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UM, WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, COMMITTEE MEETING ON THIS COLD TUESDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 2021, OUR FIRST E W D C MEETING OF THIS NEW YEAR.
VERY EXCITED TO HAVE THIS GOING FORWARD, SO THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH.
UM, MADAM CLERK, IF YOU'LL PLEASE GIVE THE ROLE, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, COUNCIL MEMBER CAVEO BERDA HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, SHIRLEY GONZALEZ, PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER PAL.
AND, UH, MADAM CHAIR VIA, I AM HERE AND ALTHOUGH SHE WASN'T UNMUTED, UH, DR.
SO, UM, NOTED, YES, WE DO HAVE A QUORUM.
THANK YOU ALL VERY, VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THE UPDATES AND THE BRIEFINGS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE HAVING.
OUR FIRST ITEM, THOUGH, IS TO LISTEN TO ANY PUBLIC COMMENT OR ANY, UM, PUBLIC REMARKS.
DO WE HAVE ANY ON HOLD OR ANY TO READ? NO, MA'AM.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT TODAY.
COMMENT, NO ONE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK NOR SUBMITTED.
[1. 21-1064 Update on the COVID-19 Community Recovery and Resiliency Plan regarding the Small Business Support and Workforce Development Pillars. [Carlos J. Contreras, III; Assistant City Manager; Alejandra Lopez, Director, Economic Development]]
FORWARD TO OUR FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA, WHICH IS AN UPDATE ON THE C OVID 19 COMMUNITY RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY PLAN REGARDING THE SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PILLARS.WE GET THESE BRIEFINGS EVERY MONTH AND WE ALL LOOK FORWARD TO THEM,
AND I GUESS I'M GONNA PASS IT TO YOU, CARLOS.
UH, GLAD TO SEE EVERYBODY ON THE, ON THE WEBEX, UH, THIS, THIS AFTERNOON.
UM, WE HAVE WHAT WILL HOPEFULLY BE OUR LAST SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS UPDATE FOR YOU, UH, LI AT LEAST IN PERSON.
UH, AND THEN A OBVIOUSLY A, A, UH, CONTINUATION OF OUR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UH, UPDATES, UH, WITH THE COMMITTEE.
UH, AND IN KEEPING WITH THE EFFORT TO, UH, INTRODUCE AND EXPOSE YOU TO THE TALENTED PEOPLE WHO ARE DOING THE, THE BULK OF THE WORK IN THE DEPARTMENTS.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE OTHER PEOPLE PRESENT, AND ALEX AND I ARE GONNA KEEP QUIET.
SO FIRST UP WILL BE ANN EATON, UH, WHO WILL COVER THE SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS AND THE BUSINESS OUTREACH GRANTS.
AND THEN AFTER ANN WILL BE, UH, TINA GERRA, WHO WILL UPDATE US ON, UM, ON THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT.
SO I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER IT OVER TO ANN NOW, MADAM CHAIR, IF IT'S OKAY WITH YOU AND THE MEMBERS, WE'LL GO THROUGH BOTH BRIEFINGS BEFORE WE DO THE QUESTIONS.
AND JUST, AND JUST TO NOTE THAT ALL OF YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS IN YOUR EMAIL SO YOU CAN, UH, FOLLOW ALONG.
AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTINUE TO USE THE ICON, UM, UNDER OUR PARTICIPANTS, UH, PAGE TO RAISE YOUR HAND.
THANK YOU AGAIN, UM, FOR ALLOWING ME TO PROVIDE THE, UH, UPDATE ON THE GRANTS PROGRAM AND THE SMALL BUSINESS OUTREACH.
SO OVERALL, UM, THE TOTAL FUNDING THAT WE HAD AVAILABLE WAS, IS 29.7 MILLION FOR GRANT AWARDS.
HAPPY TO SHARE THAT ALL AWARDS WERE FUNDED END OF DECEMBER, SO WE MET OUR GOAL.
SO WE WERE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT, GETTING THOSE FUNDS TO THE SMALL BUSINESSES THAT NEED THAT NEEDED THEM.
AND THAT RESULTED IN 443 TOTAL GRANTS OF WHICH 1,120 WERE TWO MICRO BUSINESSES, AND 67 WERE TWO NONPROFITS.
WE ALSO PROVIDED, IF YOU'LL RECALL, FROM THE BUY DOWN LOAN FORGIVENESS, UH, UP TO 10 MONTHS OF FORGIVENESS AND PAYMENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 2020.
THERE ARE 56 BUSINESSES THAT BENEFITED FROM THAT GRANT AND SUMMARY WITH THE ADDED FUNDING, UH, WITH COUNCIL'S DIRECTION IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, THERE WAS $8.7 MILLION IN FUNDING AND GRANTS THAT WENT TO 227, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE BUSINESSES IN SUMMARY, AFTER THAT ADDED FUNDING.
SO, AGAIN, COGNIZANT THAT THE EQUITY SCORE
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WAS A COMPONENT OF, UH, A SIGNIFICANT COMPONENT OF THE GRANT APPLICANT SCORE.UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HAPPY TO REPORT THAT MORE THAN 70% OF THE GRANT AWARDS WERE MADE TO BUSINESSES THAT WERE LOCATED IN THE COMBINED EQUITY SCORE AREAS OF SIX AND ABOVE, UP TO 10.
SO, AGAIN, WE, UH, THAT WAS ONE OF OUR ASPIRATIONAL GOALS WHEN WE STARTED THE GRANT PROGRAM.
SO KNOWING THAT WE, WE, MOST OF A MAJORITY OF THE FUNDING WENT TO THOSE AREAS WITH THE, WITH THE GREATEST NEED AND THE HIGHEST COMBINED EQUITY SCORES.
OVERALL, MORE THAN HALF, AT 53.3% OF THE GRANT AWARDS WERE WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES.
AND ADDITIONALLY, AS YOU CAN SEE, THE TABLE REFLECTED ON THE SLIDE, UM, SIGNIFICANT MORE THAN, AGAIN, JUST UNDER 58% OF THE AWARDS WENT TO, UH, BUSINESSES THAT WERE HISPANIC OWNED.
ALSO, UM, MORE THAN 80% OF OUR GRANT AWARDS IN SUMMARY, WENT TO BUSINESSES OF, UM, PEOPLE OF COLOR.
SO AGAIN, MEETING THOSE ASPIRATIONAL GOALS THAT, THAT WERE SET OUT AT THE, AT THE INCEPTION OF THE PROGRAM, AND KNOWING, AGAIN, THAT WE'RE REACHING OUR SMALL WOMEN MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES.
SO ON THIS SLIDE, YOU'LL FIND A TABLE OF THE SUMMARY OF THE AWARDS.
UM, I DO WANNA NOTE THAT IF YOU'LL SEE AT THE TOP OF THE CALL, OF THE COLUMN ON THE FAR RIGHT, WE'RE STILL RECONCILING THE FINAL AWARD AMOUNT WITH LIST FUNDS.
SO YOU'LL SEE THAT THE NUMBER AT THE BOTTOM, UM, IS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN THE AMOUNT FUNDED.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE SOME OF THOSE AWARDS ARE STILL BEING WORKED OUT NOW, THEY'VE ALL BEEN PAID, BUT AS LIFTFUND IS PREPARING THAT FINAL REPORT FOR US, UM, WE WILL RECONCILE THAT FINAL NUMBER TO MATCH THE TOTAL APPROVED FUNDING.
UM, BUT HERE YOU CAN SEE THE BREAKDOWN, UH, BY COUNCIL DISTRICT AND THEN THE PERCENTAGE OF AWARDS.
SO, AS MENTIONED, UH, WE ARE HAPPY THAT ALL THE AWARDS WENT OUT, UH, BEFORE THE CHRISTMAS BREAK, WHICH WAS A, WAS A GOAL OF OURS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GOT THE FUNDING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
UH, WE REALLY APPRECIATE LIST FUNDS WORK THAT WE DID WITH THEM TO ONCE COUNCIL GAVE US THAT DIRECTION IN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER TO TURN AROUND AND IDENTIFY THOSE BUSINESSES AND GET THE FUNDS TO THEM AS EXPEDITIOUSLY AS POSSIBLE.
UH, WE ARE NOW WORKING WITH LESS FUNDS TO GENERATE THE OUTCOMES REPORT, AND THIS WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, HOW THE GRANT FUNDS ASSISTED THE BUSINESSES, HOW THOSE FUNDS WERE UTILIZED, UM, CHANGE IN EMPLOYMENT IF THEY WERE ABLE TO HIRE OR REHIRE.
AND ALSO TO UNDERSTAND THE, UM, 2020 OVERALL REVENUE IN COMPARISON TO 2019.
SO WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM NOW TO DEVELOP THAT SURVEY.
WE WILL BE GETTING THAT OUT TO ALL THE GRANT AWARDS, UM, AWARDEES VERY SOON.
AND, UM, SORRY TO CHERYL YOU CARLOS, BUT WE'LL PROBABLY WILL COME BACK TO FEBRUARY TO REPORT THAT OUT.
UM, SO THAT'S A SUMMARY OF THE GRANTS PROGRAM.
AND THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE GRANTS PROGRAM IS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO ESTABLISH A CONTACT DATABASE, RIGHT, OF, UM, AND WE KNOW THAT THAT WASN'T AS FAR FETCHING AS WE WOULD'VE LIKED, BUT HOWEVER WE WERE ABLE TO BUILD UPON THAT NEXT SLIDE.
SO NOW MOVING INTO UNDERSTANDING THAT THE IMPACTS FROM COVID HAS BEEN, IT'S MORE FAR REACHING THAN JUST THE FINANCIAL IMPACT AND HOW WE CAN TAKE THIS NEXT STEP FROM COUNCIL'S GUIDANCE AND THE RECOVERY PLAN AND THE OUTREACH EFFORTS.
AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, BUILD UPON THAT TO NOW MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THESE CONTACTS AND WE ARE CONNECTING 'EM WITH THESE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUPS, BUT ALSO THE WRAPAROUND SERVICES.
AND CHAIRWOMAN, YOU PREVIOUSLY HAD ASKED US HOW MANY OF THE GRANT APPLICANTS WERE CONTACTED BY THE OUTREACH GROUP.
SO TO REFRESH EVERYONE'S MEMORY, THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 2,700 GRANT APPLICANTS THAT FELL WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS.
SO, UM, NOW THESE EFFORTS, I I WILL SAY WERE LED BY MY COLLEAGUES THOMAS DAVIS.
AND SO HE WORKED WITH I T S D TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION MAPPED TO SEE HOW MANY FELL WITHIN THE GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES OF CENTRO STAGE SOUTH SIDE FIRST AND W D C.
SO THAT TOTAL APPLICANT POOL, THERE WERE ABOUT 956 APPLICANTS THAT FELL WITHIN THESE FOUR GEOGRAPHIES, AND HAPPY TO REPORT THAT OF THOSE 956 GRANT, APPLICANTS 952 WERE CONTACTED IN THE OUTREACH EFFORTS.
SO OVERALL, YOU'LL SEE THERE WAS A, THE TARGET INITIALLY SET FOR OUTREACH WAS 5,000 BACK IN MAY, UH, BUSINESSES THAT THE FOUR PARTNERS REACHED ABOUT 70% OF THAT GOAL.
WE'VE MENTIONED BEFORE SOME OF THE OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES THAT LED TO SOME OF THOSE COMPLICATIONS SUCH AS, YOU KNOW, THE SPIKING CASES IN
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THE SUMMER AND THE WINTER.AND, YOU KNOW, THAT LED KIND OF INHIBITED A LITTLE BIT OF THE DOOR-TO-DOOR OUTREACH THAT I BELIEVE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY ENVISIONED WHEN THE TARGET WAS SET BACK IN MAY.
UH, ONE OTHER THING THAT, UM, WAS DONE AND PIVOT TO, YOU KNOW, IN, AS WE'VE LEARNED THROUGH THE OUTREACH EFFORTS, INITIALLY, WE WERE COLLECTING DATA ONLY TO REFLECT THE NUMBER OF SURVEYS COLLECTED.
HOWEVER, UM, IN OCTOBER THAT WAS PIVOTED TO WHAT WAS CALLED A, DEVELOPED AS AN OUTREACH ACCELERATION PLAN TO NOT ONLY UNDERSTAND THE SURVEY COMPLETION, BUT ALSO HOW THESE BUSINESSES WERE BEING CONTACTED.
AND COUNCILMAN, UM, RICHARD GARCIA, FOLLOWING UP TO AN INQUIRY THAT YOU'VE PREVIOUSLY HAD ABOUT THE CONVERSION RATES, RIGHT, AND UNDERSTANDING THOSE CONTACT METHODS, UM, STAFF IS STILL CONTINUING TO WORK WITH PARTNERS TO ANALYZE THAT DATA AND WE WILL PREPARE A REPORT AND PARTNERSHIP WITH, UM, E D F AND THAT WILL BE PROVIDED, UM, A WRITTEN REPORT WILL BE PROVIDED, UH, BY THE END OF THE MONTH, AND TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND ALL THAT INFORMATION AS WE KNOW THAT, UM, THE DIFFERENT METHODS MATTER DEPENDING UPON THE GEOGRAPHIC REGION THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO REACH, AND ALSO WHAT'S BEEN MOST EFFECTIVE.
SO I'LL NOW TURN IT OVER TO TINA TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE WORKFORCE UPDATE.
GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNCILWOMAN VIA GRANT AND OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS OF THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE.
I HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO FOR SEVEN YEARS AS THE DIRECTOR OF PRE-K FOR SA WEST EDUCATION CENTER.
HOWEVER, I'M CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ON THE WORKFORCE PILLAR THIS AFTERNOON.
I'M GONNA PROVIDE WITH YOU AN UPDATE ON THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO WE WILL BEGIN, UM, WITH THE SHARE BY SHARING THE ENROLLMENT PIPELINE FOR YOU.
UH, AS OF JANUARY 5TH, WE HAVE FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED AND FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED FORTY THREE RESIDENTS WHO HAVE, UH, EXPRESSED INTEREST WITH TRAIN FOR JOBS AND HAVE COMPLETED PRELIMINARY INTAKE.
THIS IS ABOUT 800 MORE INDIVIDUALS OVER THE LAST MONTH.
IN PHASE TWO, THERE ARE 3,338 RESIDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN DEEMED ELIGIBLE AND HAVE BEEN REFERRED OVER TO ONE OF OUR PARTNER AGENCIES.
OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS, THERE ARE 1,574 RESIDENTS WHO ARE ENROLLED IN TRAINING, AND THERE ARE 1,425 WHO ARE PENDING ENROLLMENT AND TRAINING.
MOST OF THE INDIVIDUAL INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PENDING ARE WORKING ON COMPLETING PAPERWORK ASSESSMENTS AND, UH, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
OF THOSE 1,574, UH, RESIDENTS WHO ARE ENROLLED IN TRAINING, UH, SORRY, ENROLLED IN TRAIN FOR JOBS, WE HAVE 1,311 WHO ARE ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING IN TRAINING.
47% OF THEM ARE WORKING ON THEIR HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY, OR ARE IN SHORT-TERM TRAINING, WHILE 53% ARE ENROLLED IN LONG-TERM TRAINING.
WE HAVE 153 RESIDENTS WHO HAVE COMPLETED THE PROGRAM, AND OF THOSE 38 HAVE RECEIVED A JOB.
THIS IS 13 ADDITIONAL INDIVIDUALS SINCE DECEMBER 13, DECEMBER 3RD, UH, WE ARE STILL EARLY ON IN TRAIN FOR JOBS SINCE RESIDENTS STARTED SIGNING UP IN IN SEPTEMBER.
UM, OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO HELP GET THEM A JOB WITHIN 30 DAYS OF COMPLETION OF TRAINING.
THERE ARE 110 RESIDENTS, UM, THAT HAVE NOT COMPLETED TRAINING OR WERE DUPLICATE ENTRIES.
AND THEN FOR THOSE WHO HAVE ENROLLED IN TRAINING, 174 OF THOSE, UH, WERE REFERRED TO DEPARTMENT, UH, D H SS FOR CHILDCARE, UH, BUT ONLY 41 OF THEM HAVE ENROLLED THEIR CHILDREN IN DAYCARE.
UM, THE REMAINING ILL INDIVIDUALS ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE DAYCARE, BUT THEY'VE OPTED OUT DUE TO COVID 19 CONCERNS AND D H S CONTINUES TO BE READY TO HELP WITH THIS.
HERE WE HAVE THE BREAKDOWN OF DEMOGRAPHICS OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ENROLLED AND TRAINED FOR JOBS TO INCLUDE COUNCIL DISTRICTS, GENDER, RACE, ETHNICITY, AND THE EQUITY MATRIX ATLAS SCORE.
THE BA THE BREAKDOWN AND DEMOGRAPHICS HAVE NOT REALLY CHANGED, AND WE ARE EITHER MEETING OR CLOSE TO MEETING THOSE GOALS THAT WE SET.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S A FAIRLY BALANCED DISTRIBUTION OF PARTICIPANTS ACROSS OUR 10 COUNCIL DISTRICTS WITH DISTRICT DISTRICT TWO HAVING THE MOST.
AT 15%, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE MAJORITY
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OF PARTICIPANTS ARE WOMEN AT 72%.AND FOR RACE AND ETHNICITY, WE HAVE A HIGH NUMBER OF HISPANIC AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN RESIDENTS.
THESE HAVE EXCEEDED THE ASPIRATIONAL GOALS THAT WE SET FOR THE PROGRAM.
THE EQUITY MATRIX ATLAS SCORE BREAKDOWN SHOWS THAT THE MAJORITY OF OUR PARTICIPANTS FALL BETWEEN, UH, SEVEN AND 10, WHERE, WHERE OUR, WHERE WE HAVE OUR HIGHEST PERCENTAGES.
THESE ADDITIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS GIVE MORE INFORMATION ON THOSE RESIDENTS.
UM, WE'VE BEEN TARGETING TO BRING IN TO TRAIN FOR JOBS.
ON THIS SLIDE WE SEE THAT 51% HAVE UP TO A HIGH SCHOOL DEGREE, 41% HAVE OUR EITHER VOCATIONAL TRAINING OR AN ASSOCIATE'S DEGREE, OR SOME COLLEGE, AND THEN 8% HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES, HOWEVER, HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO ASCERTAIN A JOB.
OUR DATA ALSO SHOWS THAT 4%, UM, ARE FORMERLY INCARCERATED.
63% ARE LIVING IN POVERTY, 3% ARE VETERANS, AND 36% ARE COMING FROM THOSE INDUSTRIES THAT ARE HARDEST HIT BY THE PANDEMIC.
WE ALSO HAVE 6% WHO ARE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
AND AS DISCUSSED DURING THE LAST E W D C MEETING, WE CONTINUE TO WORK TO MAKE THE PROGRAM MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, UM, BY COORDINATING WITH OUR CITY DISABILITIES ACCESS OFFICE AND WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS TO EVALUATE, UH, THEIR EFFORTS.
WE HAVE NOT HAD NEARLY THE PARTICIPANTS IN O J T THAT WE HAD HOPED.
HERE YOU CAN SEE THAT ONLY THREE RESIDENTS ARE IN O J T.
THIS IS ONLY ONE MORE THAN DECEMBER.
HOWEVER, AS YOU MAY RECALL, AFTER DISCUSSIONS WITH PARTNERS, WE BROUGHT SOME CHANGES TO YOU DURING THE DECEMBER MEETING.
AND WITH YOUR SUPPORT, WE MADE SOME AMENDMENTS TO OUR AGREEMENTS WITH OUR PARTNERS, WHICH WENT INTO EFFECT ON JANUARY 1ST.
THESE CHANGES INCLUDE ALLOWING BOTH SMALL AND LARGE BUSINESSES IN BEXAR COUNTY TO PARTICIPATE NOT JUST BUSINESSES AND CITY LIMITS, AND TO ALLOW PARTICIPANTS TO COMPLETE TRAINING PRIOR TO STARTING O J T.
THIS ALLOWS US TO BRING IN ADDITIONAL BUSINESSES WHO CAN OFFER O J T TO PARTICIPATE IN TRAIN FOR JOBS THAT WILL ALIGN WITH THE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR CURRENT SKILLS AND ABILITIES.
THE CHANGES SHOULD RESULT IN MORE RESIDENTS AND, AND PARTICIPANTS, UH, BUSINESSES PARTICIPATING IN ON JOB ON THE JOB TRAINING.
OUR LAST SLIDE PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON OUR CONTRACT RENEWALS.
WE'VE COMPLETED THE INTERIM RENEWAL OF CONTRACTS THAT EXTEND THROUGH FEBRUARY 28TH.
OUR UP, OUR PARTNERS UPDATED THEIR SERVICE PLANS BASED ON THE WORK THEY DID DURING THE FIRST TWO AND A HALF MONTHS OF TRAIN FOR JOBS ON THESE AGREEMENTS.
WE UPDATED THE BUDGET AND THE O J T PROGRAM.
WE'RE STARTING OUR WORK ON THE FINAL RENEWAL OF CONTRACTS FOR MARCH 1ST TO SEPTEMBER 30TH.
ANY CHANGES TO THESE WILL BE BASED ON OUR CITY, CITY AUDITOR'S PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND SOME ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES.
WE WILL BRING THOSE CHANGES TO YOU IN FEBRUARY.
SO THIS IS THE END OF OUR PRESENTATION.
CARLOS, CARLOS, ALEX, ANN AND I ARE, UH, AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.
THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION AND FOR ALL OF THIS INFORMATION.
UM, AND I'M GONNA START WITH JUST THE, UM, THE LAST SLIDE.
WHEN IT TALKS ABOUT THE CONTRACT RENEWALS FOR THE O O J T, IT IS DISAPPOINTING THAT WE ONLY HAVE THREE PEOPLE PART OF IT.
AND YOU'RE SAYING THAT IT WENT INTO EFFECT LAST WEEK, OUR NEW AMENDMENTS, CORRECT? YES, THAT IS CORRECT.
IT WENT INTO EFFECT ON THE FIRST, AND OUR REPORT IS AS OF JANUARY 5TH.
SO DO WE HAVE ALREADY SOME MOVEMENT FROM THOSE PARTNERS THAT WE WORKED WITH TO, TO SEE THINGS MOVING? DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY SENSE OF THAT? COUNCIL MEMBER? THIS IS ALEX.
UM, WE, WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS INTEREST IN THESE CHANGES, SO WE HAVEN'T NECESSARILY SEEN MOVEMENT IN THE PAST WEEK THAT WE'VE BEEN BACK.
UM, BUT WE KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, E D F ALREADY HAD A COUPLE OF BUSINESSES THAT WERE, UM, INTERESTED IN, IN WANTING TO PARTICIPATE, HAD THE CHANGES THAT WERE, UM, RECOMMENDED APPROVED.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE FOLLOWING UP WITH THEM NOW.
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OKAY.AND I DID WANNA GO TO, I BELIEVE IT WAS, WAS IT SLIDE, UM, WAS IT SLIDE 11? NO, LET'S GO TO SLIDE 12 OF THE ENROLLMENT PIPELINE FOR THE TRAIN FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM.
AND WE HAVE 153 RESIDENTS WHO COMPLETED THE PROGRAM, OF WHICH 38 RECEIVED A JOB.
NUMBER ONE, UM, WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE 115 THAT DID NOT HAVE NOT RECEIVED A JOB? ARE THEY STILL GETTING PAID A, ARE THEY STILL GETTING A STIPEND OR HOW ARE WE CONTINUING TO HELP THEM GET A JOB? THAT'S THE FIRST, FIRST QUESTION.
SECOND IS, WHAT TYPE OF JOBS DID THE 38 INDIVIDUALS RECEIVE? SO, UH, IN THAT, IN THE THREE, ONCE THEY COMPLETE THE TRAINING, THEY'RE WORKING ON THINGS LIKE BUILDING RESUMES, APPLYING FOR JOBS, UM, GETTING SUPPORT ON INTERVIEWING SKILLS.
SO, UH, THAT WE DO KNOW THAT, THAT THAT PROCESS DOES TAKE SOME TIME.
UM, I DO NOT HAVE INFORMATION ON THE, UM, WHAT KINDS OF JOBS THAT THEY HAVE, UM, ALEX OR HEBER, DO YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION? WE CAN DEFINITELY PULL THAT.
IF WE DON'T, IF THE PARTNERS HAVEN'T SUBMITTED IT TO US ALREADY IN THEIR REPORTS, WE CAN GO BACK AND ASK THEM TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, LIKE WHAT, WHAT, UH, WHERE, WHAT WERE, WHERE WERE THEY PLACED.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY WHAT WE'RE TRACKING IS ALSO THE WAGES THAT THEY'RE EARNING AND THAT NEW POSITION.
SO WE CAN ALSO TO MAKE SURE, GET TO GET THE INDUSTRY AND THE OCCUPATION CATEGORIES.
UM, AND THEN THE 110 RESIDENTS THAT DID NOT COMPLETE TRAINING, DO WE, ARE WE DOING, UM, KIND OF AFTER ACTION OF, OF WHY THAT WAS? WE PART OF WHAT WE'RE, I THINK IN THE PREVIOUS, UM, LAST MONTH'S SESSION, UM, WE TALKED ABOUT SOME FOCUS GROUPS THAT WE COMPLETED.
UM, WHAT WE'RE ALSO DOING, UM, AND IT IT TO, TO PROVIDE A MORE ROBUST, UH, FEEDBACK, UM, IS ACTUALLY DOING SURVEYS OF PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING THIS POPULATION.
SO WE CAN HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THEM WHAT'S WORKING, WHAT'S NOT WORKING.
AND, AND TO YOUR POINT WITH THIS POPULATION, WHY DID THEY NOT ENGAGE? UM, THAT'S THE NEXT STEP OF OUR FEEDBACK COLLECTION THAT WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON THIS MONTH.
AND, UH, ON SLIDE NUMBER 11, THE RESIDENTS ENROLLED IN THE TRAINING, UH, CAN, DO YOU HAVE THE AMOUNT OF MONEY WE HAVE DISPERSED IN STIPENDS TO ALL OF OUR RESIDENTS WHO ARE GOING THROUGH THIS, THIS TRAINING? I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY WE'VE GIVEN IN STIPENDS FOR THIS.
UM, AND IF NOT, PLEASE, IF YOU DO HAVE IT, PLEASE SHARE WHAT IT IS.
IF YOU DO NOT, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO BE REPORTED, UH, GET THAT REPORT ON CHAIR, WE CAN, WE CAN DEFINITELY GET YOU THAT NUMBER.
I DON'T HAVE IT OFF HAND RIGHT NOW, BUT I'LL CHECK WITH THE TEAM TO SEE IF WE CAN GET IT QUICKLY.
YEAH, I'M GUESSING IF WE'RE BUDGETING IT AND, AND, UH, BRADSHAW, WHOEVER IS KEEPING ALL OUR BOOKS, WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO SEE HOW THAT, THAT'S WORKING AND IS IT ON OUR DASHBOARD? UM, IT'S NOT BROKEN DOWN TO THAT LEVEL OF SPENDING.
IT'S JUST OVERALL, BUT FROM OUR PURPOSES, WE'RE ACTUALLY TRACKING DOWN TO LIKE A, A, A GENERAL LEDGER ACCOUNT.
SO WHAT WE'VE DECIDED TO DO IS CREATE GENERAL CATEGORIES SO THAT WE KNOW OUT OF ALL OF THE DOLLARS THAT WE'VE PAID OUR, OUR PARTNERS, HOW MUCH OF IT HAS GONE TO TRAINING, HOW MUCH OF IT HAS GONE FOR WRAPAROUND SUPPORT, AND HOW MUCH OF IT HAS GONE FOR STIPENDS.
SO THOSE ARE THE MAIN CATEGORIES THAT, THAT WE'RE KIND OF PUTTING THINGS IN.
AND THEN, UH, FINALLY FOR THE, UM, THE SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS.
AND FOR YOUR WORK AND EVERYBODY'S WORK, UH, ON OUR SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS.
I THINK, UM, WHEN WE FIRST SET THIS OUT BACK IN AUGUST, WAS IT WHEN WE RELEASED THESE? UM, IS THAT RIGHT? WHEN WE FIRST STARTED RECEIVING ALL OF THESE GRANT APPLICATIONS? WAS IT IN AUGUST? IT WAS JULY.
UM, WE STARTED JULY, WAS IT SECOND? JULY 2ND, ANN, I THINK JULY 13TH THROUGH THE 27TH.
WE'RE BEING INTENTIONAL AND EQUITY.
WE WANTED TO PUT EQUITY INTO ACTION AND WE WERE BEING INTENTIONAL, AND THAT'S WHY WE HAD OUR CARVE OUTS FOR THE ARTS.
THAT'S WHY WE HAD OUR CARVE OUTS FOR THE NON-PROFITS.
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OF ALL OF THESE MONTHS, THAT'S WHY WE ALSO MADE THE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE CATEGORY BECAUSE WE SAW THE CHANGES AND, UH, AND THE NEEDS THAT WERE THERE.SO MOVING FORWARD, I'M WONDERING, UM, I THINK THIS IS GONNA HELP US AS WE ALSO PREPARE FOR FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES.
IF WE ALSO HAVE Y'ALL ALREADY IDENTIFIED CERTAIN, UM, COMMUNITIES OR, UM, INDUSTRIES BESIDES FOOD AND BEVERAGE, OTHERS THAT ARE LOOKING FOR OTHER HELP WITH CARVE OUT IF WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES FROM FEDERAL DOLLARS IN THE FUTURE.
HAVE Y'ALL IDENTIFIED ANY AS FAR AS INDUSTRIES, ASIDE FROM FOOD AND BEVERAGE? YES.
YEAH, THERE, THERE'S, UM, MOST OF THE RETAIL INDUSTRIES ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE BEEN MOST HEAVILY IMPACTED, UM, ALONG WITH ANYTHING, UM, ANY TYPE OF BUSINESS THAT SUPPORTS HOSPITALITY.
UM, SO THOSE HAVE BEEN THE THREE, YOU KNOW, RESTAURANTS, RETAIL, FOOD, AND, AND, AND HOSPITALITY HAVE BEEN THE THREE THAT WE KNOW, UM, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT AND FOCUSING ON.
AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE ANY KIND OF PERFORMANCE.
UH, SO ANY VENUES THAT HAD PERFORMERS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER IT'S, UH, ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE, YOU KNOW, VISUAL, UH, ART OR, OKAY.
ALRIGHT, THOSE ARE MY QUESTIONS.
I'M GONNA PASS IT NOW TO MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES.
WE'LL START WITH COUNCILWOMAN DR.
AND, AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
YOU KNOW WHAT SLIDE I'M GONNA ASK ABOUT? IT'S SLIDE NUMBER SIX.
ON OCTOBER THE 22ND, WE HAD 4.8% OF THE TOTAL GRANT AWARDS IN DISTRICT FOUR.
DECEMBER THE EIGHTH, IT WENT DOWN TO 4.1%.
TODAY IT'S GONE DOWN TO 3.4%, UH, OF THE, OF THE TOTAL.
SO I, I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND HOW THAT HAPPENED.
UM, ALSO BY THOSE DATES OCTOBER 22ND, WE WERE GIVEN A NUMBER OF 46 GRANTS.
DECEMBER THE EIGHTH, IT REFERENCED 50 GRANTS, AND NOW WE'RE DOWN TO 48 GRANTS.
WHO LOST THOSE TWO GRANTS? YES.
COUNCILMAN, I'M HAPPY TO HELP ANSWER THAT FOR YOU.
SO, TO RECONCILE THE FIRST NUMBER ABOUT THE CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF GRANTS, AS, UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE'VE GONE THROUGH AND VERIFIED THE, THE DATA AND BEING COMING BACK TO REPORT BACK TO THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE, THERE WERE TWO BUSINESSES THAT HAD, UM, ADDRESSES THAT WERE BEING REPORTED AS, UH, DISTRICT SIX, BUT WERE ACTUALLY DISTRICT, I'M SORRY, DISTRICT FOUR, BUT WE'RE ACTUALLY IN DISTRICT SIX.
SO THAT EXPLAINS THAT DISCREPANCY THERE TO SEE THE VARYING AMOUNTS OF THE PERCENTAGE BY AWARD AS WE HAVE INCREASED THE FUNDS OF THE, UH, GRANT AMOUNTS WITH THE ADDED 3.5 MILLION IN NOVEMBER, AND THEN THE ADDED 1.5 IN DECEMBER, AS THE OVERALL AWARD POT HAS GROWN, AND BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF AWARDS IN DISTRICT FOUR HAS STAYED RELATIVELY STATIC, THAT'S WHERE YOU'LL SEE THAT CHANGE THERE, MA'AM.
SO I SEE THE CHANGE WAS ABOUT WAS FIVE, UH, $51,989, AND THAT WAS, AND THAT WAS ALL AFTER EVERYTHING WAS RECONCILED ALREADY TO THE CORRECT DISTRICT, LIKE CHANGING THOSE TWO FROM D UH, SIX OR, OR D FOUR TO D SIX, FOR INSTANCE? YES, MA'AM.
SO, UM, YEAH, SO I, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S GOING TO BE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY.
UM, I, I'M, I KNOW THAT THERE'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES, BUT AGAIN, I'D LIKE TO, UM, FOCUS ON, ON HOW WE CAN IMPROVE THIS.
IT'S JUST, I MEAN, I I, IT'S JUST DISAPPOINTING, UM, THAT WE WE'RE STILL THERE AND, UM, I JUST, I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY OTHER THAN I'M DISAPPOINTED.
I, I, I'VE GOT NO OTHER WORDS.
IF I, IF I MAY, UM, YES, COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND WE'VE, WE'VE DEFINITELY, WE'VE BROUGHT THAT TO BE A VERY SIGNIFICANT POINT THAT YOU'VE ARTICULATED FOR US.
AND AS, UM, YOU KNOW, GOING BACK TO YOU OF OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS AND AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND THE SERVICES, WE'RE MINDFUL OF THAT TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE DEPLOYING, YOU KNOW, VERY STRATEGIC, TARGETED METHODS TO REACH, UM, OUR HARDEST AREAS, ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, DISTRICT FOUR TO SEE THAT INCREASE.
SO IF WE RECEIVE FUNDING, YOU KNOW, WE'LL MAKE SURE TO DEFINITELY, UM, CONTINUE TO TAKE THE LESSONS THAT WE'VE LEARNED THROUGH THIS AND TO TRY TO PIVOT SO THAT WE CAN, SO THAT WE CAN INCREASE, UM, THAT PARTICIPATION FROM YOUR DISTRICT AND OTHER, THE OTHER DISTRICTS THAT ARE HARDER TO REACH.
[00:30:01]
UM, NO MATTER WHAT, EVEN WITH FEDERAL PROGRAMS LIKE THE P P P THAT'S COMING OUT, ET CETERA, I THINK WE NEED TO, UH, REACH OUT TO COUNCILMAN OR GARCIA'S OFFICE, THE TEAM AND SEE WHERE ARE THE BEST WAYS TO GET THAT, UM, WORD OUT SO WE CAN BE GOOD PARTNERS.UM, NEXT COUNCIL MEMBER GABRIEL VARDA.
THANK YOU, CHAIR
UM, HOW ARE WE DOING IN OUR OUTREACH AND APPLI AND COMPLETED APPLICATIONS? UM, I, I REALLY WOULD LIKE THAT.
WHAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW IS WHAT IMPROVEMENTS WE'VE MADE IN THE AREA OF OUTREACH IN OUR EFFORT TO GET MORE COMPLETED APPLICATIONS SINCE THE PROGRAM STARTED, YOU KNOW, SINCE WE FIRST STARTED TALKING ABOUT IT.
COUNCILMAN, ARE YOU REFERRING TO THE, UM, OUTREACH EFFORTS BY OUR FOUR PARTNERS? UH, WELL, NOT ONLY THAT, NOT ONLY THAT, I MEAN, ALL OF OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS, HOW HAVE WE IMPROVED FROM THE, THE FIRST TIME WE MET ABOUT THIS TO TODAY? WELL, I CAN TELL YOU IN THE, SO WHEN WE INITIALLY BEGAN OUTREACH WITH THE GRANTS PROGRAM, AND WE FOCUSED ON, AGAIN, THE COMBINED EQUITY SCORE AREAS OF, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH THE MAILERS, WE FOCUSED ON SENDING THOSE OUT TO AREAS THAT HAD EQUITY SCORES OF EIGHT THROUGH 10.
SO WHAT WE DID LEARN FROM THAT, AGAIN, ESPECIALLY LOOKING AT YOUR DISTRICT AND COUNCILMAN, UH, BUT GARCIA'S DISTRICT, IS THAT IF YOU, IF YOU LOOK AT THE GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION, YOUR DISTRICT HAVE EQUITY SCORE AREAS THAT WERE SURPRISING TO US TO SEE THOSE THAT WERE MORE LIKE IN THE 4, 5, 6 RANGE.
AND SO HOW WE RESPONDED TO THAT IS WHEN WE BEGAN THE OUTREACH EFFORTS THROUGH THE, FOR THE WORKFORCE INITIATIVE, UM, WE TOOK THAT SCORE THRESHOLD DOWN AND HAD MAILERS GO TO THOSE AREAS WITH, YOU KNOW, SEVEN INSTEAD OF JUST THE EIGHT.
AND NOW AS WE'RE CONTINUING TO WORK ON OUR EFFORTS TO GET, YOU KNOW, ANY OTHER MAILERS OUT OR ANY OTHER P P P, WE'VE LEARNED THAT WE EVEN NEED TO GO DOWN TO COMBINED EQUITY, FOUR AREAS OF SIX TO HAVE A MORE FAR REACHING, UM, EFFORT TO A STRATEGY TO REACH DISTRICTS SUCH AS TWO THROUGH SIX THAT ARE HARD TO GET THAT, THAT ENGAGEMENT WITH.
SO THAT'S ONE WAY THAT WE'VE PIVOTED.
UM, ALSO, UM, SO NOT ONLY USING DIGITAL PLATFORMS, BUT WE KNOW THAT MAILERS AND POSTCARDS AND DOOR HANGERS HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL, NOT ONLY WITH OUR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE, BUT THROUGH THE EFFORTS THAT WE'VE LEARNED FROM OUR COLLEAGUES AT METRO HEALTH, RIGHT.
AND GETTING THE WORD OUT ON THE DIFFERENT COVID RESOURCES AS METRO HEALTH HAS BEEN ACTIVELY DEPLOYING THAT WITH THE STREET TEAM.
SO WE ARE HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS INTERNALLY ON HOW WE CAN LEARN FROM EACH OTHER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE REACHING AS MANY AS POSSIBLE, UM, NOT ONLY OUR RESIDENTS, BUT SPECIFICALLY OUR SMALL BUSINESS AND E D D.
WELL, I APPRECIATE THAT, AND I, I REALLY DON'T MEAN THIS IN ANY KIND OF SNARKY WAY, BUT, UM, I'M, I'M NOT SURPRISED.
I MEAN, I'VE BEEN KIND OF WAVING THE FLAG FOR A LONG TIME THAT THERE ARE PARTS OF DISTRICT SIX THAT, THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THERE'RE A STONE THROW FROM DISTRICT FOUR AND FIVE AND SEVEN, AND THEY'RE, THEY NEED THE SAME KIND OF OUTREACH.
UM, ARE WE DOING ANYTHING REGARDING, I MEAN, I'M, I'M VERY, VERY BASIC KIND OF FLYERS VIA, VIA, YOU KNOW, I'M THINKING ABOUT THE, THE ADS THAT ARE INSIDE THE VIA BUSES, UH, CALLS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND SO B IS ALWAYS A GREAT PARTNER OF THE CITY AND, UM, WE HAVE NOT DEPLOYED THAT YET, BUT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON FINALIZING, UH, UH, OR DEVELOPING A MARKETING PLAN FOR ENGAGEMENT ON MAKING NOTICE OF OUR NEXT ROUND OF P P P FUNDING.
AND SO WE ARE WORKING WITH OTHER PARTNERS, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUPS WE'RE WORKING WITH, UM, THE V S A AND AGAIN, THE GREATER SAFER PLEDGE.
THAT'S ANOTHER DATABASE OF OUTREACH THERE, BUT I WILL CERTAINLY ENGAGE VIA TO SEE, UM, HOW WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF USING THOSE BUS ADVERTISEMENTS THAT ARE INSIDE THE BUSES.
EVEN, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY SAID, THIS IS, GO AHEAD.
I WAS GONNA SAY THIS
BUT, YOU KNOW, THE FOCUS WAS ON THE HIGHEST EQUITY SCORES.
WE HAD A LOT OF CONVERSATION WITH THE ENTIRE COUNCIL AND WITH, UH, AND THE COMMITTEE ON FOCUSING ON THE HIGHEST EQUITY SCORES IN ORDER TO GET THOSE THAT ARE THE MOST DIFFICULT TO REACH.
SO THAT'S WHY WE FOCUSED ON 8, 9, 10.
WE LEARNED AS WE WENT THROUGH THE, THROUGH THE APPLICATION PROCESS THAT WE HAD COUNCIL DISTRICTS THAT WERE NOT BEING REACHED AS, AS WELL.
SO THAT'S WHY THE OUTREACH DROPPED FROM EIGHT THROUGH 10, WHICH WOULD BE THE, THE MOST CORE, THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION OF, OF, OF PEOPLE OF COLOR.
WE KEPT GOING DOWN THAT LIST AND NOW WE'RE,
[00:35:01]
WE SORT OF UNDERSTAND THAT SIX AND ABOVE WOULD, WOULD HELP US TO CAPTURE BETTER.WE'LL CONTINUE TO REFINE THAT AS WE GO ALONG.
WITH RESPECT TO THE NEXT ROUND OF STIMULUS, THE REAL EFFORT HAS SHIFTED TO MAKING SURE THAT WE GET THE WORD OUT ON THE AVAILABILITY OF THE P P P PROGRAM, THE GRANT PROGRAM.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA DEPLOY EFFORTS THAT INCLUDE ALL THE ABOVE THE MAIL OUTS, THE, THE, THE HANGERS, THE, THE POSTCARDS.
AND WE'RE GONNA BE FOCUSING ON SIX AND ABOVE, JUST LIKE WE LEARNED HERE.
AND, AND WANT TO USE OUT OF OBVIOUSLY ALL OF YOUR, UH, YOUR COUNCIL OFFICES IN YOUR LISTS AS WELL, TO GET THE WORD OUT TO YOUR BUSINESSES IN EACH OF Y'ALL'S DISTRICTS, UH, OF THE AVAILABILITY OF THE P P P, NUMBER ONE, NUMBER TWO OF THE AVAILABILITY OF THE RESOURCES THAT ARE THERE TO HELP BUSINESSES FILL OUT THE APPLICATIONS AND CONNECT TO THE, UH, THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS THAT ARE PROVIDING THE GRANTS.
BUT WE'LL, WE'LL DEFINITELY UTILIZE YOUR OFFICES FOR THOSE.
YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS IS JUST, FOR ME, IT'S BEEN A, IT'S A BROADER ISSUE OF OUTREACH.
I, I DON'T KNOW, I MEAN, I'M JUST THINKING CRAZY THOUGHTS HERE, BUT LIKE, WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY SYSTEM.
IT'S NOT AN EMERGENCY, BUT IF WE CAN DO THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT GET THE WORD OUT, EVERYBODY, UM, WHEN THERE IS AN EMERGENCY, WHY CAN'T WE TARGET THAT AND, AND USE THE TEXTING SYSTEM, OR I JUST, I, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE SOLUTION IS, BUT I THINK WE HAD A REAL PROBLEM, UM, IN GETTING TO THE, GETTING OUT TO OUR COMMUNITIES.
THEY, I HEAR OVER AND OVER AGAIN, UM, YOU KNOW, ROADWORKS GOING UP OR THIS, THIS PROGRAM IS HAPPENING, AND THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT TILL AFTER IT WAS ALL DONE.
AND I, I DON'T, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE SOLUTION IS, BUT I FEEL LIKE WE NEED KIND OF A, A, A REVITALIZATION, A REVAMP, BUT YOU KNOW, A AT LEAST A SECOND LOOK AT OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS JUST AS A, AS A WHOLE.
AND I THINK THIS IS SHOWING SOME, FOR ME ANYWAY, IT'S SHOWING SOME OF OUR, OUR CRACKS WHERE THINGS ARE FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS.
THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN, VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COMMENTS.
AND I KNOW STAFF IS TAKING THEM, UH, TO HEART.
UM, NEXT COUNCIL MEMBER, SHIRLEY GONZALEZ.
AND, UM, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS CORRECTLY.
DID YOU SAY THAT WE'VE HAD 4,000 PEOPLE, 4,438 PEOPLE CONTACTED, BUT ONLY 38 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN PUT TO WORK? IS THAT, WHAT, IS THAT WHAT I UNDERSTOOD FROM THAT SLIDE? I'M TRYING TO FIND IT IN MY NOTES HERE, BUT, UM, TO BRING THAT UP AGAIN.
AND SO YES, WE START WITH THE WIDEST PART OF THE FUNNEL, AND THAT'S 4,443.
PEOPLE HAVE EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN THE PROGRAM, UM, THAT THEY'VE, THEY'VE COMPLETED THAT PRELIMINARY, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM.
THE, THE END RESULT IS CAN WE, WE WANNA PLACE THEM INTO JOBS.
SO, SO FAR WE'VE, WE'VE, UM, HELPED 38 PEOPLE GET THROUGH THAT WHOLE PROCESS, COMPLETE THEIR TRAINING AND SECURE EMPLOYMENT.
UM, JUST, JUST AS A REMINDER, OUR METRIC IS TO PLACE PEOPLE INTO A, A JOB, UM, THREE MONTHS AFTER THEY COMPLETE TRAINING.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE STILL VERY, VERY EARLY IN, IN THIS MEASUREMENT, UM, IN THE MEASUREMENT OF THIS OUTCOME.
SO ANOTHER WAY, 4,000 HAVE EXPRESSED AN INTEREST, 3000 HAVE BEEN REFERRED FOR TRAINING, 1500.
I ACTUALLY ENROLLED IN TRAINING AND 115 HAVE COMPLETED THE TRAINING OF THOSE AT 30 PLUS NUMBER, HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN ABLE TO SECURE A JOB AS A RESULT OF THAT.
AND, AND WHAT WAS OUR GOAL? I MEAN, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE? YES, MA'AM.
SO OUR GOAL IS, SO THE GOAL IS SERVE, GO AHEAD.
OUR GOAL IS TO TRAIN UP TO 10,000 RESIDENTS.
UM, AND SO WE KNOW THAT IN ORDER TO DO THAT PHASE ONE, THESE INITIAL INTRODUCTORY PHASES ARE GONNA HAVE TO BE MUCH LARGER THAN THAT.
SO THAT'S WHY YOU SEE SUCH A BIG POOL, UM, IN PHASE ONE AND EVEN IN PHASE TWO.
UM, ULTIMATELY, UM, WHEN WE WERE DEVELOPING THE RESULTS THAT WE WANTED TO SEE FROM THE PROGRAM, THE, THE PLACEMENT RATE WAS 50%.
UM, AND THIS WAS, THIS WAS DEVELOPED, UM, IN THE SUMMER WHEN WE, WE TRULY WERE NOT, WE DIDN'T HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION AS FAR AS, UM, C O V I D AND HOW MUCH IT WAS GONNA IMPACT SOME OF THE JOBS.
SO WE WERE SOMEWHAT CONSERVATIVE ON THE JOB PLACEMENT.
UM, BUT LIKE TINA MENTIONED, THERE'S STILL A LOT OF WORK HAPPENING BOTH AS PARTICIPANTS ARE COMPLETING, LIKE, AS THEY'RE APPROACHING THE COMPLETION OF THEIR TRAINING TO START MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE READY.
UM, AND THEN IF THEY COMPLETE AND THEY DON'T ALREADY HAVE A JOB LINED UP TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE GETTING THAT HELP IN THE NEXT STEP.
THAT'S PART OF THE WRAPAROUND SUPPORT THAT THEY'RE RECEIVING THAT CAREER NAVIGATION TO GET THEM INTO THAT JOB.
[00:40:01]
BUT I MEAN, HAVEN'T WE, HAVEN'T THESE ALL BEEN PRESENTED AS HIGH DEMAND JOBS? LIKE WHY WOULDN'T YOU HAVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE JOBS FILLED? I MEAN, IF THEY'RE SUCH A HIGH DEMAND HIGH THAN WHY ONLY 40% HAVE A JOB THEY MAY HAVE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE COMPLETING AT DIFFERENT RATES, THEY'RE COMPLETING AT DIFFERENT TIMES.UM, THEY COULD HAVE JUST COMPLETED AS, AS SHORT AS LIKE A WEEK AGO OR SO.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM TO MAKE SURE AS THEY'RE COMPLETING, THEY'RE GOING ON INTERVIEWS, THEY'RE LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES, AND THEY'RE GETTING PLACED INTO THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
AND WE'RE, WE'RE NOT LETTING THEM GO UNTIL WE GET THEM INTO THAT OPPORTUNITY.
SO, UM, UM, I'M FINDING THIS REALLY ALARMING.
UM, UM, I, I, I'M VERY CONCERNED THAT THAT'S TOO, NOT, AMINA FROM PHASE ONE TO COMPLETION IS NOT, UH, NOT WORKING OUT.
UH, I, I DON'T KNOW HOW ELSE TO SAY IT.
I MEAN, I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A, IS A HIGH LEVEL BRIEFING, UM, AND THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT GETTING ALL OF THE INFORMATION HERE, BUT, UM, I THINK THIS NEEDS A LOT OF WORK.
UM, I, I'M VERY RELUCTANT TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT WHAT I'M SEEING HERE.
WHAT, WHAT OTHER OPTIONS? SO HAVE YOU CONSIDERED SOMETHING ELSE? SO COUNCIL MEMBER, MAYBE WHAT WOULD PUT, WHAT WOULD, WHAT MIGHT COMMUNICATE A MORE ACCURATE REP, UH, REPRESENTATION OF WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS IS IF WE GO BACK AND LOOK TO SEE HOW MANY PARTICIPANTS THAT HAVE COMPLETED TRAINING, COMPLETED TRAINING THREE MONTHS AGO, BECAUSE THAT'S THE MEASURE, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ULTIMATELY TRYING TO TRACK.
ONCE SOMEBODY COMPLETES TRAINING, THREE MONTHS, NO, NO MORE THAN THREE MONTHS FROM THEM, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THEY HAVE A JOB.
SO, JUST, JUST AS A POINT OF REFERENCE, THIS PROGRAM HAS ONLY BEEN IN OPERATION FOR FOUR MONTHS.
SO, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW WE'RE WORKING TO PLACE THE PEOPLE THAT COMPLETED TRAINING, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY HAVE TO HAVE COMPLETED TRAINING EARLY, EARLY ON TO REALLY NOT HAVE GOTTEN A JOB WITHIN THE THREE MONTHS.
I, I SAY ALL OF THIS JUST TO KIND OF TRY TO PROVIDE SOME FRAME OF REFERENCE ABOUT HOW EARLY WE ARE STILL IN THE PROGRAM, UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE, WE PROVIDE AT, AT WHAT POINT.
SO, UM, I, I UNDERSTAND YOU'RE SAYING WE'RE EARLY IN THE PROGRAM, THERE'S TIME.
BUT LIKE, AT WHAT POINT DO WE SAY, YOU KNOW WHAT, THIS ISN'T WORKING OUT.
WE NEED TO TRY SOMETHING ELSE.
BECAUSE I, I MEAN, I'M, IT SEEMS TO ME LIKE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS PRESENTED, THESE ARE VERY HIGH DEMAND JOBS.
WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE VERY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES.
THE, I MEAN, 150,000 PEOPLE ARE UNEMPLOYED.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, I MEAN, I MEAN, I RECOGNIZE THAT LIKE, NOT EVERYBODY'S GONNA USE THIS, UM, YOU KNOW, FORMULA, UH, AND YOU KNOW, THE SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE, BUT WE DO HAVE A GOAL OF 10,000 JOBS.
I MEAN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 10,000 PEOPLE PUT IN JOBS, RIGHT? UM, WELL, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT 10,000 PEOPLE TRAINED IN THE PROGRAM.
SO 10,000 PEOPLE TRAINED IN THE PROGRAM, NOT NECESSARILY OH TWO, UM, NOT NECESSARILY JOBS.
WE'RE JUST GONNA TRAIN PEOPLE, RIGHT? THERE'S NOT A GUARANTEE FOR A JOB AT THE END OF IT.
UM, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE BEEN SAYING THAT WE HAVE ALL THESE JOBS IN HIGH DEMAND, UM, SO I MEAN, I, I GUESS AT WHAT POINT ARE, ARE WE GONNA SAY MAYBE THIS ISN'T WORKING OUT, WE NEED TO TRY SOMETHING ELSE.
COUNCILOR, THERE'S ALWAYS OP, THIS IS CARLOS
THIS IS ALWAYS OPPORTUNITY AS WE GO THROUGH THIS PROGRAM FOR THE COMMITTEE TO, TO, TO GET UPDATES AND, AND THEN, AND THEN HAVE US POTENTIALLY DO SOME SHIFTING IN HOW WE DO THE WORKFORCE TRAINING.
WORKFORCE TRAINING IS NOT A, AS WE ALL KNOW, WORKFORCE TRAINING IS NOT A SILVER BULLET.
IT'S NOT AN INSTANT, UH, ANSWER.
IF IT WAS, SOMEBODY WOULD'VE FIGURED THAT OUT A LONG TIME AGO AND WE WOULDN'T BE WHAT WE ARE TODAY.
THE REALITY IS IT TAKES TIME TO GET PEOPLE INTO AN AREA THAT THEY HAVE AN, AN INTEREST IN BEING INVOLVED IN, AND YOU'RE EITHER INTERESTED IN IT AND WANNA DO IT, AND THEN THEY HAVE TO COMPLETE THE PROCESS.
IT COULD BE SIX WEEKS, IT COULD BE 12 WEEKS.
WHAT WE'RE LEARNING IS AT LEAST HALF OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ENROLLING ARE WANTING A LITTLE BIT LONGER TERM TRAINING.
SO THEY'RE TAKING LONGER THAN SIX WEEKS TO GO FROM BEING, AND I'M GONNA MAKE IT UP, UH, SOMEBODY WORKING IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS TO SOMEBODY WHO MIGHT BE WORKING IN A, IN A TECH AREA, AND THEY'RE BEING RETRAINED.
AND SO THEY'RE HAVING TO LEARN A NEW TYPE OF INDUSTRY, AND THEN THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO BE HELPED WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS AND THE RESUME WRITING AND, AND THE APPLI AND THE APPLICATION PROCESS.
THAT'S GONNA TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO DO THAT.
[00:45:01]
HAS BEEN UNDERWAY FOR FOUR MONTHS, AND WE HAD TO GET PEOPLE INTO THE PIPELINE TO BEGIN THAT PROCESS.SO THERE'S ALWAYS OPPORTUNITIES FOR MAKE CHANGE.
SO, SO THEN IF, IF, IF PERHAPS, YOU KNOW, MY EXPECTATION IS OFF, AND IF IT'S GONNA TAKE LONGER, THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, THEN PERHAPS A MONTHLY BRIEFING IS NOT, UM, NOT THE BEST WAY, UH, BECAUSE IT DOES, THAT'S, YOU KNOW, WE SEE THIS INFORMATION AND THEN WE SEE LIKE NO CHANGE.
SO LAST TIME WITH THE, ON THE JOB, RIGHT, WAS LIKE, YOU HAD THREE PEOPLE.
I MEAN, THIS IS, YEAH, I, UM, PERHAPS, UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THE EXPECTATION, UH, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE SEE PEOPLE, UM, CONNECTED TO JOBS, WHETHER PERHAPS, UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, CHAIR, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'M REALLY, UM, IT'S KIND OF SINKING IN THAT PERHAPS, UM, A MONTHLY BRIEFING ISN'T A FAIR PICTURE BECAUSE PE IT'S TAKING TOO LONG.
OR RATHER IT WILL TAKE LONGER THAN WE ANTICIPATE.
UM, I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND EVEN WHEN THE VOTER VOTERS APPROVED IT, THAT THERE WAS SOME EXPECTATION THAT IT WOULD TAKE SOME TIME.
UM, BUT I GUESS BECAUSE WE ARE KIND OF IN THIS EMERGENCY SITUATION, OR AT LEAST I FEEL THAT WAY, UM, I MEAN, I FEEL STILL ON EDGE ALL THE TIME.
I MEAN, I, I DON'T, SO, UM, PERHAPS THERE'S AN EXPECTATION THAT WE WOULD SEE THINGS MOVING A LITTLE BIT QUICKER.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I I'M WILLING TO ADJUST MY TIMELINE, BUT PERHAPS THERE COULD BE SOME MILESTONES LIKE WHAT WE EXPECT AT A CERTAIN TIME.
OR WE START SHIFTING STRATEGIES, BECAUSE WHAT I'M SEEING HERE, AND I'M AFRAID WHAT THE PUBLIC WILL SEE HERE IS THAT WE'RE NOT BEING VERY EFFECTIVE IN GETTING PEOPLE TO JOB PLACEMENT.
UM, SO I THINK I BETTER JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'LL HAVE MORE WE CAN WORK COUNCIL MORE CONVERSATION, WORK ON, ON, WE CAN ABSOLUTELY WORK ON THE MILESTONES.
I THINK THAT'S A VERY, THAT'S A, THAT'S A REALLY GREAT SUGGESTION IS WHAT, WHAT DO WE ANTICIPATE WE SHOULD BE SEEING AND BY WHEN? AND THEN HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO THE, THE, THE RETRAINING EFFORTS AND THE JOB PLACEMENT EFFORTS? UH, THE, THE, THE SENSE OF URGENCY ON OUR PART IS GETTING PEOPLE INTO THE INTAKE PROCESS, GETTING 'EM THROUGH THE ENROLLMENT PROCESS, AND GETTING 'EM IN TRAINING, BECAUSE THE, THE STIPENDS BEGIN WHEN PEOPLE ENROLL IN THE TRAINING.
AND THAT'S A DIRECT LEVEL OF ASSISTANCE THAT YOU WILL SEE.
AND I, AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHO ASKED THE QUESTION, BUT THANK YOU FOR ASKING THE QUESTION.
HOW MUCH MONEY IS BEING SPENT? BECAUSE THAT'S IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
THERE ARE 1300 PEOPLE THAT ARE RECEIVING STIPENDS TODAY WHILE THEY'RE GETTING TRAINED.
AND SO THAT'S A LEVEL OF RELIEF THAT'S HAPPENED WITH ONLY WITHIN FOUR MONTHS OF THE BEGINNING OF THE PROGRAM.
SO WE WITHIN ZERO, SO THAT IN THIS AREA WE DO, STAFF WISE, WE HAVE A SENSE OF URGENCY FOR THE SAME REASON THAT YOU DO THAT.
PEOPLE ARE OUT THERE NEEDING HELP.
AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE TRYING TO GET FOLKS INTO THE PIPELINE AND GET 'EM INTO THE RIGHT AREA SO THAT THE OTHER END OF THIS, WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET THEM INTO A CAREER.
SO, WE'LL, WE'LL WORK ON SOME MILESTONES AND, AND WE'LL SIT OUT WITH THE CHAIR, I THINK MIGHT GIVE ME A LITTLE BIT MORE, MORE CONFIDENCE, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT WE'RE HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
'CAUSE I THINK WHAT I SEE HERE JUST DOESN'T GIVE ME A LOT OF CONFIDENCE.
SO, UM, I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT.
AND SO, I, JUST TO PUT THINGS IN CONTEXT, LAST MONTH, THE US CONTRACTED AND HAD, UM, AN EXPERIENCE, THE FIRST DOWNTURN IN JOB LOSSES IN THE PAST SEVEN MONTHS, 140,000 JOBS, UM, LOST IN ONE SINGLE MONTH, AND ALMOST ALL OF THEM WENT IT.
UM, THE LAST JOBS REPORT FROM THE BUREAU LA STATISTICS, LABOR STATISTICS INDICATES THAT, UM, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS HOLDING STEADY AT AROUND 6.7% THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY.
WE HAVE AN OUTGOING PRESIDENT WHO'S LOST MORE JOBS, UM, UH, THAN WHEN HE FIRST CAME IN.
AND SO I THINK IT'D BE REALLY DANGEROUS FOR US TO USE THE WORD GUARANTEED JOBS.
UM, YOU KNOW, IN CONTEXT OF THIS PROGRAM, UM, THAT'S, I SEE THREE LAWYERS ON THIS CALL.
UM, AND I DON'T THINK ANY OF US WOULD EVER USE THE WORD GUARANTEE WITH REGARDS TO ANY GOVERNMENT PROGRAM.
UM, MUCH LESS GUARANTEED OUTCOMES LIKE JOBS.
UM, THE ONE THING THAT WE DO GUARANTEE, HOWEVER, IS TRAINING.
UM, AND THAT THESE FOLKS ARE BEING PUMPED THROUGH.
THEY ARE GETTING THEIR TRAINING, THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, ELIGIBLE FOR THEIR STIPENDS AND IN THE FACE OF A COVID PANDEMIC, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, REQUIRES US TO UNDERSTAND THAT EVERYTHING IS FLUID.
UM, CARLOS, I'M, I'M NOT SURE YOU'RE IN A POSITION TO REALISTICALLY GUARANTEE US THAT ANYBODY WILL BE, YOU KNOW, UH, EMPLOYED AS A RESULT OF THIS PROGRAM NEXT WEEK, NEXT MONTH, TWO MONTHS, THREE MONTHS, FOUR MONTHS.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THIS IS ONE OF THOSE WHERE
[00:50:01]
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO ADJUST OUR EXPECTATIONS THE WAY EVERY CITY ON THE PLANET IS ADJUSTING ITS EXPECTATIONS WITH REGARDS TO SIMILAR PROGRAMS, UM, AND RECOVERY PROGRAMS. AND SO, UH, I MEAN, FOR GOODNESS SAKE, WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHEN ANY OF US ON THIS CALL ARE GONNA GET OUR VACCINES.UH, AND YOU KNOW, WE, UH, BUT ALL WE CAN DO IS WORK WITH THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE.
DID I GET ANY OF THAT WRONG, CARLOS, MR. CHAIRMAN? I MEAN, MANNY, YOUR AB COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, WE, WE, WE ARE, WE ARE, WE ARE, UH, WE ARE, YOU KNOW, HAVING THIS BY ZOOM, SO YOU CAN THINK ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT'S GONNA BE FOR SOMEBODY TO APPLY FOR A JOB RIGHT NOW, EVEN IF IT'S JOBS AVAILABLE.
THEY'RE OUT THERE, THEY'RE LOOKING, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF, THE PANDEMIC HAS JUST CREATED A LOT OF, A LOT OF OBSTACLES.
AND SO, UM, WE, WE ARE, WE ARE, I THINK THE GOOD NEWS IS WE SET OUT MILESTONES FOR TRAINING, AND WE'RE HITTING THOSE AS WE RAMP UP TO, TO 10,000 AS WE, AS WE HIT THAT WE'RE, HE, WE'RE HITTING THE MILESTONES ON A MONTHLY BASIS WITH THE, WITH THE ENROLLMENT.
FORGIVE ME FOR, FOR COUNCIL MEMBER
UM, UH, ARE THESE HANDS THAT ARE RAISED, ARE THEY STILL THERE? COUNCIL GONZALEZ, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION? NO, NO, I'M SORRY.
I WAS, I WAS TRYING TO TAKE MY HAND DOWN.
I THINK, UH, THIS HAS BEEN A VERY GOOD CONVERSATION.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE INFORMATION THAT YOU ALL WILL BE PROVIDING US.
UM, I WOULD, I THINK, WHAT IS, WHAT WAS SHARED BY COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ, BUT THEN ALSO, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, EXPLAIN, UH, EXPOUND A LITTLE BIT MORE BY YOU, CARLOS, ABOUT ARE WE, ARE WE WHERE WE SHOULD BE ON THIS PROCESS? UM, AND IF WE ARE FAR, IF, IF WE ARE BEHIND, THEN HOW FAR BEHIND ARE WE? UM, AND I ALSO LOOK AT THIS AS OUR, UM, OUR ROLLOUTS TO OUR VACCINE DISTRIBUTIONS.
YOU KNOW, THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS ARE GOING TO BE TOUGH.
WE'RE GOING TO FIGURE OUT A LOT OF THINGS.
BUT THEN ONCE IT GETS GOING IN MIDDAY OR THE NEXT DAY, AND THE NEXT DAY, WE FIND THE, THE PROCESS, WE FIND THE FLOW AND IT GETS BETTER AND BETTER WITH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.
SO, BUT I WILL SAY, CARLOS, IF THERE IS A BACKLOG OR A, A BACKLOG SOMEWHERE WITH OUR, OUR PARTNERS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE NEED TO MAKE THOSE ADJUSTMENTS.
AND WE THINK THAT'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO CONTINUE THE MONTHLY UPDATES.
'CAUSE THAT'S WHEN WE AS COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE TO TAKE THE APPROPRIATE ACTION IF WE NEED TO.
[2. 21-1065 Briefing by BioMedSA on the organization’s progress and plans for FY 2021. [Carlos J. Contreras, III; Assistant City Manager; Alejandra Lopez, Director, Economic Development]]
ARE GOING TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT PRESENTATION.AND I BELIEVE THIS PRESENTATION HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING TO OUR, UH, TO, TO OUR COMMITTEE.
AND I AM, IT'S A, IT'S A NEW FACE.
SO I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING THIS AND SEEING WHERE ALL OF THE SYNERGY IS HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO RIGHT NOW, WE'RE GOING TO START OUR BRIEFING BY BIOMED SA ON THE ORGANIZATION'S PRO PROGRESS AND THE PLANS FOR F Y 21.
I WILL PASS IT TO, UH, YOU CARLOS, MADAM CHAIR.
I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE HEATHER HANSON, THE BRAND NEW, UH, MAYBE NOT BRAND NEW, BUT CERTAINLY NEW TO THE COMMITTEE, UH, NEW PRESIDENT OF BIOMED SA FOR AN UPDATE ON THE GREAT WORK THAT SHE AND THE BIOMED FOLKS ARE DOING.
THANK YOU, CARLOS, AND THANK YOU CHAIR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR INVITING ME TO SPEAK TO YOU TODAY.
IF, UH, AV YOU COULD PUT UP THE, UH, SLIDESHOW, THEN I CAN GET STARTED.
SO MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, BIOME SAY IS THE ONE, THERE WE GO.
UH, HAS A MISSION TO ACCELERATE THE GROWTH OF THE HEALTHCARE AND BIOSCIENCE SECTOR, CREATE REGIONAL ECONOMIC BENEFIT, AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE HEALTH OF SAN ANTONIO AND BEYOND BY ESTABLISHING SAN ANTONIO AS A LEADER IN HEALTHCARE AND BIOSCIENCE.
AND WE DO THIS BY SUPPORTING THE LOCAL SECTOR AS WELL AS RECRUITING NEW COMPANIES TO SAN ANTONIO.
SO WE ARE COMPRISED OF TWO STAFF MEMBERS, MYSELF, THE PRESIDENT AND I HAVE AN ASSISTANT, AND WE HAVE A BOARD OF 28 MEMBERS WHO REPRESENT THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY AS
[00:55:01]
WELL AS OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS.WE ARE THE HUB OF THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY IN SAN ANTONIO, MEANING THAT WE, UM, ARE A CENTRAL LOCATION FOR PEOPLE TO COME TO, AND THEN WE SEND THEM OUT TO WHOMEVER THEY NEED TO CONNECT WITH OR, UM, MEET IN ORDER TO FACILITATE WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO DO IN THE INDUSTRY.
AND WE ARE FUNDED BY MEMBERS, INCLUDING THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
TO GIVE YOU A BACKGROUND, THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY IS COMPRISED OF FOUR PILLARS, CLINICAL CARE, RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND INDUSTRY.
AND THEN IN SAN ANTONIO IN PARTICULAR, WE HAVE MILITARY MEDICINE, WHICH SPANS ACROSS ALL FOUR OF THOSE.
THE LIFE SCIENCE SECTOR IS THE BIGGEST SECTOR, UH, ECONOMIC SECTOR IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, WE JUST PASSED THE MILITARY UP IN, UH, THE DATA FROM 2019 BY CONTRIBUTING OVER $42 BILLION TO THE ECONOMY.
AND WE EMPLOY NEARLY ONE OUTTA EVERY FIVE WORKERS IN SAN ANTONIO.
SOME AREAS THAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT IS WE ALSO ARE A HUB FOR INNOVATION IN LIFE SCIENCE.
UH, 175 PUBLISHED PATENTS IN, UM, 2019, THAT'S IN ONE YEAR.
WE HAVE A LARGE NUMBER OF CLINICAL TRIALS GOING ON, AND I WILL GET TO THAT A LITTLE BIT LATER IN MORE DETAIL.
AND, UM, OVER HALF A BILLION DOLLARS IN FEDERAL RESEARCH FUNDING TO OUR COMMUNITY.
ONE OF THE THINGS BIOMEDICINE DOES IS PROVIDE INFORMATION FOR INDUSTRY.
AND WE DO THIS PRIMARILY THROUGH OUR WEBSITE, LINKEDIN, AND WE ALSO HAVE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
WE UPDATED OUR WEBSITE IN JULY, AND TO GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE, IN NOVEMBER, WE'VE HAD, UM, ALMOST 1000 VISITOR NEW VISITORS COME TO OUR SITE.
SO THESE, OUR PEOPLE HAVE NEVER CHECKED OUT, UH, THIS WEBSITE BEFORE, SO WE'RE REACHING A WIDER AUDIENCE WITH IT, WHICH IS AWESOME.
UH, WE PROVIDE NEWS RELEASES ON OUR MEMBERS TO HELP SHOWCASE TO THE COMMUNITY AND NATIONALLY WHAT, UM, ORGANIZATIONS HERE ARE ACCOMPLISHING.
WE ALSO HAVE AN EVENT CALENDAR FOR, UM, ALL OF THE EVENTS RELEVANT TO OUR INDUSTRY IN SAN ANTONIO.
WE HAVE A JOB BOARD, WHICH IS ONE OF THE MOST FREQUENTED, UM, PARTS OF OUR WEBSITE RIGHT NOW.
WE DO A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AND WE ALSO PROVIDE, UM, ADDITIONAL INDUSTRY RESOURCES.
WE HAVE A MILITARY MEDICINE PAGE ON OUR WEBSITE, WHICH WE ARE CURRENTLY EXPANDING IN COLLABORATION WITH THE SAMI DIRECTOR AND, UM, THE MILITARY ITSELF.
WE HAVE A COMPANY DIRECTORY, AND WE WORKED A LOT TO BUILD THIS DATABASE LAST YEAR, AND THEN SHARED THAT WITH VELOCITY TEXAS FOR THEIR MORE DETAILED ASSET MAP THAT THEY'RE WORKING ON.
WE, UH, POST FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES BEYOND THE STANDARD FEDERAL, FEDERAL GRANTS.GOV, N I H, AND DOD STUFF THAT EVERYBODY ALREADY KNOWS HOW TO ACCESS, BUT INDIVIDUAL FOUNDATION TYPE FUNDING OR GRANTS, UH, THEY'RE MORE LOCAL ORIENTED THAT PEOPLE WOULDN'T NECESSARILY KNOW ABOUT.
WE HOST HOW TO INFORMATION, UM, EVENTS, AS WELL AS JUST PUTTING THE INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE, UH, WHO'S DOING WHAT.
WE PUT THAT IN OUR NEWSLETTER.
WE TALK ABOUT SOME ADVOCACY THINGS AND THINGS GOING ON IN THE GOVERNMENT THAT AFFECT OUR INDUSTRY, UH, COST SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES.
AND REALLY WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER ANYBODY'S QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO OUR INDUSTRY.
YOU KNOW, HOW DO I FIND LAB SPACE? HOW, HOW DO I FIND I NEED TO TALK TO A RESEARCHER IN THIS ASPECT OF CANCER? AND WE WANNA PROVIDE THAT AS EASY AS POSSIBLE ON OUR WEBSITE.
AND THEN IF THAT DOESN'T MEET, YOU KNOW, THAT CAN'T MEET EVERYBODY'S NEED, THEN THEY CAN CONTACT US AND WE'LL CONNECT THEM WITH WHOMEVER THEY NEED TO, UM, REACH OUT TO.
ON THE PROGRAMMING SIDE, WE HOSTED SEVERAL EVENTS.
WE DID A LOCAL MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURING SERIES TO INTRODUCE, UH, PRIMARILY LOCAL COMPANIES TO MANUFACTURERS AROUND THE SAN ANTONIO REGION THAT CAN PRODUCE THEIR MEDICAL DEVICE COMPONENTS, ACCESSORIES, AND FINISHED MEDICAL DEVICES AS WELL AS DISTRIBUTION.
WE DID A PROGRAM ON COST SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES, WHICH DID INCLUDE THE ON-THE-JOB TRAINING PROGRAM THAT WAS MENTIONED.
AS PART OF THAT, WE ALWAYS DO AN INNOVATION AWARD EVENT IN 2021.
WE ARE ADDING TARGETED DISEASE COLLABORATION EVENTS.
WHEN WE ENGAGED WITH FROST AND SULLIVAN A COUPLE YEARS AGO TO LOOK AT OUR INDUSTRY, THEY NOTED THAT WE HAVE FIVE DISEASE AREAS THAT ARE VERY, UM, PREVALENT IN THE WORK THAT'S BEING DONE HERE.
AND SO WE'RE FOCUSING ON THOSE AND BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER, NOT ONLY SO WE CAN HELP DEVELOP BETTER MARKETING COLLATERAL AROUND WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE, BUT ALSO ENABLE THEM TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS AND, AND, UM, FACILITATE THOSE CONNECTIONS SO THEY CAN TAKE IT FORWARD.
WHEN THEY DO THEIR RESEARCH, WE'LL BE DOING A SERIES ON MEDICAL DEVICE DEVELOPMENT, DRUG DEVELOPMENT, AND THE BIGGEST THING WE'RE ADDING IS A PRE FIESTA FUNDING EVENT TO CONNECT COMPANIES THAT ARE LOOKING FOR INVESTORS WITH POTENTIAL INVESTORS, AS WELL AS SHOWCASING
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IP AVAILABLE FOR LICENSE SO THAT WE CAN HELP, UM, COMPANIES GET THAT, UM, NEXT STEP IN FUNDING THAT THEY NEED.ON THE RECRUITMENT SIDE, WE'RE OF COURSE WORKING WITH E D F AND BRINGING IN THAT INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT.
WE HAD A MEETING IN 2020 THAT STARTED THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, WE'RE TARGETING THE RIGHT COMPANIES AND PRESENTING THE RIGHT, UM, INFORMATION FORWARD THAT'S IMPORTANT TO COMPANIES.
AND IN PART OF THAT PROACTIVE TARGETING, WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, LIKELY LOCATIONS FOR COMPANIES TO WANT TO MOVE HERE.
AND THE PRIMARY ONE, UM, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS MINNEAPOLIS.
THIS, THIS REGION, UM, NOT ONLY IS IS THERE A POTENTIAL FOR EXODUS RIGHT NOW, BUT ALSO IT IS THE HUB OF MEDICAL DEVICE DEVELOPMENT IN OUR COUNTRY.
SO THAT IS WHERE THE MOST COMPANIES ARE.
SO THAT'S THE ONE WE'RE GONNA GO AFTER FIRST.
AND ALSO LOOKING AT, UM, CONFERENCES AND HOW WE MARKET AT THOSE CONFERENCES, THE BIGGEST, UH, WE WILL INCLUDE THE BIGGEST CONFERENCE FORM MEDICAL DEVICE, WHICH IS IN ANAHEIM EVERY YEAR.
NORMALLY IN FEBRUARY THIS YEAR THEY'RE MOVING IT TO AUGUST TO TRY TO HAVE IT IN PERSON.
WE'LL HAVE A PRESENCE THERE IN ORDER TO HELP, UM, GET THE WORD OUT OF WHAT WE'RE DOING IN SAN ANTONIO.
WE'LL BE REVAMPING OUR MARKETING COLLATERAL IN 2021 AND GATHERING MORE STATISTICS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO COMPANIES AS THEY THINK ABOUT WHERE THEY MIGHT WANNA MOVE NEXT, BEYOND THE OVERALL ECONOMIC TYPE STATISTICS, BUT THE THINGS THAT ARE DETAILED TO OUR INDUSTRY.
WE STARTED A CLINICAL TRIAL TASK FORCE IN 2020, WHICH AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE HAVE A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR CLINICAL TRIALS IN SAN ANTONIO, BUT IT'S ALSO A, WE HAVE A LARGE POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH SPECIFICALLY GIVEN OUR POPULATION HERE AND THE INDUSTRY AND RESEARCHERS, WE HAVE TO SUPPORT IT.
SO THIS TASK FORCE INCLUDES REPRESENTATIVES FOR OUR RESEARCH MANUFACTURERS, CLINICAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS, THE MILITARY HOSPITALS.
SO WE'VE INCLUDED EVERY ASPECT OF, UM, TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN CLINICAL TRIAL RESEARCH.
WE COMPLETED OUR BENCHMARKING OFF OF OTHER REGIONS WHO HAVE SEEN AN INCREASE IN CLINICAL TRIALS.
AND IN 2021, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON THE ROOT CAUSE AND ACTION PLAN.
AND, UH, WE'RE NOT GONNA END THERE WITH JUST A NICE REPORT.
WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA IMPLEMENT ACTION ITEMS TO MAKE THAT DIFFERENCE HAPPEN, AND THEN MONITOR TO MAKE SURE THE, UM, CHANGES ARE EFFECTIVE IN IMPROVING OUR, UM, CLINICAL TRIAL WORK WE HAVE HERE GOING ON IN SAN ANTONIO.
WE ARE HAPPY TO SUPPORT THE CITY IN THE WORKFORCE PROGRAMS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR OUR INDUSTRY, WHICH I'LL HIGHLIGHT A LITTLE BIT MORE LATER.
UM, STARTING IN SEPTEMBER-ISH, WE CONDUCTED OVER 30 B R E VISITS LAST YEAR AND PROVIDED INPUT TO ESSAY WORKS AND E D F ON INDUSTRY STA STATUS AND TRENDS.
AND THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN A LOT OF OTHER INDUSTRIES BECAUSE IT IS SO REGULATED AND IT'S, UM, THE PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THE INDUSTRY ARE KIND OF IN A, I DON'T KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE DIFFERENT I GUESS IN THAT, THAT SENSE.
WE, WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS GOING ON THAN SOME OTHER INDUSTRIES.
UM, WE ADVERTISE THE ON-THE-JOB PROGRAM VERBALLY TO OVER 300 PEOPLE THROUGH EVENTS AS WELL AS ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATIONS.
WE HAD REQUESTS FOR OVER 20 JOB OPENINGS THAT WE SUBMITTED TO THE PROGRAM.
WE ARE GOING TO BE COLLECTING MORE DETAILED WORKFORCE NEEDS AND EXISTING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM DATA IN Q ONE AND ASSIST THE CITY AS MUCH AS WE CAN WITH DEVELOPMENT OF TARGETED TRAINING PROGRAMS. A KEY PART OF THAT IS RESEARCHING EXISTING PROGRAMS THAT CAN BE LEVERAGED.
MAYBE WE JUST TWEAK THIS ONE AND IT MEETS THIS INDUSTRY NEED OVER HERE AND MAKING SURE THAT DIALOGUE IS HAPPENING SO THAT WE'RE MEETING THE NEEDS OF INDUSTRY AND INCLUDING INDUSTRY IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT EFFECTIVENESS.
AN EXAMPLE OF THAT IS A PROGRAM, UH, CLASS THAT WAS STARTED A COUPLE YEARS AGO AT U T S A.
THAT INDUSTRY ACTUALLY TEACHES THE CLASS AND IT PROVIDES THE BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS WHO ARE PRIMARILY THE ONES WHO TAKE IT WITH A BINDER AT THE END THAT PROVES THEY KNOW HOW TO DEVELOP A DESIGN HISTORY FILE AND ARE READY TO ENTER THE WORKFORCE DESIGNING MEDICAL DEVICES OR WORKING WITHIN THE MEDICAL DEVICE DEVELOPMENT AREA.
AND THIS IS HUGE FOR COMPANIES BECAUSE IT SAVES THEM ABOUT SIX MONTHS OF TRAINING AND EVEN LIKE A YEAR OR TWO OF, UH, PEOPLE GETTING USED TO THE WHOLE REGULATORY PROCESS.
AND THAT IS A HUGE THING THAT GIVES THOSE STUDENTS AN EDGE TO SHOW UP AT AN INTERVIEW WITH THAT BINDER OR HOLD IT UP VIRTUALLY.
UM, AND THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING MORE OF THAT SO THAT GRADUATES FROM PROGRAMS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO ARE THE TOP ONES THAT ARE GONNA BE WANTED ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AS WELL AS HERE.
HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OR A SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF OUR DATA WE COLLECTED IN MAY OF LAST YEAR.
WE HAD ABOUT 80 DIFFERENT COMPANIES RESPOND TO OUR SURVEY, AND AGAIN, THIS IS A PIECE OF IT, BUT OVER 70% OF THEM, AND AGAIN, THIS IS IN MAY IN THE MIDDLE OF, YOU KNOW, THE START OF THE PANDEMIC, I SHOULD SAY.
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UM, OVER 70% OF THE COMPANIES IDENTIFIED AT LEAST ONE WORKFORCE NEED.AND HERE'S THE, THE PIE CHART OF ALL OF IT.
UM, BUT WE'RE, WE WANT TO ADDRESS THIS CHALLENGE AND HELP, UM, TRANSLATE THIS INDUSTRY DETAILED INFORMATION INTO, UM, PROGRAMS THAT THE CITY IS WORKING ON.
WE'LL BE STARTING A WORKFORCE COMMITTEE FOR OUR INDUSTRY IN THE SECOND HALF OF THIS YEAR, COMPRISING PEOPLE IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UH, EDUCATION AND INDUSTRY.
WE WANNA BRAINSTORM ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS.
SO THIS IS A SIMILAR KIND OF CONCEPT TO THE CLINICAL TRIAL TASK FORCE.
WE WANNA LOOK AT K THROUGH 12 FOR CAREER AWARENESS AND INTEREST.
IF KIDS DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CAREERS ARE, THEY, THEY CAN'T DECIDE TO GO GET TRAINING IN IT IF THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS.
UH, SO WE DEFINITELY WANNA COVER THAT.
UM, A SCHOLARSHIP AND INTERNSHIP PROGRAM, SPOUSAL RELOCATION SUPPORT IS SOMETHING THAT'S IMPORTANT AS WE, UH, GROW THE INDUSTRY.
WE NEED TO RECRUIT, EXPERIENCED, UH, SENIOR LEVEL PRO PROFESSIONALS FROM ELSEWHERE TO COME HERE.
AND PART OF THAT IS, UM, VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE THE SPOUSAL RELOCATION SUPPORT AS PART OF THAT.
AND OTHERS, OBVIOUSLY, WE NEED TO DO THE BRAINSTORMING, UM, TO SEE WHAT WE NEED TO TACKLE WITH THIS NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
WE'RE STARTING AN ADVOCACY BOARD THIS QUARTER TO GIVE VOICE TO LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LAWMAKERS TO PROMOTE OUR INDUSTRY GROWTH AND AWARENESS.
WE WANT TO INFLUENCE INVITED MEMBERSHIPS AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND ACADEMIES.
AND THIS, THIS FOCUS IS REALLY ON EDUCATING PEOPLE IN THE FIELD HERE OF WHY THEY SHOULD WANNA BECOME A MEMBER AND THEN HELPING THEM WITH HERE'S THE APPLICATION, HERE'S THE TIMING.
OH, HERE'S ANOTHER MEMBER WHO, WHO ALREADY IS A MEMBER WHO WILL HELP SPONSOR YOU BECAUSE IT BRINGS A LOT MORE NATIONAL VISIBILITY TO WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE.
AND PROMOTE SAN ANTONIO TO PEOPLE'S AWARENESS FOR WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND OF COURSE, WE WANNA LEVERAGE ALL THE PARTNERSHIPS WE CAN IN ORDER TO, UM, ACHIEVE THESE GOALS WE'RE TRYING TO DO.
BEYOND ADVOCACY, WE WANNA COLLABORATE WITH EVERYBODY WE CAN.
SO WITH A STAFF OF TWO, WE RELY ON WORKING WITH OTHERS, UH, TO DO A LOT OF OUR WORK.
WE WANNA IDENTIFY THE COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES AND FACILITATE MUTUAL SUPPORT.
WE DON'T NEED TO BE, UH, CONFLICTING WITH EACH OTHER OR DOING THE SAME THING, BUT WORKING TOGETHER FOR SAN ANTONIO AND FOR THE STRATEGIC MARKETING OF WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS OR PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION.
THANK YOU HEATHER, SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, IT WAS VERY EFFICIENT AND I I, IT WENT THROUGH PRETTY QUICKLY AND I DID HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
UM, I THINK RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR INDUSTRY WITHIN THE BIOMED, UM, FIELD, WE ARE, YOU PROBABLY HAVE MORE VISIBILITY AND MORE, UM, INTERESTS IN WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH BIO, WITH ALL OF YOUR MEMBERS AND YOUR MEMBERSHIP.
SO, UH, CAN YOU, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE INCREASE THAT YOU'VE SEEN JUST WITHIN THESE PAST 10 MONTHS OF THAT? OR HAVE YOUR MEMBERS SEEN AN INCREASE IN INTEREST, UM, WITH WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING OR FROM JUST THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE? YEAH, I'D SAY A LITTLE BIT OF A BACKDROP TO THAT IS, YOU KNOW, THE INDUSTRY HAD SLOWDOWNS, UM, IN THE LATE SPRING AND SUMMER WHERE PEOPLE, SOME PEOPLE WERE, UM, LAID OFF OR LET GO AND MOST WERE ABLE TO RETAIN THEIR WORKFORCE.
BUT THEN THINGS REALLY STARTED TO PICK UP IN Q THREE WHEN ELECTIVE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES CAME BACK AND, UM, PEOPLE WERE MORE COMFORTABLE GOING BACK TO WORK WITH SAFETY PROTOCOLS IN PLACE AND ALL OF THAT.
AND SO THEN IT BECAME THE TRANSITION OF WE EITHER NEED TO HIRE PEOPLE BECAUSE WE LET THEM GO EARLIER, OR WE'RE IN GROWTH MODE BECAUSE WE NOW HAVE THIS GIANT SPIKE OF WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, THEY, THE SLOWDOWN, YOU KNOW, IS OVER.
SO NOW WE HAVE ALL THIS EXTRA WORK.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE ADDITIONAL WORK BECAUSE OF THE CLINICAL TRIALS PERTAINING TO COVID AND SOME OTHER WORK PERTAINING TO COVID.
SO REALLY THE INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW IS HAVING A TOUGH TIME HIRING PEOPLE.
UM, WHEN I MENTIONED TO PEOPLE ABOUT THE, ON-THE-JOB TRAINING PROGRAM, THEY TEND TO GET VERY EXCITED BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, SOME COMPANIES HAVE FIVE PEOPLE THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO HIRE AND AREN'T GETTING A LOT OF, UM, TRACTION ON THAT, UM, FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, MOST LIKELY.
SO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE, I WOULD SAY IS THE, THE SENSE IS THAT PEOPLE ARE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE INDUSTRY, UM, PARTICULARLY THE HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND CLINICIANS WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, BOOTS ON THE GROUND KIND OF WITH THE, THE COVID SITUATION, BUT ALSO WITH, UH, MEDICAL DEVICE COMPANIES AND PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES THAT ARE WORKING TOWARD SOLUTIONS, PARTICULARLY AROUND COVID.
AND SOMETHING I SHOULD HIGHLIGHT, BECAUSE I THINK YOU
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SHOULD ALL KNOW ABOUT IT AS YOU SPEAK ABOUT SAN ANTONIO, IS TEXAS BIOMED HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF, WELL, FIRST OF ALL, THEY DEVELOPED DIVERSE ANIMAL MODEL FOR COVID, BUT THEY'VE TESTED, I BELIEVE, UM, ALL OF THE VACCINES THAT ARE COMING OUT ON THE MARKET, UM, THE ONES THAT ALREADY ARE OUT AND THE ONES COMING OUT HAVE ALL GONE THROUGH THEIR TESTING.SO IT'S BEEN A BIG DEAL THAT SAN ANTONIO HAS, UM, HAD THAT LEVEL OF INVOLVEMENT IN THE PANDEMIC FROM A WORLDWIDE PERSPECTIVE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, FOR SHARING THAT BECAUSE I, I THINK WE AS A COMMUNITY FORGET SOMETIMES WE CAN FORGET HOW LARGE A ROLE WE PLAY IN, IN THAT, UH, FIELD IN THIS INDUSTRY, AND WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT, TO TALK ABOUT THAT.
SO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP AND FOR POINTING THAT OUT.
UM, AND I ALSO APPRECIATE, UM, YOU, UH, STEPPING UP SHARING AND ALSO THE INITIATIVE THAT YOU ARE BRINGING AND CONTINUING TO, TO WORK ON.
AND THEN THE COLLABORATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UM, WITH THE CITY AND WITH ALL OF OUR PARTNERS LIKE, UM, S A E D F, AND OF COURSE SA WORKS SO WE CAN GET SAN ANTONIANS INTO, UH, INTO JOBS AND BACK TO WORK.
SO THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS AND MY QUESTIONS.
ANY OTHER, UM, COMMENTS FROM MY COLLEAGUES SEEN? I DON'T, I CAN'T SEE ANYBODY ON MY SCREEN BECAUSE MY INTERNET IS NOT DOING WELL.
SO I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS IN THE PARTICIPANTS AREA AND I DON'T SEE ANY BASES ON THE SCREEN, SO I'M JUST GOING TO SAY THANK YOU, HEATHER, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU CHAIR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I APPRECIATE GETTING TO BE HERE.
AND IF I COULD THROW OUT ONE MORE SNIPPET OF BRAGGING POINTS ABOUT SAN ANTONIO IN THE, UM, THE COVID VACCINE TRIAL, WE, UM, HAD THE LARGEST NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS PARTICIPATE IN IT, THE WHICH, AND WE HAVE I IMPORTANT COMMUNITY MEMBERS BECAUSE OF THE, UM, DISEASE PREVALENCE AND ETHNICITY PREVALENCE IN SAN ANTONIO, BUT WE HAD THE MOST VOLUNTEERS.
AND I BELIEVE IT'S BECAUSE OUR COMMUNITY IS SUPPORTIVE OF HEALTHCARE IN GENERAL AND DOING THE RIGHT THING.
SO ANOTHER BRAGGING POINT FOR SAN ANTONIO, BUT THANK YOU.
ALL RIGHT, WELL TO MY COLLEAGUES, WE HAVE
[A. 21-1083 Economic development negotiations pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.087 (economic development).]
ONE MORE, UM, ITEM AND THAT IS EXECUTIVE SESSION.SO YOUR, UM, WE HAVE TWO ITEMS TO DISCUSS, I BELIEVE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
SO RIGHT NOW I'M GOING TO ASK YOU TO, UM, START SWITCHING OVER TO THE OTHER, UM, ITEM.
BUT LET ME READ, THE TIME IS NOW 3:16 PM ON THIS THE 12TH DAY OF JANUARY, 2021.
THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL COMMITTEE WILL NOW MEET IN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO CONSULT WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND TO DELIBERATE OR DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES OR RELATED TO THE FOLLOWING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 51 0.087 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
WE WILL SEE YOU AT THE OTHER LOCATION, CONVENE AN OPEN SESSION.
NO OFFICIAL ACTION WAS TAKEN IN EXECUTIVE SESSION AND THE E W D C MEETING STANDS ADJOURNED.