[00:00:06]
WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING ON THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER, 2020.
UM, MADAM CLERK, WILL YOU PLEASE, UM, CALL ROLL.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER SHIRLEY GONZALEZ.
PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER CARILLO VARDA.
SO, UM, I THINK, UH, CA UH, COUNCIL MEMBER FA HDA WILL BE RUNNING A LITTLE LATE.
UM, BUT SHE WILL BE CHI CHI IN HERE SOON.
AND I THINK, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ELA WILL AS WELL.
[1. 20-6281 Approval of the minutes from the Economic and Workforce Development Committee meeting on October 6, 2020.]
IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE E W D C COMMITTEE MEETING ON OCTOBER 6TH, 2020.I DIDN'T SEE THAT ON THE, ON THE LINK, SO I DIDN'T THINK WE WERE GOING TO BE, UM, DOING THE MINUTES.
OKAY, THEN, BUT, SO YEAH, SORRY, I'M JUST PULLING IT UP.
YES, IT'S IN THE AGENDA PACKET.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROJA GARCIA, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 6TH, 2020.
[Public Comment]
SOME PEOPLE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND WE HAVE SOME LETTERS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.SO AT THIS TIME WE WILL HAVE, WE'LL HAVE THE LETTERS.
WE RECEIVED TWO LETTERS, I BELIEVE.
AND SO, MADAM CLERK, IF YOU CAN PLEASE, UH, READ THOSE FOR THE RECORD.
THE FIRST LETTER IS FROM THE A C E C, WHICH IS THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF ENGINEERING COMPANIES, THE SAN ANTONIO CHAPTER.
UM, THEY STATE THAT A C E C S A IS A LOCAL CHAPTER OF A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION REPRESENTING THE BUSINESS PRACTICES OF THE CONSULTING ENGINEERING INDUSTRY WITH OVER 450 ENGINEERING FIRMS, UH, IN TEXAS OF ALL SIZES.
IT SAYS, UM, A C E C S A IS VERY SUPPORTIVE OF SMALL, LOCAL, AND MWBES AND STRIVES TO REPRESENT THEIR INTERESTS AS WELL AS OUR MEMBERS.
THEY WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND THAT THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE LEAVE THE ORDINANCE AS IS FOR NOW, CONSIDERING THAT FIRMS THAT ARE CURRENTLY REGISTERED ARE STILL COUNTED, WILL STILL COUNT TOWARDS THE SUSTAINABLES, UH, WITH PLANS BEGINNING SOON FOR THE NEXT DISPARITY STUDY.
OTHER CHANGES MAY RESULT IN ALL DATA SHOULD BE REVIEWED BEFORE MAKING SUCH A DECISION THAT COULD ADVERSELY IMPACT THE THRIVING INDUSTRY.
AND IT SAYS, AS YOU REVIEW POSSIBLE CHANGES NOW OR IN THE FUTURE, WE WILL FURTHER RECOMMEND THAT FIRMS ARE CURRENTLY, UM, INCLUDED IN THE CENTRAL, IN THE CENTRAL VENDOR REGISTRY, BE GRANDFATHERED IN.
AS MANY HAVE INVESTED HEAVILY IN THEIR BUSINESS EMPLOYEES AND THE COMMUNITY.
THE NEXT LETTER IS FROM THE NAACP SAN ANTONIO BRANCH STATES.
THE NAACP SAN ANTONIO BRANCH OPPOSES ANY CHANGES TO THE CURRENT CRITERIA FOR INCENTIVES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES DOING BUSINESS IN SAN ANTONIO.
THIS CURRENT CRITERIA IS DEVELOPED IN 2020 TO PROMOTE A A B E ENTITIES TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN CREATING CONTRACTS WITH THE CITY.
AS A RESULT, THE CITY HAS GONE FROM A ZERO PERCENTAGE DOLLAR IN CONTRACTS TO AN EXPANDED BASE PARTICIPATION ON THE LAST DIVERSITY STUDIES OF 2011.
WE BELIEVE IF THAT EXPERIENCE HAS TO COME FROM BLACK CONTRACTORS, FROM OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS WOULD BE NECESSARY.
WE SHOULD PROMOTE USE OF, UM, COMPANIES OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS, AND THE SUCH GROWTH OF OUR BLACK BUSINESS COMMUNITIES AND MENTORSHIP WOULD RESULT IN MORE SUCCESSFUL BLACK BUSINESSES.
THE CITY WAS RECEPTIVE TO THIS IDEA AND ASSISTED IN MAKING IT WORK ON BEHALF OF BLACK BUSINESSES.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE SAW ZERO PERCENTAGE DOLLARS GO TO OVER 40,000 IN CONTRACT COLLECTIVE LEFT BUSINESSES.
NOW IS THE, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO REVERSE PROGRESS.
WE NEED TO EXTEND MORE OPPORTUNITIES AND CONTINUE TO RECOGNIZE THE SAN ANTONIO METROPOLITAN
[00:05:01]
STATISTICAL AREA.LET'S NOT ATTEMPT TO DIS DISINCENTIVIZE THEIR ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRITS.
AND THEN THEY GO ON TO SHOW HOW THE RECOMMENDATION SHOULD BE.
IT SAYS, WE ALSO RECOMMEND MODIFYING THE 72 AND INCLUDE ANY A A B E FIRMS THAT MAY REGISTER IN THE C V R DURING THE PERIOD PRIOR TO THE RELEASE OF THE FINAL DISPARITY STUDY.
I BELIEVE WE HAVE ONE MORE PERSON ON THE PHONE WITH A COMMENT.
MS. SANCHEZ, ARE YOU THERE? YES.
COUNCIL WO IN THE COMMITTEE, AND I, I THINK IT'S, UH, I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, UH, TO THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND, UM, ON A COUPLE OF THINGS.
ONE IS, UH, PRIMARILY ASKING YOU TO MAYBE TO REALLY THINK OR RETHINK HOW WE ADDRESS THE SEGMENT THAT I'M GONNA ADVOCATE FOR TODAY, AND THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH, UM, PROBABLY IN THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS, SPECIFICALLY AS IT RELATES TO THE IMPACT THAT THAT MAKES, THAT SEGMENT MAKES TO OUR ECONOMY.
AND SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE EXPERIENCES THAT WE'VE HAD, WHICH I THINK ARE POSITIVE AND CAN PRO PROBABLY PROVIDE SOME INSIGHT OF, UM, THE WORK WE'VE BEEN DOING IN DISTRICT FIVE, WHICH ARE NINE ZIP CODES.
BUT WHAT I WANTED TO DO WAS, IN ADVOCATING FOR THE SEGMENT, PUTTING IN PERSPECTIVE, THIS IS ABOUT THE SMALL AND MICROBUSINESSES AND IT'S NOTHING, IT'S NOT A SURPRISE TO YOU, BUT I SOMETIMES SEE AS A CITY THAT WE UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPACT THAT THIS, THIS SEGMENT REPRESENTS TO OUR COMMUNITY.
AND I SHARE WITH YOU, AND I KNOW THAT YOU'RE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH THE NUMBERS THAT WE WE'RE LOOKING AT, ABOUT 117,000 BUSINESS SAN ANTONIO, AND 98% OF THOSE ARE SMALL MICRO, 84% OF THOSE HAVE LESS THAN 20 EMPLOYEES, AND 50% OF THOSE HAVE LESS THAN FIVE.
AND LOOKING AROUND THE TABLE IN THE COMMITTEE WHO REPRESENT THE COMMITTEE, MOST OF YOU THAT REPRESENT THE SPANISH COMMITTEE COMMITTEES, THAT'S PROBABLY 90% OF OUR BUSINESSES.
AND THAT REPRESENTS A THIRD OF THE ECONOMY FOR THE CITY.
SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT I, I, I JUST, I, I WANT BRING THAT TO OUR ATTENTION.
'CAUSE I THINK IF WE LOOK AT IT FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE, WHERE YOU'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, HALF OF THE COMPANIES THAT WE HAVE IN THE CITY ARE ACTUALLY WORKING, AND I APOLOGIZE, THE GARDNER JUST GOT HERE, ARE WORKING IN THIS SECTOR.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS THAT THEY REPRESENT SUCH A STRONG PART OF THE ECONOMY THAT I THINK THAT WE REALLY NEED TO, TO, TO, TO WEIGH THAT AND PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE AS IT RELATES TO WHAT WE DO FROM INVESTMENTS, UH, THE PRIORITIES THAT WE PLACE, AND ALSO THE OUTCOME OF WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS ARE BASED ON THE, UM, THE ACTIONS THAT WE TAKE, NOT ONLY IN THE CITY, BUT IN THIS COMMITTEE.
BUT I WANTED TO, TO TAKE THAT PERSPECTIVE.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT IT FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE, AND SURELY IN THE, THE DISTRICT FIVE TEAM LOOKED AT THIS, WE LOOKED AT 5,000 COMPANIES THAT WE, WE HAVE IN OUR DISTRICT.
AND WE LOOKED AT 'EM LITERALLY FROM AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STANDPOINT FOCUSING ON, UH, AND I VOLUNTEERED FOR THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO WORK THROUGH THIS PROCESS ADDRESSING THE
AND WE'VE INFORMED A NONPROFIT CALLED MICROS A, WHICH IS A RESURGENCE OF MICRO BUSINESSES.
'CAUSE WE FOUND THAT FOR THE MOST PART, THESE BUSINESSES DO NOT BELONG TO CHAMBERS.
THEY DON'T BELONG TO THE INDUSTRY SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS, BUT THEY'RE THERE AND THEY'RE VIBRANT.
AND THEN WHAT WE DID WAS WE SAID, NOW HOW DO WE APPROACH THIS GROUP? AND THEN HOW DO WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE, UH, BASED ON THE NEEDS RIGHT NOW WITH THE PANDEMIC AND THE ECONOMIC CRISIS? AND WE LOOKED AT THREE AREAS.
WE SAID, HOW DO WE MANAGE THE RELIEF FUNDS THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO OUR PEOPLE? HOW DO WE PROVIDE A UNIFIED STRATEGY? AND THEN HOW DO WE ACTIVELY, PROACTIVELY DEDICATE THE SUPPORT THAT WE NEED? AND SO WE LOOKED AT IT IMMEDIATELY.
WE SAID THE LOW HANGING FRUIT, BECAUSE PERSONALLY I TOUCHED ABOUT 500 COMPANIES, AND WE PROVIDED 300 OF THEM WITH FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE THROUGH THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM.
99% OF THE COMPANIES WE TOUCHED GOT MONEY FROM $10,000 AND ABOVE.
AND SO WE SAID, LET'S GO AFTER THE P P P, LET'S GET THEM SECURED, AND THEN WE'LL WORK WITH THE, WE WORKED IN PARALLELS WITH SOME OF THE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ON THE GRANTS THAT WERE IN THE CITY.
SO WE LOOKED AT THE 5,000 DATABASE, LOOKED AT FOUR CORE SECTORS.
WE DIDN'T LOOK AT TECHNOLOGY AND CYBERSECURITY, AND WE LOOKED AT CONSTRUCTION, HOSPITALITY, FOOD AND BEVERAGE, RETAIL, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, AND HEALTHCARE.
THOSE ARE THE COMPANIES THAT REPRESENT THE DISTRICT FIVE COMMUNITY.
WE, WE RECOGNIZED THAT THEY WERE BILINGUAL AND BICULTURAL.
WE NEEDED PEOPLE THAT COULD DEAL WITH THEM IN THAT CAPACITY, THAT 40% OF 'EM CONDUCTED BUSINESS IN SPANISH OR WERE COMFORTABLE IN DOING THAT.
65% OF THEM DID THEIR BUSINESSES ON SMARTPHONES, AND THEY KNEW THAT THERE WAS GONNA BE A CHALLENGE FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY, BUT THAT MEANT NOT AS BUSINESS OWNERS, BUT AS ACCESSING LOANS
[00:10:01]
AND APPLICATION SPONSOR.THOSE ARE ALL PUBLIC COMMENTS THAT WE HAVE, UH, TODAY FOR THE COMMITTEE MEETING.
[2. 20-6045 Consideration of an Applicant to the Westside Development Corporation Board of Directors for the Community At-Large Category (1 available seat). [Tina J. Flores, City Clerk]]
IS A BRIEFING AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE CONSIDERATION OF AN APPLICANT TO THE WEST SIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE CATEGORY.YOU ALL RECEIVED, UH, EMAIL WITH THE PACKET OF INFORMATION.
AND AS YOU ALL KNOW FROM THE LAST COMMITTEE MEETING, WE HAD, UH, INTEREST STATEMENTS, UH, SENT OUT FOR THEM, ALL OF ALL OF THE APPLICANTS TO RETURN BACK TO, UM, US AS COUNCIL MEMBERS OF ALL OF THOSE ONE WITHDREW AS YOU ALL SAW, AND ONLY TWO OF THE APPLICANTS RETURNED THE INTEREST STATEMENT, BUT WE DID NOT GET TO HEAR FROM ONE APPLICANT.
AND WE DO HAVE THAT APPLICANT ON THE, UH, PHONE TODAY.
SO, UM, DO WE HAVE ANY PRESENTATION HERE, CARLOS, PRIOR TO? NO, MA'AM.
I THINK THAT, I THINK IT'S JUST GONNA BE THE INTERVIEW OF THE CANDIDATES THAT ARE HERE.
IF NOT, JUST CONSIDERATION OF THE, OF THE CANDIDATES.
SO I'M JUST GONNA, CARLOS, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I JUST WANT, UH, VERONICA GARCIA, ARE YOU ON READY TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THIS
MAYBE YOUR PHONE, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE AN ENTIRE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION, BUT JUST A HIGH OVERVIEW AUDIO.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE CONNECTED.
YOU'RE CONNECTED TO AUDIO RIGHT NOW.
HOW ABOUT THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS? IS THAT BETTER? OKAY.
UH, I THINK I WAS TRYING TO CALL IN AND IT JUST WAS NOT WORKING.
I'M THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR OUR CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT.
UH, SO WE DO HAVE, UH, ONE APPLICANT FOR CONSIDERATION THIS MORNING.
I WILL JUST BRIEFLY, I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER PAL WAS NOT ABLE TO, UM, ATTEND THE LAST COMMUNITY.
SO I WILL JUST GIVE A BRIEF HIGHLIGHT OF WHAT WE WENT OVER LAST TIME.
AND WE DID GIVE JUST A BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE WEST SIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ITSELF.
THEIR MISSION IS TO FOSTER THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT OF REAL ESTATE WITHIN WEST SIDE SAN ANTONIO.
THEY WANT TO CREATE VIABLE URBAN COMMUNITIES AND PRESERVE THE CHARACTER, CULTURE AND HISTORY OF THE WEST SIDE.
AT THE LAST MEETING, WE MENTIONED THAT THEIR FULL BOARD DOES HAVE 18 MEMBERS, AND THEY DO COVER A WIDE RANGE OF INDUSTRIES, INCLUDING SMALL BUSINESS, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, FINANCE, AND REAL ESTATE.
THEY ALSO HAVE A LOCAL RESIDENT ON THE BOARD AND A COUPLE OF AT LARGE PHYSICIANS.
AND THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE POSITION IS THE, UH, FINAL POSITION THAT WILL BE CONSIDERED THIS MORNING.
THERE ARE CURRENTLY SIX VACANCIES ON THE BOARD, AND THESE BOARD MEMBERS WILL SERVE A TWO YEAR TERM ONCE THEY APPOINTED BY CITY COUNCIL AS A WHOLE, THE 12 SITTING DIRECTORS, UM, OF THEM SEVEN, IDENTIFY AS MALE AND FIVE AS FEMALE.
SIX IDENTIFY AS HISPANIC AND SIX AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE.
AND THEIR CHAIR IS JOSEPH CARION.
AND, UM, THEIR CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS DO SERVE THEIR CURRENT TERMS THROUGH SEPTEMBER, 2021.
SO THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS WILL START ONCE APPOINTED BY COUNCIL AND HAVE THEIR FULL YEAR TERMS. AT THE LAST MEETING, UH, THE CITY WENT OVER THE NINE QUALIFIED APPLICANTS THAT WERE RECEIVED FOR THE FIVE VACANCIES.
THIS COMMITTEE DID CHOOSE TO, UM, RECOMMEND THREE POSITIONS TO FULL CITY COUNCIL FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS POSITION.
LUIS ESCALON ESCANO WAS, UH, WAS RECOMMENDED FOR THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER POSITION.
AND FOR THE U T S A REPRESENTATIVE POSITION, SEAN ROD MCSHERRY WAS RECOMMENDED BY U T S A AND THE COMMITTEE DECIDED TO MOVE HIS NOMINATION FORWARD TO FULL CITY COUNCIL FOR TODAY.
WE DID RECEIVE A FIVE QUALIFIED APPLICANTS WHO HAVE EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN, IN THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE POSITION BEFORE THIS MEETING.
ONE OF THE APPLICANTS DID WITHDRAW THEIR, THEIR, UH, APPLICATION.
SO YOU DO HAVE FOUR APPLICANTS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION THIS MORNING.
THAT'S MS. TIFFANY JENKINS, MS. LARISSA MARTINEZ, MR. RICHARD VAZQUEZ, AND MS. RAQUEL, AKA.
[00:15:02]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, VERONICA.UM, WE ARE GONNA GO AHEAD AND, UH, FOR MY COLLEAGUES, WE DID INTERVIEW ALL OF THE OTHERS.
SAVE RAQUEL, SHE WAS ON THE CALL, BUT BECAUSE OUR MEETING RAN OVER, SHE HAD TO DROP OFF.
SO WE DID WANT TO GIVE THE SAME FAIR OPPORTUNITY AND TO ALSO MAKE IT FAIR, WE HAD QUESTIONS THAT WE WANTED ALL OF THE APPLICANTS TO, UM, RESPOND TO.
SO WITH THAT, UM, IS RAEL ON THE LINE? I AM.
UH, WE WILL OPEN IT UP FOR YOU, UH, FOR ABOUT THREE MINUTES TO GIVE, UH, JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND WHY YOU WOULD LIKE TO SERVE.
AND THEN WE WILL GO AROUND TO COUNCIL MEMBERS TO, UM, ASK QUESTIONS.
UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT I'LL TAKE THE FULL THREE MINUTES, BUT I WILL JUST GIVE YOU A BRIEF BACKGROUND ON WHO I AM AND, AND WHY I'M INTERESTED.
SO, UM, I AM A NATIVE SAN ANTONIO, BORN AND RAISED HERE.
MOVED AWAY A COUPLE OF TIMES FOR EMPLOYMENT, UH, JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND SO FORTH, BUT ALWAYS CAME BACK BECAUSE SAN ANTONIO IS MY HOME.
UM, I GREW UP ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF SAN ANTONIO.
UM, BUT I HAVE LIVED ON THE WEST SIDE FOR ALMOST 16 YEARS NOW.
UM, AND HAVING BORN, BEEN BORN AND RAISED IN SAN ANTONIO, I'VE SEEN A LOT OF CHANGES AND SEEN A LOT OF GROWTH AND, UM, SOMETIMES LACK THEREOF, IF YOU WILL.
UM, AND I'VE ALSO SEEN A LOT OF CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN GOOD FOR THE CITY IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY.
UM, BUT HAVING LIVED IN THE WEST SIDE NOW WITH MY HUSBAND AND MY KIDS AND MY FAMILY, THEM GOING TO SCHOOL HERE, UM, IT'S CHALLENGING TO SEE SOMETIMES THE GROWTH THAT'S HAPPENING IN OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY AND NOT SEEING THE SAME, UM, HAPPENING ON OUR SIDE OF TOWN FOR VARIOUS REASONS, OBVIOUSLY.
UM, BUT I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE HAPPEN, AND I'D LIKE TO BE A PART OF THAT CHANGE IN THOSE OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE AFFORDED TO OUR, OUR, UM, OUR WEST SIDE OF SAN ANTONIO, TO HELP IT ENHANCE, TO HELP IT GROW, TO HELP OUR FAMILIES BE STRONGER, UM, MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH AND FOR THEIR CHILDREN TO PASS ON TO THEIR KIDS.
UM, BUT ALSO THE PROVIDER, OUR OUR YOUNG KIDS ON THIS SIDE OF TOWN.
UM, MORE SERVICES AND MORE OPPORTUNITY SO THAT THEY CAN IMPROVE, UM, THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AND THEY CAN FEEL A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP AND COMMITMENT TO THE CITY AND TO THE WEST SIDE AS WELL.
AND, UM, LEAVE A, A STRONGER FOOTPRINT THAN, THAN MAYBE WE EVEN DID OR OUR PARENTS DID BEFORE US.
UM, SO THAT'S KIND OF WHY I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN THE WEST SIDE CORPORATION, UH, OR THE COALITION.
'CAUSE IT, IT'S, UM, IT SEEMS TO BE DOING THE START OF ALL OF THAT AND MOVING FORWARD AND MAKING IT, UM, BE VERY PROGRESSIVE, IF YOU WILL, AND STARTING TO PROVIDE EVERYTHING THAT THE WEST SIDE HAS, UM, NOT HAD THE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, THROUGH VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS OR OTHER OPPORTUNITIES BEFORE.
AND THE WEST SIDE, UM, THE, THE WTC IS, IS CHANGING THAT RIGHT NOW, RIGHT? YOU GUYS ARE HELPING TO IMPLEMENT THOSE AND, AND OFFER SOME OF THOSE CHANGES AND CONVERSATIONS.
UM, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, FOR, UM, FOR EVERYBODY ON THIS SIDE OF THE COMMUNITY, NOT JUST THE, WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER THE WEST SIDE OF SAN ANTONIO, BUT THE FAR WEST SIDE AS WELL.
UM, SO LIKE I SAID, I'M, I'M A NATIVE SAN ANTONIO, BORN AND RAISED HERE, UM, INTO HIGH SCHOOL HERE.
UM, I'M MARRIED, HAVE FOUR BOYS, UM, ALL OF 'EM SCHOOL AGE, SO I HAVE YOUNG ONES.
AND, UM, I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT THEY UNDERSTAND OUR COMMUNITY, UM, OUR CULTURE, WHAT MAKES SAN ANTONIO GREAT, WHAT MAKES THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD GREAT, AND WHY THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, IS IMPORTANT.
AND THE BENEFITS THAT IT PROVIDES EVERYBODY IN THE COMMUNITY WHEN EVERYBODY HAS, UM, AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP THE OTHERS.
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT, UM, GROWTH.
UM, WE ARE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE OVER TO, UM, COUNSEL QUESTIONS.
AND WE'LL START FIRST WITH DISTRICT FIVE.
COUNCIL MEMBER SHIRLEY GONZALEZ.
UH, THANK YOU, UH, CHAIR AND THANK YOU, RAQUEL.
UH, I WAS REVIEWING YOUR WRITTEN COMMENTS, UM, AND WHICH WAS IT REALLY JUST, UH, YOUR VISION FOR DEVELOPMENT ON THE WEST SIDE WAS A QUESTION I WANTED TO ASK YOU.
[00:20:01]
YOU KNOW, I, I THINK YOU HAVE YOUR, YOUR VERBAL COMMENTS THAT YOU SUBMITTED, BUT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT? UM, SURE.SO, LIKE I SAID, UH, ON THE WEST SIDE OR THE FAR WEST SIDE, WHICH I'M MOST FAMILIAR WITH, UM, I HAVE SEEN SOME GROWTH, RIGHT? WE HAVE SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW COMPANIES THAT HAVE COME IN OR WHERE BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN IMPROVED, BUT WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF SMALL, UM, OWNERSHIP, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP, A LOT OF MOM AND POP COMPANIES OR, UH, ESTABLISHMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN PASSED DOWN TO GENERATIONS, AND THAT'S WONDERFUL.
UM, BUT THEY DON'T ALWAYS HAVE THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE, RIGHT? BECAUSE THEY'VE PASSED IT DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, AND THEY'RE NOT AS KNOWLEDGEABLE OF WHAT THE CITY HAS TO OFFER, WHAT SERVICES THEY HAVE AVAILABLE, OR JUST HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED, UM, IN THIS DAY AND AGE, IN THIS GENERATION.
AND SO SOMETIMES THEY STRUGGLE BECAUSE OF THAT.
THEY STRUGGLE TO GET THEIR, THEIR FOOTPRINT OUT.
THEY STRUGGLE TO GET INFORMATION OUT, THEY STRUGGLE TO GROW.
UM, AND I THINK THAT THAT'S A BIG COMPONENT OF WHERE THE WEST SIDE CAN BE BETTER IMPROVED, IS TO HELP THOSE COMPANIES SO THAT THEY CAN, UM, HELP THE CITY AS A GROWTH.
AND WHEN WE, WHEN WE HELP THEM DO THAT, THEN THE WEST SIDE GETS MORE ATTENTION FROM EVERYBODY.
THEY START SEEING THE VALUE THAT THE WEST SIDE HAS TO THE ENTIRE CITY, WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER, THE COMPANIES, WE HAVE THE SERVICES, WE HAVE THE RESTAURANTS, WE HAVE EVERYTHING, IF YOU WILL.
AND THEN THERE'S TAKEN FROM THAT, YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO INCREASE, UM, PRIDE AND LOYAL LOYALTY TO THE WEST SIDE, AND EVERYBODY WANTS TO HELP, UM, AROUND THAT.
AND SO I THINK A BIG PART OF, OF THAT START IS HELPING OUR EXISTING SMALL ENTITIES, OUR SMALL BUSINESSES, OUR SMALL COMPANIES AND, AND, UM, RESTAURANTS AND MOM AND POP STORES, IF YOU WILL, HERE.
UM, BUT ALSO, LIKE I MENTIONED, THE STU THE KIDS, UM, THEY NEED TO FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE A SAY, THEY HAVE A VOICE, THAT THEY'RE JUST AS VALUABLE, UM, TO THE CITY AS ANY OTHER PERSON, ANY OTHER STUDENT FROM ANY OTHER SIDE OF TOWN.
UM, AND PART OF THAT IS GIVING THEM RESOURCES.
HOW ARE YOU? GLAD YOU'RE HERE TODAY.
UH, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO HAS HIGH EQUITY PRIORITIES.
THE, THE WEST SIDE HAS, AS YOU KNOW, HAS A HEAVY HISPANIC PRESENCE AND, UM, UH, AND OTHER CULTURES OF COLOR.
DO YOU HAVE A PHILOSOPHY ON EQUITY? I'M SORRY, COULD SOMEBODY REPEAT THAT LAST PART? ALL I HEARD WAS, I'M SORRY.
DID YOU HAVE A PHILOSOPHY ON EQUITY? YEAH.
UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, I I THINK THERE'S A, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A CHALLENGING QUESTION ON THAT BECAUSE EQUITY DOESN'T ALWAYS MEAN EQUAL, UM, IN MY OPINION.
UM, I THINK THAT THE NEEDS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED, UM, THE VALUE OF RETURN NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED.
UM, AND ALSO THE, THE USE, RIGHT? THE, THE RETURN THAT'S GONNA BE PROVIDED ON THAT.
AND SO WHAT MAY BE NEEDED IN ONE PART OF OUR CITY OR BY ONE AREA IS GONNA BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT'S IN THE OTHER.
AND SOMETIMES IT'S, IT, IT, IT'S MORE COSTLY IN ONE SIDE THAN THE OTHER.
AND SO I DON'T BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO NECESSARILY LOOK AT JUST SPLITTING MONEY OR RESOURCES EQUALLY AMONGST EVERYWHERE.
WE NEED TO LOOK AT IT COLLABORATIVELY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT ARE THE GREATER NEEDS AND WHERE IS THAT GONNA PROVIDE THE MOST BENEFIT FOR THE MOST PEOPLE, UM, AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO STRETCH EVERYTHING SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE THAT ACCORDINGLY.
I THINK THAT HOPEFULLY THAT ANSWERS WHAT YOUR QUESTION WAS.
UM, THERE WAS DEMENTIA AREAS I SAW ON THE W D C SITE THAT I WAS REALLY INTERESTED IN, WHICH IS THE TRAINING AND TEACHING OF OUR, OF OUR YOUNG, UM, AND LIKE I SAID, HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES, BUT I HAVE NOT, I'M NOT PERSONALLY ASSOCIATED RIGHT NOW WITH ANY SPECIFIC GROUP.
I'M GOING TO GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER
[00:25:01]
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? UH, THANK YOU, CHAIR.NO, I JUST WANTED TO SAY, UM, THANK YOU FOR, FOR YOUR APPLICATION AND FOR YOUR ANSWERS.
I WAS, UM, REALLY HAPPY TO SEE THAT YOU'RE INTERESTED IN THE WEC BUSINESS PLAN ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. AND SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I APPRECIATED YOUR, YOUR THOUGHTFUL ANSWERS.
ANY QUESTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER BELAY? NO, OTHER THAN JUST, UM, UH, SINCERE AND EXUBERANT APPRECIATION FOR RAQUEL'S WORK AND, AND HER, UH, WILLINGNESS TO SERVE.
IT'S NOT EASY TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE, UH, KNOWING THAT YOU'RE GONNA, UH, TAKE A LOT OF TIME AWAY FROM YOUR WORK AND YOUR FAMILY, UH, AND YET YOU MAKE IT LOOK EASY, RAQUEL, SO GOOD LUCK.
IT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF HARD WORK, AND I LOOK, I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT YOU ACCOMPLISH.
THANK YOU, RAQUEL, SO MUCH FOR, UM, APPLYING FOR THIS, UM, POSITION AND, UH, LOOKING AT YOUR BACKGROUND AS VICE PRESIDENT OF TRAINING OPERATIONS.
I THINK THAT BRINGS, UM, SOMETHING INTERESTING TO, TO THIS CONVERSATION AND, AND YOUR INVESTMENT AND, UM, IN YOUR WRITTEN STATEMENT AS YOU SHARED, AS YOU SHARED, UH, THAT THERE ARE POCKETS OF PROGRESS, UM, WITHIN DISTRICT, UH, WITHIN THE WEST SIDE.
AND WITH THAT, WE ARE GOING TO NOW AS A COUNCIL MOVE INTO, UM, EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR DISCUSSION.
SO, UH, THE TIME IS NOW 10:31 AM ON THIS 22ND DAY OF OCTOBER, 2020.
THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL COMMITTEE WILL NOW MEET AN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO CONSULT WITH THE CITY ATTORNEYS ON, WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, AND TO DELIBERATE OR DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO THE FOLLOWING, DELIBERATE THE APPOINTMENT EVALUATION AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS, AND DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES PURSU PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.074 PERSONNEL MATTERS, AND TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0 7 1 CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY TO MY COLLEAGUES, YOU HAD A LINK SHARED TO A DIFFERENT EXECUTIVE SESSION SITE, SO I'LL SEE YOU OVER THERE VERY MUCH.
THE TIME IS NOW 10:42 AM ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22ND, 2020, AND THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL COMMITTEE WILL NOW RECONVENE AN OPEN SESSION.
NO OFFICIAL ACTION WAS TAKEN IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, AND AT THIS MOMENT, I'D LIKE TO, UM, ACKNOWLEDGE COUNCIL MEMBER VEDA.
I MOVE TO, TO THE WEST SIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, BOARD OF DIRECTORS IN THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE, C SECOND.
ALL RIGHT, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF RAQUEL SABATA TO THE WEST SIDE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE CATEGORY.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF THE APPLICANTS, UH, FOR THIS POSITION, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO GREAT THINGS HAPPENING WITH
[3. 20-6269 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; Alejandra Lopez, Director, Economic Development]]
THREE IS AN UPDATE ON THE SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PILLARS WITHIN THE C OVID 19 COMMUNITY RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY PLAN.UM, WE ARE HERE, UH, TO PROVIDE THIS UPDATE ONCE AGAIN, UM, JUST ON SOME OF THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE HAD OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS.
AND WE ARE GOING TO START OFF THE PRESENTATION BY TALKING, GIVING A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPDATE ON OUR GRANTS.
UM, ARE Y'ALL SEEING A PRESENTATION ALREADY? OH, THERE IT IS.
SO, LIKE I MENTIONED, WE'RE GONNA START OFF WITH GRANTS.
AND AT A HIGH LEVEL, THE NUMBERS AS OF YESTERDAY ARE, ARE THAT WE'VE AWARDED GRANTS TO 891 MICRO BUSINESSES AND 61 NONPROFITS FOR A TOTAL OF 952 GRANTS.
SO FAR, THESE GRANTS REPRESENT APPROXIMATELY $21.7 MILLION, UM, AND WE'RE NOT QUITE DONE YET.
UM, BUT THAT, THAT'S THE, THOSE ARE THE LATEST NUMBERS TO DATE.
SO, AS FAR AS THE DISTRIBUTION BY COUNCIL DISTRICTS, UM, ALTHOUGH THE NUMBERS ARE INCREASING ACROSS THE BOARD,
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WE STILL SEE THE MOST INDIVIDUAL GRANTS, ALONG WITH THE MOST FUNDING GOING TO BUSINESSES AND NONPROFITS AND DISTRICTS.ONE, UH, FOLLOWED BY DISTRICT TWO.
UNFORTUNATELY, DISTRICT FOUR REMAINS LOW.
UM, BUT WE'VE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, UH, THIS DISTRICT ALSO HAD THE LEASE APPLICATION SUBMITTED.
UM, WHAT WE ARE FINDING THOUGH, IS THAT, UM, WE WE'RE AT ABOUT A FI A 45% AWARD RATE FOR THIS COUNCIL DISTRICT.
SO WE ONLY HAD ROUGHLY ABOUT A HUNDRED APPLICATIONS, A LITTLE OVER A HUNDRED.
AND WE SEEM TO BE FUNDING A, A GOOD PERCENTAGE OF THEM.
UM, WE HAVE DISTRICTS THREE, FIVE, AND SEVEN THAT HAVE ALL CROSSED THE $2 MILLION MARK IN GRANTS AS WELL AT THIS POINT.
SO, A BIT MORE DATA ON THE ENTITIES THAT HAVE RECEIVED GRANTS.
UH, OVER 40% ARE, UM, A SIZE OR HAVE BETWEEN ONE AND FIVE EMPLOYEES.
AND YOU MIGHT RECALL THAT THIS WAS THE CATEGORY THAT WE ALSO RECEIVED THE MOST APPLICATIONS FROM AS WELL.
UM, AS FAR AS LOCATION, APPROXIMATELY 72% OF THE GRANTS AWARDED TO DATE HAVE GONE TO ENTITIES IN CENSUS TRACKS WITH EQUITY SCORES OF SEVEN TO 10.
SO WE'RE GLAD TO SEE THAT THAT CONCENTRATION STILL REMAINS IN PLACE AS WELL.
AND AS FAR AS OWNERSHIP, 55% OF THE GRANTS HAVE GONE TO WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES, AND 86% HAVE GONE TO BUSINESSES OWNED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR.
ON THE RIGHT SIDE, YOU SEE THE BREAKDOWN BY INDUSTRIES, UM, AND, UM, WE STILL SEE SERVICES, RETAIL AND ACCOMMODATIONS AND FOOD SERVICES.
THEY'RE STILL AT THE TOP OF THE LIST OF, OF THE PERCENTAGES OF GRANTS THAT WE'RE FUNDING.
AND WE WANTED TO GIVE YOU JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE BREAKDOWN ON, UM, ON BARS AND RESTAURANTS, THIS, THIS SUBSET OF, OF BUSINESSES THAT HAVE RECEIVED GRANTS.
UM, WE RECEIVED APPLICATIONS FROM 85 BARS AND 354 RESTAURANTS FOR A TOTAL OF 439.
UM, OF THE ROUGHLY 2,700 APPLICATIONS THAT WE RECEIVED, WHICH IS ABOUT 16%.
WE'VE AWARDED GRANTS TO 157 OF THESE BUSINESSES TOTALING JUST UNDER $5 MILLION, OR ROUGHLY 23% OF THE DOLLARS THAT WE'VE AWARDED.
AND WE'RE GLAD TO SEE THIS OVERREPRESENTATION OF DOLLARS TO BARS AND RESTAURANTS BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THESE TYPES OF ESTABLISHMENTS HAVE STRUGGLED SIGNIFICANTLY, UM, IN THE PANDEMIC AND HAVE REALLY HAD TO PIVOT THEIR OPERATIONS TO, TO KEEP MOVING IN THIS ECONOMY.
SO, AS FAR AS NEXT STEPS ON GRANTS, UM, WE, OUR PLAN IS TO PROCESS AND AWARD THE FINAL $3.2 MILLION THAT ARE, THAT ARE AVAILABLE.
UM, AND WITH THESE FUNDS, WE, WE HOPE TO HELP BETWEEN 70 AND A HUNDRED ADDITIONAL BUSINESSES.
UM, THE, THE PLAN IS TO DISPERSE ALL OF THE FUNDS, UH, BY THE NEXT TIME WE COME TO BRIEF YOU IN NOVEMBER.
UM, BUT WE'RE GONNA KEEP WORKING AT THAT NEXT SLIDE.
SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE INTO THE, UM, SMALL AND MICHAEL BUSINESS OUTREACH.
WE ACTUALLY HAVEN'T INCLUDED THIS STRATEGY IN, IN A COUPLE OF OUR BRIEFINGS, UM, RECENTLY WE'VE REALLY FOCUSED ON GRANTS, UM, BUT WE WANTED TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THIS RIGHT NOW.
UM, TO DATE, OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS HAVE ENGAGED WITH ALMOST 600 SMALL BUSINESSES.
UM, THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE DISTRIBUTION FOR EACH PARTNER ORGANIZATION.
AND EARLIER THIS WEEK, UH, YOUR, ONE OF YOUR UPDATES FROM THE CITY MANAGER REFERENCED THE POTENTIAL NEED TO ADJUST OUR TARGET THAT WAS ORIGINALLY SET FOR THE NUMBERS OF BUSINESSES TO BE ENGAGED.
SO WHEN THE RECOVERY PLAN WAS APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL BACK IN JUNE, WE ESTIMATED BEING ABLE TO REACH AROUND 5,000 BUSINESSES.
BUT THE SPIKE IN COVID CASES OVER THE SUMMER MADE IT VERY CHALLENGING FOR OUR PARTNERS TO CONDUCT DOOR-TO-DOOR WORK.
UM, SOME ORGANIZATIONS ALSO STRUGGLED TO A BIT TO MOBILIZE ON THIS EFFORT, AND, UM, BECAUSE THEY WERE ALREADY ENGAGING WITH BUSINESSES REALLY SINCE MARCH, IN APRIL, WHEN, WHEN THE COVID PANDEMIC REALLY STARTED HITTING OUR, OUR, OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, THEY'VE, THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN ENGAGING WITH THESE BUSINESSES FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
SO WHAT WE DID IS, UM, COLLABORATE WITH THE VARIOUS PARTNERS AND WITH THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, WHICH IS LEADING THE COORDINATION EFFORT, AND WE DEVELOPED AN ACCELERATION PLAN.
UH, ORGANIZATIONS HAVE ADDED STAFF, THEY'VE INCREASED THE NUMBER OF DAILY CALLS TO BUSINESSES, AND THEY'VE ALSO STARTED DOOR-TO-DOOR ENGAGEMENT.
UM, E D F STAFF, STAFF HAVE ALSO SUPPLEMENTED THIS WORK TO HELP INCREASE THE NUMBERS OF BUSINESSES THAT ARE BEING ENGAGED.
SO, I REFERENCED PHONE CALLS BECAUSE AN INTERESTING TREND THAT WE'VE SEEN IS THAT BUSINESSES DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO MEET WITH OUR PARTNERS FACE TO FACE.
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UM, THEY'RE, THEY'RE STILL FEELING A LITTLE BIT MORE COMFORTABLE TALKING OVER THE PHONE, UM, WHICH MAKES PERFECT SENSE RIGHT NOW WITH THE, WITH THE PUBLIC HEALTH SITUATION.UM, BUT FOR THIS REASON, WE'RE ALSO DEVELOPING OTHER STRATEGIES TO INCREASE AWARENESS OF OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS IN THESE GEOGRAPHIES.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, E D F HELP COORDINATE SOME, UM, ONLINE ADS, REALLY PROMOTING EACH OF THE ORGANIZATIONS SO THAT, UM, DIFFERENT BUSINESSES, DIFFERENT RESIDENTS IN THOSE AREAS COULD LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE AND COULD, AND COULD ACCESS, UM, THE WEBSITES FOR THESE DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, WE'RE ALSO CONSIDERING MORE GRASSROOTS, UM, MARKETING TO HELP COMMUNICATE THE MESSAGE THAT THESE BUSINESS, THAT THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE THERE TO HELP OUR BUSINESSES.
UM, WE COULD DO MORE SOCIAL MEDIA, GEO-FENCED INTO THOSE GEOGRAPHIES.
UH, WE COULD ALSO, WE'RE ALSO THINKING ABOUT MAYBE NEIGHBORHOOD BILLBOARDS, UM, OR MAYBE SOME BUS SHELTERS TO REALLY GET INTO THE HEART OF SOME OF THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES.
UM, SO ORIGINALLY, YOU KNOW, OUR FOCUS WAS TO DO DOOR-TO-DOOR ENGAGEMENT.
UM, AND, AND AS I MENTIONED THAT THAT HASN'T COMPLETELY, WE HAVEN'T BEEN, BEEN ABLE TO COMPLETELY EXECUTE ON THAT FRONT.
UM, BUT WE DID PROVIDE THESE DOOR HANGERS THAT WE DESIGNED FOR EACH OF THE ORGANIZATIONS.
THEY'RE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
AND I, I JOINED THE CALL WITH THE PARTNERS, ALL OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THIS MORNING, AND ONE OF 'EM ACTUALLY MENTIONED THAT THEY'RE RUNNING OUT.
SO, UM, THIS, THIS IS A GOOD SIGN.
THEY ARE STARTING TO GO OUT THERE AND, AND TALK TO BUSINESSES, DO THE, DO THE BLOCK WALKING THAT WE HAD KIND OF ORIGINALLY ENVISIONED.
UM, WE ALSO PIVOTED TO HAVING THESE PARTNERS HELP US WITH THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE REMAINING P P E SUPPLIES.
UM, WE HAD AN EVENT IN MAY, AND THEN YOUR VARIOUS OFFICES AND YOUR STAFF HELPED US DISTRIBUTE SUPPLIES AS WELL, BUT WE STILL HAVE SOME.
SO WE'VE ACTUALLY PROVIDED IT, PROVIDED THESE RESOURCES TO THE ORGANIZATIONS, AND THEY'RE DISTRIBUTING, UM, AS THEY MEET WITH, WITH BUSINESSES AS WELL.
NEXT SLIDE, BECAUSE WE ARE, UM, ULTIMATELY TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH, UM, REALLY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH IS FOR THESE BUSINESS OWNERS, UM, WE, IT, IT'S MORE THAN JUST GETTING THE BASIC INFO.
WE WANT, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO REFER THEM TO BUSINESSES, BUT ULTIMATELY, UM, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNOW THAT CENTRO AND SAGE AND W D C AND SOUTH SIDE FIRST, THAT THEY'RE THERE TO HELP THEM TODAY, TOMORROW, WHENEVER SOMETHING COMES UP.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE STAY FOCUSED ON THAT.
UM, THESE ORGANIZATIONS, THEY'RE ENGAGING SOME OF THE BUSINESSES THAT THEY ALREADY KNEW OF, BUT THERE'S ALSO NEW BUSINESSES THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH, THAT MAYBE THEY'VE NEVER MET WITH.
UM, AND PART OF HOW WE'RE HELPING WITH THAT IS BY PROVIDING THEM LISTS THAT WE HAVE.
AND, AND I KNOW I'VE GOTTEN THIS QUESTION FROM, FROM SEVERAL PEOPLE ALREADY, CAN DO, WE HAVE A LIST OF SMALL BUSINESSES BY COUNCIL DISTRICT OR BY GEOGRAPHY.
AND UNFORTUNATELY WE DON'T, WE'VE TRIED DIFFERENT STRATEGIES OF HOW WE COULD POSSIBLY PULL THAT TYPE OF DATA.
UM, BUT AS WE ACQUIRE LISTS, WE'RE PROVIDING THEM TO THE ORGANIZATIONS.
FOR EXAMPLE, ALL OF THE BUSINESSES THAT SIGNED UP FOR, FOR P P E FOR THE EVENT IN MAY.
UM, WE'VE ALSO PROVIDED ALL OF THE, ALL OF THE BUSINESSES THAT APPLIED FOR GRANTS.
UM, SO THESE ARE THESE, UH, SOME PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL DATA SETS THAT THEY CAN START USING FOR OUTREACH, UM, AND TO REALLY KIND OF GET TO KNOW WHAT THOSE BUSINESS NEEDS ARE, ARE IN IN MORE DETAIL.
UM, I MENTIONED THIS IS AN ACCELERATED PLAN THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE DEPLOYING.
UM, AND IT FOR, YOU KNOW, WE'RE PLANNING THIS FOR TWO WEEKS AND, AND SEE IF WE CAN REALLY GET THE NUMBERS MOVING AND, AND KIND OF GET MORE ENERGY BEHIND IT.
SO AT OUR NEXT E W D C, UM, MEETING, WE'LL MAKE SURE TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON, ON HOW THE NUMBERS HAVE CHANGED AND WHAT ELSE THE, THE PARTNERS ARE REALLY HEARING FROM OUR SMALL BUSINESSES.
BECAUSE YES, WE, WE WANT TO, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS AND WE'RE TRACKING THE NUMBERS, BUT WE DON'T WANNA LOSE FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT ULTIMATELY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS BUILD THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE BUSINESSES IN THOSE COMMUNITIES AND THESE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE, WE CONTINUE TO ACCOMPLISH BOTH.
AND NOW I'M GONNA MOVE ON TO WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, WHICH WE ARE BEGINNING TO, UH, BRAND AS TRAIN FOR JOBS SA IT'S SIMPLE, IT'S DIRECT, IT'S TO THE POINT.
THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ME REFERENCE, UM, QUITE A BIT DURING THE REST OF THE PRESENTATION AND MOVING FORWARD.
THE FIGURES I'LL SHARE ARE AS OF OCTOBER 20TH.
AND SO IN ROUGHLY THE PAST 50 DAYS FROM WHEN WE LAUNCHED THE PROGRAM, WE'VE HAD NEARLY 1,400 RESIDENTS COMPLETE A PRELIMINARY INTAKE FORM FOR THE PROGRAM.
UM, SO THERE IS A LOT OF INTEREST IN THE PROGRAM.
UM, OVER 900 OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE, UM, THEY'VE FURTHER ENGAGED.
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COMMUNICATION WITH ONE OF OUR WORKFORCE PARTNERS.THEY HAVE PROVIDED THE FORMS AND THE DOCUMENTATION NECESSARY TO PROVE THAT THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR THE PROGRAM, AND THEY'VE COMPLETED THE CAREER ASSESSMENTS, THE ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS THAT THEY NEED TO DO TO REALLY FIGURE OUT WHAT THE NEXT STEP IS FOR THEM FROM A CAREER PERSPECTIVE.
OF THOSE 244 ARE ALREADY ENROLLED IN TRAINING.
UM, SO THEY'RE, THEY'VE ALREADY IDENTIFIED WHAT THEIR NEXT STEP IS, AND THEY KNOW WHEN THEY'RE GONNA START.
AND SOME OF THESE HAVE ACTUALLY ALREADY STARTED.
UM, AND THEN WE'VE GOT A SET OF OVER 700, 728 THAT ARE JUST PENDING ENROLLMENT.
THEY'VE ALREADY DONE ALL OF THE OTHER WORK.
THEY'VE ALREADY DONE THE ASSESSMENTS, THEY'RE ALREADY ELIGIBLE.
WE JUST NEED TO FIND THE CLASS THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE BE ENROLLED IN, BASICALLY.
SO, UM, CUMULATIVELY OUR GOAL WAS TO HAVE 550 RESIDENTS BY THE END OF OCTOBER, ENROLLED IN TRAINING.
AND BECAUSE OF THIS PIPELINE THAT YOU SEE HERE, WE FEEL VERY CONFIDENT THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO MEET THAT GOAL BY THE END OF THE MONTH.
AND WHILE WE'RE HEAVILY FOCUSED ON NUMBERS, UM, WHICH YOU SEE A LOT OF ON THIS SLIDE, UH, WE'RE NOT LOSING FOCUS ON THE FACT THAT THESE NUMBERS ACTUALLY REPRESENT PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, OUR NEIGHBORS ARE FRIENDS, UM, THAT ARE ALL FINDING THEMSELVES IN A VERY CHALLENGING SITUATION RIGHT NOW.
SO, ON THE TOP OF THE SLIDE IS THE DISTRIBUTION BY COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
UM, AND THIS IS EVERYBODY WHO'S ALREADY, UM, DONE AN INTAKE FOR THE PROGRAM.
THIS IS THE 1300, UH, THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH RIGHT NOW.
SO ON THE TOP, YOU SEE THE DISTRIBUTION BY COUNCIL DISTRICT, AND THEN ON THE BOTTOM YOU SEE THE DISTRIBUTION BY CENSUS TRACK EQUITY SCORE.
SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO SHARE BOTH OF THOSE GE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTIONS WITH YOU.
BUT IN THE MIDDLE IS WHERE WE SEE THE REALLY INTENSE EQUITY INDICATORS THAT, THAT WE'RE REALLY TARGETING.
UM, 68% OF THE RESIDENTS THAT HAVE COMPLETED AN INTAKE FORM ARE WOMEN, AND OVER 80% ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR.
UM, THE, THESE ARE, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT WE ARE TARGETING THAT WE KNEW WE WANTED TO TRY TO REACH.
AND SO, AGAIN, IT'S JUST ANOTHER INDICATOR THAT THE PROGRAM IS MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY LOOKING TO SERVE THE PEOPLE THAT WE KNOW NEED THIS THE MOST IN OUR COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW.
AND LAST, UM, WELL, A COUPLE WEEKS AGO I MENTIONED OUR MARKETING CAMPAIGN WAS JUST KICKING OFF.
AND SO IT HAS, UM, WE HAVE BOTH PAID AND EARNED MEDIA, UM, AND VARIOUS NEWS OUTLETS.
WE'VE ALSO DEPLOYED GEOFENCED MOBILE ADS, UM, WHICH MANY OF YOU ALSO HELPED US, UH, WITH DISTRIBUTION AND YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS.
UH, WE'VE GOT ADS ON SIX RADIO STATIONS WITH EMAILS AND POSTCARDS.
UM, ALSO GOING OUT TO RESIDENTS, UM, OUR PARTNERS THAT ARE ENGAGING IN DOOR-TO-DOOR WORK, UH, SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE PARTNERS THAT, UH, HUMAN SERVICES AND NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING THAT THOSE DEPARTMENTS ARE WORKING WITH.
THEY'RE ALSO PUTTING OUT THE WORD ABOUT THE WORKFORCE DEVELOP, ABOUT THE TRAINING TRAIN FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM, OUR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
UM, AND WE'RE ALSO DOING ROBOCALLS AND TEXTS TO ALL OF THE RECIPIENTS OF EMERGENCY HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND ALL OF THOSE THAT FILED FOR UNEMPLOYMENT.
SO, 'CAUSE THOSE ARE OTHER DATA SETS THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO.
UM, I MENTIONED LA A COUPLE WEEKS AGO THAT WE'RE ALSO STARTING TO DO, SOME OF THE PARTNERS ARE STARTING TO DO IN-PERSON INFORMATION SESSIONS.
UM, SOME RESIDENTS ARE FINDING IT VERY HELPFUL TO ACTUALLY SIT DOWN WITH SOMEBODY, TALK THROUGH SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THEY HAVE.
IN MANY CASES, THIS IS, THEY'RE, THEY'RE SHIFTING TO AN ENTIRELY NEW CAREER.
SO REALLY TALKING THROUGH, UM, THAT SITUATION WITH A COUNSELOR IS VERY HELPFUL.
UM, THEY BRING THEIR DOCUMENTS, THEY'RE TOLD, YOU KNOW, BRING THIS IN ADVANCE SO THAT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND SIGN YOU UP, UH, WHILE YOU'RE HERE.
AND WE'VE PROVEN, UH, THOSE, THOSE TYPES OF EVENTS HAVE PROVEN TO BE VERY SUCCESSFUL AS WELL.
SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO DEPLOY THOSE.
WE'VE ALSO HAD SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.
UM, SO TO DATE, WE HAVE 29 LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES THAT HAVE COMMITTED TO PROVIDE 223 ON-THE-JOB TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS.
UM, JUST, JUST AS A REMINDER, OUR GOAL IS A THOUSAND.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE ALMOST A QUARTER OF THE WAY THERE AND IDENTIFYING THE SLOTS.
UM, AND WHILE WE, WE HAVEN'T PLACED ANYBODY INTO THESE SLOTS YET, WE ARE REFERRING ALREADY, THEY'RE, THE, THE PARTNERS ARE REFERRING PEOPLE TO THESE DIFFERENT SMALL BUSINESSES.
UM, AND THEY'RE, THEY ARE BEING INTERVIEWED.
UM, BUT WHAT WE'RE FINDING IS THAT WHILE THE BUSINESSES ARE OPEN TO, TO THESE PARTICIPANTS COMING IN AND TO PROVIDING THIS TYPE OF TRAINING, WHAT, WHAT THEY'RE SHARING WITH US IS A PARTICIPANT.
UM, THEIR, THEIR BASIC SKILLS, UM, THEY, THEY LACK, UH, ENOUGH ALIGNMENT WITH WHAT THEY NEED.
YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE
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SUPPOSED TO BE PROVIDING ADDITIONAL TRAINING ON THE JOB, BUT, BUT A BASIC SKILL LEVEL, UM, IT'S NOT COMPLETELY ALIGNED WITH WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR.UM, SO WHAT WE, IN THOSE CASES, PARTICIPANTS, UM, BETTER OPTION MIGHT ACTUALLY TO BE, TO GO INTO SHORT OR LONG-TERM TRAINING, UM, TO DEVELOP THOSE SKILLS AND BE ABLE TO MOVE INTO THAT CAREER PATH.
BUT WHAT WE'RE ALSO DOING IS WORKING WITH SA WORKS AND W S A TO MAKE SURE THAT AS WE'RE RECRUITING BUSINESSES TO PROVIDE THESE OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR PARTICIPANTS, THAT WE ALIGN, UM, THOSE OPPORTUNITIES, THOSE TRAINING SLOTS WITH THE BASIC SKILLS THAT WE'RE SEEING OUR PARTICIPANTS COME INTO THE PROGRAM WITH.
SO NOW THAT WE HAVE SOME PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROGRAM, WE KNOW WHAT THEY, WHAT THEY'VE DONE, WHERE THEY ARE, UM, AND WE CAN BETTER RECRUIT BUSINESSES AND THOSE, THOSE INDIVIDUAL SLOTS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING FOR.
UM, ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, YOU SEE THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE INDUSTRIES THAT ARE ALREADY PARTICIPATING.
UM, SO AGAIN, IT WAS SOME OF THE INDUSTRIES THAT WE KNEW WE WANTED TO WORK WITH, UM, THAT ARE, THAT ARE ACTUALLY HIRING, THAT IS PART OF THE EXPECTATION FROM THIS PROGRAM, THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAVE A JOB AVAILABLE.
SO WE'RE GLAD TO SEE THAT THERE'S ACTUALLY A PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL DISTRIBUTION HERE.
BUT, UM, MANUFACTURING IS, IS, UM, THE MOST, UM, THE MOST SUBSTANTIAL, UH, INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW THAT THAT'S WORKING ON THIS PROGRAM WITH US.
SO, AS FAR AS NEXT STEPS, UM, WE'RE PLANNING A SERIES OF FOCUS GROUPS OVER THE NEXT THREE WEEKS TO ENGAGE WITH THREE DIFFERENT RESIDENT POPULATIONS.
UM, THOSE THAT HAVE ENROLLED IN THE TRAINING, THOSE THAT HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST BUT DIDN'T ENROLL, AND THEN RESIDENTS THAT DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT, THAT HAVEN'T ENGAGED WITH US AT ALL.
UH, THIS FEEDBACK FROM THESE GROUPS ALONG WITH ENGAGEMENT FROM BUSINESSES AND TRAINING PROVIDERS, UM, WILL HELP US INFORM ANY CHANGES THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND, UM, THAT WE ADJUST THE CONTRACTS.
IF YOU RECALL, ALL OF THE CONTRACTS HAVE AN INITIAL TERM THROUGH THE END OF DECEMBER, AND THEN A RENEWAL PERIOD FROM JANUARY THROUGH SEPTEMBER.
SO BASED ON THE FEEDBACK THAT WE GET FROM RESIDENTS AND FROM OUR BUSINESSES AND OUR TRAINING PROVIDERS, WE'RE GONNA SEE WHERE WE NEED TO PIVOT OUR CONTRACTS.
UM, AND THEN WE WILL BE BRIEFING YOU ON THAT AT THE DECEMBER E W D C MEETING.
SO THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION, BUT I ABSOLUTELY NEED TO THANK, UM, ANNE EATON, THOMAS DAVIS, UM, MICHAEL SINDEN, UH, YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD ME MENTION THOSE NAMES QUITE A BIT.
THEY'VE BEEN SHEPHERDING ALL OF THIS WORK ALONG.
AND OUR, OUR NEW E D D TEAMMATE JUSTINA, WHO HAS JUMPED IN AND, AND HAS REALLY BEEN A GREAT ASSET FOR US AS WELL.
SO WITH THAT, WE'RE ALL AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.
THE ONE THING I SAID HERE, UH, TO MYSELF WAS, GOSH, THIS IS A LOT OF WORK AND THIS IS A LOT THAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
UM, SO THANK YOU AND, AND THE TEAM, UH, VERY WELL CREDITED BECAUSE THE TEAM IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT HERE.
I WANNA JUMP RIGHT QUICK TO, UM, THE SMALL BUSINESS OUTREACH.
AND YOU MENTIONED, UM, ON I GUESS SLIDE 10, THE BUSINESSES CONTACTED.
AND ONE OF MY QUESTIONS WAS, ARE THESE NEW BUSINESSES THAT THESE PARTNERS HAVE BEEN CONTACTING, OR ARE THEY JUST BUSINESSES THEY'VE BEEN WORKING WITH FOR THIS WHOLE TIME? YOU SAID THESE ARE SOME THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH? YES.
UM, SO COUNCIL MEMBER AND I FAILED TO ALSO THANK AND RECOGNIZE MICHELLE BOGGS FROM THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION, WHO IS ALSO ON THE LINE WITH US.
AND, UM, SELENA, UH, SELENA PENA FROM LIFT FUND, WHO IS ALSO, UM, HERE TODAY.
BUT AS FAR AS THE OUTREACH THAT THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE DOING, SOME OF THEM ARE, ARE ORGAN, ARE BUSINESSES THAT THEY'RE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH.
UM, BUT WE'RE SEEING, UH, THEM ACTUALLY MAKING A LOT OF ENGAGEMENTS WITH BUSINESSES THAT THEY HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY TALKED TO.
AND THEN ON SLIDE 13, YOU TALKED ABOUT THE, THEY MEET WITH THEM, UM, THEY OUTREACH TO THESE BUSINESSES, HOPEFULLY NEW BUSINESSES TO CONNECT WITH THEM, GET GATHER INFORMATION.
SO MY QUESTION IS, WHAT IS OUR METRIC OF SUCCESS HERE THAT WE'RE, UM, THAT WE'RE MEETING OUR MARK FOR THIS PROGRAM? AND REMIND ME, HOW MUCH MONEY DID WE INVEST IN THIS OUTREACH? I BELIEVE THE TOTAL AMOUNT WAS SLIGHTLY OVER A MILLION, MAYBE LIKE 1.2 MILLION THAT WAS DEDICATED FOR THIS, FOR THIS STRATEGY.
AND THE, THE METRIC HERE IS, UM, I MEAN, IT'S A BIT OF A LONG TERM.
THE LONG TERM METRIC IS HOW MANY OF THESE BUSINESSES ARE ABLE TO RECOVER A YEAR FROM NOW? HOW MANY OF THESE BUSINESSES ARE STILL AROUND A YEAR FROM NOW AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO RECOVER ECONOMICALLY? UM, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO SURVEY THEM
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IN THE OUT YEARS.WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT MOST IMMEDIATELY ARE THE REFERRALS THAT WE MAKE WHEN THEY TELL US THAT THEY NEED A CERTAIN THING OR THEY WOULD LIKE TO, THEY NEED TO LEARN ABOUT A CERTAIN TYPE OF, OF PRACTICE OR STRATEGY.
WE MAKE REFERRALS, THE ORGANIZATIONS MAKE REFERRALS, AND WE TRACK ALL OF THAT.
SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING IS DID THEY TRACKING TO SEE IF THEY ACCESS THE REFERRALS? ARE THEY MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH U T S A, WITH THE SS B D C OR, OR WITH LIST FUND OR WHATEVER, WHATEVER TRAINING PROVIDER COULD, COULD POSSIBLY HELP THEM WITH WHATEVER THEIR NEED WAS.
THAT'S THE OTHER THING THAT WE'RE GONNA BE TRACKING.
AND SO I THINK WHAT'S IMPORTANT TOO, AS YOU'RE GATHERING THIS INFORMATION, AND FOR US AS THIS COMMITTEE, THAT WE ALSO FIND OUT WHAT IS THEIR BIGGEST ISSUE? IS IT ACCESS TO GRANTS OR MORE MORE GRANTS? IS IT ACCESS? WHAT, WHAT IS IT, WHAT IS THE IMMEDIATE AND WHAT IS THE LONG TERM THAT THEY NEED? BECAUSE THEN THAT WILL HELP US ALSO INFORM OUR ADVOCACY AT THE STATE AND AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL TOO.
SO I THINK THAT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR US TO FIND OUT BECAUSE I MEAN, IF THEY'RE COMING TO US AND WE'RE GIVING THEM RESOURCE REFERRALS, BUT WE'RE ALL FINDING OUT FROM ALL OF THESE SMALL BUSINESSES WHAT THEY NEED IS MORE GRANT DOLLARS, THEN WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO FIND MORE GRANT DOLLARS OR AT LEAST ADVOCATE AT THE STATE AND THE FEDERAL LEVEL THAT WE NEED MORE SMALL BUSINESS, UM, GRANT DOLLARS, PERIOD.
SO I'M JUST, THAT'S ONE OF MY CONCERNS THAT I HAVE.
SO I'M GONNA BE WATCHING THIS PORTION REALLY, UM, QUICKLY TO SEE HOW WE'RE MAKING, HOW WE'RE MEETING OUR NEEDS HERE.
SO, UM, ANYHOW, NEXT, I DO WANT THANK YOU FOR THE INFORMATION REGARDING THE, UM, THE MICRO BUSINESS GRANTS AND THE, UM, THE, THE BUSINESSES HERE AND ALSO THE, UM, THE CONTINUED ALLOCATION OF THESE DOLLARS AND THESE DOLLARS WILL HAVE RUN OUT, CORRECT? WE WILL HAVE ALLOCATED ALL OF OUR MONEY THAT WE'VE DESIGNATED.
THE, IF Y'ALL RECALL, THEN THE REQUESTS FOR GRANTS FAR EXCEEDED THE FUNDING THAT WE HAD ALLOCATED FOR THIS PROGRAM.
AND I KNOW, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, UM, THE MAYOR AND I AND, UH, JODY NEWMAN HAS ALSO REACHED OUT BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN SEEING A LOT OF A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE, UM, UH, BARS AND, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND KNOWING THAT, UM, THEY CAN OPEN RIGHT NOW, BUT AT A, A LIMITED CAPACITY AND WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY? AND, UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT SLIDE.
UH, SLIDE NUMBER SEVEN, I, AND I'VE BEEN TALKING TO JODY, I'VE BEEN TALKING TO THE MAYOR AND, UM, THAT THOSE THAT DID NOT, CAN WE GET INFORMATION OF THOSE MAYBE, UM, APPLICANTS THAT DID NOT GET THE GRANTS AWARDED TO THEM, THE WHY IF, AND GET THAT INFORMATION, JUST THE BASIC INFORMATION.
UM, AND THEN I KNOW THAT THEY'VE BEEN STRUGGLING FOR ABOUT SEVEN MONTHS BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN SHUT DOWN IN BARS SPECIFICALLY.
BUT WE KNOW, KNOW THAT, UM, MANY RESTAURANTS AND FOOD AND BEVERAGES, UH, INDUSTRIES HAVE ALSO RECEIVED, OBVIOUSLY HERE, UM, HAVE RECEIVED GRANTS IN MANY OF OUR COMMUNITIES AND MAYBE SOME OF THOSE THAT RECEIVED GRANTS IN DISTRICT THREE WOULD NOT HAVE GOTTEN THOSE GRANTS, BUT FOR OUR EQUITY, UH, SCORES AND OUR EQUITY INDEX.
UM, BUT I DO WANT TO TALK ABOUT, UM, I KNOW THE COUNTY HAS BEEN DOING SOME HAS STILL SOME DOLLARS LEFT THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT WITH FOOD AND BEVERAGE.
AND SO ALEX, CAN YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO HOW WE AS A CITY ARE, UM, HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COUNTY ON, ON THIS PROJECT IN PARTICULAR? ABSOLUTELY.
AND, UM, I WILL ALSO SHARE THAT SELENA MIGHT BE ABLE TO ANSWER OR, OR PROVIDE MORE DETAILED QUESTIONS, BUT WHAT I DO KNOW RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US THERE, UM, ON THAT SLIDE THAT YOU REFERENCED, WE KNOW THAT THERE IS A NUMBER OF BARS AND RESTAURANTS THAT COULDN'T GET FUNDED THROUGH OUR PROGRAM.
JUST WE JUST SIMPLY DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY.
SO IT WAS IMPORTANT AND IN COLLABORATION WITH LIFTFUND AND THE COUNTY, UM, THAT THOSE BUSINESSES BE ABLE TO QUICKLY OPT IN TO THE NEW PROGRAM SO THAT THEY COULD ONCE AGAIN BE CONSIDERED FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY.
BUT SELENA, WOULD YOU PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAILS? SURE.
THE NEW PROGRAM WITH THE COUNTY, YES MA'AM.
WITH THE COUNTY, ONE OF THE, WE'RE SENDING AN OPT-IN LETTER TO, UM, COMMERCIALLY BASED, UM, COUNCILWOMAN.
SO THAT'S ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS THAT IT'S COMMERCIALLY BASED.
[00:55:01]
UM, AND THOSE WHO HAVE APPLIED TO THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO OR THE FIRST ROUND OF BEXAR COUNTY WILL HAVE AN OPT-IN, UM, WHERE THEY WILL NOT HAVE TO REAPPLY.UM, THEY WILL JUST BE INCLUDED IN THE POOL, UM, FOR REVIEW FOR THE $4 MILLION THAT THE COUNTY JUST ALLOCATED AND ANNOUNCED ON.
UM, UH, YESTERDAY, UM, WITH COMMISSIONER CALVERT, WE HAD A ROUND TABLE WITH, UM, UH, JODY NEWMAN WAS THERE, BUT THERE WERE SEVERAL OTHERS PARTICIPATING IN TERMS OF JUST HOW, UM, WE NEEDED TO CHANGE SOME OF THE RULES.
SO WE INCREASED THE REVENUE TO 5 MILLION.
WE ALSO INCREASED, UM, EMPLOYEES UP TO 60 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES AS WELL, JUST TO MEET SOME OF THE REQUIREMENTS, UM, AND FLEXIBILITY THAT RESTAURANTS HAVE WITH TEMPORARY, UM, AND PART-TIME WORKERS AS WELL.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH SELENA FOR THAT.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT IT WOULD ALSO BE A, IS IT GOING TO BE A LOTTERY PROCESS BY PRECINCT? YES, MA'AM.
UM, IT IS ABOUT APPROXIMATELY 925,000 EACH, UM, PRECINCT.
UM, AND THERE WILL BE A LOTTERY, UM, IF CAPACITY IS MET.
AND I THINK THAT JUST ALSO, UM, SHOWS THE COLLABORATION THAT WE ALL HAVE TOGETHER WITH THE CITY AND THE COUNTY AND, UH, JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE CAN DO WHAT THE MOST THAT WE CAN FOR OUR COMMUNITY IN GENERAL.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT.
AND ALEX AND, UH, THE TEAM TO BE ABLE TO COORDINATE AND JUST HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE COUNTY SO WE CAN DO WHAT, UM, NEEDS TO BE DONE.
AND I'M GLAD THE COUNTY DID HAVE THAT DOLLARS, BUT THAT WON'T STOP US FROM HAVING FURTHER CONVERSATIONS.
ONE THING I DID WANNA SHARE WITH OUR, UH, PLAN THAT WE HAD, YOU KNOW, WE DID HAVE AT THE ONSET, THE CARVE OUT FOR NONPROFITS FOR ARTS FUNDING, UM, IN OUR MICRO GRANT, UH, PROGRAMS. AND I THINK THAT WAS IMPORTANT AND THAT WAS IMPORTANT, BUT OF COURSE, WE SET THOSE PARAMETERS BACK IN JULY WHEN WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION, WHEN WE DIDN'T HAVE ALL THE DATA THAT WE DO HAVE NOW.
SO I THINK THAT'LL HELP INFORM US AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND AS WE HAVE, UH, FURTHER CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR, UM, SMALL AND LOCAL, UM, UH, COMMUNITIES.
AND I KNOW THAT THAT WILL BE IMPORTANT.
AND THEN FINALLY MY QUESTIONS WITH THE, UM, THE TRAIN FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM.
AND THE ENROLLMENT PIPELINE ON SLIDE NUMBER 15, PHASE THREE, THE 728 RESIDENTS PENDING ENROLLMENT, DO WE KNOW HOW LONG THEY HAVE BEEN IN THE PENDING STAGE? WE DO.
THE, THE SYSTEM THAT WE'RE USING NOW ALLOWS US TO, TO LOOK, UM, AND SEE WHERE EXACTLY HOW LONG THEY'VE BEEN IN THAT CATEGORY.
WE GOT ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION ABOUT A WEEK, MAYBE A WEEK AND A HALF AGO.
AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IS ACTUALLY SHARING IT WITH THE PARTNERS SO THAT THEY ALL KNOW THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO, WHO HAVE ALREADY GONE THROUGH THE PROCESS.
HERE'S WHERE HERE'S, UM, EITHER HOW LONG OR HOW SHORT THEY'VE BEEN WAITING, UM, AND TO BE ABLE TO ADDRESS THEM, UM, AND, AND KEEP THAT PROCESS MOVING.
SO YEAH, WE'RE SHARING ALL OF THAT INFORMATION WITH THE PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT THAT NUMBER GETS, UM, GETS PLACED.
WE WANNA SEE THAT NUMBER GO DOWN SO THEY CAN START WITH THEIR WHOLE PROCESS.
UM, SLIDE NUMBER 16 IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT DEMOGRAPHIC SLIDE.
I THINK IT WAS, UM, IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE AND IT, IT REALLY DOES HELP SHOW US WHAT IS GOING ON AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO GET THE WORD OUT, WHICHEVER WAY WE CAN.
UM, I KNOW I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT IF I GO ON TELEVISION, SO, UM, FOR SURE WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT.
AND THEN, UM, WITH THE, ON THE JOB TRAINING, UM, I JUST, I JUST WANNA SEE, I MEAN, THIS IS ONE THAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT.
SO I THINK THAT WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO CONTINUE TO WORK AND FINE TUNE THIS OF WHAT WE CAN DO WITH OUR, OUR, UM, OUR PARTNERS HERE.
SO DO WE KNOW HOW MANY ARE ACTUALLY PART OF THE, ON THE JOB TRAINING OF THESE 223 SLOTS AVAILABLE? YES, MA'AM.
WE, WHILE BUSINESSES HAVE INTERVIEWED SOME OF THESE PARTICIPANTS, THEY HAVEN'T ACTUALLY PLACED 'EM, THEY HAVEN'T ACTUALLY, I, I MEAN WE DON'T WANNA CALL 'EM HIRED, BUT THEY HAVEN'T ACTUALLY BEEN, BEEN ENROLLED AS A, YOU KNOW, INTO ONE OF THESE SLOTS.
AND THAT'S WHERE, WHEN WE STARTED DIGGING INTO THAT, WE FOUND THAT THIS, THIS MISALIGNMENT BETWEEN THE SKILLS.
AND SO WE THINK WE NEED TO TARGET BUSINESSES THAT PROVIDE THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT BETTER ALIGN WITH, UM, THOSE BASIC SKILLS THAT OUR PARTICIPANTS ARE, ARE BASICALLY WALKING IN THE DOOR WITH, OR OUR, OR OUR PARTNERS HAVE TO HELP WITH THE ALIGNMENT MORE IF THEY'RE
[01:00:01]
GONNA BE ABSOLUTELY.IT'S THE PARTNERS THAT ARE DOING THIS WORK.
UM, YEAH, LET'S GET THAT BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE WAITING, UH, OR THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE OPPORTUNITY THERE.
SO, UM, AND THEN FINALLY MY LAST COMMENT WILL BE, I'M VERY HAPPY TO SEE THE NOVEMBER 13TH, UM, FEEDBACK FOCUS GROUPS.
I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT.
I'M GOING TO MOVE NOW TO I THINK COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ AND THEN TO, UH, ROCHA GARCIA.
I'M HAVING SOME TROUBLE WITH MY MIKE, CAN YOU MOVE ON AND COME BACK TO ME? OKAY.
WE'LL GO TO ROCHA GARCIA AND THEN WE'LL GO BACK TO GONZALEZ.
THANK YOU CHAIR AND THANK YOU ALEX, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND, UM, I APPRECIATE THAT YOU HAD ALREADY CALCULATED A RATE OF THE AWARD RATE FOR DISTRICT FOUR.
'CAUSE THAT'S GONNA BE ONE OF MY QUESTIONS.
I'D LOVE TO SEE WHAT THE OTHER PERCENTAGE AWARD RATES ARE, UM, ACROSS THE CITY.
BUT THEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, I'D LOVE TO WORK TOGETHER WITH YOU ON A MARKETING STRATEGY TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE COULD, UM, INCREASE THAT NUMBER, UM, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT WE CAN GET TO THE DECEMBER 30TH, UM, DEADLINE.
SO, SO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU'RE DOING THERE.
UM, ALSO ON THE ITEMS, UH, THAT YOU REFERENCED WITH THE INDUSTRY, UM, PARTICULARLY THE RESTAURANTS AND THE BARS, IS THERE AN AVERAGE GRANT, UM, THAT YOU SEE AN AVERAGE AMOUNT THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO THESE BARS AND RESTAURANTS BY ANY CHANCE? I'M PRETTY SURE THERE IS, BUT I DON'T KNOW THE NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
I KNOW OVERALL, UM, FOR ALL OF THEM, IT'S ABOUT 24,000.
UM, BUT I CAN'T RECALL THE NUMBER RIGHT NOW, BUT I CAN GET IT.
AND THEN ARE WE ALSO WORKING WITH THE SAN ANTONIO RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION OR ANY OTHER TRADE GROUPS TO, TO REACH, UM, SOME OF THE RESTAURANTS AND BARS, OR HOW ARE YOU, UM, WORKING MAYBE WITH THE INDUSTRY GROUPS? SO WHEN, DURING THE APPLICATION PERIOD, UH, BACK IN JULY WHEN MM-HMM.
WHEN, UH, BUSINESSES WERE BEING ENCOURAGED TO, TO APPLY, THAT'S WHERE WE WERE REALLY COORDINATING WITH ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY PUSHED THIS MESSAGE OUT.
UM, THAT, THAT WAS ALL PART OF THE CAMPAIGN AS WELL.
AND, AND I'M SORRY, I THINK I JUST REMEMBERED WHEN YOU SAID THAT IT WAS LIKE, OH, THAT'S RIGHT.
SO THEN MY NEXT QUESTION, UH, IS HOW ARE WE, UM, MAYBE LEVERAGING, I KNOW YOU SAID THAT PHONES, UM, OR IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S, UH, ACCESSIBLE.
SMALL BUSINESSES ARE BEING, UH, MORE ACCESSIBLE TO US BY PHONE.
AND SO, UM, WHO'S MAKING THESE PHONE CALLS AND IN ADDITION TO OUR PARTNERS, LIKE, IS THERE SOMEONE THAT KIND OF HAS A REPORT BACK AND SAYS, UM, WE REACHED X AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THIS WEEK, OR, HOW ARE YOU TRACKING THAT? SO, I'LL, I'LL GIVE A VERY BRIEF RESPONSE, BUT I'LL ASK MICHELLE BOX FROM E D F TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL, BECAUSE WE'RE ACTUALLY MEETING WITH THE PARTNERS OF QUICK TOUCH MEETING, UH, TWICE A WEEK TO KIND OF SEE WHAT'S WORKING.
IT'S THESE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE MAKING THE CALLS AND E D F E D F HAS ALSO PUT THEIR STAFF INTO THIS, UM, TO MAKING THE CALLS DOING IT.
IT'S, IT'S ALMOST LIKE A COLD CALL TO SEE, YOU KNOW, WOULD, WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN MEETING OR, AND IF THEY SAY, NO, WHAT, YOU KNOW, CAN WE AT LEAST GET SOME INFORMATION FROM YOU NOW TO SEE WHAT THEY NEED, HOW WE CAN HELP, AND, AND MAYBE ANY TYPE OF, OF ASSISTANCE OR RESOURCE THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE OVER THE PHONE.
BUT MICHELLE, DO YOU WANNA SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE? YEAH, YOU BET.
SO THE OUTREACH TEAMS ARE SAGE, CENTRO, SOUTHSIDE FIRST, UM, W D C.
SO EACH ONE OF THEM HAS THEIR OWN OUTREACH TEAM AND THEIR OWN PLAN, UH, TO REACH COMPANIES.
AND THEY REPORT BACK TO US TWICE A WEEK ON THE NUMBER OF ATTEMPTS, THE NUMBER OF, UH, FOLKS THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO COLLECT DATA, WHAT THOSE NEEDS WERE FROM EACH COMPANY AND THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THOSE COMPANIES.
SO WE COULD BREAK THAT DOWN FOR YOU.
THE THING I'LL ADD REAL QUICK, I'M SO SORRY THAT THIS IS THE LEVEL OF DATA THAT THEY'RE PROVIDING TO US.
THEY'RE, THEY'RE SHOWING US THE CONVERSION RATE BETWEEN A DOOR-TO-DOOR ENGAGEMENT VERSUS A PHONE ENGAGEMENT.
AND WHAT WE'RE ACTUALLY SEEING IS THAT THERE'S MORE OF A CONVERSION, MEANING WE'RE GETTING TO TALK AND REALLY TALK, UM, REALLY GET MORE INFORMATION AND ENGAGE WITH THOSE BUSINESSES WHEN IT'S OVER THE PHONE.
DOOR-TO-DOOR, THE CONVERSION RATES ARE VERY LOW.
AND, AND COUNCIL MEMBER, I JUST WANT ONE THING.
AND, AND ADDING THE, THE, THE P P E DELIVERY, WE'RE ALSO GONNA TRY TO MEASURE THAT TO SEE IF THAT HAS ANY IMPACT ON THE CONVERSION RATE ON THE DOOR-TO-DOOR AS WELL.
'CAUSE WE'RE ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, IT'S A COLD CALL, RIGHT? SO WE'RE COMING IN SAYING, HERE'S SOMETHING HERE.
UH, RATHER THAN JUST, WE WANT A BUNCH OF INFORMATION FROM YOU.
SO WE'LL MONITOR THAT AS WELL.
UM, ALEX, YOU DID MENTION, UM,
[01:05:01]
BUS SHELTERS AND, AND JUNIOR BILLBOARDS.AND SO I KNOW, UM, IN, IN, UH, SOME PARTICULAR AREAS OF TOWN, UH, PARTICULARLY WHERE WE HAVE MORE OF THE, UM, UH, THE CONCENTRATED NEED WITH THE HIGHER, UM, UH, EQUITY SCORES, WE, UH, DO HAVE STILL ACCESS TO A LOT OF JUNIOR BILLBOARDS.
AND SO I THINK THAT'S HOW A LOT OF NONPROFITS, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS GET THEIR MESSAGES OUT.
BUT I DO KNOW THAT THOSE WERE KIND OF IN THE WORKS FOR BEING CLEARED OUT.
SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ALTERNATIVE WOULD BE IF THEY'RE NO LONGER, UM, DOING THOSE OR IF THEY'RE TAKING THOSE DOWN.
BUT I DO AGREE THAT WE NEED TO, UM, KIND OF GET OUT THERE.
I SAW THE DOOR HANGER, UM, AND THE DOOR HANGER.
UM, AND, AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU ALL CUSTOMIZED IT AND, AND, YOU KNOW, MADE IT, UM, RELEVANT TO THE, UH, THE, THE DIFFERENT ORGANIZATION THAT'S HELPING PARTNER.
I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING RELATED.
AND SO TO ME, IT SEEMED LIKE IT WAS COMING FROM, UM, THE ORGANIZATION AND THE CITY.
UM, BUT I DIDN'T TALK ANYTHING ABOUT, UM, MAYBE COVID RELIEF.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF IN YOUR SCRIPT, WHEN YOU'RE MAKING COLD CALLS, UM, IF WE'RE SAYING, HEY, THIS IS A FOLLOW UP TO THE COVID RESILIENCY PLAN, RIGHT? I, I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE TO BE SPECIFIC ABOUT THAT SO THAT PEOPLE DON'T THINK IT'S JUST SOMEBODY TRYING TO, UM, I DON'T KNOW, MAKE MONEY OFF OF THEM, BECAUSE WE'RE NOT SPECIFICALLY SAYING THAT IT'S FREE ASSISTANCE.
AND, AND I, I WAS TRYING TO ZOOM IN, UM, ON THE SLIDE THAT YOU SENT IN, SO MAYBE IT IS IN THERE AND MAYBE MY EYES ARE BAD.
UM, BUT JUST, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS THE MESSAGING GOES, I THINK THAT I WOULD ADD THAT, HEY, WE'RE TRYING TO HELP WITH COVID RECOVERY EFFORTS, AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, FREE ASSISTANCE THAT THE CITY, YOU KNOW, IS WORKING ON WITH THESE PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS.
I KNOW WE CAN'T REPRINT, UM, THOSE, UH, DOOR HANGERS AND LIKE I SAID, THEY WERE LOVELY.
UM, BUT MAYBE EVEN IN THE COLD CALLS THAT WE'RE MAKING, ADDING THAT TO THE SCRIPT, I THINK WOULD BE CRITICAL.
UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR UPDATE.
SO I'M, I'M REALLY PROUD THAT IN 30 DAYS WE'VE HAD, UH, ABOUT 1400 FOLKS GO THROUGH THE INTAKE PROCESS.
UM, AND THEN, UM, THAT WE REFERRED TO THE AGENCY ANOTHER 1000.
UM, I, UH, APPRECIATE THAT THERE'S, UH, A BREAKDOWN OF THE INDUSTRIES THAT ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, TAKING, UH, TAKING, UH, US UP ON THE OFFER.
SO 31% IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IS, IS HUGE FOR ME.
UM, SO THAT'S A GREAT MOVING THE NEEDLE THERE.
UM, I LIKE THAT WE HAVE 29 SMALL BUSINESSES ALREADY PARTICIPATING.
THANK YOU FOR THE LIST THAT YOU SENT ME.
BY THE WAY, ALEX, I HAD ASKED FOR A LIST OF THE FOLKS THAT ARE PARTICIPATING AND, UM, I NOTICED THAT WE HAVE A FEW LOCAL FOLKS THAT ARE TAKING CARE, UH, TAKING PART, UM, IN SAFETY TRAINING LEVEL ONE, FOR INSTANCE.
AND SO JR RAMON DEMOLITION AND, UM, WE HAVE, WE'RE WORKING WITH NORTH AMERICAN BUILDING TRADES ASSOCIATION, UH, FOR THE NC THREE PROGRAM.
AND SO, UH, I'M HAPPY TO SEE THAT WE HAVE, UH, FOLKS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS INSPIRE PROJECT WITH THEIR ACUTE CARE TECHNICIANS I'M FAMILIAR WITH, WITH THEIR WORK FROM BEFORE.
BUT I'M ALSO, UM, ESPECIALLY HAPPY THAT WE HAVE SO MANY, YOU MENTIONED PRE-APPROVED TRAINING PROGRAMS, UM, THAT A LOT OF OUR ALAMO COLLEGES, UH, ALREADY HAVE.
AND SO, UM, TO TAKE A PAGE FROM COUNCILMAN ELIAS'S, UH, YOU KNOW, SCRIPTS, HE, UH, SOMETIMES READS OFF LISTS OF THINGS THAT HE FINDS.
AND SO I'M GONNA DO JUST THAT BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THAT FOLKS, UM, HAVE, UH, SEEN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE CAN GET HELP IN SO THEY CAN, UH, GO IN AND GET AN ADVANCED CISCO NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES LEVEL ONE CERTIFICATE, OR THEY CAN GET, UH, UM, COMPUTER SUPPORT CERTIFICATE OR MICROSOFT SERVER ADMINISTRATION, OR LINUX PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE, UM, CERTIFICATION.
AND SO WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT LEVEL ONE.
SO THESE ARE VERY REAL, UM, PROGRAMS THAT ARE OUT THERE AND, UM, ARE BEING, UH, ARE, ARE, ARE ABLE TO, UM, FIND A JOB IN NOW IS I GUESS, WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET AT.
AND SO I WAS HAPPY THAT THERE'S EVEN THINGS LIKE DIESEL AND HEAVY EQUIPMENT CERTIFICATES AND ELECTRICAL TRADES.
AND SO, UM, WHAT I'M SAYING, ALEX, IS THAT I KNOW WE HAVE THIS STATEWIDE ELIGIBLE TRAINING PROGRAM, UM, LIST.
AND I APPRECIATE THAT YOU ALL HAVE THAT.
I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW THAT, UH, IS BEING MARKETED AGAIN.
SO, SO BACK TO THE MARKETING, LIKE HOW DO WE TELL PEOPLE THAT THERE'S, UM, NOT JUST NECESSARILY IN CYBERSECURITY OR IN, UM, THE HEALTH FIELD, BUT THERE'S ALL OF THESE TRADES AVAILABLE AS WELL.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S WHEN THEY CALL IN, LIKE, AND, AND I, I GUESS THAT'S PART OF THE ASSESSMENT THAT THEY DO, AND I APPRECIATE THE ASSESSMENT BECAUSE THEN WE KIND OF GEAR THEM AT, HEY, YOU KNOW, YOU MIGHT BE REALLY GOOD AT CYBERSECURITY, OR YOU MIGHT BE REALLY GOOD WITH YOUR BACKGROUND IN WELDING, ET CETERA.
SO, UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT BREAKDOWN.
AND I, I WOULD JUST LOVE TO MAYBE OFFLINE SEE HOW THAT'S DETERMINED, RIGHT? LIKE, HOW DO WE SAY, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS MIGHT BE A, A BETTER FIT FOR YOU RIGHT NOW.
I KNOW IT'S BASED ON TIMING AND, AND ET CETERA.
[01:10:01]
YOU.I ALSO APPRECIATE THAT YOU'RE GONNA DO THE THREE DIFFERENT FOCUS GROUPS, WHICH YOU HAD MENTIONED LAST TIME.
YOU HAD MENTIONED THE PARTICIPANTS, THOSE WHO DECIDED NOT TO ENROLL, AND THEN THOSE WHO HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE PROGRAM.
AND SO I THINK THOSE ARE THREE VERY CRITICAL MEASURING STEPS.
AND SO, UM, IT'S DEFINITELY A TOUGH TIME RIGHT NOW FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY, AND THERE'S A LOT OF WORK, UH, YOU KNOW, TO DO.
BUT I THINK THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT SET OF PEOPLE AT THE TABLE.
AND SO, UM, I AM EXCITED ABOUT THE E D F, UH, WORKING WITH US.
I AM EXCITED ABOUT W S A WORKING WITH US.
UM, I'M EXCITED, UH, ABOUT PORT SAN ANTONIO, WHICH I WAS AT LAST WEEK.
AND, UM, THEY MADE IT CLEAR THAT THEIR CLIENTS HAVE A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITIES OUT THERE AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES AND REALLY, AND CAREERS THAT, UM, CONTINUE TO GROW.
AND SO I REALLY THINK THAT THIS IS A BRIDGE TOWARD A FUTURE THAT'S REALLY RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.
AND SO ANY OF THE COMPANIES THAT WE CAN HELP SUPPORT WITH THE, ON THE JOB TRAINING, I THINK IT'LL JUST HELP US CONTINUE TO, UM, RAISE SAN ANTONIO'S PROFILE, OBVIOUSLY.
AND SO, UM, IN, IN THE PROCESS, WE'D ALSO BE HELPING CREATE SOME ADDITIONAL GREAT JOBS AND HELPING OUR FOLKS, UH, SURVIVE THROUGH, THROUGH THESE TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES.
SO I AM, UM, VERY PROUD, I THINK, UH, OF THE WORK THAT HAS BEEN DONE SO FAR, PARTICULARLY IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM.
UM, I LIKE THAT YOU HAVE, UH, PROGRESS MEASURES IN MIND.
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, I, UM, AM HAPPY THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO, UH, WORK WITH SO MANY GREAT EDUCATORS AND TRAINING PROGRAMS AND TRAINING PARTNERS TO BE ABLE TO GET US WHERE WE NEED.
SO THANK YOU FOR KEEPING, UM, YOUR FOOT ON THE GAS AND FOR KEEPING THE MEASUREMENT AND TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MEET OUR GOALS.
I THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US AND FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO SHOWCASE WHERE WE ARE, UM, MONTHLY AND WHERE THE NUMBERS ARE, AND TO BE ABLE TO PIVOT IF NEEDED.
AND I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO, UM, DO WITH THE PLAN THAT YOU'VE PRESENTED TODAY.
SO THANK YOU OVERALL, UM, GREAT JOB, ALEX.
AND THANK YOU CARLOS AND TEAM AS WELL.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ.
IS THAT, CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME OKAY? OKAY, GOOD.
SO I THINK CHERRY, YOU REALLY ASKED MOST OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAD.
UH, I THOUGHT YOUR QUESTIONS WERE VERY THOROUGH, BUT I DID WANNA JUST FOCUS A LITTLE BIT ON THE PART ABOUT THE, UM, THE, ON THE JOBB TRAINING.
UM, CAN YOU GO BACK TO THAT SLIDE, ALEX? BECAUSE THIS IS THE, WHAT GIVES ME GREAT PAUSE AND HAS ALWAYS GIVEN ME GREAT PAUSE AS WE HAVE MORE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE SA TRAIN FOR JOBS, UM, IS THAT THERE WAS NEVER ANY REAL COMMITMENT FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO PAY HIGHER WAGES.
AND, UM, THAT'S REALLY WHAT I'VE BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT, UM, WHEN WE ARE SORT OF EXPANDING ON THIS, ON THE JOB TRAINING PROGRAM, BECAUSE IF, IF, AGAIN, LIKE WE HAVE THESE PE, THESE, THESE PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT SAY THAT THEY NEED PEOPLE, UH, AND THEY COMMITTED TO THE PROGRAM FOR THE ON THE JOB TRAINING, BUT THEY'RE NOT PLACING THEM.
I, I'M, I, IT DOESN'T, I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A HUGE DISCONNECT BECAUSE ISN'T THAT THE POINT? THEY'RE GOING TO PUT THEM IN THOSE JOBS AND TRAIN THEM, AND THEN HOPEFULLY AFTER THE TRAINING PORTION THAT, THAT WE ARE PROVIDING A STIPEND, BUT THAT AFTER THE TRAINING PORTION, THEY WOULD GET THEM TO THE JOBS.
I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE SAYING THAT THE PEOPLE ARE NOT EVEN PREPARED TO TAKE THE JOBS, BUT ISN'T THAT THE POINT THEY TAKE THEM IN, TRAIN THEM, WE SUBSIDIZE THE, THE, UM, THE SALARY IN THE MEANWHILE YES.
SO, SO IN THEORY, THAT IS EXACTLY THE PLAN THAT, UM, THAT EMPLOYER RECEIVES THE, THE, UM, THE PARTICIPANT AND, AND THE PARTICIPANT RECEIVES THE SUBSIDY INSTEAD OF THE EMPLOYER NEEDING TO PAY ANY OF THOSE COSTS.
AND THAT IN RETURN THEY PROVIDE THE TRAINING.
WHAT WE'RE FINDING THOUGH IS, UM, LIKE I MENTIONED, THAT INTRODUCTORY SKILL LEVEL THAT BUSINESSES ARE NEEDING IS SOMETHING THAT THEY'RE NOT QUITE FINDING AND THE PARTICIPANTS THAT ARE BEING REFERRED OVER TO THEM RIGHT NOW.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE NEED BETTER ALIGNMENT BETWEEN THE BUSINESSES THAT ARE PROVIDING THESE ON THE JOB TRAINING SLOTS AND THE PARTICIPANT POOL THAT'S COMING IN.
NOW, AS FAR AS THE WAGES, THE EXPECTATION IS THAT BOTH ON THE, ON-THE-JOB TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES AND ANY TYPE OF TRAINING THAT IS PROVIDED THROUGH THE PROGRAM, IT WILL, UM, LEAD TO CAREERS THAT, OR LEAD TO JOBS THAT HAVE A CAREER PATH.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR WAGE GROWTH, THAT THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY FOR CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, UM, BECAUSE THAT IT, IT CAN'T, WE DON'T WANT IT TO BE A DEAD END JOB.
THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GONNA TRAIN SOMEBODY FOR, OR THAT'S NOT SOME SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GONNA USE THROUGH THE, ON THE JOB TRAINING SLOT EITHER.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER, I WOULD ADD ONE THING,
[01:15:01]
UM, THE, THE BUSINESSES ARE GONNA, ARE MAKING A, A EFFECTIVELY A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT WHEN THEY TAKE ON THIS, BECAUSE OUR EXPECTATION IS, OH, WE CAN'T REQUIRE, OUR EXPECTATION IS THEY'RE GONNA GIVE THEM A REALLY GOOD HARD LOOK.AND SO, JUST LIKE YOUR BUSINESS WOULD, OR ANY BUSINESS WOULD IN EVALUATING THE SKILL SETS AND THE SOFT SKILLS AND, AND ALL OF THE OTHER ISSUES THAT THEY HAVE, THAT THAT GOES INTO MAKING HIRING DECISIONS, THE SORT OF DOING THAT ON THE, ON THE FRONT END.
BECAUSE WHEN THE O J T ENDS, THE HOPE IS, AND THE EXPECTATION IS THEY'RE GONNA GIVE THEM A SERIOUS CONSIDERATION TO HIRING THESE INDIVIDUALS.
AND SO THAT'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE, WE'RE ALIGNING THE SKILLS APPROPRIATELY WITH THE BUSINESSES AND THEN ALIGNING THE BUSINESSES APPROPRIATELY WITH THE SKILL SETS THAT THE PEOPLE ARE PRESENTED WITH.
SO WE WENT OUT AND SO SELECT, YOU KNOW, AND, AND RECRUITED THESE 29, UH, BUSINESSES TO, TO PARTICIPATE BEFORE WE REALLY HAD A GOOD FEEL FOR WHO THE CUSTOMERS ARE, WHO THE, WHO THE PARTICIPANTS WOULD BE.
AND NOW THAT WE HAVE A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE USING THAT INFORMATION TO TRY TO IDENTIFY MATCHES, UH, IN THE FUTURE.
UH, SO THIS HAS BEEN A CONCERN OF MINE SORT OF ALL ALONG, IS THAT, UM, AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, IN, IN CERTAIN COMMUNITIES, LIKE WE ARE NOT EVEN PREPARED FOR THE ENTRY LEVEL JOBS, AND THAT'S WHY WE NEED ALL THOSE SUPPORT SERVICES, UM, THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE.
UM, ALL THE DELEGATE AGENCIES THAT DO ALL THE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMMING, UM, TO HAVE OUR, OUR, OUR, OUR COMMUNITY READY, UH, TO APPLY FOR THESE JOBS.
SO I, I'M, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I'LL SORT OF LEAVE IT AT THAT AND, AND MAYBE WE CAN HAVE, UM, A LITTLE BIT MORE CONVERSATION ABOUT, UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A SAMPLE, IT'S THE VERY FIRST TIME THAT YOU'VE TRIED IT.
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT 230 PEOPLE, NOT, IT'S NOT A HUGE SAMPLE.
UH, BUT I SUSPECT, I SUSPECT THAT AS YOUR NUMBERS GROW, YOU'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO HAVE THAT SAME PROBLEM THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE POOL THAT IS, UH, WANTS TO GO TO THESE JOBS IS NOT GONNA BE ELIGIBLE, WHICH MEANS WE HAVE TO START SOONER AND SUPPORT OUR DELEGATE AGENCY FUNDING, OUR DELEGATE AGENCIES THAT DO THAT WORK, UM, UH, SO THAT ONCE THEY, UM, SO THAT THEY CAN GET THESE JOBS.
UH, SO ANYWAY, I HAVE A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT THAT, AND IT HAS BEEN A, A CONCERN OF MINE SINCE WE CREATED THIS WHOLE, UH, WORK TRAIN, UH, TRAINING TO WORK PROGRAM.
SO I'LL, I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MEMBER ELA.
UM, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN THINKING JUST REALLY FOCUSING IN ON THIS, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE, UM, INDUSTRY AND HOW COVID HAS IMPACTED THEM AND WHAT OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO, TO THAT INDUSTRY.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T THINK WE'VE DONE AN ANALYSIS, OR AT LEAST I DON'T THINK THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION OR, YOU KNOW, THE OTHER CHAMBERS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT HAVE BEEN AN ANALYSIS ON THE IMPACT OF, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE SINCE 2017, END OF 2017.
SO, YOU KNOW, AT THE LAST, YOU KNOW, THE LAST TIME THEY LOOKED AT IT, I THINK THAT, UM, THE INDUSTRY PROVIDES SOMETHING LIKE $8 BILLION IN ECONOMIC IMPACT TO THE, TO SAN ANTONIO.
ALEX, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING MORE RECENT THAN THAT? I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING, BUT I KNOW WORLD, HER, THE WORLD HERITAGE OFFICE HAS BEEN DEVELOPING, UM, MORE THROUGH THEIR WORK WITH THE CITY OF ASTRONOMY.
I THINK THEY MIGHT HAVE MORE RECENT INFORMATION.
I'D BE INTERESTED IN SEEING WHAT THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT ECONOMIC IMPACT IS FOR, FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE.
I, I, I SUSPECT IT'S GONNA BE NORTH OF 8 BILLION IF IT WAS 8 BILLION AND, UM, IN, UH, 2017.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT IN TEXAS WIDE, UM, FOOD AND BEVERAGE JOBS MAKE UP 10% OF
AND I IMAGINE THAT SAN ANTONIO MAY BE A LITTLE MORE HEAVY THAN THAT SINCE WE'RE, UH, YOU KNOW, A CITY THAT RELIES SO MUCH ON HOSPITALITY.
AND SO, UM, I, I'D BE INTERESTED IN SEEING WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE DIFFERENCES ARE, UM, AS FAR AS JOB, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, EMPLOYMENT IS WITH RESTAURANTS, UH, AS COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE STATE.
SO I, I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT IT IS THAT WE OUGHT TO BE DOING, RIGHT.
AND I WILL POINT OUT TO THIS COMMITTEE THAT WE SPEND MORE TIME TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UM, ARTISTS AND ART ORGANIZATIONS WHO I LOVE, I LOVE ARTISTS, UH, BUT WE SPEND MORE TIME TALKING ABOUT THEM THAN WE DID ABOUT RESTAURANTS AND BEVERAGE, UM, DESPITE THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LARGE INDUSTRY THAT'S BEEN KICKED IN THE GUT.
[01:20:01]
YOU KNOW, IT'S ALL THEIR EMPLOYEES WHO ARE GONNA BE EVICTED IF, IF THEY CAN'T MEET RENT.AND SO, I, CARLOS, I DO THINK THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR US, UM, TO WEIGH IN AND, AND DO MORE THAN JUST GRANT PROGRAMS. UM, VERY IMPORTANT GRANT PROGRAMS. BUT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU LOOK AT, UM, YOU KNOW, ASIDE FROM EARMARKING, THIS SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE, UM, AND WORKFORCE TRAINING FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE, YOU KNOW, WE COULD BE PARTNERING UP WITH FOOD AND BEVERAGE, UM, UH, EMPLOYERS TO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC EMPLOYEES WHO, UM, NEED, YOU KNOW, UM, UTILITY ASSISTANCE, RENT ASSISTANCE, RIGHT? AND, UH, FOOD ASSISTANCE.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE COULD BE, UM, REEXAMINING ANY OF OUR LOCAL REGULATIONS OR FEES AND FINES THAT, YOU KNOW, IMPEDE A RESTAURANT'S ABILITY TO GET BACK UP ON THEIR FEE.
UM, WE COULD EXPEDITE APPROVAL OF, OF PERMITS FOR OUTDOOR, UM, DINING AND EXPEDITE APPROVAL FOR ZONING CHANGES FOR RESTAURANTS SO THEY CAN GET BACK TO DOING WHAT THEY NEED TO DO.
UM, AND THEN WE CAN INVITE RESTAURANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR FEEDING PROGRAMS FOR SENIORS AND CHILDREN.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT WE HAD THE LONG DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MEALS ON WHEELS OR CELL RICO, BUT, YOU KNOW, I, LOOKING BACK, I WISH THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WOULD'VE THOUGHT OUTSIDE THE BOX ON THIS ONE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THOUGHT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HAVING THE RESTAURANT, UM, INDUSTRY, UH, HELP US, YOU KNOW, DO THIS.
AND SO ANYWAY, JUST, JUST SOME THOUGHTS.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, FOR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, AND WE, WE CAN DISCUSS THIS AT ANOTHER TIME, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT WE CAN DO, CARLOS, RIGHT? AS FAR AS ADVOCACY GOES.
AND SO IT'S NOT JUST A MATTER OF, OF WHAT, UH, WE CAN GIVE AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, RESOURCES FROM, YOU KNOW, THAT ARE GONNA COST US MONEY FROM OUR BUDGET, BUT WE CAN GO UP THERE TO DC AND, UM, YOU KNOW, ADVOCATE AND ADD TO THE AGENDA FOR FEDERAL AGENDA FOR PAYROLL, TAX RELIEF RESTAURANTS, UH, OR, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, CREATE THE CREATION OF LIKE A FEDERAL BACKSTOP FOR, UH, TO COVER LOSSES AND UNEMPLOYMENT AND INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS.
AND SO, ANYWAY, I, I, I DO, UH, I, I GUESS THIS IS MY WAY, CARLOS, OF SIGNALING TO YOU THAT I'M, I'M GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT THIS MORE AND MORE AND MORE, UM, A A AS WE MOVE FORWARD, BUT, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, I THINK IT'S, IT, IT IS ALL GOOD POINTS, AND WE'RE DEVELOPING BOTH OUR STATE AND OUR FEDERAL PROGRAM RIGHT NOW.
AND SO I, I THINK IT'D BE WORTHY TO GIVE SOME CONSIDERATION ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO IN BOTH OF THOSE PROGRAMS TO SPECIFICALLY TARGET THE INDUSTRY THAT HAS SUCH A BIG IMPACT IN OUR COMMUNITY, UH, LIKE RESTAURANTS AND, AND, AND EVEN BARS.
THE IDEA BEING, YEAH, THANKS, CARLOS.
AND THE, AND THE IDEA BEING BRINGING BOTH FEDERAL AND STATE MONEY.
SO THIS COMMITTEE, THE ECONOMIC WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CAN FASHION A WAY TO SPEND THAT MONEY, RIGHT? AND, UH, ON THIS INDUSTRY THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, 10% OF THE JOBS AT THE, AT A MINIMUM, 10% OF THE JOBS IN SAN ANTONIO ARE, ARE GONNA BE RESTAURANT AND FOOD AND BEVERAGE JOBS.
THAT'S A, I THINK THAT'S, UH, INCUMBENT UPON US TO, TO TAKE THAT SERIOUSLY.
AND THEN LASTLY, ALEX, WHAT WAS THE MARKETING BUDGET FOR THIS, UH, FOR THIS EFFORT THAT YOU COVERED EARLIER? FOR THE, THE SMALL BUSINESS? YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
THERE WAS, THERE WAS JUST VERY, VERY SMALL AMOUNTS, LIKE 25.
UM, I THINK COLLECTIVELY THERE, THERE MIGHT'VE BEEN $50,000, UM, FOR THE GRANTS AND FOR THE OUTREACH PROGRAM, AND WHO DID, AND, AND, AND WAS IT, DID WE HIRE MARKETING FIRMS? AND I SEE THAT WE, NO, WE DID THAT IN-HOUSE.
UM, WE HAVE A GREAT, UH, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER THAT HELPED US ACTIVATE VERY QUICKLY, UH, TO GET THE WORD OUT WHEN THE APPLICATIONS WERE OPEN, AND, AND NOW WE'RE WORKING TO ON THIS OUTREACH COMPONENT.
AND SO IT OCCURS TO ME JUST, AND, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FASHION THE SOLUTION TO THIS, RIGHT? BUT IF WE'RE TRYING TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY AND TRYING TO HELP OUT SMALL BUSINESSES, UM, WHO HAVE BEEN HIT, RIGHT? EVEN WHEN IT COMES TO OUR MARKETING, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE IDENTIFY MARKETING AGENCIES THAT, YOU KNOW, ARE SMALL, BUT STILL ARE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, CARRY SOME OF THIS WEIGHT FOR US, RIGHT? AND SPREAD THAT, SPREAD THAT MONEY AROUND.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, SAN ANTONIO'S GOT TWO FANTASTIC MARKETING AGENCIES AND, YOU KNOW, THE DEBERRY GROUP AND THE K G B GROUP, BUT THEY SEEM TO GET ALL OF EVERYBODY'S WORK, UH, OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN BECAUSE THEY'RE QUITE COMPETENT 'CAUSE OF THE BANDWIDTH.
BUT, YOU KNOW, FOR SMALLER PROJECTS, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE WOULDN'T LOOK AT BRINGING IN SMALLER FIRMS, RIGHT? UM, AND GIVING OTHER PEOPLE CHANCES.
AND SO, ANYWAY, I THINK YOU GOT MY POINT.
THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE MY POINTS.
HOW, HOW ARE WE DEFINING THE GAP BETWEEN THE HARD LOOK AND HIRING SO CITY
[01:25:01]
STAFF CAN EVENTUALLY CREATE METRICS TO IMPLEMENT ACTION, SO WE CAN CLOSE THAT GAP.SO PEOPLE WANNA HIRE COUNCILWOMAN.
CAN YOU GET A LITTLE CLOSER TO YOUR MIC? IT'S A, IT'S BREAKING UP A BIT.
SO
UM, HOW CAN WE DEFINE THE, THE GAP BETWEEN THE HARD LOOK AND HIRING? SO CITY STAFF CAN EVENTUALLY CREATE METRICS TO IMPLEMENT ACTION PLANS, AND WE CAN CLOSE THE GAP.
IS THAT BETTER? I, I'M HEARING SOMETHING ABOUT GAPS IN HIRING.
IS IT, IS IT ABOUT HIRING, POST TRAINING, MAYBE? UM, NO.
UH, CAN YOU GIMME, UH, DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE A QUESTION? AND I'LL COME RIGHT BACK.
I'LL, I'LL KEEP MY AIRPODS OUT.
SO YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT CLOSING THE GAPS FOR WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER BETWEEN THE HARD LOOK AND THE HIRING, SO WE CAN CREATE METRICS.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY HARD? LOOK WHAT THAT WAS MENTIONED IN THE PRESENTATION.
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT AN O G T ABOUT HOW WE DO THAT? YES.
UM, YEAH, ALEX, THE QUESTION IS, HOW ARE WE GONNA TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT IN ADDITION TO GIVING SOMEBODY A HARD LOOK, THEY ACTUALLY HIRE FOLKS, I GUESS, OR NOT MAKE SURE, BUT, YOU KNOW, INCREASE THE ODDS.
SO, UM, THAT, THAT'S WHERE, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
THAT'S WHERE I THINK, UM, IT, IT, I THINK THE, THE PROPER PLACEMENT, MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALIGNING FROM THE BEGINNING IS IMPORTANT SO THAT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT SO HARD FOR THE BUSINESS TO ACTUALLY WANT TO KEEP THAT EMPLOYEE ON, ON, YOU KNOW, PERMANENTLY.
THEY'VE ALREADY INVESTED TIME, THEY'VE TRAINED THAT PERSON INTO THEIR WAY OF DOING THINGS.
SO THERE'S ALREADY SOME, SOME, YOU KNOW, SOME CAPACITY THAT'S BUILT INTO THAT EMPLOYEE THAT THEY WOULD HAVE THAT THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY FOR.
SO WE WILL BE TRACKING, UM, THAT THEY GOT INTERVIEWS, FOR SURE.
UM, AND IF THEY DIDN'T HIRE THEM, WHY NOT? WHAT WAS IT THAT THEY DIDN'T QUITE GET OR THAT THEY WEREN'T, UM, PERHAPS MEETING, UM, SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT THAT ALIGNS AS WE'RE PLACING PEOPLE AS WELL.
WE'VE ALSO CHALLENGED OUR WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS, TRAINING PROVIDERS WHO ARE MAKING THE REFERRALS TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE, AND THIS IS PRIMARILY, UH, W SS A, BUT WE'VE ALSO ASKED OTHERS TO DO THE SAME AND GET INVOLVED IN THAT.
UH, BUT TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE EMPLOYERS SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE THE SKILL SETS THEY NEED, AND IS THERE TRAINING THAT THEY COULD PROVIDE TO THEM SO THAT THEY COULD STILL BE PARTICIPANTS IN A LATER, LATER ROUND OF O J T.
'CAUSE WE PLAN TO DO THIS FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR.
AND WHILE WE HAVE 29, UM, COMPANIES WITH, UM, ROUGHLY A QUARTER OF OUR TOTAL, UH, PLAN WE'RE ON, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'VE JUST BEGUN THIS, WE'VE GOT ALL OF NEXT YEAR THAT WE PLAN TO CONTINUE TO WORK AND REFINE THIS O J T, UH, EFFORT.
CAN YOU HEAR ME A LITTLE BETTER? GREAT.
UM, UH, LASTLY, I'M PLEASED TO SEE, VERY PLEASED TO SEE MORE ROBUST OUTREACH ACCELERATION EFFORTS HAVE BEEN MADE.
I THINK, UM, ONE OF THE LAST TIMES WE HAD A PRESENTATION, I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE EFFORTS AND, AND, AND CONTINUING THESE EFFORTS OUTSIDE OF PROGRAMS LIKE KIND, TRYING TO KIND OF BUILD UP OUR DATABASE WHEN WE'RE NOT, UH, IN SUCH A RUSH TO, TO GET THINGS DONE.
BUT, UM, AND I THINK THAT CONTINUED PROGRESS AND INNOVATION AND OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS IS REALLY KEY TO HELPING, UH, EVENTUALLY, YOU KNOW, HELPING OUR COMMUNITY AND HELPING OUR SMALL BUSINESSES.
MY QUESTION IS, DID WE REACH OUT TO CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE? I'M NOT SURE IF THIS QUESTION WAS ASKED BY A COUNCILWOMAN ROCHE GARCIA, BUT, UM, I'M WONDERING IF WE CAN EXPAND OUR REACH TO, BECAUSE THEY HAVE SUCH AN EXPANSIVE LIST OF SMALL BUSINESSES.
I KNOW WE HAVE TROUBLE TRACKING THE NUMBERS OF SMALL BUSINESSES, BUT THE CHAMBERS MAY BE ABLE TO HELP US WITH THAT.
WE'VE ASKED THEM TO HELP ME GET MESSAGES OUT.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW WE'RE PARTNERING WITH THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT, UM, THAT MICHELLE HAS MENTIONED.
THOSE ARE THE PRIMARY ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE OUT THERE DOING THE OUTREACH.
WE CAN PROBABLY GET MORE LISTS FROM THEM AS WELL, THOUGH, FROM THE OUTREACH PERSPECTIVE THAT, THAT SMALL BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT, UM, I, IT LOOKS LIKE MICHELLE WANTS TO SAY SOMETHING.
SO, UM, FOR THE, FOR OUR B R E PROGRAM, WE HAVE EXTENDED OUR REACH BY BRINGING IN THE CHAMBERS.
UM, AND THEY ARE HELPING WITH THE OUTREACH AND GETTING THE O J T PROGRAM UP AND RUNNING.
SO THEY ARE, UH, AN EXTENSION OF US RIGHT NOW FOR A B R E PROGRAM.
I WOULD CONTINUE, UH, OR ENCOURAGE US TO CONTINUE TO ENGAGE WITH THE CHAMBERS WHEN, AGAIN, WHEN WE'RE NOT IN A, IN THE MIDDLE OF A PROGRAM, JUST SO WE CAN BUILD OUR DATABASE AND, AND KIND OF BE READY TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
[01:30:01]
IF WE HAVE ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT LIKE THIS.THIS WAS GREAT CONVERSATION AND GREAT, UH, FEEDBACK.
SO, ALEX, YOU WANNA SAY ONE MORE THING? JUST VERY QUICKLY, UM, SELENA ONCE AGAIN HELPED ME OUT WITH, UH, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WAS ASKED THAT I WAS GONNA HAVE TO COME BACK WITH THE AVERAGE AMOUNT OF A, OF THE GRANT THAT'S BEEN PROVIDED TO A BAR OR RESTAURANT, ROUGHLY $30,000.
UM, AND I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT, UH, WE ARE, UH, THERE'S A CONSENSUS FOR WHAT I WAS ALSO SHARING ABOUT GETTING INFORMATION, TAKING IT, LOOKING TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO FOR ADVOCACY, UM, AND THEN CONTINUING TO BUILD ON THAT, BECAUSE WE DO KNOW THAT ONE IN EIGHT PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, ONE IN EIGHT SAN ANTONIOS WAS, UH, WAS PART OF THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY.
AND THAT INCLUDED RESTAURANTS AND BARS AND ACCOMMODATIONS, ET CETERA.
SO WE KNOW THAT IT HAS HAD A MAJOR IMPACT THROUGHOUT.
UM, ONE THING I AM GOING TO REQUEST, ALEX AND CARLOS, IS THAT THE, UM, PRESENTATIONS FOR THE MICRO BUSINESS GRANTS AND THE, UM, TRAINED FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM THAT OUR POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS WOULD GO OUT TO ALL OF MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES, UM, THE ENTIRE CITY COUNCIL.
SO THEY HAVE THE DATA AND THEY KNOW WHAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON AS WELL.
AND AGAIN, JUST TO SEE THAT AS OF OCTOBER 20TH WITH OUR TRAIN FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM, THAT 68% OF THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN, 68% ARE WOMEN WHO HAVE APPLIED
SO WE ARE CONTINUING TO, TO MEET, UM, TO TRY AND MEET THE NEEDS WHERE WE CAN.
WE STILL HAVE SOME ITEMS LEFT TO GO, SO LET'S MOVE ON
[4. 20-6137 Briefing and possible action on creation of a new Small Business Advisory Commission [Carlos J. Contreras, III; Assistant City Manager; Alejandra Lopez, Director, Economic Development]]
TO, UM, ITEM NUMBER FOUR.I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD SAY FINALLY, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA.
UM, BUT IT'S BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF WORK GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES.
SO BRIEFING AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON CREATION OF A NEW SMALL BUSINESS ADVISORY COMMISSION.
LET'S, I'M GONNA HAVE CARLOS KICK IT OFF AND THEN GO TO ALEX, COUNCIL MEMBER.
JUST FOR THE, FOR THE, FOR THE DOING PUBLIC, AND I KNOW THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE KNOW THAT COUNCIL MEMBER EDWARD GARCIA SPEARHEADED A C C R ASKING THAT WE TAKE A CAREFUL LOOK AND MAKE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT THE CREATION, POSSIBLE CREATION OF A SMALL BUSINESS ADVISORY COMMISSION.
AND THE DEPARTMENT, UH, GOT BUSY.
THIS WAS ACTUALLY WENT TO GOVERNANCE IN NOVEMBER OF, OF A WHOLE DECADE AGO, IT SEEMS LIKE, UH, PRE PANDEMIC, UH, OF LAST YEAR.
AND, AND SO THE DEPARTMENT WENT OUT AND STARTED DOING THE SURVEY AND DOING THE WORK RIGHT AS THE COVID HIT THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE SORT OF PUT THAT ON A TEMPORARY PAUSE WHILE WE'VE RESPONDED TO, TO COVID, BUT IT IS APPROPRIATE NOW TO BRING THAT BACK UP.
SO, UM, ALEX AND TEAM DID A GREAT JOB OF, OF SERVING THE, UH, SMALL BUSINESSES, AND WE HAD SOME REALLY GREAT RESULTS FROM THEM.
SO, ALEX, TAKE IT AWAY IF YOU'VE GOT A CHANCE TO DRINK SOME WATER YET, IF YOU GET CHANCE, DO THAT.
AND AS CARLOS MENTIONED, UM, THE, THE PURPOSE OF THE ENGAGEMENT WAS FOR, UM, US AND, AND WE ACTUALLY DID AN ESSAY SPEAKUP CAMPAIGN.
UM, IT, IT INCLUDED, IT WAS A CITYWIDE SURVEY.
UH, WE DID PRESENTATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, WE, WE DID, WENT OUT TO VARIOUS GROUPS, UM, MEETING WITH BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS, UM, SMALL BUSINESS EVENTS, LARGE, SMALL BUSINESS EVENTS.
UM, WE, WE REALLY WERE TRYING TO GET OUT THERE AND TALK TO MORE OF THE BUSINESSES THAT, THAT WE DON'T TYPICALLY TALK TO.
UM, WE HAD A, UM, WE, IT WAS OUR VALENTINE'S DAY EVENT, THE IHEART SMALL BUSINESS EVENT IN FEBRUARY.
UM, AND WE ACTUALLY, UH, COMBINED THAT WITH A SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY COMMITTEE, OUR SPAC COMMITTEE.
UM, THEY, THEY HELD A MEETING AT THE SAME TIME, AND, UM, I KNOW WE HAD A COUPLE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS GO OUT THERE AS WELL.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER
LIKE CARLOS MENTIONED, IT SEEMS LIKE A, A LIFETIME AGO, BUT IT WAS JUST FEBRUARY, UM, THAT WE HAD A HUGE TURNOUT, UM, FOR THIS EVENT.
UM, AGAIN, THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN WAS REALLY TO LOOK, UH, OR TO, TO REACH OUT TO OUR LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES AND COMMUNICATE, OR, OR IN OUR COMMUNITY TO SEE HOW THEY'RE CURRENTLY INTERACTING, UM, WITH VARIOUS CITY DEPARTMENTS, UH, THEIR THOUGHTS REGARDING A NEW, A NEW SMALL BUSINESS COMMISSION, AND IN WHAT CAPACITY THEY'D LIKE TO PARTICIPATE ON THIS COMMISSION IF IT WERE TO BE CREATED.
SO, WITH THE HELP OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, WE CREATED AN ESSAY SPEAKUP CAMPAIGN THAT INCLUDED DIGITAL AND TRADITIONAL MARKETING COLLATERAL.
WE HAD FLYERS AND BUTTONS, WE HAD PRESS RELEASES.
UM, WE DID PRINT ADVERTISING AND SOCIAL MEDIA
[01:35:01]
CAMPAIGNS ON FACEBOOK.AND WE ALSO USED NEXTDOOR TO REALLY LOOK AT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS AS A DIFFERENT WAY TO ENGAGE WITH ENTREPRENEURS AND BUSINESS OWNERS.
UM, WE WERE ALSO INVITED TO SHARE DETAILS ABOUT THE EVENT ON TV.
SO, UM, WE DID A COUPLE OF SPOTS ON FOX NEWS.
WE DID NEWS FOUR, AND WE DID TELEMUNDO.
SO WE REALLY GOT A CHANCE TO PLUG, PLUG THE SURVEY AND PLUG THE EVENT.
UM, WE WORKED WITH YOUR OFFICES AND YOUR, YOUR STAFF TO, UM, IDENTIFY PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS, UM, AND BUSINESS AND, AND OTHER TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS TO LOOK FOR EVENTS THAT WERE HAPPENING IN YOUR COMMUNITIES.
IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, UM, WE ATTENDED 34 IN-PERSON EVENTS, UM, INCLUDING THE BEXAR COUNTY SWIM BEE CONFERENCE.
UM, WE WERE OUT AT THE M L K MARCH ALSO PASSING OUT, YOU KNOW, FLYERS WITH THE, THE BARCODE TO, TO TAKE OUR SURVEY.
UM, SO, UM, WE, WHENEVER WE GOT INVITED TO A TO MAKE A PRESENTATION, WE MADE SURE TO GET OUT THERE, OF COURSE, TALKING ABOUT THIS SURVEY, BUT ALSO USING IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT THE SMALL BUSINESS ANNUAL REPORT, DESCRIBE THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS THAT OUR OFFICE HAS, UM, AND ALSO THE PROCUREMENT GUIDE THAT SHOWS ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF THINGS THAT THE CITY IS GONNA BUY OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR TO SEE IF ANY OF THE SMALL BUSINESSES WOULD BE INTERESTED IN BIDDING ON ANY OF THAT TYPE OF WORK.
UM, ALL OF THIS WORK CULMINATED WITH, WITH THE FAIR THAT WE HAD ON, UM, ON FEBRUARY 11TH, UM, WHERE WE HAD PANELISTS, UH, ANSWERING QUESTIONS, LEGAL QUESTIONS, HUMAN RESOURCES QUESTIONS, UM, HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE CITY, UM, INTRODUCING THEM TO VARIOUS OTHER PARTNERS.
WE HAD 17 DIFFERENT RESOURCE PARTNERS AT THE EVENT.
UM, AND WE HAD OVER 220 ATTENDEES.
WE THINK THE NUMBER WAS ACTUALLY HIGHER THAN THAT, BUT 220 SIGNED UP, SO WE KNOW FOR SURE WE HAD AT LEAST THAT MANY, BUT IT WAS A GREAT TURNOUT OVER AT LAUNCH SA.
SO, GETTING INTO THE SURVEY RESULTS, WE HAD, UM, OVER 1300 BUSINESSES GIVE US FEEDBACK, AND THE LARGEST NUMBER OF RESPONSES CAME FROM BUSINESSES IN OPERATION FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS.
UM, AND SECOND TO THAT WERE BUSINESSES THAT, UM, HAD, HAD FORMED, BEEN WITHIN THE LAST THREE TO FIVE YEARS.
IT WAS AN INTERESTING DISTRIBUTION TO SEE THOSE, THAT TYPE OF PARTICIPATION.
UM, 66% OF THE RESPONSES WERE FROM MICRO BUSINESSES THAT EMPLOYED LESS THAN FIVE PEOPLE, AND HISPANIC AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN OWNED BUSINESSES REPRESENTED APPROXIMATELY 57% OF THE RESPONDENTS AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES WERE 46%.
AND WHILE THESE NUMBERS ARE SMALLER THAN THEIR OVERALL REPRESENTATION IN OUR POPULATION, IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT BUSINESS FORMATION RATES FOR WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR ACTUALLY LAG BEHIND OUR RATE, OUR OVERALL POPULATION RATES.
SO WE ARE GLAD TO SEE, UM, PARTICIPATION BY BUSINESS OWNERS OF THESE CATEGORIES IN OUR SURVEY.
SO THE TOP THREE INDUSTRIES THAT WERE REPRESENTED WERE CONSULTING, UM, RETAIL AND CONSTRUCTION.
AND AGAIN, AROUND 32% OF THE RESPONSES WERE FROM MICRO BUSINESSES THAT LISTED THEIR ANNUAL REVENUES TO BE LESS THAN $50,000.
SO WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT SMALL, SMALL BUSINESSES HERE.
SO THIS HEAT MAP SHOWS THE CONCENTRATION OF OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS BY COUNCIL DISTRICTS AND INCLUDING STAFF EVENT ATTENDANCE, MARKETING DROP OFF, WHERE WE, WE DROPPED OFF MARKETING MATERIALS, UM, E-BLASTS AND EMAILS TO STAKEHOLDERS.
UM, THE DARKER SHADES REPRESENT MORE EVENTS AND MORE MEETINGS AND, AND THE LIGHTER REPRESENT, YOU KNOW, FEWER OF THOSE TYPES OF ENGAGEMENTS.
YOU CAN SEE DISTRICT ONE AND DISTRICT EIGHT, UM, EVENT INVITATIONS EXCEEDED THE OTHERS DURING THE CAMPAIGN PERIOD.
UM, BUT IN ESSENCE, WE DROPPED OFF MATERIALS EVERYWHERE YOUR STAFF SUGGESTED, AND WE MADE PRESENTATIONS AT ORGANIZATIONS.
THEY WERE, THEY, THEY BASICALLY INVITED US.
SO THE SECOND HEAT MAP SHOWS THE DISTRIBUTION OF SURVEY RESPONSES BY EACH DISTRICT.
UM, DISTRICT ONE, DISTRICT TWO AND DISTRICT NINE HAD THE HIGHEST RESPONSE RATES.
UM, AND IT, IT'S REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH WE TOOK THIS SURVEY BACK IN THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, WE'RE NOW REALIZING THE TREND WITH PARTICULAR COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
UM, WE SAW SIMILAR RATES, SIMILAR RESPONSE RATES FROM OUR SMALL BUSINESSES, UM, WHEN IT CAME TO DISTRIBUTION OF P P E SUPPLIES, UH, IN MAY, AND THEN ALSO FOR THE GRANT APPLICATIONS THAT WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING SINCE JULY.
SO WE'RE SEEING THESE TRENDS AND IT'S INFORMING WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING MOVING FORWARD WHEN WE'RE TRYING TO GET FEEDBACK OR WHEN WE'RE TRYING TO GET MESSAGES TO CERTAIN GEOGRAPHIES.
UM, THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF RESPONDENTS, 95% BELIEVE THAT ACTIVITIES AND POLICIES, UM, WHAT, WHAT THE CITY DOES REALLY MATTERS, UM, AND HAS AN IMPACT ON THEIR SMALL
[01:40:01]
BUSINESSES.UH, 70% OF RESPONDENTS, UM, RESPONSES WERE FROM BUSINESSES REGISTERED TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE CITY.
THEY, THEY SELL SOMETHING TO US ALREADY, AND, UH, THOSE CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRACT, UH, TO PROVIDE SOME SORT OF GOODS OR SUPPLIES TO US.
UM, OTHER INTERACTIONS WITH THE CITY INCLUDED APPLYING FOR PERMITS OR GETTING CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCIES.
UM, AND FOR 27% OF THE RESPONDENTS, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TIME INTERACTING WITH THE CITY, WHICH INDICATED TO US THAT, UM, WE WERE ABLE TO REACH SMALL BUSINESSES THAT WE HAD NOT TYPICALLY, UM, ENGAGED WITH OR KNEW OF PREVIOUSLY.
SO THAT WAS A REALLY GOOD INDICATION AS WELL.
SO, 80% OF THE RESPONDENTS INDICATED HAVING, UH, NEVER PROVIDED FEEDBACK ON POLICIES LIKE I MENTIONED.
UM, AND MAINLY THIS WAS BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF HOW TO DO SO, WHAT THE METHODS WERE TO DO.
SO, UM, 80% ALSO SUPPORTED CREATING A SMALL BUSINESS COMMISSION.
UM, 76% WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COMMISSION ACTIVITIES.
61% WERE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING MEETINGS, AND MOST SURPRISINGLY, 62% OF THE BUSINESSES ARE INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THE COMMISSION.
SO WE KNOW THAT SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS ARE VERY BUSY, BUT THE FACT THAT THERE WAS THAT MUCH INTEREST IN ACTUALLY SERVING ON IT, UM, REALLY HELPED INFORM OUR RECOMMENDATION AS WELL.
SO WE ALSO DID SOME RESEARCH ON OTHER CITIES, UM, AND, UH, TO LEARN BEST PRACTICES AND ALSO UNDERSTAND HOW THEY ENGAGE WITH THEIR SMALL BUSINESSES.
UM, OUR RESEARCH FOCUSED ON ADVOCACY BOARDS THAT INTERACTED, UM, WITH SMALL BUSINESSES, THEIR COMPOSITION, UM, WHO THEIR MEMBERS ARE, UM, AND THEIR SELECTION MECHANISM, HOW THEY'RE IDENTIFIED TERM LIMITS, AND THEN ULTIMATELY THE COMMISSION'S CHARGE AS WELL.
SO THIS IS A LITTLE BUSY, UM, BUT THIS IS A TABLE OF OUR FINDINGS.
UM, ALMOST ALL OF THE CITIES THAT WE RESEARCHED, EXCEPT FOR DALLAS, UM, HAVE A BOARD THAT HAVE ROLES, UH, THAT COMBINE WHAT OUR GOAL SETTING COMMITTEE DOES, UM, IN REVIEWING, UM, INDIVIDUAL SOLICITATIONS AND, AND ASSIGNING EITHER SUBCONTRACTING GOALS AND PREFERENCE POINTS, UM, OR THEY, THEY COMBINE THAT WITH WHAT OUR, OUR SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY COMMITTEE CURRENTLY DOES, OUR ASPECT, WHICH IS REALLY OVERSEEING OUR SO BETA PROGRAM.
UM, WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THOUGH, IS THAT NONE OF THESE CITIES HAVE AS EXTENSIVE AND ROBUST A PROGRAM AS WE DO.
THE INDIVIDUAL REVIEW OF SOLICITATIONS IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT IS VERY, VERY EXTENSIVE.
UM, SO WE WANTED TO JUST KIND OF KEEP THAT IN MIND AS WELL.
MOST OF THE OTHER CITY BOARDS ARE MADE UP OF MEMBERS FROM COMMUNITY, UH, FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY.
UM, THEY HAVE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE BANKS AND SURETY COMPANIES.
THEY HAVE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND, AND NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS THAT, UM, MAKE UP THEIR, THEIR REPRESENTATION.
AND LASTLY, THESE BOARDS WERE TYPICALLY MANAGED BY EITHER A SMALL BUSINESS OFFICE OR AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT WITHIN, WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION.
SO, GETTING TO THE RECOMMENDATION HERE, UM, BASED ON THE RESEARCH AND, AND THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY ARE, ARE, WE'RE RECOMMENDING THE CREATION OF A NEW SMALL BUSINESS COMMISSION, UM, AS AN ADVISORY BOARD, UH, TO REVIEW UPCOMING POLICIES, REGULATIONS, AND ISSUES AFFECTING OUR SMALL BUSINESS COMMUNITY.
SO CURRENTLY, SAN ANTONIO DOESN'T HAVE A GENERAL COMMISSION FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS TO VOICE THEIR OPINIONS AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS OUTSIDE OF SPAC, THE SMALL BUSINESS EFFICACY COMMITTEE, WHICH REALLY THAT ENTITY FOCUSES EXCLUSIVELY ON THE BETA PROGRAM.
SO IN RECENT YEARS, ESPEC HAS ALSO BEEN GIVEN THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A SUBCOMMITTEE TO OVERSEE THE IMPLEMENTATION AND OUTCOMES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DIVERSITY ACTION PLAN THAT CITY COUNCIL HAS APPROVED THROUGH AN ORDINANCE.
SO THE FOCUS AND LEADERSHIP PROVIDED BY ESPEC HAS CONTRIBUTED IMMENSELY TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE VEDA PROGRAM.
AND, AND YOU, YOU GET BRIEFED REGULARLY ON HOW OUR UTILIZATION NUMBERS CONTINUE TO INCREASE YEAR AFTER YEAR.
AND PEC IS HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE DISPARITY STUDY PROCESS AS WELL, WHICH WE ARE ABOUT TO, UM, TO BEGIN IN THE COMING MONTHS.
UM, SO FOR THAT REASON, AND TO CLARIFY REALLY, WE'RE, WE'RE ALSO RECOMMENDING THAT THE SPAC, THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY COMMITTEE BE RENAMED TO REALLY IDENTIFY AND PROPERLY IDENTIFY ITS ITS PURPOSE AND ITS CHARGE, UM, CHANGING IT TO THE BETA ADVISORY BOARD, UM, TO REALLY BE ABLE TO TIE WHAT ITS, WHAT ITS PURPOSE IS, UM, AND TO MAKE IT VERY TRANSPARENT TO THE COMMUNITY, WHAT IT'S GONNA BE INVOLVED WITH.
AND SO NOW GETTING TO THE ACTUAL COMPOSITION OF THE SMALL BUSINESS COMMISSION, THIS IS
[01:45:01]
OUR, OUR INITIAL RECOMMENDATION, UM, BASED ON THE SURVEY RESULTS, UM, AND THE STRONG DESIRE FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS TO, UM, TO PARTICIPATE AND TO WANT TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CITY PROGRAMS, UM, WE'RE RECOMMENDING THAT THE COMMISSION COMPRISE A TOTAL OF 15 AT LARGE VOTING MEMBERS SELECTED THROUGH AN APPLICATION PROCESS SIMILAR TO ALL OF OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT THEY BE INTERVIEWED BY THIS COMMISSION, BY THIS COMMITTEE.UM, AND THEN OVERALL APPROVAL BY, BY THE FULL COUNCIL, UM, TO ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVES OF RECEIVING FEEDBACK ACROSS ALL SIZES OF BUSINESSES AND, AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUSINESSES.
UM, ALSO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, WHAT WE, WE PROVIDED A PRELIMINARY BREAKDOWN OF THESE, THESE POSITIONS.
UM, WE'RE RECOMMENDING THAT TWO OF THEM BE BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS, PROFESSIONAL TRADER ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, WE'RE ALSO RECOMMENDING THAT TWO OF THEM BE NONPROFITS THAT PROVIDE SERVICES TO OUR SMALL BUSINESSES.
UM, AND THEN AS FAR AS THE ACTUAL BUSINESS OWNERS, WE THINK THE MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS COMMISSION SHOULD ACTUALLY BE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS, AND THAT THERE BE A DISTRIBUTION AMONG THE SIZES AND TYPES OF BUSINESSES.
SO FOUR OF THEM SHOULD BE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE 10 OR LESS EMPLOYEES, BECAUSE THAT'S THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE BUSINESSES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
FOUR OF THEM SHOULD HAVE BETWEEN 10 AND AND 50 EMPLOYEES.
UM, AND THEN THREE OF THEM SHOULD, SHOULD BE MORE FOCUSED ON OUR TARGETED INDUSTRIES, THOSE AREAS, THOSE INDUSTRIES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO GROW IN OUR COMMUNITY, AND THE AREAS WHERE WE HAVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.
AND WE WANNA CONTINUE TO, TO STILL SUPPORT THOSE TYPES OF BUSINESSES IN SAN ANTONIO.
SO THIS WAS OUR PRELIMINARY, UM, APPROACH TO IT.
WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK AND INPUT.
UM, AND THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
ALEX, YOU CAN TAKE ANOTHER SIP OF WATER TO MY COLLEAGUE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE IN, UH, PUSHING THROUGH THIS.
I THINK, UH, THIS IS IMPORTANT AND WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS NOW BECAUSE SO MUCH IS HAPPENING.
AND WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO, UM, HAVE THE FLOOR OVER TO THE, UH, AUTHOR OF THE C C R COUNCIL MEMBER RICHARD GARCIA.
AND, UH, CARLOS, NOT THAT I WAS COUNTING, BUT IT WAS ABOUT 385 DAYS, UM, BEFORE THE, THE CCRS RECOMMENDATION WAS, UM, PRESENTED.
SO I WAS REALLY HAPPY ABOUT THIS.
AND, UM, I, I WANNA THANK COUNCILWOMAN
AND I THINK THAT, UH, I HAVE TO SHOUT OUT BECAUSE, UH, ANYTIME THAT, OH, A WOMAN GETS INVOLVED, WE GET IT DONE.
AND IT MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE FASTER.
THANK YOU COUNCIL, UH, DAVID INTERROGATE FOR BRINGING THIS UP.
UM, ALEX, I REALLY LOVE, UH, WHAT, WHAT YOU ALL HAVE PRESENTED.
I HAVE JUST A FEW QUESTIONS THAT I JUST WANNA GET, UH, CLARIFYING HERE.
AND I DO ALSO HAVE TO THANK MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUE, UH, SHIRLEY GONZALEZ, 'CAUSE SHE SIGNED ONTO THE C C R AND, AND WAS EXCITED ABOUT IT AS WELL, UM, WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT BACK IN OCTOBER.
AND, UM, MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES, PERRY AND ANDREW SULLIVAN ALSO SIGNED ONTO THE, UM, C C R.
UM, BUT I DO, UH, I WAS WONDERING THE CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE SPAC COM, UH, OF THE CURRENT SSC COMMITTEE, WHICH ARE, YOU'RE PROPOSING TO TURN INTO THIS DATA ADVISORY BOARD, WILL THEY BE ABLE TO APPLY FOR THIS COMMISSION AS WELL? YES, MA'AM.
UM, I BELIEVE THE ONLY RE REGULATION RIGHT NOW IS THAT, UM, RESIDENTS OR CITIZENS CAN'T SERVE ON MORE THAN TWO BOARDS OF COMMISSIONS.
SO AS LONG AS THEY'RE NOT ALREADY SERVING ON TWO, THEY COULD, THEY COULD ALSO SERVE ON THIS ONE.
DID WE GATHER THEIR FEEDBACK AS WELL, UM, ON THIS BY ANY CHANCE? WE ACTUALLY DID.
WE PRESENTED IT TO THEM LAST WEEK.
WHAT DID THEY SAY? I'M, I'M JUST CURIOUS TO HEAR SOME OF THE FEEDBACK.
UM, I, THEY, THE, I THINK IT CAME DOWN TO THE, THE COMPOSITION.
UM, THEY WANTED, THEY, THEY WERE TRYING TO FIND A WAY THAT THERE WAS STILL, UM, DISTRIBUTION.
UM, THEY, THEY SAW THE, THE, YOU KNOW, THE WAY THAT WE HAD KIND OF ANTICIPATED OR, OR TRIED TO BUILD IN DISTRIBUTION AS FAR AS THE SIZE OF BUSINESSES AND THE TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT WOULD BE, UM, THAT THE COMMISSION WOULD CONSIST OF.
BUT THEY ALSO WERE LOOKING FOR MORE OF A GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AS WELL.
UM, AND, AND ACTUALLY, AND, AND I AGREE WITH THAT.
UM, I'M ALWAYS CONCERNED ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND HOW MANY PEOPLE PARTICIPATE FROM WHAT COUNCIL DISTRICT.
I KNOW THESE ARE AT LARGE POSITIONS, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THERE COULD BE MAYBE LIKE A SECONDARY, UM, YOU KNOW, AS, AS WE ARE LOOKING TO INTERVIEW, UM, WHAT, MAYBE THERE'S LIKE AN INFORMAL RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO ACHIEVE THAT.
AND MAYBE THAT'S A CONVERSATION WITH, UM, MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUE, UH, ANNA SANDOVAL, WHO WE'RE WORKING ON A SUBCOMMITTEE, UM, TO LOOK AT, UM, COMMITTEE STRUCTURES.
SO MAYBE I'LL BRING IT UP THERE, BUT I, I THINK THAT WE CAN DEFINITELY, PROBABLY ACHIEVE SOME SORT OF GEOGRAPHIC
[01:50:01]
REPRESENTATION.UM, ANYWAY, SO, UM, SO THAT'S, THAT.
I WAS, UH, TRYING TO FIGURE THAT OUT BECAUSE I DO BELIEVE, UM, THAT WE HAVE, WE NEED REPRESENTATION.
I APPRECIATE THAT YOU HAVE TWO TRADE ORGANIZATIONS, TWO NONPROFITS.
I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY THOUGHTFUL OF YOU ALL TO INCLUDE, UM, FOUR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WITH LESS THAN 10.
AND THEN THE, UM, MEDIUM SIZE.
AND THEN I REALLY LIKE THE TARGET INDUSTRIES.
HOW ARE WE GONNA DETERMINE THOSE THREE TARGET INDUSTRIES? SO WE WORK, AND, AND THIS IS MORE OF OUR, I GUESS, TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORK WHERE WE, WE'VE IDENTIFIED THE AREAS, UM, PART OF OUR STRATEGIC PLAN, UM, WITH THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION.
WE KNOW WE HAVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN BIOSCIENCE AND IT, AND CYBERSECURITY AND AEROSPACE.
AND IT'S NOT JUST THE BIG COMPANIES BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A LOT OF SMALL BUSINESSES THAT FORM TO SUPPORT THOSE BIGGER COMPANIES.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE ALSO ENCOURAGING THAT SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH IN THOSE AREAS.
AND ALEX, I HAD HAD A CONVERSATION WITH THE, UM, CHAIR OF, UH, SPAC BACK WHEN I PRESENTED THE C C R.
AND SO I HAD MADE A RECOMMENDATION FOR, UM, FOR, FOR POSSIBILITY OF, UH, OF A PORTION OF IT.
AND, AND MAYBE IT'S NOW THE BETA ADVISORY BOARD, UM, WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CITY AUDITOR'S OFFICE.
AND I DON'T KNOW, UM, HOW YOU ALL, UH, DECIDED, OR IF YOU ALL LOOKED AT THAT.
I KNOW THAT YOU ALL LOOKED AT SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES AND WHERE, UH, WHAT DEPARTMENT OVERSAW THEM.
CAN YOU HELP ME, UM, UNDERSTAND HOW YOU, UH, ARRIVED AT YOUR RECOMMENDATION TODAY? YES, AND, AND I'LL PREFACE THAT, UH, BY SAYING THAT WHEN WE PRESENTED THIS TO, UM, TO THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, THE FIRST TIME AROUND, UM, KEVIN JOINED ME, UM, FROM OUR CITY AUDITOR AND REALLY EXPLAINED THE, THE POTENTIAL CONFLICT BETWEEN HIS OFFICE, UM, OVERSEEING A BOARD THAT, ESPECIALLY SOMETHING LIKE SPAC, UM, THAT IS SO INVOLVED IN CITY POLICY, CITY PROCEDURES.
UM, SO I THINK AT THAT POINT WE KIND OF STEPPED AWAY FROM THAT PART OF THE RECOMMENDATION, AND WE LOOKED TO SEE WHAT OTHER CITIES DO, AND THAT'S WHERE MOST OF THEM FELL WITHIN A SMALL BUSINESS OFFICE AND OR AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
I DID SEE THAT SLIDE, SO I APPRECIATE THAT.
I WAS TRYING TO, UM, MAKE SURE I, I, I, I SAW THAT THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, SOME ADDITIONAL, UM, CONSIDERATION, UH, THAT WAS TAKEN INTO THAT.
AND THEN I REALLY, UM, WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE SURVEY RESULTS, AND I, I'M HAPPY TO SEE THAT 62% WOULD BE WILLING TO SERVE ON A COMMISSION.
AND I THINK THAT WE SEE THIS, RIGHT? WE, WE'VE SEEN THIS, UM, EVEN WITH THIS ELECTION, PEOPLE WANT TO GET INVOLVED.
SO I THINK THAT IT'S OUR OPPORTUNITY, UM, TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
I, UH, ALSO, I APPRECIATE THE NUMBER OF, UM, SURVEY PARTICIPANTS, AND I THOUGHT THAT IT WAS REALLY, UH, REALLY NEAT THAT, UH, WE HAD ENGAGEMENT BASED ON YEARS OF, UH, OF OPERATION BROKEN DOWN.
AND SO THE SIX TO 10, UM, THE 20 PLUS YEARS, THE EMPLOYEE SIZE, I THOUGHT IT WAS A NICE, UH, BREAKDOWN, ESPECIALLY LIKE THAT THE EMPLOYEE SIZE THAT WE HAD MOST RESULTS FROM WAS ONE TO FIVE.
AND SO THOSE ARE OUR SMALL BUSINESSES, THOSE ARE OUR MICRO BUSINESSES.
THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT REALLY, UM, NEED TO BE INVOLVED AND, AND NEED OUR HELP.
SO, UM, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU, ALEX.
AND, UM, ONE QUESTION THAT IS ALSO KIND, IT'S, IT'S RELATED TO THIS AND MAYBE THE LAST ONE, BUT JUST IT REMINDED ME, WHAT ARE WE DOING FOR SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY? HAVE Y'ALL SENT SOMETHING OUT JUST YET? UM, OR, OR MAYBE YOU CAN JUST OFFLINE, JUST, UH, IF YOU CAN HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING FOR SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY.
I KNOW IT'S COMING UP NOVEMBER 10TH, I BELIEVE.
I JUST WANNA BE READY TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESSES THAT DAY.
WE CAN DEFINITELY GET INFORMATION OUT TO, TO YOU AND TO THE REST OF THE COMMITTEE.
UM, MICHAEL IS ACTUALLY ALREADY WORKING WITH LAUNCHES, SAY, UM, TO, TO REALLY DO MORE ENGAGEMENT, MORE OUTREACH AND, AND REALLY KIND OF HYPE UP THE, THE EVENT AND THE DAY THIS YEAR, MORE THAN EVER, IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT, THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF US UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR SMALL BUSINESSES AND SUPPORTING THEM.
UM, I'M GONNA GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER CAVE HDA.
AND SO FIRST, ARE WE MOVE, MAKING A MOTION TO MOVE THIS TO, UH, A, A COUNCIL A SESSION OR WE JUST CONSTRUCT, WE'RE JUST MOVING FORWARD WITH THE CREATING THIS, WE, WE, UM, VERY MUCH WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR FEEDBACK ON THE COMPOSITION, UM, AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT THIS ALIGNS BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD, UM, TO THE, A SESSION MAKING.
AND, AND THEN WE'LL KEEP IT MOVING.
UM, I, I'M CURIOUS WHY NOT CHARGE THE, THE SBA WITH AN INCREASED SCOPE
[01:55:01]
INSTEAD OF RELATING THEM TO, UM, OR AT A SUBCOMMITTEE? YOU MENTIONED WHY, WHY A SEPARATE COMMITTEE? PART OF, UM, PART OF WHAT WE'VE SEEN THE SUCCESS OF THE, OF THE CE BETA PROGRAM HAS REALLY BEEN THE FACT THAT WE HAVE THESE, THESE, UM, THESE RESIDENTS THAT, THAT YOU APPOINT THAT LOOK AT THIS CONSISTENTLY, UM, AND ARE CONSTANTLY PROVIDING US FEEDBACK, HELPING US TWEAK AND ADJUST AS NECESSARY.AND, AND IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF WORK, UM, TO BE REVIEWING THINGS ON, ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
SO THE IDEA OF ADDING MORE WORK TO THEM, UM, THAT ARE, THEY'RE ALREADY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS, WE DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS NECESSARILY SOMETHING WE'D WANNA DO.
AND WE DON'T WANT THEM TO LOSE FOCUS ON THE VETA PROGRAM BECAUSE NONE OF US WANNA LOSE FOCUS ON THAT.
WE'VE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE IT, IT STAYS ON TRACK AS WELL, ON TRACK AS WELL.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER SCOTT, LET'S CONSIDER US, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE ABOUT TO LAUNCH, AS ALEX INDICATED, THE FIVE YEAR, EVERY FIVE YEARS WE DO A DISPARITY STUDY THAT PROVIDES THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR CONTINUING THE PROGRAM.
AND THE SPAC IS INTIMATELY INVOLVED IN THAT.
AND SO AT THIS TIME, STARTING UP A BRAND NEW EFFORT, YOU KNOW, ON THEIR PART WHILE DOING THE SO BETA STUDY, WHICH TAKES ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF TO MAYBE TWO YEARS FROM START TO FINISH, UM, WE FELT LIKE THAT'S JUST GONNA CREATE A LOT OF WORK TO THEM.
AND WE REALLY, WE WANT TO KEEP THEM FOCUSED ON, ON THE CONTRACTING COMPONENTS OF OUR WORK.
SO THEN WHY NOT ADD A SUBCOMMITTEE TO, TO A SPACE C WHY, OR, OR EVEN THE OPPOSITE, YOU KNOW, WHY NOT MAKE THIS SPACE COMMITTEE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THIS NEW COMMISSION? WHY, WHY HAVE TWO SEPARATE? YEAH, I THINK, UM, UH, I THINK THE, THE PEOPLE, THE BUSINESS OWNERS THAT ARE INTERESTED IN SPAC AND, AND IN SPAC, UM, THEY ARE VERY MUCH INTERESTED IN CITY PROCUREMENT LIKE THAT THEY, AND YOU ALMOST NEED TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE CITY BUYS THINGS, UM, TO BE A PART OF THAT COMMITTEE.
THIS WOULD BE ALMOST ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.
YES, THIS IS, IT'S STILL A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, BUT THEY MAY NEVER BID ON ANY CITY WORK.
SO THEY BRING A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE TO THE CONVERSATION THAT WHILE THEY, THEY, THERE'S SOME PEOPLE THAT COULD DO BOTH, UM, LIKE THE COUNCIL MEMBER MENTIONED EARLIER, COULD THEY SERVE? YES.
BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE FAIRLY DIFFERENT, UH, PERSPECTIVES AND FEEDBACK THAT THEY WOULD BRING TO THE CONVERSATION.
SO, I MEAN, I GUESS MY CONCERN IS THAT, THAT WHEN THE, THE PEOPLE THAT ARE CURRENTLY ON SS, THE S B A C THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE CURRENT MEMBERS, WE HAVE TO CONSIDER THAT THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS GONNA BE ON THIS BOARD, RIGHT? SO I, AND, AND ALSO, UM, JUST TO, UH, IT'S A QUESTION ABOUT WHEN THEY APPLIED FOR SS B A C, THEY DIDN'T REALIZE MAYBE IT WAS JUST GONNA BE JUST A BETA, RIGHT? SO, UM, I UNDERSTAND, I UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A LOT OF WORK.
I, THAT THAT'S A, A VALID, UM, REASON TO ME.
BUT I, I JUST, IT'S JUST, I'M NOT EXACTLY UNDERSTANDING WHY THEY CAN'T BE SOMEHOW TIED TOGETHER OR, UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE, MAYBE IT'S A COMMITTEE OF SUBCOMMITTEE, I JUST UNDERSTAND SEPARATE FROM THIS.
AND, AND I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THAT, FOR THAT TO BE SOMEHOW CONNECTED.
THE, THE, UH, ALEX, COULD YOU EXPLAIN THE CHARGE OF THE S A COMMITTEE? AND MAYBE THAT'S, THAT'LL BE HELP HELPFUL AS WELL.
AND MAYBE ALSO THE, THE, I'M SORRY, GO AHEAD.
NO, I WAS GONNA SAY, I THINK THAT THE CHARGE IS SPECIFIC TO THE CONTRACTING THAT THE CITY DOES AND THE CHARGE OF THIS COMMITTEE ARE COMMISSIONED, WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THAT.
AND ALSO MAYBE EXPLAIN THAT, THAT, I MEAN, YOU, YOU, UH, YOU WENT OVER THE, THE POSITIONS SPECIFIC, UH, POSITIONS THAT WOULD BE IN THE NEW COMMISSION.
BUT, UH, WHAT, WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF POSITIONS THAT ARE IN THE FAC? ARE THEY ALSO VERY SPECIFICALLY, UM, SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS LIKE THAT? IF YOU DON'T MIND? NO, CERTAINLY COUNCIL MEMBER.
SO THE, THE SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY COMMITTEE IS ACTUALLY CREATED THROUGH THE C BETA ORDINANCE.
UM, AND, UH, THOSE APPOINTMENTS ARE DISTRICT SPECIFIC AND A MAYORAL APPOINTMENT.
UM, VERY TRADITIONAL TERMS. THERE'S NO, UM, REQUIREMENT OF CERTAIN, OF ANY PARTICULAR SIZE OF BUSINESSES OR INDUSTRIES.
UM, IN FACT, SOMETIMES WE'VE HAD PEOPLE APPOINTED THAT, UM, ARE, ARE MAYBE MEMBERS OF BUSINESS SERVING ORGANIZATIONS, BUT NOT NECESSARILY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS.
SO IT IS A, IS A VERY OPEN OPPORTUNITY FOR APPOINTMENT THERE.
UM, THEY DO FOCUS ON, ON, ON PROCUREMENT AND, AND, AND WHAT THE CITY BUYS AND HOW WE MAKE SURE THAT
[02:00:01]
WE'RE MAKING OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE TO OUR, OUR SMALL MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESSES.UM, HOW WE'RE ELIMINATING ANY TYPES OF BARRIERS THAT WE MAY UNKNOWINGLY BE PLACING AS WE ISSUE SOLICITATIONS.
SO THAT IS THEIR, THAT IS THEIR FOCUS, UM, TO INCREASE OR, OR TO ADDRESS THAT DISPARITY IN CONTRACTING THAT THE CITY, UM, THAT THESE STUDIES HAVE TOLD US.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE.
SO, UM, IT REQUIRES THE TECHNICAL COMPETENCY, UM, TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT THE CITY BUYS THINGS, UM, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE CAN AND CAN'T DO FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE.
UM, AND, AND, UM, IT, IT, IT CAN, IT, IT'S, IT'S A CERTAIN FOCUS.
UM, THIS WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT.
THIS WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, UM, HOW ANY KIND OF POLICY THAT WE, YOU KNOW, YOU AS ELECTED OFFICIALS MIGHT BE CONSIDERING, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW WOULD IT IMPACT OVERALL BUSINESS, BUT SOMETIMES IT HAS THIS VERY SPECIFIC IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESSES, UM, CODE REGULATIONS, HOW DO THEY AFFECT OUR SMALL BUSINESSES.
UM, THE OTHER ONE THAT I KNOW ALREADY CAME TO MIND WAS WHEN WE'RE HAVING MAJOR, UM, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ALONG CERTAIN CORRIDORS, MAKING SURE THAT WE, WE KNOW WE ENGAGE WITH SMALL BUSINESSES AND, AND UNDERSTAND HOW THAT'S GONNA IMPACT.
AND THESE ARE PART OF THE CAMPAIGNS ALREADY, BUT, BUT HAVING A BOARD THAT REALLY CAN DO SOMETHING SYSTEMICALLY LIKE THIS AND ALSO SOMETHING FOR THE STAFF TO BE ABLE TO GO TO THOSE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND SAY, WE'RE THINKING OF DOING THIS, WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR YOU? UM, I THINK THAT'S A REALLY VALUABLE OPPORTUNITY.
WELL, AND FOR THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, YOURSELF, FOR, SO THAT YOU CAN, IF YOU, AS YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT, AND I'M JUST GONNA, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S A PAID SICK LEAVE ISSUE OR A MINIMUM WAGE OR WHATEVER THE POLICY ISSUE IS, UM, ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THAT YOU, THAT YOU'RE CONSIDERING TO HAVE A FEED, THE PLACE THAT YOU CAN GET FEEDBACK SPECIFICALLY FROM, FROM BUSINESS ON THAT ISSUE IS, IS PART OF IT AS WELL.
CAN YOU PULL UP THE SLIDE, UH, WHERE YOU HAVE THE RECOMMENDED, UH, POSITION, LIKE SMALL BUSINESS OWNER.
SO GIVEN WHAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED, UM, ARE, ARE, IS THERE GONNA BE ANY, ANY EDUCATION OR PREREQUISITE TRAINING FOR THAT STAFF WILL PROVIDE THESE REPRESENTATIVES TO INCREASE THEIR CONTENT KNOWLEDGE? UM, BECAUSE THOSE THINGS THAT YOU DESCRIBED AS SMALL BUSINESS OWNER MIGHT NOT NECESSARILY KNOW, YOU KNOW, QUOTE AND, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF THING.
SO IT'S, IS THERE GONNA BE ANY EDUCATION? I THINK WE HAVE.
SO THE EXPECTATION WOULD BE THAT WHENEVER A DEPARTMENT OR WHENEVER, UM, SOMEBODY IS BRINGING AN ITEM TO THE, THIS NEW, THIS NEW POTENTIAL COMMISSION, UM, THERE WOULD BE AN EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT BACKGROUND, THE WAY WE TYPICALLY PROVIDE CONTEXT OF, YOU KNOW, WHY THE POLICY, WHAT WE'RE THINKING OF THERE, THERE WOULD BE, AND IT WOULD BE UNIQUE TO THAT PARTICULAR TYPE OF ENGAGEMENT.
AND JUST LIKE, LIKE SBA, THERE, THERE, THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SORT OF EDUCATION THAT TAKES PLACE SO PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND.
'CAUSE CITY CONTRACTING IS COM IS COMPLEX, IT'S GOT STATE REGULATIONS, IT'S GOT LOCAL REGULATIONS, GOT FEDERAL REGULATIONS, UH, DISCRIMINATORY ISSUES, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE CAN DO IN TERMS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT.
SO THEY GET A LOT OF DETAILED EXPLANATION TRAINING.
AND THEN OVER TIME, THAT COMMITTEE BUILDS UP THE EXPERTISE THAT THEN IS REALLY HELPFUL FOR PAC.
SIMILARLY, WE WOULD'VE TO EDUCATE ON EVERY ISSUE COMING BEFORE THIS COMMISSION.
SO IT WOULD BE ONGOING, NOT JUST YES, MA'AM.
THAT THOSE ARE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS TOO.
UH, ALEX IS THE IDEA, UH, O OBVIOUSLY WHAT I'M, WHAT I'M SEEING HERE IS A REDUCTION IN SCOPE OF THE WORK DONE BY THE EXISTING COMMITTEE, RIGHT? WELL, IT'S NOT REALLY A REDUCTION BECAUSE IT ALREADY IS.
THAT IS WE, WE WANNA STAY FOCUSED.
IT'S ACTUALLY AN, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR, FOR US TO ENGAGE WITH SMALL BUSINESSES ON THIS OTHER WHOLE OTHER PORTFOLIO OF WORK.
TO WHAT EXTENT WOULD THIS NEW COMMITTEE BE DOING SOMETHING THAT THE OLD COMMITTEE IS ALREADY DOING? NOT THE OLD COMMITTEE, BUT THE EXISTING COMMITTEE IS ALREADY DOING NOTHING.
THEIR CHARGE IS VERY SPECIFIC TO PROCUREMENT AND, AND S BETA.
UM, THAT, THAT ANSWERS MY QUESTION, Y'ALL.
UM, I, I DID HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, TO, UH, TO SEE THE PRESENTATION AND TO GET BRIEF.
[02:05:01]
FEEDBACK, UH, YOU KNOW, TO ALEX AND, UH, I'LL SHARE IT WITH THE TEAM, UH, IS THAT I WOULD PREFER TO SEE, UM, COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS.UH, I MEAN, I THINK WE CAN KEEP SOME OF THE REQUESTS THAT YOU HAVE, UM, IN TERMS OF THE DIVERSITY OF, OF SMALL BUSINESS TO BIG BUSINESS AND, UH, INDUSTRY.
BUT, UM, I PREFER A COUNCIL, UH, APPOINT APPOINTEE.
UM, AND, UH, THE OTHER, UM, CONCERN OR, UM, FEEDBACK I HAVE IS THAT YOU MEET AS NEEDED AND NOT MONTHLY.
BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, DOES HAPPEN IS IF STAFF REALLY GETS BOGGED DOWN WITH PRESENTING TO COMMITTEES, UH, AND SO THAT THE FOCUS, UM, YOU KNOW, OF THE, OF THE, OF THE, UM, COMMITTEE, UH, REALLY BE AS, AS ISSUES COME UP.
SO WE HAD THE PAID SICK LEAVE.
WE HAD SOME OF THE RESTAURANT INSPECTIONS COME UP, UM, THAT I THINK COULD HAVE BEEN VETTED THROUGH A COMMITTEE.
I THINK WHEN WE DO DO SOME OF OUR BOND, UM, PROGRAMS, WE MIGHT, UH, ADDRESS THEM AS WELL TO SEE, YOU KNOW, UM, IN FACT SOME OF THE LARGER INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS.
AND SO, I MEAN, EVEN AGAIN, IT, IT'S A SMALL, UH, OR WELL, IT, IT, IT'S A HUGE PROBLEM.
BUT WHEN ONE OF THE, A LOT OF THE FEEDBACK I'VE BEEN GETTING, OF COURSE, FROM, UH, MY SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IS AGAIN, THE HOMELESS PROBLEM, WHICH, YOU KNOW, I HAVE MENTIONED TO YOU ALL MANY TIMES, UM, BECAUSE THE, THE ISSUE OF HOMELESSNESS IS REALLY IMPACTING OUR SMALL BUSINESSES, ESPECIALLY, UH, ON SOME OF OUR MAJOR CORRIDORS, LIKE ON COMMERCE, UH, ON, UM, GENERAL MULLIN, UM, UH, ON COLORADO STREET.
UM, BECAUSE, UM, THE BUSINESSES ARE SAYING THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT THE PROBLEM WITH THE HOMELESS IS, IS TURNING PEOPLE AWAY FROM THEIR BUSINESSES AND THEN ALSO INCREASED COSTS OF HAVING TO MAINTAIN THOSE SPACES.
SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, AND THOSE ARE SOMETHING OF COURSE, THAT THE CE BETA, UM, GROUP WOULD NOT ADDRESS.
UM, AND SO, UH, PERHAPS, UM, IT COULD BE MORE ALONG THOSE LINES, UM, THAT THE COMMITTEE MEET AS NEEDED AND, UM, AS ISSUES ARISE, UH, VERSUS JUST A REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING.
UM, SO THAT, THAT'S A FEEDBACK I HAVE.
SO I MEAN, I, I THINK I DO THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT, UM, YOU, UH, COMMITTEE AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER.
AND, AND A LOT OF THE FEEDBACK WE HEARD, AND I THINK THIS IS WHERE THE COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, HAD THE IDEA, WAS THAT PEOPLE, THEY WERE SAYING WHERE, WHERE CAN WE AS SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS GIVE OUR, GIVE OUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS WORKFORCE INITIATIVE, ABOUT, UM, THE PAID SICK LEAVE, UH, ABOUT, UM, UH, THE OTHER BIG ONE THAT WE DID RECENTLY, UH, WITH THE CLIMATE ACTION PLAN, THEY ALSO FELT LIKE THEY DIDN'T HAVE A PLACE TO, UM, SPEAK TO THE COUNCIL OTHER THAN JUST COMING TO CITIZENS TO BE HEARD, TO SPEAK.
UH, SO I, I'M SUPPORTIVE, UM, OF THE INITIATIVE OR GOING THROUGH THE CHAMBERS.
THAT'S OF COURSE A COMMON WAY, UH, TO ADDRESS, UM, UH, ISSUES IS THROUGH THE CHAMBERS.
UM, BUT WE KNOW THAT OF COURSE, UM, NOT ALL OF THEM ARE CHAMBER MEMBERS.
UM, AND THE CHAMBER HAS ALSO ITS OWN AGENDA.
I MEAN, THAT'S THE REALITY OF THE DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, FOR YOUR WORK COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, AS A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, I KNOW, I APPRECIATE IT.
UM, I, I CONCUR WITH YOUR, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY WOULD MEET AS NEEDED, AS WELL AS LOOKING AT A MORE GEOGRAPHIC REPRESENTATION WITHIN, UH, COUNCIL COMMITTEES.
I KNOW THAT ALL OF OUR DISTRICTS PROBABLY HAVE SOMEBODY THAT FITS INTO ONE OF THESE CATEGORIES, AND SIMPLY BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY SEEN IN DISTRICT FOUR IN PARTICULAR, SORRY, COUNCIL MEMBER, I'M GONNA, UH, TALK ABOUT DISTRICT FOUR RIGHT QUICK.
IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT IN ORDER TO GET THOSE APPLICANTS.
AND WE'VE SEEN SO MANY TIMES IN AT LARGE APPOINTMENTS HOW IT'S USUALLY DOMINATES CERTAIN AREAS.
SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE REPRESENTATION THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY.
UH, SO LET'S LOOK AND SEE WHERE KIND OF, UH, COMBINATIONS WE CAN PUT THAT MOVING FORWARD.
I THINK YOU'VE GOT ENOUGH DIRECTION FROM US ON THIS.
SO, UM, MY COLLEAGUES, I HAVE ONE, UH, WE
[A. 20-6286 Economic development negotiations pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.087 (economic development).]
HAVE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO GO THROUGH AND I KNOW THIS IS TURNING INTO ALMOST LIKE A REGULAR CITY COUNCIL DAY, BUT WE ARE DOING GREAT WORK HERE IN OUR CITY.UH, SO I WANNA, WE WANNA ALSO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THIS CONVERSATION MOVING FORWARD.
UM, SO THE TIME IS NOW 12:24 PM ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22ND, THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL COMMITTEE WILL NOW MEET AN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO CONSULT WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND TO DELIBERATE OR DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO THE FOLLOWING
[02:10:02]
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 51 0 8 7, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THE PURCHASE EXCHANGE LEASE OR VALUE OF REAL PROPERTY PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 51 0.072 REAL PROPERTY LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO LITIGATION INVOLVING THE CITY PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 51 CONSULTATION AND DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES TO 19 PREPAREDNESS PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0 7 1 CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY.WE'LL SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE.
UH, THE TIME IS NOW 12:50 PM ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22ND, 2020, AND THE ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL COMMITTEE WILL NOW RECONVENE AN OPEN SESSION.
NO OFFICIAL ACTION WAS TAKEN IN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
UM, AND THIS CONCLUDES OUR ENTIRE AGENDA TODAY.
THESE ARE GONNA BE GREAT MINUTES THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO THROUGH LATER.
AND JUST A REMINDER TO EVERYONE THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.
THANK YOU TO MY COLLEAGUES AND TEAM FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE DOING, UM, AND FOR HANGING IN THERE.
A REMINDER, THE ELECTION IS OVER IN 12 DAYS.
IF YOU HAVE NOT VOTED, GET OUT AND VOTE 8:00 PM TODAY UNTIL OCTOBER 30TH.
THANK YOU ALL, AND WE STAND ADJOURNED.