREATING THIS LIKE A REAL MARKETING PLAN, RIGHT? SO HOW ARE WE GONNA INCREASE THE LOWEST THREE DISTRICTS, RIGHT? HOW ARE WE GONNA CONTINUE, UH, THE CONVERSION RATE, ET CETERA.
SO I, I'D LOVE TO MAYBE, UM, HAVE A CONVERSATION OFFLINE ON, ON THAT.
UM, AND THEN ON SLIDE 18, THERE WAS, UM, I'M, I'M GONNA MOVE ON.
WELL, ACTUALLY NO, BEFORE I MOVE ON, YOU ALL HAD A RECOMMENDATION ABOUT CUTTING, UH, SOUTH SIDE FIRST, UH, AND LIFT FUND, I BELIEVE.
AND SO THERE WAS CONTRACT REDUCTIONS.
AND SO I'M WONDERING, DID THEY KNOW, HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DID THEY KNOW? WERE THEY GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT WHATEVER IT WAS THAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO CORRECT? DID THEY GIVE, WERE THEY GIVEN ANY GUIDANCE IF THEY WERE, UM, MAYBE NOT MEETING OUR GOALS? IS THERE ANYBODY WHO ACTUALLY REACHED OUT AND COACHED THEM TO BE SUCCESSFUL BEFORE DECIDING TO CUT SOME OF THEIR, UH, CONTRACT BACK? ALEX, YOU WANNA TAKE THAT? I, I CAN, AND I CAN DEFINITELY, I'LL ASK THOMAS TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THE DETAILS AS WELL, BECAUSE HE PROVIDES, HE'S BEEN, UH, COORDINATING WITH THEM DIRECTLY.
BUT, UM, BUT THE, THE SHORT ANSWER IS YES, MA'AM.
UM, WE'VE, WE HAVE COORDINATED WITH THEM DIRECTLY.
UM, BOTH, UM, THOSE THAT HAD SOME CHALLENGES GETTING STARTED.
UM, AND THEN ALSO YOU MIGHT RECALL THAT, UM, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION IS A PART OF THIS TEAM AS WELL, AND THEY'RE SERVING AS AN OVERALL COORDINATOR FOR THEM.
SO IN SOME SITUATIONS WHERE SOME OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAD A LITTLE BIT OF TROUBLE KIND OF GETTING STARTED, UM, E D F AND THEIR TEAM WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO JUMP IN, IN SOME SITUATIONS.
THEY HELPED MAKE CALLS, UM, THEY HELPED STAFF LISTS, THEY DEVELOPED MARKETING COLLATERAL FOR THE ORGANIZATIONS TO SEND OUT.
SO SOME OF 'EM, UM, DEFINITELY NEEDED A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THAT SUPPORT.
I THINK WHEN IT COMES TO SOUTHSIDE FIRST, UM, THEY, UM, THEY DO HAVE A VERY LIMITED STAFF, AND IT TOOK A LITTLE BIT OF TIME FOR THEM TO, UM, ONBOARD MORE PEOPLE.
AND THEY ACTUALLY LOST A PERSON RIGHT AS THIS WAS KICKING OFF.
AND YOU MIGHT RECALL THAT THERE'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF ENGAGEMENTS ALSO THAT THEY'RE HAVING RIGHT NOW WITH THE COUNTY AND SOME OUTREACH THAT THEY WERE ALSO DOING FOR THE COUNTY, FOR THEIR PROGRAM, FOR THEIR GRANT PROGRAM.
SO I THINK THEY WERE JUST STRETCHED A LITTLE TOO THIN, UM, TO, TO DO AS MUCH AS WE HAD, UM, ANTICIPATED THEY'D BE ABLE TO DO AS PART OF THIS ENGAGEMENT WITH US.
WITH LIFTFUND, IT'S A BIT OF THE SAME THING.
YOU DID SEE THAT THERE IS A LOT OF REFERRALS THAT WERE MADE OVER, UM, BECAUSE OF BUSINESSES THAT NEEDED FINANCIAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
[01:10:01]
UM, YOU'VE BEEN HEARING US TALK ABOUT LIFTFUND A LOT.YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE BEEN ENGAGING WITH THEM SUBSTANTIALLY ON THE GRANT SIDE, UM, BUT WE HAVEN'T RECEIVED AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING ON THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PIECE AND HOW THEY'VE BEEN WORKING DIRECTLY WITH BUSINESSES TO PROVIDE THAT SUPPORT.
WE ARE WORKING WITH THEM RIGHT NOW TO SEE WHAT WE CAN GET, TO SEE WHAT THEY'VE DONE, IF THEY'VE DONE SOME OF THIS WORK.
AND THAT'S HOW WE'RE SAYING WE WILL, THERE, THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL REDUCTIONS THERE, UM, BECAUSE WE WILL MAKE THEM WHOLE FOR WHAT THEY DID PROVIDE.
BUT GIVEN THE FACT THAT WE'VE ONLY GOT, YOU KNOW, 10 DAYS LEFT, UM, WE WANNA BE MINDFUL OF HOW WE'RE RIGHT SIZING THE AGREEMENTS RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN ALEX, WHEN DID THEY GET THEIR FUNDING? THEY ACTUALLY GOT THEIR FUNDING IN ADVANCE AS SOON AS THEY HAD SUBMITTED BUDGET.
AS SOON AS THEY HAD SUBMITTED ANY OF THE CONTRACT, UM, THE, THE PRELIMINARY ITEMS THAT THEY NEEDED TO SUBMIT, WE GAVE 'EM THE MONEY IN ADVANCE BECAUSE WE UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY WERE GONNA NEED THIS TO POTENTIALLY HIRE PEOPLE TO BUY SUPPLIES, UH, P P E THAT THEY NEEDED FOR THEIR TEAM.
SO WE'VE BEEN PAYING THEM IN ADVANCE RIGHT NOW IS WHERE WE'RE RECONCILING AND WE'RE, WE'RE NEEDING TO MAKE SURE, WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE FUNDING THAT WE PROVIDED? DO WE, DO WE PAY THE FINAL PAYMENT OR DO WE NEED TO RIGHTSIZE THESE AMENDMENTS OR THESE CONTRACTS? OKAY.
AND ALEX, AND MAYBE YOU AND I CAN TALK OFFLINE, BECAUSE I HEARD THAT A CHECK WAS JUST CUT YESTERDAY TO SOUTH SIDE FIRST.
UM, AND I WAS WORRIED ABOUT THAT.
I WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE TIMING.
AND SO I KNOW THAT THEY HAD SUBMITTED THEIR INFORMATION BACK IN OCTOBER.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT, UM, RED TAPE WAS BETWEEN OCTOBER AND, AND, AND JUST BEING CUT YESTERDAY IF IN FACT THAT WAS UNTRUE.
BUT I, I'D LIKE TO, UM, LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT TIMELINE BECAUSE I THINK IT'S UNACCEPTABLE, UH, THAT IT TOOK TWO MONTHS, YOU KNOW, TO, TO CUT A CHECK, EVEN IF SOMEBODY WAS, UM, MAYBE THEY DIDN'T SUBMIT EVERYTHING THAT THEY NEEDED UPFRONT.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, I GUESS I, I DON'T KNOW HOW ELSE TO THAT WAS TO EXPLAIN IT OTHER THAN YEAH, THAT WAS EXACTLY IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, WE NEEDED TO MAKE SURE THAT FROM A BUDGET PERSPECTIVE, OKAY, THEY WEREN'T PROPOSING TO SPEND THINGS THAT WERE NOT ALLOWABLE PER THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND REGULATIONS.
SO WHAT HELD THAT ONE IN PARTICULAR UP SO LONG WAS THE FACT THAT WE DIDN'T GET THEIR BUDGET UNTIL VERY, VERY LATE.
UM, AND SO, YEAH, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S LIKE A, UH, AND WE PROBABLY DON'T HAVE IT, BUT THERE PROBABLY SHOULD BE MAYBE FOR, FOR, FOR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, COMES NEXT, LIKE A FLOW CHART OF SOME SORT.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF THERE IS THAT, AND JUST LIKE EVERYTHING THAT IT, I MEAN, I HAVE THE DOCUMENTATION THAT SHOWED WHAT WAS ELIGIBLE FOR EXPENSES BACK IN, I DON'T KNOW, MAY.
RIGHT? SO WE ALL, WE ALL HAD LIKE THE THREE PAGER, SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WASN'T SHARED WITH OUR PARTNERS.
AND SO, SO ANYWAY, SO JUST SOME INFORMATION.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, I'M VERY HAPPY ON THE NUMBERS OR THE, UM, WORK IN SA UM, I KNOW THAT WE HAVE ABOUT 11% OF FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN TRAINED, UM, OR ENROLLED IN TRAINING AS OF DECEMBER THE THIRD IN, UH, COUNCIL DISTRICT FOUR.
I THINK THAT'S A MORE EQUITABLE BREAKDOWN.
SO I THINK OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB, AND I, I, I'M HAPPY ABOUT THAT.
UM, THERE'S 275 ON THE JOB, UH, TRAINING SLOTS, UM, BUT ONLY TWO OF THEM WERE FILLED, UH, WITH RESIDENTS BEING PLACED INTO ON THE JOB TRAINING.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT? AND MAYBE YOU DID, AND IF YOU DID, WE'RE NOT EVEN AT 1% THERE.
AND THAT'S KIND OF THE ONE THAT I KEEP HEARING, UH, FOLKS, AND AS, AS WE CAN SEE, FOUR, FIVE LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE SIGNED AGREEMENTS ALREADY.
LIKE, CAN, CAN YOU MAYBE FILL ME IN ON THE STRATEGY TO INCREASE THAT ON THE JOBB TRAINING, IF WE HAVE THOSE SLOTS AVAILABLE, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TO FILL THOSE 273 SLOTS? COUNCILWOMAN, THIS IS MICHAEL SINDEN.
I, I'D BE GLAD TO ANSWER THAT, THAT QUESTION.
SO WE ARE EXPERIENCING CHALLENGES, UM, REGARDING O J T, JUST LIKE WE SHOWED LAST TIME.
AND, AND THERE WERE SOME EFFORTS THAT PIVOTED THAT UNFORTUNATELY ONLY YIELDED TO, UM, RESIDENTS TO TAKE O J T SLOTS.
SO SEEING THAT, THAT WE NEED TO IMPROVE IN THESE EFFORTS ON, I THINK IT WAS SLIDE 21, YOU'LL SEE A LIST OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEEK YOUR FEEDBACK ON THAT WOULD POTENTIALLY HELP US OPEN UP THE POLL A LITTLE MORE AND GET FOLKS INTO THESE O J T SPOTS.
SO ONE OF THOSE, UM, IS ALLOWING BUSINESSES, UM, WITHIN BEXAR COUNTY TO PARTICIPATE IN O J T.
THIS WOULD STILL BE FOUR CITY RESIDENT AND I, I'M IN AGREEMENT WITH ALL OF THOSE.
SO, BUT, BUT YOU THINK THAT THAT'S GONNA SOLVE THE 273 SPOTS.
LIKE YOU'RE CONFIDENT THAT IF WE DO ALL THREE OF THOSE, IT'S GOING TO BE, THERE'S, THERE'S NOTHING ELSE THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN? IS, OR I GUESS MY CONCERN IS THAT WE HAVE, UM, ALL OF THESE RESIDENTS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH TRAINING NOW, AND, UH, ONLY TWO OF THEM, UH, WERE DIRECTED INTO THE, ON THE JOB TRAINING.
I, I GUESS MY QUESTION IS MORE OF A PROCESS LIKE, ARE OUR PARTNERS REFERRING PEOPLE TO ON THE JOB TRAINING, DO OUR PARTNERS KNOW WHAT ON THE JOB TRAINING, UH, AVAIL SLOTS ARE AVAILABLE? SURE.
I I THINK YOU KIND OF HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.
SO RIGHT NOW, WE DO NOT ALLOW STACKABLE TRAININGS WHEN IT COMES TO SOMEONE GOING THROUGH YOUR, SAY, TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM OR IN THIS CASE, VIRTUAL
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TRAINING, GETTING SKILLS THEY NEED AND THEN SPINNING OUT TO ON THE JOB TRAINING SLOTS TO FURTHER THOSE SKILLS AND PROGRESS IN THEIR CAREER.THAT'S ONE OF THE AMENDMENTS WE'RE PROPOSING ON HERE.
'CAUSE WHAT WE CONSISTENTLY HEAR, ESPECIALLY FROM OUR MAIN, ONE OF OUR MAIN PARTNERS IN CHARGE OF THIS EFFORT, UH, ESSAY WORKS, IS THAT EMPLOYERS ARE READY AND THEY EVEN GET RESIDENTS WHO COME TO THE FRONT DOOR, BUT THERE'S JUST SOME BARRIERS OR SKILLS THAT ARE NEEDED BEFORE THEY CAN ENTER THE O J T.
SO IF WE CAN DIRECT THEM BACK INTO THE CLASSROOM, GET THEM WHAT THEY NEED, AND THEN PUSH THEM BACK OVER TO ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, WE HOPE, AND WE THINK THAT COULD BE AN EFFORT IN WHICH WE CLOSE THE GAP.
I WILL ADD THAT, UM, LATER IN THIS PRESENTATION.
I, I'VE REFERENCED FOCUS GROUPS AND SURVEYING OF THE COMMUNITY.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO ASK WHY THESE BARRIERS EXIST AND, AND GET THAT FEEDBACK TO INCORPORATE POTENTIALLY EVEN MORE AMENDMENTS AS WE GO THROUGH THAT LONG-TERM PROCESS, UH, AMENDMENT PROCESS.
THAT'LL, THAT'LL BE IMPLEMENTED IN MARCH.
UM, MICHAEL AND I APPRECIATED THOSE FOCUS GROUPS.
UM, I, I, I NOTICED THAT YOU HAD THREE DIFFERENT, UH, FOCUS GROUPS.
I ALSO FOUND IT INTERESTING THAT A MAJORITY OF THE FOLKS THAT WERE ELIGIBLE FOR, UM, DAYCARE SERVICES, CHILDCARE SERVICES, UM, WE'RE OPTING OUT BECAUSE OF COVID.
AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, UM, CHAIR IS, IS GOING TO BE, DID I, I DON'T, DIDN'T SEE IT IN THE PRESENTATION, BUT DO WE HAVE LIKE A, A BURN RATE WHERE WE ARE, UM, WHAT ON THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FUNDING THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN SPENT AND, AND WHAT WE HAVE TO GO IN THE NEXT 10 DAYS? SO COUNCIL MEMBER, THIS IS ALEX, AND WE DO, WE ARE CONSTANTLY REPORTING THAT INFORMATION UP TO, UM, ANA BRADSHAW AND MARIA VIA GOMEZ SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, YOU THE BURN RATE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE ACTUALLY MEETING THAT.
AND WE CAN DEFINITELY PROVIDE THAT.
THOSE ARE, THAT'S TYPICALLY PROVIDED IN ANNA'S UPDATES, THE QUARTERLY, YEAH.
SO I'VE SEE ANNA'S LATEST, BUT I WAS JUST WORRIED BECAUSE NO, WE HAVE JUST A FEW DAYS LEFT, SO, OKAY.
SO, UH, COLLEAGUES, WE STILL HAVE TWO ITEMS ON THIS, UH, AGENDA THAT WE NEED TO GO THROUGH, BUT I DO, UM, MICHAEL, I AM IN AGREEMENT WITH YOUR PROPOSED O UH, ON THE JOB TRAINING AMENDMENTS.
I THINK WE NEED TO MOVE FORWARD.
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THAT INFORMATION.
AND THE MORE FOCUS GROUPS AND THE BETTER I THINK WE'LL BE.
[4. 20-7131 Small Business Economic Development Advocacy (SBEDA) Disparity Study: Request for Proposal Pre-Solicitation Briefing. [Carlos J. Contreras, III; Assistant City Manager; Alejandra Lopez, Director, Economic Development] ]
SO NEXT IS OUR ITEM FOUR, SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVOCACY, THE BETA DISPARITY STUDY AND THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL PRE SOLICITATION.I'LL AGAIN BE GIVEN THIS PRESENTATION.
SO AGAIN, GOOD MORNING EVERYONE, AND AGAIN, MY NAME IS MICHAEL SINDEN.
I'M ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
AND FOR, FOR THIS PRESENTATION, UM, I'LL BE DISCUSSING THE UPCOMING, UH, 2022 DISPARITY STUDY SOLICITATION THAT WILL HELP US MEASURE AND POTENTIALLY IDENTIFY FUTURE AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY'S SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM THAT WE REFER TO AS THE C BETA PROGRAM.
SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE PURPOSE OF THE C BETA PROGRAM IS TO UTILIZE OUR LOCAL SMALL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES ON CITY CONTRACTS.
WE DO THIS SPECIFICALLY TO CURE DOCUMENTED RACIAL AND GENDER DISPARITIES FOUND IN PREVIOUSLY ADOPTED DISPARITY STUDIES.
THESE PAST STUDIES EVALUATED VARIOUS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR DATA SETS, WHICH SHOWED THE UNDER UTILIZATION AND UNDERREPRESENTATION OF LOCAL MINORITY OF WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES ON A VARIETY OF ISSUES SUCH AS CONTRACTING AND LENDING PRACTICES, WHICH, AS YOU ALL KNOW, ULTIMATELY, ULTIMATELY AFFECTS MINORITY OF WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES, FORMATION AND RETENTION RATES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AS, AS FOR, UM, THE PUBLIC SECTOR CONTRACTOR DISPARITIES, THE CITY SUB BETA PROGRAM HAS DOCUMENTED A LOT OF SUCCESS, UH, MOSTLY OVER THE LAST DECADE IN UTILIZE UTILIZING MINORITY OF WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES IN RELATION TO THEIR AVAILABILITY IN OUR MARKETPLACE, AND TO DEMONSTRATE THAT SUCCESS, THE CHART ON THIS SLIDE SHOWS HOW FAR THE CITY HAS COME IN UTILIZING MINORITY OF WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES SINCE OUR EFFORTS BEGAN NEARLY 30 YEARS AGO.
SO FOR THOSE WHO RECALL, THE CITY'S FOCUS ON THIS ISSUE STARTED BACK IN 1988 WHEN THE HISPANIC CHAMBER FOUND THAT THE CITY WAS UTILIZING 2% OF LOCAL MINORITY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES ON CITY CONTRACTS.
AND IN ORDER TO, TO STUDY THOSE ISSUES FOR OURSELVES, THE CITY CONDUCTED ITS FIRST DISPARITY STUDY IN 1992, WHICH FINDINGS LARGELY MATCHED THE HISPANIC CHAMBER STUDY AS WE FOUND UTILIZATION OF MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES TO BE AT 10%.
AS A RESULT OF THE IDENTIFIED DISPARITY, THE CITY IMPLEMENTED A C BETA LIKE PROGRAM WITH THE INTENTION TO CURE THE ISSUES FOUND.
HOWEVER, AS THE CHART REFLECTS, NOT MUCH IMPROVEMENT WAS DOCUMENTED BETWEEN THE 1992 STUDY AND THE SECOND DISPARITY STUDY ADOPTED IN 2010, WHICH SHOWED THE CITY'S UTILIZATION OF MINORITY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES AT 16% OVER IN YOUR 18 YEAR WINDOW UTILIZATION ONLY INCREASED BY 6% IN THAT TIMEFRAME.
AS A RESULT OF THAT MINIMAL IMPROVEMENT, THE VETA PROGRAM UNDERWENT
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SIGNIFICANT AMENDMENTS AND IT WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY OVERHAULED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, CREATING THE VETA PROGRAM.YOU ALL KNOW AND SEE TODAY, SINCE THE 2010 STUDY, WE HAVE SEEN DRAMATIC SUCCESS.
THE THIRD DISPARITY STUDY ADOPTED IN 2015 SHOWED UTILIZATION AT 23%, WHICH REPRESENTED A GREATER IMPROVEMENT OVER A FIVE YEAR SPAN THAN THAT 18 YEAR SPAN FROM 1992 TO 2010.
AND TO FURTHER DEMONSTRATE OUR PROGRESS, THE LAST BAR YOU SEE ON THIS CHART REPRESENTS OUR LATEST FINDINGS FROM THE FISCAL YEAR 2019 TO BETA ANNUAL PORT, WHICH SHOWS 50% OF ALL FUNDS PAID FROM CITY CONTRACTS IN WHICH THE BETA PROGRAM APPLIED OR DONE SO WITH LOCAL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES.
AND WHILE OUR ANNUAL PORTS ARE NOT AS COMPREHENSIVE AS THE DISPARITY STUDY, THEY DO A GREAT JOB INDICATING THE CITY'S SUCCESS YEAR OVER YEAR IN CURING CONTRACTING DISPARITIES AS WE HAVE CONTINUOUSLY DOCUMENTED INCREASES.
THESE RECENT FEE, UH, FIGURES SEEN THROUGH THESE BETA ANNUAL REPORTS ARE THE REASON THE CITY WAS AWARDED THE GOLD AWARD IN THE ECONOMIC EQUITY AND INCLUSION CATEGORY FOR POPULATIONS GREATER THAN 500,000 BY THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL IN 2019.
AND I'LL JUST ADD THAT LOOKING AT THE IMPACT OF THE VETA PROGRAM CURRENTLY TO THIS DATE, APPROXIMATELY $2.5 BILLION IS ANTICIPATED TO BE PAID DIRECTLY TO OUR LOCAL MINORITY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS COMMUNITY OVER THE NEXT DECADE THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.
SO MOVING ON TO THIS NEXT SLIDE.
UM, IT LISTS SOME OF THOSE PROVEN AMENDMENTS THAT I JUST REFERENCED THAT WERE IMPLEMENTED IN 2011, POST THAT 2010 DISPARITY STUDY, AS WELL AS THOSE MADE IN 2016 POST THE 2015 DISPARITY STUDY.
THE 2010 AMENDMENTS WERE VAST AND INCLUDED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF EVALUATION POINTS STRICTLY FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES CERTIFIED BY THE SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS REGIONAL CERTIFICATION AGENCY.
AS A SMALL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS, HISTORICALLY, PRIME CONTRACTORS DID NOT HAVE TO BE CERTIFIED TO RECEIVE THE BETA PRIME EVALUATION POINTS.
SO WE DID AWAY WITH THAT IN 2011 TO ASSURE WE WERE TRULY BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF LOCAL SMALL MINORITY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES AS PRIME CONTRACTORS.
IN ADDITION, WE STARTED SETTING CONTRACT SPECIFIC SUBCONTRACTING GOALS TO SOLICITATIONS THAT WE COULD STRONGLY ENFORCE AS THE GOALS WE SET THROUGH DA WERE WERE THROUGH DATA SETS REFLECTING FIRM AVAILABILITY IN OUR ACTUAL MARKETPLACE.
HISTORICALLY, WHEN CHALLENGED, WE COULD NOT ENFORCE FIRM SUBCONTRACTING GOALS ON PROJECTS AS WE COULD NOT PROVE THE AVAILABILITY OF LOCAL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES IN OUR MARKETPLACE.
SO AGAIN, WE DID AWAY WITH THAT BY SETTING GOALS BASED OFF, BASED OFF A DATABASE THAT IS BASED ON REAL AND CURRENT LOCAL MARKETPLACE DATA.
AND THE DATA JUST REFERENCED IS PULLED FROM THE CENTRAL VENDOR REGISTRY THAT WAS ALSO ESTABLISHED AS PART OF THE 2010 AMENDMENTS, AND EASILY INFORMS WHICH FIRMS WANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, THE TYPE OF WORK THEY PERFORM, AND IF THEY ARE CERTIFIED AS A SMALL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS.
IN ADDITION, A GOAL SETTING COMMITTEE WAS ESTABLISHED TO ALLOW A GROUP OF CITY STAFF TO EVALUATE EC THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENTS RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW BEST TO APPLY THIS A BETA PROGRAM TO EACH AND EVERY INDIVIDUAL SOLICITATION OVER 50,000.
AND FINALLY, IN 2010, WE ESTABLISHED A COMPLIANCE MODULE TO EVALUATE EACH PRIME CONTRACTOR'S EFFORTS IN UTILIZING LOCAL, SMALL, MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES ON EACH CITY PROJECT.
IN RELATION TO WHAT THE PRIME CONTRACTOR PROMISED AT TIME OF CITY COUNCIL AWARD FOR THE 2016 AMENDMENTS, THE COMMUNITY BELIEVED THE BETA PROGRAM WAS ON TRACK TO MEET ITS GOALS PER THE DISPARITY STUDY RESULTS IN 2015.
SO THE AMENDMENTS MADE AT THAT TIME WERE MORE TWEAKS TO THE POLICY THAN SAY, AN OVERHAUL.
ONE MAIN AMENDMENT WAS THE EXP EXPANSION OF S BETA PRIME EVALUATION POINTS AND SUBCONTRACTING GOALS TO EACH INDUSTRY IN WHICH THE PROGRAM APPLIED.
FOR EXAMPLE, PRIME EVALUATION POINTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE TO BE APPLIED SPECIFICALLY FOR MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AS YOU SEE TODAY.
HOWEVER, THE 2015 DISPARITY STUDY SHOWED THAT LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS EVALUATION PREFERENCE POINTS ALONE, DID NOT CURE DISPARITY, AND A SPECIFIC TOOL NEEDED TO BE FOCUSED ON MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES TO REMEDY THIS DISPARITY.
ANOTHER MAIN AMENDMENT IN 2016, WHICH WAS LARGELY SUPPORTED BY THE COMMUNITY, WAS TO ALLOW PRIME CONTRACTORS WHO ARE THEMSELVES LOCAL, SMALL, MINORITY, AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES, THE ABILITY TO SELF PERFORM SUBCONTRACTING GOALS IN ORDER TO GROW AND MAXIMIZE THEIR CAPACITY ON CITY CONTRACTS.
NOW THAT WE'VE GOTTEN THROUGH A LITTLE BIT OF THE VETA HISTORY, UH, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF A DISPARITY STUDY AND WHY THE CITY CONDUCTS THEM FROM TIME TO TIME.
ESSENTIALLY, THE PURPOSE OF A DISPARITY STUDY IS TO COMPILE AND EVALUATE EVIDENCE OF POTENTIAL RACIAL AND GENDER DISPARITIES IN THE SPECIFIED RELEVANT MARKETPLACE.
THE NEED FOR A STUDY IS DRIVEN BY THE RICHMOND VERSUS CROSTON SUPREME COURT CASE IN 1989 THAT RULED FOR A GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION TO HAVE A RACE OR GENDER-BASED CONTRACTING PROGRAM.
THE ENTITY MUST MEET THE DEFINITION OF STRICT CONSTITUTIONAL SCRUTINY MADE UP OF THREE PRIMARY FACTORS.
FIRST, THE SUPREME COURT STATED THAT THE PUBLIC ENTITY MUST DEMONSTRATE THAT THERE IS, THAT THERE IS STATISTICAL EVIDENCE OF RACE AND GENDER BASED
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DISPARITIES IN YOUR RELEVANT MARKETPLACE.SECOND, THE COURT RULED THAT YOU MUST OBTAIN ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE THAT MATCHES THE STATISTICAL EVIDENCE FOUND, AND LAST, ALL REMEDIES PUT IN PLACE TO ADDRESS THE STATISTICAL AND, AND ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE MUST BE NARROWLY TAILORED AT FIXING THE SPECIFIC ISSUES FOUND IN YOUR MARKETPLACE.
NOW, THE INDUSTRY STANDARD IS TO CONDUCT A DISPARITY STUDY EVERY FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS TO REEVALUATE THE FACTORS I JUST STATED, SO THAT WE ARE NOT OPERATING UNDER ANY OLD EVIDENCE THAT MAY HAVE CHANGED AND IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE CURRENT ENVIRONMENT THAT CAN OPEN THE CITY AND THE PROGRAM OF FOR ANY POTENTIAL LEGAL CHALLENGES.
SO SEEING HOW THE CITY'S DISPARITY STUDY IS NOW ABOUT FIVE YEARS OLD AS IT WAS ADOPTED BACK IN 2015, AND AND ONCE THE NEW ONE IS COMPLETED, IT WILL BE CLOSER TO SEVEN YEARS.
THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT IS RECOMMENDING WE RELEASE A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TO SELECT A CONSULTANT TO CONDUCT A NEW DISPARITY STUDY.
ESSENTIALLY, THE CONSULTANT WILL EVALUATE CITY CONTRACTING DATA FROM 2014 TO 2020.
THE REASON FOR CHOOSING THIS DATA SET IS BECAUSE IT PICKS OFF WHERE THE 2015 DISPARITY STUDY LEFT OFF.
IN ADDITION, THEY'LL REVIEW VARIOUS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR DATA SETS, WHICH I WILL DESCRIBE MORE ON THE NEXT SLIDE, AND THEY WILL RESEARCH IF DISPARITIES EXIST FOR THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS OWNERSHIP, ETHNIC AND GENDER CATEGORIES AS SHOWN ON THIS SLIDE.
AND THAT RESEARCH WILL BE BROKEN DOWN INTO THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS INDUSTRY CATEGORIES ALSO DISPLAYED ON THIS SLIDE.
FOR THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, THERE WILL BE SEVEN MAIN DELIVERABLES THAT WE'LL BE ASKING A CONSULTANT TO PERFORM THROUGH THIS STUDY.
FIRST, THE STUDY WILL DEFINE THE RELEVANT MARKETPLACE THAT WILL BE LARGELY BASED OFF THE DATA FOUND AS WELL AS RELATED COURT CASES THAT GUIDE THIS DEFINITION.
SECOND, THE CONSULTANT WILL CALCULATE A CUSTOM AVAILABILITY FOR THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO TO DO THIS, OR AT LEAST HOW WE'VE SEEN IT DONE.
THE CONSULTANT WILL USE VARIOUS DATA SETS TO INFORM WHO IS A MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESS IN OUR MARKETPLACE, AND THEN PERFORM SURVEYS TO INFORM ON THE ACCURACY OF THE DATA.
ONCE THAT INFORMATION IS FOUND, IT WILL THEN BE WEIGHTED AGAINST THE AVAIL THAT, THAT IT WILL BE WEIGHTED AGAINST THE CITY'S SPENDING PATTERNS.
FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE DATA FOUND THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS SUBMARINE MANUFACTURERS IN THE SAN ANTONIO MARKETPLACE, THOSE FIRMS WILL NOT BE WEIGHTED HEAVILY TOWARDS THE CUSTOM AVAILABILITY CALCULATION AS THE CITY JUST DOES NOT BUY SUBMARINES.
THIRD, THE STUDY WILL ANALYZE UTILIZATION OF LOCAL MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES ON CITY CONTRACTS AND THE TIMEFRAME DISCUSSED ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
FOURTH, THE STUDY WILL DETERMINE IF THERE IS ANY CAUSATION BETWEEN DISPARITIES AND DISCRIMINATION.
FIFTH, IT WILL DETERMINE IF THE BARRIERS, IF BARRIERS EXIST IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE LAST DISPARITY STUDY LOOKED AT PRIVATE SECTOR LENDING DATA, WHICH SHOWED VARIOUS DISPARITIES TOWARD MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES, AND IS A LARGE REASON WHY WE ESTABLISHED A LOAN INTEREST BUYDOWN PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LIFT FUND SIX.
THE STUDY WILL EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RACE AND GENERAL NEUTRAL REMEDIES ALONE TO ENSURE THOSE INTERVENTIONS COULD NOT SOLVE ANY POTENTIAL DISPARITIES FOUND.
RACE AND GENERAL NEUTRAL SIMPLY MEANS YOU SET TOOLS FOR ALL SMALL BUSINESSES AND YOU DON'T FOCUS ON RACE OR GENDER SPECIFICALLY.
AND LAST, THE STUDY WILL ULTIMATELY RECOMMEND IF WE SHOULD SUSPEND, CONTINUE, OR AMEND THE SUB BETA PROGRAM.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT IF WE DECIDE TO CHANGE THE BETA PROGRAM THROUGH THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY, THAT PROCESS WILL BE CONDUCTED AFTER THE DISPARITY STUDY IS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL.
AT THAT POINT, IF THE CONSENSUS IS TO MODIFY THE PROGRAM RELATED TO THE FINDINGS IN THE STUDY, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT WILL UNDERGO A HEAVY PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS TO IDENTIFY THOSE POTENTIAL CHANGES IN COLLABORATION WITH YOU ALL AND THE COMMUNITY.
AS FOR THE PROCESS TO SELECT THIS, A DISPARITY STUDY CONSULTANT, WE ARE GOING TO, AS I STATED BEFORE, USE A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.
THE ESTIMATED VALUE IS $800,000, AS IT IS A VERY TIME INTENSIVE EFFORT THAT TAKES ANYWHERE FROM 18 TO 24 MONTHS TO COMPLETE.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WE COMPLETE THE STUDY IN THAT TIMEFRAME AS ABETA ORDINANCE REQUIRES IT BE COMPLETED BY 20 20 23, OR THE PROGRAM SUNSET.
ON THIS SLIDE, YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE N I T P CODES THAT MAKE UP THE SOLICITATION, AND AS A RESULT, THE 369 COMPANIES IN OUR CENTRAL VENDOR REGISTRY WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THE SOLICITATION.
UH, IN ADDITION, WE WILL ALSO BE, WE'LL ALSO USE THE FOLLOWING ADVERTISEMENT METHODS LISTED ON THIS SLIDE TO MAKE SURE WE ARE CASTING A WIDE NET ON THOSE WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN THIS, IN THIS SOLICITATION.
AS FOR THE EVALUATION CRITERIA, EXPERIENCE, BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS WILL REPRESENT 25 POINTS.
THEIR PROPOSED PLAN WILL BE 30 POINTS.
PRICING REPRESENTS 20 POINTS OUR OWN, SO BETA PROGRAM WILL APPLY AT 10 POINTS.
LOCAL PREFERENCE PROGRAM WILL APPLY AT 10 POINTS AS WELL.
AND THE VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS PREFERENCE PROGRAM WILL APPLY AT FIVE POINTS THROUGH THE VETA PROGRAM.
WE ARE GOING TO REQUIRE THE CONSULTANT UTILIZE LOCAL, SMALL, MINORITY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES AT 20% TO HELP PERFORM THE STUDY.
THE GOALSETTING MEMBERS WHO VOTED TO APPLY THESE CTA TOOLS INCLUDE ALEX LOPEZ, AS Y'ALL KNOW, DIRECTOR OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, NORBERT
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ZOO, WHO IS AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT, AND NIKKI RAMOS, WHO IS AN ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND SERVES AS THE COMMITTEE'S CHAIR BY BEING THE CITY MANAGER'S DESIGNEE.THE EVALUATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS WILL INCLUDE CARLOS QUIN, WHO IS THE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, OVERSEEING THE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
AGAIN, ALEX LOPEZ, AND AGAIN, BERT ZU, UH, AS WELL AS MYSELF, UH, JUANITA SDA, WHO IS THE CHAIR OF THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY COMMITTEE THAT OVERSEES THE BETA ORDINANCE.
AND THEN Z GIBBS, WHO IS THE CHIEF EQUITY OFFICER.
AS TO THE TIMELINE FOR THE SOLICITATION PROCESS, WE STARTED WITH THE GOAL SETTING COMMITTEE THAT MET ON OCTOBER 30TH AND SET THOSE ABATED TOOLS WE JUST TALKED ABOUT.
WE THEN MET WITH SBA C ON NOVEMBER 20TH, AND WE'RE HERE BRIEFING YOU ALL TODAY.
NEXT, WE WILL PRESENT TO CITY COUNCIL AT B SESSION ON JANUARY 13TH.
THEN WE WILL RELEASE THE SOLICITATION TO THE PUBLIC ON JANUARY 15TH AND HAVE A PRE-SUBMIT CONFERENCE ON FEBRUARY 1ST.
THE DEADLINE FOR QUESTIONS WILL CONCLUDE ON FEBRUARY 8TH, AND THE DUE DATE FOR PROPOSALS IS MARCH 15TH.
EVALUATION WILL BE COMPLETE BY APRIL 16TH, CONTRACT NEGOTIATED BY MAY, MAY 14TH.
AND WE WILL PRESENT OUR RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL AT B SESSION ON JUNE 9TH.
WE WILL THEN TAKE THE ITEM TO A SESSION FOR CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL ON JUNE 17TH, AND THE CONTRACT WILL START ON JUNE 18TH.
AND THEN, LIKE I STATED EARLIER, 18 TO 20 MORE, 24 MONTHS FROM THAT DATE, WE WILL HAVE A DISPARITY STUDY COMPLETED.
UH, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION AND, UH, I'M NOW AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AND ALEX AND CARLOS ARE ALSO ON THE CALL.
ALTHOUGH I THINK WE COULD BE IN THE BUSINESS OF SUBMARINES, I NEVER, I DON'T KNOW.
UM, I DO WANNA CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE AND, UH, TALK ABOUT OUR CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE FOR OUR SMALL BUSINESS ADVISORY GROUP THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE SBA GROUP.
WE STILL NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE STAYING FOCUSED ON THOSE SMALL BUSINESSES WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, BUT WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUE.
UM, WE'LL START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA.
AND I ONLY HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YOU ALL, AND GREAT JOB.
AND I'M, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A, A FIRM BELIEVER IN SAVANNAH, AND I APPRECIATE YOUR WORK.
ON SLIDE SIX, UM, WE HAVE, UH, RESEARCH OF DISPARITIES EXIST IN THE FOLLOWING BUSINESS OWNERSHIP.
WE TALK ABOUT ETHNIC AND GENDER CATEGORIES.
IS THERE, UH, ANY OPPORTUNITY OR HAVE YOU ALL CONSIDERED, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN, UH, INCLUDING VETERANS AND FOLKS WITH DISABILITIES? SURE.
UM, I THINK THIS QUESTION'S PROBABLY, I THINK I SAW THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, UM, ON THIS CALL.
THEY MIGHT BE THE BEST ONES TO ANSWER THAT.
UM, 'CAUSE RACIAL AND GENDER CATEGORIES ARE PROTECTED CLASSES.
AND THE REASON WE HAVE TO UNDERGO THE STUDY TO HAVE FOCUSES ON THEM, UH, CHRISTINA OR RAY, ARE Y'ALL ON THE CALL COUNCIL MEMBER? JUST, THIS IS SCOTT, IT'S JUST BEFORE THEY JUMP ON.
I THINK THEY'RE ALL ON THE CALL.
AND CHRISTINA IS, THE VEDA PROGRAM IS TO REMEDY DISCRIMINATION.
AND SO PART OF THE, THE DISPARITY STUDY IS, UH, SHOWING THE EXISTENCE OF DISCRIMINATION.
UM, AND WE PROVIDE TOOLS IN OUR VEDA ORDINANCE TO REMEDY THAT DISCRIMINATION.
UH, THESE TOOLS COULD NOT BE, CAN NEVER BE UTILIZED IN OUR CONTRACTING, BUT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF DISCRIMINATION.
SO THAT'S WHAT ALLOWS US TO DO IT CONSTITUTIONALLY.
THAT'S WHAT ALLOWS US TO DO IT, UH, YOU KNOW, UNDER FEDERAL LAW, UNDER STATE LAW, UM, THERE, AND, AND IT IS BECAUSE THESE ARE PROTECTED CLASSES UNDER THE FEDERAL LAW, THE, UH, VETERANS AND VETERANS IN PARTICULAR.
THERE'S NOT A SIMILAR TYPE OF PROTECTION THAT ALLOWS US TO PROVIDE A SPECIFIC, YOU KNOW, UM, PREFERENCES TO THEM.
UH, AS A, AS A GROUP, UH, WE DO DO THAT WITH OUR ORDINANCES.
BUT FOR THE VETA PROGRAM, THAT'S A, THAT'S A PASS FAIL.
IF YOU RECALL, MOST OF THESE ARE PASS FAIL, YOU'RE NOT ABLE TO PROCEED.
BUT FOR, YOU KNOW, YOU COMPLYING WITH THE VETA ORDINANCE ON OUR CONTRACTING, UH, IN MANY CASES, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT, AGAIN, THAT REQUIRES PROOF OF DISCRIMINATION.
UM, I'LL LET CHRISTINA GRADE MY MATH ON THAT AND ANSWER THAT FURTHER.
AND THEN IF, AND IF, UM, I, I WAS, I, I KIND OF FIGURED ON THE VETERAN SIDE, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE DISABILITY SIDE, THE DISABLED FOLKS? SO, THAT'S CORRECT, CARLOS.
SO WHEN, WHENEVER WE WANNA HAVE A LEGALLY DEFENSIBLE PROGRAM THAT AWARDS PREFERENCE POINTS TO A CERTAIN, UM, GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS BASED ON CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS, WE HAVE TO
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EXAMINE WHAT LEGAL CLASSIFICATION THEY'RE PROTECTED UNDER.SO FOR VETERANS, UM, THEY'RE NOT PROTECTED IN THE SAME WAY THAT GENDER AND RACE ARE.
SO WE WOULD NEED A DIFFERENT SORT OF STUDY TO EXAMINE EXACTLY WHAT, UH, THE CITY WOULD BE SERVING AND HELPING THAT GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS.
UM, SO WE COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE A PROGRAM, BUT THAT WOULD MAYBE, UM, NEED ANOTHER KIND OF STUDY AND WE COULD, UH, DESIGN THAT STUDY IN A WAY THAT SEEKS THAT KIND OF INFORMATION THAT WE WOULD NEED TO PROVIDE THAT PROOF THAT THEY WERE BEING DISCRIMINATED IN SUCH A WAY, UH, THAT WE WOULD NEED TO REMEDY THAT.
AND IS IT THE SAME, IS THAT THE SAME ANSWER THEN FOR FOLKS WITH DISABILITIES? CORRECT.
I, AND, AND MY QUESTION CAME, UM, JUST BECAUSE WE WE'RE MILITARY CITY U S A AND, AND I KNOW THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE C BETA, UH, ORDINANCE, WE DO, UM, TALK ABOUT VETERAN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS PREFERENCE PROGRAM.
AND SO I, I WAS TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE THAT AS PART OF THE EVALUATION CRITERIA, BUT NOT NECESSARILY AS PART OF THE RESEARCH, UH, FOR THE DISPARITIES.
SO COUNCIL MEMBER, THIS IS ALEX LOPEZ, AND LET ME JUST JUMP IN REAL QUICK TO, TO KIND OF CLARIFY ONE POINT THAT THE VETERANS PREFERENCE PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE AS PART OF OUR POLICIES RIGHT NOW WHEN IT COMES TO PROCUREMENTS WITH THE CITY, IT IS ACTUALLY COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM C BETA.
IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE C BETA ORDINANCE.
UM, AND, AND MAYBE I CAN SET UP SOMETHING JUST TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, OFFLINE WITH YOU ALL.
AND THEN I JUST WANNA SAY, UM, THANK YOU FOR, UH, INCLUDING THE, UM, CHAIR OF THE SMALL, UH, UH, THE, THE, THE C BETA COMMITTEE.
UM, JUANDA, WHO'S A A D FOUR, UM, MEMBER, DOES GREAT WORK, AND SHE'S ALSO A VETERAN.
SO, UM, I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO, UH, ASK AND, AND BE AN ADVOCATE FOR, UM, VETERANS AND, AND FOLKS WITH DISABILITIES.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR INCLUDING IN THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION.
I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT AS WELL.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, ELIAS, ANY QUESTIONS? NONE ON MY END.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, CAVEDA, ANY QUESTIONS? UH, THANK YOU, CHAIR.
UH, ON THE PREVIOUS ECONOMIC RESEARCH REPORTS THAT WE HAD, I THINK IT WAS LAST SUMMER, WE GOT A C 19 IMPACT REPORT BY THE AUSTIN GROUP.
THERE WERE BASELINE METRICS THAT THEY ADMITTEDLY TOOK FROM THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS REPORT.
UM, CAN YOU TELL ME HOW MUCH ORIGINAL RESEARCH WE'RE REQUIRING TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THIS STUDY? IT MAY BE ON SLIDE 11, I'M SORRY, SEVEN.
I THINK YOU WENT OVER A LITTLE BIT OF IT, BUT I'D LIKE TO GET MORE, UM, MORE CLARITY ON THAT.
SO THE STUDY'S GONNA LOOK AT, AT A VARIETY OF DATA SETS, AS I MENTIONED, TO EVALUATE MULTIPLE DISPARITIES.
AS I SAID, A GOOD EXAMPLE ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR SIDE WAS LOOKING AT BANK AND LENDING DATA AND SEEING IT JUST WASN'T EQUAL FOR MINORITY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES AS COMPARED TO NON-MINORITY WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES.
UM, BUT OUR PRIMARY FOCUS IN THE DATA SET THAT WE'RE, WE'RE MOST INTERESTED IN THROUGH THIS PROGRAM IS, IS OUR CITY CONTRACTING DATA THAT, THAT WE IN FACT OWN THROUGH OUR PROCESSES.
THE EVALUATION OF THAT DATA IS WHAT CAN DETERMINE THE DISPARITIES FOR, UH, KEEPING THE S BETA PROGRAM OPERATING AND POTENTIALLY EVEN AMENDING TO MAKE IT STRONGER BASED ON WHAT THAT DATASET SHOWS THROUGH OUR COMPLIANCE MODULES.
BUT THEY WILL DEFINITELY BE, BE TAKING IN OTHER SETS OF DATA TO EVALUATE DISPARITIES, TO OFFER US REMEDIES THAT WE CAN PUT IN PLACE THROUGH OTHER PROGRAMMING, JUST LIKE WE DID FOR THE LOAN INTEREST BUY DOWN PROGRAM.
THE ONLY OTHER THING I WOULD ADD IS THAT THE, THE, THE UTILIZATION DATA IS CRITICAL BECAUSE IT'S THAT, LIKE MICHAEL MENTIONED, IT'S WHAT WE OWN AND WHAT WE DO TECHNICALLY, UM, ON THE AVAILABILITY SIDE AND GETTING TOWARDS SOME OF THE DATA THAT WAS PRESENTED BY JOHN EOS AND DR.
NEVIN OVER THE SUMMER, UM, IT, IT KIND OF MADE IT SEEM THAT THIS, THIS IS EVEN MORE TIMELY, UM, BECAUSE THEY DO USE, UM, UH, CENSUS DATA.
THEY USE THE MOST RELEVANT, THE MOST TIMELY DATA AS FAR AS BUSINESS FORMATION.
AND, AND BECAUSE WE KNOW THERE MAY BE SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR TO NOW ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY OF SOME OF THESE BUSINESSES.
AND MAYBE, YOU KNOW, THE, THERE WAS A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF, OF BUSINESSES, PARTICULARLY IN CERTAIN INDUSTRIES THAT MAY NOT HAVE MADE IT THROUGH THIS COVID, UM, PANDEMIC.
SO IT'S EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAT WE USE VERY, VERY TIMELY DATA IN THIS ANALYSIS, AND THAT'S WHAT THE CONSULTANTS USE.
WELL, THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I'M ASKING THE QUESTION.
I MEAN, I THINK YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
THE UTILIZATION DATA IS CRUCIAL, AND I WAS VERY CONCERNED WHEN I, UM, ASKED THAT QUESTION LAST SUMMER, AND THEY JUST HAD THE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS THAT, THAT THAT WAS WHAT THEY BASED EVERYTHING ON.
SO I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT WE'RE GONNA USE MORE SPECIFIC, UM, DATA TO THE CITY AND HOW IT SPECIFICALLY APPLIES TO OUR C BETA STRUCTURE.
I'D LIKE TO SEE THE DISPARITY STUDY FOCUSED ON RESEARCH
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OUTCOMES UNIQUE TO OUR C BETA PURPOSE.SO I'M, I'M ENCOURAGED TO HEAR THAT AND I'LL, I'LL LOOK FORWARD TO, TO, UM, TO READING IT.
UM, JUST A COUPLE OF QUICK QUESTIONS.
UM, THE, IS THIS STUDY TAKE THIS DISPARITY STUDY, IS IT STRICTLY TO JUST THE SAN ANTONIO AREA OR ARE YOU ALSO LOOKING AT A LARGER, THE M S A AREA WHEN DOING THIS STUDY? SURE.
SO FROM WHAT I RECALL ON THE LAST ONE, THAT THAT'S THE FIRST THING THEY REALLY DO IS THEY TRY TO DEFINE YOUR RELEVANT MARKETPLACE.
I BELIEVE THAT'S ROUGHLY ABOUT CHAPTER ONE.
AND, AND THEY DO THAT BY LOOKING AT WHERE I BELIEVE THAT THE THRESHOLD, UH, PER COURT CASES IS WHERE 80% OF YOUR SPEND IS WITH.
AND SO FOR US, 80% OF OUR SPEND HAS BEEN WITH BUSINESSES WITHIN THE M S A AND ONLY 20% OF IT HAS TRICKLED OUTSIDE.
SO THAT, THAT IS HOW OUR, OUR RELEVANT MARKETPLACE HAS BEEN DETERMINED HISTORICALLY.
SO DOES THAT THEN SKEW THE FINDINGS BECAUSE WE'RE GOING OUTSIDE OF SAN ANTONIO, OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTY EVEN? 'CAUSE IT'S NOT JUST EVEN IN THE COUNTY, IT'S ALSO OUTSIDE OF OUR COUNTY.
SO FOR THE, FOR THE CURRENT, UH,
UM, THIS NEXT STUDY WILL AGAIN, WILL AGAIN REVIEW THAT DATA AND SEE IF THOSE SPENDING PATTERNS HAVE CHANGED AND IF THAT GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS NEEDS TO BE NARROWED TO SAY, TO YOUR POINT, THE COUNTY OR THE CITY LIMITS.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE IMPORTANT, UH, FOR US TO HAVE ONE OF OUR FINDINGS BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S, UM, PART OF THE ISSUE THAT WE HAVE, UM, HERE BECAUSE WE WANNA MAKE SURE IT'S, IT'S, IT'S PART OF OUR COMMUNITY HERE AND WE'RE INVESTING IN OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES HERE, GIVING THEM THE OPPORTUNITY.
AND THEN, UM, I SEE THE CONTRACT STATUS IS THE, THE BETA ORDINANCE SUNSET SINCE DECEMBER, 2023.
SO THIS, UH, STUDY WILL THEN HELP, UH, FIGURE IF WE SHOULD CONTINUE IT OR MAKE ADDITIONAL CHANGES OR JUST ALLOW IT TO SUNSET IN 2023, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
AND SO TELL ME, UH, WHY $800,000? SURE.
I MEAN, THE ANSWER IS IT IS AN EXTREMELY TIME INTENSIVE PROCESS.
SO, UM, IT TAKES, LIKE I SAID, 18 TO 24 MONTHS TO COMPLETE.
UM, THERE'S GONNA BE A TON OF DATA SETS THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO COMPILE AND EVALUATE, UM, TO PRODUCE, TO PRODUCE OUTPUTS ON, UM, JUST TO GIVE SCALE.
AND I KNOW SCALE DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN WORK AND TIME, BUT I THINK THE LAST DISPARITY WAS SOMEWHERE AROUND 700 PAGES OF, OF DATA ANALYSIS.
THEY ALSO ARE GONNA COME INTO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND, AND ALSO, LIKE I SAID, THE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PIECE.
THEY'RE GONNA BE TRYING TO ROUND UP FOLKS TO GET THEIR THOUGHTS AND FEEDBACK AND FOCUS GROUPS AND OTHER VERY INTENSIVE EFFORTS, UM, MAILERS AND OTHER TYPES OF EXPENSES TO, TO JUST GATHER AND MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE MOST ACCURATE DATA POSSIBLE ON THE, ON THE POPULATION WE'RE TRYING TO STUDY.
UM, I KNOW THAT COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ HAD TO JUMP OFF THE CALL, BUT I KNOW THAT SOMETHING THAT SHE HAS BEEN, UM, VERY CONCERNED WITH ABOUT THE, UM, COST AND SO EXPENSIVE AND NUMBER ONE AND NUMBER TWO, THAT WE'RE ALSO DOING ALL OF THIS, UM, OUTSIDE OF OUR, OUR OWN CITY AND EVEN COUNTY.
SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING, UM, VERY IMPORTANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT AS WE, UH, MOVE FORWARD.
BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION AND UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO FURTHER CONVERSATIONS WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, FULL COUNCIL CONSIDERATION.
UM, WE'RE ALMOST THERE, YOU ALL.
IN THE HOME STRETCH, WE HAVE ITEM
[5. 20-7132 Consideration of Adoption of Tax Abatement Guidelines (Tax Abatement Guidelines) effective from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022. [Carlos J. Contreras, III; Assistant City Manager; Alejandra Lopez, Director, Economic Development] ]
NUMBER FIVE, THE CONSIDERATION, A VERY IMPORTANT ONE, CONSIDERATION OF ADOPTION OF TAX ABATEMENT GUIDELINES, ALEX AND ACTUALLY CHAIR AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS.JUSTINA TATE, OUR OTHER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS GONNA GIVE US THIS BRIEF UPDATE.
UH, GOOD MORNING OR GOOD AFTERNOON, UH, CHAIR AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS OF ALEX FRENCH.
MY NAME IS JUSTINA TATE, I'M THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, AND TODAY I'LL BE PROVIDING A BRIEF, UH, A BRIEFING ON THE TAX ABATEMENT GUIDELINES TO INCLUDE TWO MAIN ITEMS, AN OVERVIEW OF OUR CURRENT TAX ABATEMENT GUIDELINES, AS WELL AS THE TIMELINE FOR UPDATING THOSE GUIDELINES IN FISCAL YEAR 2021.
SO, AS PART OF THE TEXAS TAX CODE CHAPTER THREE 12 GRANTS, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS THE AUTHORITY TO DEBATE UP TO A HUNDRED PERCENT OF ALOR AND PROPERTY TAXES BASED ON THE VALUE OF NEW PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS FOR
[01:45:01]
A TERM OF UP TO 10 YEARS.HOWEVER, IN ORDER TO DO THIS, THE GOVERNING BODY MUST ADOPT A GUIDELINES AS WELL AS CRITERIA THAT WILL GOVERN THOSE TAX ABATEMENT AGREEMENTS.
THESE GUIDELINES ARE EFFECTIVE FOR TWO YEARS FROM THE DATE, FROM THE DATE THEY ARE ADOPTED DURING THIS TIMELINE.
THE, DURING THIS TIME, THE GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA MAY BE AMENDED OR REPEALED BY A VOTE OF FREE FORCE OF THE GOVERNING BODY.
SO THE CURRENT GUIDELINES THAT WE'RE WORKING UNDER WERE APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL IN DECEMBER OF 2018.
THEREFORE, THESE CURRENT GUIDELINES WILL EXPIRE AT THE END OF THIS MONTH IF THEY ARE NOT ADOPTED, UH, FOR RENEWAL.
UNDER THE CURRENT GUIDELINES, THE CITY HAS APPROVED THREE PROJECTS FOR A TOTAL OF OVER 4 4300 JOBS THAT ARE EITHER RETAINED OR CREATED AND OVER $756 MILLION IN CAPITAL INVESTMENT.
IN ORDER TO CONTINUE USING THIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL WILL BE ASKING THE CITY COUNCIL CONSIDER READOPTING THE, THE EXISTING TAX PAYMENT GUIDELINES.
AND OVER THE FIRST PART OF 2021, WE'LL ENGAGE IN A COMPREHENSIVE PROCESS TO REVISE THE UPDATED AND UPDATE THE GUIDELINES OF 2021.
I DID WANT TO MENTION THAT IN THEIR INTERIM, AS WE NEGOTIATE CONTRACTS AND AGREEMENTS GOING FORWARD, THE INTENT IS TO INCLUDE AN EXPECTATION IN THESE AGREEMENTS THAT THE COMPANIES WOULD INTERVIEW FROM THE CITY'S WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND CONSIDER THESE PARTICIPANTS IN THEIR HIRING.
ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I'D LIKE TO PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF OUR CURRENT GUIDELINES.
SO THERE'S TWO TYPES PROJECTS WITHIN OUR CURRENT GUIDELINES, TRADITIONAL PROJECT AS ON THOSE TRADITIONAL PROJECTS.
NOW, LEMME TAKE A MINUTE TO ORIENT YOU TO THIS SLIDE.
THERE ARE THREE MAIN COMPONENTS THAT WE LOOK AT WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT TAX ABATEMENT.
THE FIRST BEING ELIGIBILITY, THE TERM AND THE PERCENT OF THE ABATEMENT A PROJECT IS ELIGIBLE UNDER, UNDER A TRADITIONAL PROJECT, IF A PROJECT IS ELIGIBLE, IF A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE JOBS MEET THE LIVING WAGE AND 70% OF ALL THE JOBS MEET THE INDUSTRY WAGE, ADDITIONALLY, THE PROJECT MUST EITHER INVEST $10 MILLION OF CAPITAL INVESTMENTS OR CREATE 50 NEW JOBS.
NOW FOR THE TERM, UH, IF A PROJECT IS LOCATED IN THE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AREA, THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR UP TO 10 YEARS A TAX ABATEMENT AGREEMENT.
IF IT'S OUTSIDE THE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AREA, IT'S ELIGIBLE FOR SIX YEAR TERM.
NOW, AS A REMINDER, THE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AREA WAS ADOPTED IN DECEMBER OF 2018 AND INCLUDES AREAS OF POVERTY.
ALL THE CENSUS TRACKS THAT ARE ESTABLISHED AS OPPORTUNITY ZONE BY THE INVESTMENT AND OPPORTUNITY ACT, BROOK CITY BASE, PORT SAN ANTONIO, AND EACH OF THE CITIES DESIGNATED REGIONAL AREAS AS PART OF SA TOMORROW.
AND FINALLY, ON THE PERCENT OF THE ABATEMENT THE PROJECT COULD THE TAX ABATEMENT GUIDELINES ESTABLISH QUALIFYING PRIORITIES.
THESE QUALIFYING PRIORITIES INCLUDE TARGETED INDUSTRIES, HIGH WAGES, INTERNSHIPS, LIKE AND CONTINUING EDUCATION SUPPORT INCLUDES HIRING OR SEVERAL PARTNERSHIP OPTIONS TO INCLUDE UTILIZATION OF SMALL MINORITY WOMEN OR VETERAN OWNED BUSINESS AND PROMOTION OF CITY SUPPORTED INITIATIVE TO INCLUDE SUSTAINABILITY, HEALTH AND WELLNESS, OR COMMUN COMMUTER BENEFITS.
IF A PROJECT MEETS TWO OF THESE QUALIFYING CRITERIA, THEY ARE ELIGIBLE FOR, FOR A TAX ABATEMENT OF UP TO 50%.
IF THEY'RE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THREE OF THESE QUALIFYING PRIORITIES, THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR TAX ABATEMENT ABOVE TO A HUNDRED PERCENT.
ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO TALK ABOUT THE UPSKILL PROJECT.
SO UNDER THE UPSKILL PROJECT, WE HAVE THE SAME, UH, THREE COMPONENTS ELIGIBILITY THE TERM AND THE PERCENT OF THE ABATEMENT FOR THE ELIG ELIGIBILITY.
AN UPSKILL PROJECT MUST CREATE 300 NEW JOBS OR PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY TO UPSKILL AT LEAST 315 JOBS THAT A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES RECEIVE A LIVING WAGE, AND THAT THEY COLLABORATE ANNUALLY WITH THE CITY TO HIRE FROM TARGETED POPULATION.
AND FINALLY, THE PROJECT MUST MAKE A CAPITAL INVESTMENT OF AT LEAST $20 MILLION.
AND WE DO LIMIT THESE PROJECTS TO TWO PROJECTS PER YEAR.
THE TERMS ARE VERY SIMILAR IN AS IT RELATES TO TRADITIONAL PROJECTS.
THOSE PROJECTS THAT ARE WITHIN THE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AREA, THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR UP TO 10 YEAR TAX ABATEMENT TERM, AND THOSE OUTSIDE THE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AREA ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A SIX YEAR TERM.
[01:50:01]
FOR UPSKILL UPSKILL PROJECTS, IN ORDER TO MEET A HUNDRED PERCENT TAX ABATEMENT, THE COMPANY MUST HIRE AT LEAST 35% OF THE TOTAL WORKFORCE FROM THOSE TARGETED POPULATIONS, OR THE COMPANY MUST INVEST 50% OF PRIOR ABATED TAXES INTO THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PLAN.SO THAT'S AN OVERVIEW OF OUR CURRENT GUIDELINES AND THE GUIDELINES THAT WE ARE ARE WORKING WITHIN.
ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT, UH, OUR NEXT STEP.
SO AS A RESULT OF COVID 19 AND THE SHIFT OF THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT'S FOCUS TO THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY AND ASSISTING RESIDENTS IN SMALL BUSINESS COMMUNITY WITH THE ONGOING CRISIS, STAFF WAS NOT ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THE TRADITIONAL OUTREACH EFFORTS TO RESIDENTS AND BUSINESSES THAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST.
SO IN EFFORT TO ADDRESS THIS, WE WOULD LIKE TO ASK CITY COUNCIL TO ADOPT THE CURRENT TAX ABATEMENT GUIDELINES WITH A SLIGHTLY UPDATED, UH, INCLUSIVE GROWTH AREAS SO THAT THE CITY MAY CONTINUE TO USE THIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOL.
AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WE WOULD, UM, WE, WE DO EXPECT TO START INCLUDING IN THE AGREEMENT THAT THE COMPANY WOULD INTERVIEW AND POTENTIALLY HIRE FROM THE CITY'S WORKFORCE PROGRAM IN THE INTERIM.
AND THEN AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS NEXT YEAR OF 2021, WE WILL ENGAGE CONSULTANTS TO ASSIST IN UPDATING THOSE GUIDELINES AS WELL AS GET GATHER BEST PRACTICES.
ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND, AND OUTREACH, DO AN INTENSIVE OUTREACH, UM, PROGRAM TO OUR COMMUNITY RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES, AS WELL AS OUR STRATEGIC PARTNERS TO OBTAIN THAT FEEDBACK.
WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY AS WELL AS ENLISTING A CONSULTANTS STAFF WILL BE ABLE TO BETTER TAILOR THE GUIDELINES TO SUPPORT FUTURE DEVELOPMENT WHILE ALIGNING WITH THE COMMUNITY INTEREST, SPECIFICALLY INCORPORATING A STRONGER WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMPONENT INTO THE GUIDELINES TO ENSURE THAT RESIDENTS WITH THE MOST NEED ARE BENEFITED, ARE BENEFITING FROM THESE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS.
WE PLAN TO, UH, BRIEF THE E W D C IN JUNE AND TAKE THE REVISED TAX PAYMENT GUIDELINES TO, FOR FULL CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL IN AUGUST.
THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
AND ALEX, CARLOS AND I ARE HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
THANK YOU JUSTINA, FOR THE, UM, UPDATE.
AND SO JUST TO BE CLEAR, DO YOU NEED A, UM, DO WE NEED ACTION HERE TO MOVE THIS TO FULL COUNSEL CONSIDERATION? YES.
A MOTION TO MOVE THIS FULL COUNCIL CONSIDERATION.
UM, SO YOU JUST MENTIONED RIGHT NOW THE UPDATED I G A OR UM, INCLUSIVE GROWTH, UM, INCLUSIVE GROWTH GROWTH AREA WOULD JUST BE THAT THEY WOULD HIRE, THEY WOULD FIRST INTERVIEW FROM THOSE IN THE WORKFORCE PROGRAM.
IS THAT THE ONLY UPDATED ONE? UM, SO THE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AREA, SO THAT, THAT WOULD BE THE ONLY PIECE THAT WOULD, UM, BE CHANGING.
AND WHAT THAT IS DOING IS IT'S UPDATING THE CITY LIMITS BECAUSE WE'VE HAD SOME ANNEXATION, SO WE'RE INCORPORATING THE ENTIRE CITY INTO IT AS WELL AS SOME OF THE, UM, INDIVIDUAL TIER LEVER, UH, LEVELS WILL BE UPDATED TO, TO REFLECT BOUNDARY CHANGES IN POVERTY STATUS.
SO WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, UM, WORKING WITH THE COMPANIES, AND WE'D LIKE TO START AS, AS WE WORK WITH THE COMPANIES AND NEGOTIATE AGREEMENTS, WE WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE SOME TYPE OF, UM, A REQUIREMENT THAT THEY INTERVIEW, UM, AS WELL AS POTENTIALLY HIRE THOSE PARTICIPANTS AS PART OF THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
BUT THAT WOULD BE AS WE'RE NEGOTIATING THE AGREEMENT WITH THE DIFFERENT COMPANIES.
UH, AND I THINK WHAT WE WOULD NEED TO DO, UM, JUSTINA, ALEX, CARLOS, BEFORE THIS GOES TO COUNCIL, IS TO SEND THIS INFORMATION TO, UH, THE OTHER COUNCIL COLLEAGUES.
AND IF YOU COULD ALSO GET THE, WHAT SENT TO, TO US, THE QUALIFYING PRIORITIES, WHAT THE FIVE QUALIFYING PRIORITIES ARE, AND THE EXCEPTIONAL PROJECTS, JUST SO WE CAN ALL BE REFRESHED, UH, PRIOR TO COUNCIL COMMITTEE SO WE CAN ALL READ, UH, I'M SORRY, COUNCIL MEETING, SO WE CAN ALL READ THROUGH THAT.
AND THEN, UM, MY ONLY REQUEST IS THAT WE WOULD EXPEDITE THIS TIMELINE AND, UH, I DON'T KNOW WHY WE NEED THE ENGAGEMENT OF CONSULTANTS IN THE ENTIRE MONTH OF JANUARY AND WHY WE CAN'T DO A CONCURRENTLY WITH THE COMMUNITY STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS.
I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA, BUT I WOULD RATHER JUST, IF WE COULD, UM, EXPEDITE
[01:55:01]
IT AND GET THIS MOVING QUICKER AND, UM, COME TO E W D C IN, UM, EARLIER, IF IT'S APRIL OR MAY, AND THEN WE CAN MOVE THIS.SO THAT WOULD BE MY REQUEST BECAUSE SIMPLY BECAUSE ONCE WE COME, ONCE WE'RE CONTINUING TO MOVE THROUGH THIS, AS WE ALL SEE BUSINESSES ARE STILL LOOKING TO SAN ANTONIO, LOOKING TO STILL DO SOME WORK WITH SAN ANTONIO, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE, UM, ANY, ANY DOLLAR INCENTIVES.
BUT LET'S BE CREATIVE AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN HAVE SOME ABATEMENT GUIDELINES PRIOR TO, UM, MORE AND MORE COMPANIES COMING AND SEEING THE OTHER END OF THIS.
SO, UH, THOSE ARE MY ONLY COMMENTS AND, UH, DIRECTION AND FEEDBACK FOR YOU ALL.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER LIA? NO, NO QUESTIONS OTHER THAN, UH, MOVE TO APPROVE.
WE HAVE A MOTION FOR APPROVAL.
UM, IS THERE A SECOND? I CAN, I'M SORRY.
UH, I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR, UH, APPROVAL OF THOSE FORWARD TO FULL COUNSEL CONSIDERATION.
UM, I DO NOT BELIEVE, ARE WE GOING INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION TODAY? NO.
[2. 20-7194 Approval of the minutes from the Economic and Workforce Development Committee meeting on November 3, 2020. (Part 2 of 2)]
MADAM CHAIR, MAY I SAY, MAY WE PLEASE HAVE A VOTE ON THE MINUTES FOR A NOVEMBER 3RD? WE DID VOTE FOR AN OCTOBER 22ND MINUTES, BUT WE LACK NOVEMBER 3RD.WE DID SAY BOTH OCTOBER 22ND AND NOVEMBER 3RD AT THE BEGINNING WHEN MAKING THE MOTION.
BUT WE'LL GO AHEAD AND DO THIS FOR NOVEMBER 3RD, THE SECOND FOR APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 3RD MEETING MINUTES.
UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE.