Mayor's Economic Development Advisory Panel/Economic Recovery Task Force - Regular Meeting

Retail sector. And and that's also kind of tied into the the actual shopping center. So our involvement is typically looking at, you know, not every small space, but usually the bigger types of tenants. So how can we assist with, you know, helping that South Shore Center or or Alameda Landing? How can we assist with those larger type of spaces?

What kind of outreach could we work with? So from that aspect, it's also, dealing with brokers, dealing with property owners in the case of shopping centers, dealing particularly with their property kind of managers. The retail attraction is more proactive because it's okay. We found out about the space. We wanna work with you.

So now we're we're proactively gonna go out and help you try to find tenants. So for both the downtown attraction efforts and for the retail attraction efforts, finding that tenant kind of process is is learning about the space, learning about kind of putting putting businesses into those spaces. And then when we talk about our website, we'll get into kind of how we can promote it, how we can list those kind of spaces on our Choose Alameda website. So then getting into kind of the the the proactive part of it. So for for when we're looking at the business sectors and, you know, in the past, I think our efforts have been more kind of general, you know, promoting Alameda as a whole.

And so now our focus that we wanna do is is more into, okay, how do we attract? It's it's the blue tech, the green tech, clean tech, and also the biotech biosector. So those are the four kind of business sectors that we're looking at. And for those sectors, it's definitely it's definitely looking at where they can locate. So the advantage that we have or the message that we have for Alameda is, you know, we have different places for you to locate size wise, so you can go to, you know, Alameda Point and have this have these have these big type of spaces.

You can go to a research park and have a smaller space, medium sized space. You can go to Harbor Bay and get a big space. And then it's also tied into wanting to be you know, how can we align you with other businesses that are that are the same like yours? So, it's not just the space needs, but also kind of that alignment with other types of businesses. So for that strategy, it's really it's really about how do we reach out to to the to the not only to the businesses, but to the property managers.

How do we promote? How do we know about and promote those specific kind of spaces? And then what are those messages that we're that we're trying to convey? And that's kind of what we're gonna get into talking about more tonight is those kind of common messages that we have and then those specific messages that we have. The other thing before we get into that, I also want to talk about so we've got business attraction activities, and then we have workforce activities.

For the most part, workforce typically is is is handled by, or most of the heavy lifting typically is done by, like, workforce development board and and, and entities like that that are that are kind of set up to how can we find out about the needs, how can we address those kind of needs. In the in the case here, one of the things that that we found successful is actually our with our partnership with the chamber, the executive roundtables that we've had. And so so that's been with the different kind of business sectors. And the and the purpose of those, that Madeline set up is to really get their kind of feedback on, okay, what's working for you now, Amida? What are the needs that you have?

What should we know about your kind of industry? What came out of those meetings was kind of this common theme of when we asked them about workforce. It was this common theme of of, okay. We could find the we could find the entry level workers. We could find the engineer type of workers, but it's the kind of those technicians in the middle that that people were having a harder time finding.

And so, so we felt like, okay. That was an area that we could then focus on for for our workforce activities. And then talking to the, to the College of Alameda, it's okay. How can we once we find out so our next step is to go and survey those companies and find out exactly, okay. We just wanna confirm this is what you told us. This is you know, we wanna confirm that. Are there any other needs? And then we can take that to the college to say, okay. Is it are there courses that we can do? Are there other avenues of training that we could do?

So that's kind of our next step from a from a workforce standpoint. So kinda getting into the into kind of our our partners and what we wanna do. You know, I've talked in the past before about economic development really is about kind of, very tied into our relationships. And so for, you know, for the for downtowns and and for for the retail sector and also for the business sector, you know, the relationships are the people that are involved in that development kind of process. So, so our relationship is with brokers, with property owners, with property managers, with resource kind of providers.

So part of this attraction effort is to is to make sure that we're continuing and nurturing those kind of relationships. Relationships. Because in many cases, that's the way we're finding out about what's available, what businesses are looking for. And then really the proactive part is telling our story. And so what I wanna kind of talk about next is is what are those messages that we wanna tell, and then how are we gonna go about telling that story?

So, so we're gonna look at our kind of two websites, work our way through those, and then also get into kind of those messages. One of the things that bringing back so so when we that, I think it was two or two meetings ago for this group, we talked about, okay. Because we were in the process of of of looking at starting this kinda choose Alameda business attraction website. And and the feedback we got from this group was, okay. We can we can talk certainly talk about Alameda and lifestyle and and and and transportation and where we're at and the all those kind of things that you typically see, but the feedback was what we really need to kind of hit home about is the nuts and bolts of of how you're starting your business, getting a business started at Alameda, and then the cost of doing business.

So getting the business here, getting it up and running, and then the advantages that Alethia offers as far as the cost of doing business here, finding employees, getting tied into things like AMP, our and our specific kind of advantages in those areas. So as we set up our websites that that we've set up specifically that way to kind of walk our way through. So maybe maybe what we could do is look at the the Choose Alameda kind of template that we have, and I'll and I'll kind of I'll walk through that. And and then I'll get into our other website, then I'll start then I'll we'll talk about kind of the messages. Oh, perfect.

Okay. Okay. So so and and this is this is still kind of the the narrative's getting plugged into, but and logos and things like that, colors. But it it really starts off with kind of this. This is the main kind of page.

Is the first thing that you're scrolling down and seeing. So the main messages we have at the very top, we have that that section on you can click on opening your business and cost of operations. So so that's really those are the main kind of messages. We also have lifestyle in there, but but the three messages we've got from this group was make sure that that's readily available. Those are the parts that people wanna see.

This front section will have will have videos. They'll have pictures that'll kinda scroll through. And then those two tabs there, explore business clusters and available buildings and spaces, get into then the story of, okay. Well, what businesses are here already? How can you locate next to other businesses? And then the nuts and bolts of, okay. Where can you actually find your your building site? So the site is set up to at the very beginning, telling the story and getting down to how the nuts and bolts of how our business yeah. How Almedia is a great place to locate your business, start it up, and run your business.

How are we how are we pushing this out to the world?

Once it's done, our plan is to kind of go on the circuit of of of getting this out to the to the development community, the brokerage community, through our regional partners, through site selectors. So, basically, everyone who would come in contact with that, that's that will be our kind of our press release type of thing that now we have this site.

So it won't necessarily rely on someone thinking, I might wanna move to Alameda. They've almost we'll put the idea in their head.

Yeah. So there's there's kind of the component of, yes, it's there, but then also the component we wanna reach out to let people know that it's there. And then part of this is also the, you know, the SEO part of our website is making sure that we're you know, when people are hitting on locating businesses, Bay Area, that that this site is kind of front and center. So you could if you could scroll down a little bit, so then we have this section of of okay. Here's here's a listing of of different types of companies.

This will also, you know, be kind of rotating. And then the column, if you scroll up just a little bit, the the column on the left side is really hitting kind of the theme of of the innovation in Alameda. So so that's that you know, it talks about at the heart of al of Alameda is the innovation that we have here. So those boxes, if you scroll down a little bit, will be, you know, the innovative businesses we have here, the innovative ways to get to Alameda, our transportation kinda corridor, food, beverage innovation, and then innovation with the arts. So, that's really telling the story of all the innovative things we have kind of in Alameda.

And then the column on the right side, if you if you go back up to the top right there, I mean, this is this this kind of this format of frequently asked questions really gets to the heart of kind of, know, again, reinforcing that. How do you do business in Alameda? You know, how does Alameda help lower the cost of doing business? We talk about the talent, the workforce available. We, again, highlight the the industries in Alameda.

And then if you go down a little bit, you know, talking about our geographic area, what's it like to live in Alameda, kind of our lifestyle, and then our our main kind of corporate districts. And then further down then is testimonials that we're gonna have, kind of running through of of, you know, talking about Alameda. Those are gonna constantly kind of change and then steps these very young looking people that can help you out.

Love it.

And then and then through all of this, then then, you know, virtually all of these tabs will have kind of a call to action of, okay. For more information, contact us. So so this is kind of the template of the of the, choose Alameda website. This would be where all of that kind of information about that a company would want from an attraction standpoint, you know, when they're looking at the decision of why choose Alameda, then then all of that information would be located here. And and what what's not showing down there also, when you when you click on kind of more about the Alameda, there's also there'll be a whole section there of demographics on kind of GIS base where you could, you know, look at different neighborhoods, and and and you'll be able to when you click on buildings, you'll be able to see the business parks, the actual buildings themselves.

So that's kind of in a nutshell, that's that's the that's the layout, essentially. What's your timeline on this? I think now we're probably looking at, like, maybe one or two months. So what we want what we need to do now is we're we're we're starting to drop in kind of the narrative. And then after this meeting, we'll that will help kind of reinforce, you know, what that narrative's gonna be.

So then if we could look at the at the Spirits Alley website, because I wanna talk about kind of the connection then between between the Choose Alameda and overall city of Alameda and then that connection with with Alameda Point. Okay. So some of you, if you are at the last Alameda Point coalition, you kind of heard this, and we went through this. So, originally, when we started this, you know, if you're you're familiar with with that, we've we've had the Spirit's Alley kind of website for a while. But some of the feedback feedback we received was that, you know, we we're we're transitioning from it's not just about Spirit's Alley in Alameda Point.

It's all the other things you can do in Alameda Point. And so so this site was set up, to to highlight. It's not just, you know, the spirits here. And if you scroll down, then we have all these sections. So you have you can you can look at Alameda Point from a from a beverage standpoint, from a restaurant standpoint, food, activities at Alameda Point, and then also kind of shop and play.

And this is interactive where you can go to the different types of you can go to the different businesses, click on their site. So the thought process for this website was to to have, you know, more of a of a comprehensive look at what the activities you could do at Alameda Point. Well, then we have, a new brokerage firm came in for Alameda Point. So so we now have West Cushman Wakefield. Now we have JLL as our broker.

And one of the things that they talked about with which we're now transitioning even more is that we wanna have just one Alameda Point website. So and and that that starts off kind of telling the story of the historical nature of Alameda, and what that's all about. And then, essentially, as you're scrolling down, it'll go to kind of it'll have two sections. So it'll have Alameda Point from a business standpoint, you know, listing the businesses, looking at what's available, all those kind of messages. And then it will have the, you know, the essentially, the fun side of Alameda Point.

So we're gonna have one kind of comprehensive website that will be all about Alameda Point, all the things you can do. And those two websites then, the Alameda Point website and the Choose Alameda website will be kind of connected together. So so as you go through the attraction, Choose Alameda one, Anytime it's listing, you know, where you could locate the different sectors, anytime it's Almeda Point, then that will directly take you to this new website we're creating, that kinda connects the two.

And, Duane, can I just add as a landlord rep for for our department and and looking at our one stakeholder there who is a property owner? I I really think that the intent is to have the Alameda Point website be the Alameda Point website. It's not about the city's sleep. In any business that comes to Alameda, we we are winning. Right? So if you, like, as a hypothetical property owner with property lease, you know, wanted your listings up, like, this could be a single landing landing stop for everything if you wanted it that way. Yep.

So, actually, we can you know, I think by the next meeting, we'll have that kind of site connected, and we could show you that. So those are the those are the two kind of websites that we have. So so so it's kind of a two pronged from an attraction standpoint. We're gonna have a online kind of presence. We'll also have kind of printed material.

And and so what I wanna talk about now are then the kind of those common messages and those specific messages that we wanna, you know, get out there in in all these detraction, kind of endeavors. So the common message I I have listed kind of on the staff report, and we wanna talk about quality of life on the on Alameda. So we've we've heard from people that, you know, okay. We looked at Alameda from the standpoint of getting my business here, but then I realized, oh, this is a place I would like to live. And we've heard that kind of comment before.

So we we're not shying away from talking about kind of the quality of life and what it's like to live here in Alameda. Back to more of the the business kind of side of it, we're gonna talk about, you know, the variety of transportation choices you have to get to Alameda, the workforce in our region, the ability to, like to locate with light companies. So part of that discussion on where it can be located, it's it's highlighting, you know, these business clusters that we have. So, you know, come be with Penumbra and XAlexis and be with these type of companies that are already here. Gonna go into our business parks and locations.

We wanna talk about our permitting process under that kind of category of of opening your business and and and how to get it up and running quicker. It's it's talking about our streamline kind of permitting process, and we also wanna highlight safety. So whether whatever sector that's in, kind of, you know, the the safe aspect in our prime statistics and that sort of thing. For our downtowns, we're talking about kind of our we're highlighting our our community support, how the community supports local businesses, what our demographics are. We're talking about our strong kind of business associations.

And then retail, we're talking about same kind of thing, our the community support and then our you know, what kind of spending power we have here in Alameda. So with that, what I'd like to do is kinda start the discussion, some of the items that we wanna talk about and and having this kind of background as as the as kind of the framework, but get your your ideas on kind of some specific things. So right now, we have the we, you know, we have the attraction. We have downtown attraction. And so the benefits of of that work is, you know, we're filling up vacancies, and and we're you know, a a a stronger thriving downtown is good for the whole community, and it's also part of our quality of life here.

We have retail attraction, and so that's, you know, also filling up centers and and getting more activities and goods and services, and that leads to more sales tax. And then we have this business sector attraction, which is typically you know, we're we're looking most likely at larger companies, you know, greater employment, more jobs, that sort of thing. You know, right now, we have all three of those activities. But the question made for this group is should we, you know, should we have a hierarchy of of that? Should we say, okay.

Well, we've got, you know, limited number of staff people and resources. Is there a feeling that, okay, we should be, you know, saying, let's focus on the business sector. Let's do that first or spend most of your time on that. So I wanted to get your kind of feedback on. Do you feel like there should be a hierarchy in in in those kind of activities based on kind of the the in essence, the payoff that we'd be getting?

Is there any one of these three that generate more economic benefit for the city in terms of jobs, tax dollars?

I think in a way that they're all different economic benefits. Mhmm. So, I mean, you want the, you know, the community identity is is that there's a lot of that in our in a thriving kind of downtown, and that's a big draw for people. So that's kind of a combination of of I I in some ways, I view that as more of a quality of life type of thing. Mhmm.

Having a strong downtown where people wanna go and activities, and we've the city's invested in, like, the downtown theater and things like that. There's a big investment in the downtown. Retail attraction, like, is is I feel is much more numbers kinda driven, sales tax. But the business sector side of it, you know, really, you're you're I mean, with new businesses are coming, you know, much higher employment, bringing more jobs.

For me, I think that's the differentiator where the business segment is the outlier that if the business segment is thriving, it's gonna drive retail. It's gonna drive people downtown that are looking to miss the tunnel closures, you know, that are happening and go from a a drink or a burger. Whereas, you know, the focus on downtown and retail are while they're gonna provide revenue, aren't necessarily going to drive anything outside of themselves and their own businesses. But bringing, you know, large businesses here, especially that bring employees that naturally, you know, raise the floor and ceiling for retail in the downtown, I think. Right.

So I, you know, I would say if there's a lot of focus on area to focus on at a high level, to me, it would be, you know, especially tech and manufacturing business sectors that would then help drive retail and help make all these other businesses, you know, success there in midstream of new customers.

I agree. Okay.

Yeah. Totally makes sense that way. Definitely.

And and what is I mean, I'm just thinking of the different places that I think you know, there's obviously a point where there's potentially lots of space and lots can still happen there. There's Harbor Bay. What what like, Harbor Bay, what's the what's the you know, what the occupancy is there? Do we know where we are with that?

Don't know the actual occupancy. We do have I mean, there is still land available. Available. There are buildings still available. There is turnover. I mean, to me, you have kind of the you have Alameda offers you all those ranges of big, small, different types of buildings. So it's there's still room to kind of grow. Mhmm.

The the research part, I think it's still relatively low vacancy there, or

how's that going? It's more than Harbor Bay. I don't know the percentage.

It's hard to know, yeah, the real versus the, you know, the the volume of sublease space is high or unoccupied lease space. But Right. The statistics are

So aside from little cottage businesses, you know, where those are the three places that come to mind. Mhmm. Stand alone? Is that am I am I missing something? No. To think about places.

Yeah. So for me, when we talk about kind of business clusters, it's it's specifically talking about those three places. At first, as far as business sectors of Eastern. So well, then that kinda leads into my next section. We talk about kind of our the staff efforts in this.

So what do you see as far as the roles that the business community could play in this? I mean, we definitely have well, we have, you know, quotes and highlights and that kind of stuff of businesses on our website. But what what kind of role do you feel like businesses could have and act you know, should there be you know, when when we're talking to businesses, should there be direct interaction? Should we be sending people to companies that are already here? Are businesses interested in, you know, having conversations with CEOs about, you know, how you made your decision

to be here? Oh, I would think so.

Definitely. It

helps. Yeah. It

helps a lot.

Good referrals and good you know, talk about their experience. Mhmm. You know, try to make it concise. Just but, yeah, it it's it helps. Okay. Alright.

So, you know, we need to get contacts that would we're willing to do that, and I'd be willing to do that.

Okay.

I mean, as as opposed to just a testimonial on the website or something, you could get more personal, obviously.

I think there'd be an interest in almost any sector in bringing more businesses of that sector in. Mhmm. Having a an ecosystem of support certainly is attractive to us. We have people that share common interests. And so I think you'd probably get support from most businesses for that. I know we would.

Okay. So bring would I mean, to me, it makes sense more I mean, instead of the instead of cold calls and that sort of thing, when someone's more definitely more interested, they're looking at the community, you know, that it seems like if they're at that phase of, yes. Now we're you know, we've narrowed it down to Alameda and and the Bay Area and some other things. So to me, it seems that that's that would be the time then that we could make those kind of connections.

Well, we did that. You know, it's an infusion. I had to do coffee with the facility, be there. Mhmm. First, spoke to me on. Yeah. Then we had that Yeah. Building. Had

kind of thing.

Yeah. We've

done that, and I'm, yeah, I think And

I thought it was helpful for sure. I think those I mean, obviously, we weren't successful, but I think that personal touch really did make a difference. And Yes. Big, big difference. Yeah.

I think the the the one issue that we need to deal with that I I think involves the engagement of our team is when someone's interested in Alameda Point, we'll we'll know. We don't always know if a business is scoping out a spot at Harbor Bay or at the Research Park. And so I think that's some work something Duane's really been working on is building new relationships with the brokers and the developers so that they are trying to hook somebody, you know, that then we would be able to facilitate, okay. Well, this business is looking, and they're similar to Sailrones, and we're gonna you know? And then we could actually facilitate that personal connection.

We don't always have that information. So I think that's somewhere we're really trying to dig deep and and and get those relationships, especially with their brokers, and that really comes in handy to get those leads.

That that has a. Oh.

You hear me?

Mhmm. Yes.

There are also, I think, some opportunities for there are some social opportunities. I mean, we have, like, our business coalition meetings. But, for example, I don't know if everyone knows there's a group, sort of just this ad hoc group that's formed in the energy sector, the green energy sector, and they're hosting a mixer tomorrow evening at Park Station. And I looked at the list of businesses and individuals who were invited, and there's probably a lot of, like, untapped potential there. Also, just an opportunity for, you know, staff and all of us to meet some of the the leaders in in those sectors, which is, you know, growing.

Some of them live on the island but work off the island. So I think there are opportunities like that that we could tap into as well.

Well, that that actually is the perfect kind of segue into the into the next kind of discussion item. So, you know, we've talked about kind of the these traditional sources of attraction, you know, working with our resource partners and online presence and and, you know, outreach kind of campaigns. But then there's this whole other kind of category of, like, of industry specific kind of functions and gatherings. So we we've heard that in the you know, one of the things we heard from the roundtable was, okay. Well, you know, we're all busy, but if you could provide us kind of with content and with other businesses some sort of function, you know, whether it's a it's it's a, you know, gathering like they're doing or, you know, we're we're having a biotech day or something like that where you're bringing in resource partners and and and speakers and that sort of thing.

But that's an area that we haven't really done very much in. But want to kinda get your thoughts of, you know, your feelings on is is should that be part of our attraction kind of toolkit?

You're kinda like industry mixers and

yeah. Absolutely. I think As a way to kind of as a way to kind of showcase, here's what we have here and get people together. Mhmm.

Yeah. I mean, I, you know, work with Lease Bay, EDA, different manufacturers, you know, different industry groups Right. To get you know, trying to get them to come to talk about a relevant topic relevant to these businesses. I

think

it's just a good way to, you know, and and do it regularly, you know, starts to just create a hub for that dialogue. That it just that sharing of knowledge, you know, is is is attractive Mhmm. To businesses.

Yeah. I I I think the thought was that it it you know, it's this this dual purpose of you're you're you're showcasing Alameda and Alameda companies that are already here. And, mean, physically getting people in that room together, whatever that event is. But then also it kind of you know, you're you're hearing more about it in the community. Mhmm.

And so that's kinda think one of the maybe your overall goals is that, you know, we've heard many times that Alameda might be the best kept secret in the Bay Area. So part of this kind of process is, well, we don't wanna be the best kept secret anymore. We want regionally to be known. And so, you know, that's besides these kind of traditional approaches, so it's one of the options that we could take would be to have, like, these kind of set. You know, maybe we're doing x amount, three or four of these kind of functions from different sectors, and then people are used to, okay.

This is happening in Alameda. This is you know, now every year, whatever the time period is, we're going to do this. So if that's something this group thinks is valuable, then that's something that we should we'll wanna build into kind of our calendar and our work kinda plan. The thought being that we could, you know, do those around those four sectors, at a minimum, you know, have one event or something like that for each kind of sector.

I don't think it makes sense. I I mean, I think you'd have to kinda look at how many businesses you have that are in a particular sector to to focus on that. You know, I think think of our business and it's a day that but not enough of us to really do something like that, enough contractors.

Yeah.

I mean, we're not and we're really not trying to attract contractors to Alameda. It works for us because we have an industrial space

Mhmm.

Not too far away in Oakland, but, no, you know, we're not really the crowd to try to sell it to. It works for David because it's right on water. That's the core.

I'm trying to imagine what it would look like to have, like, a a blue tech event. There are so many already around the country.

Mhmm.

In some ways, it feels a little saturation. Like, what events does one attempt to go to? And so I'm wondering if it wasn't something you'd maybe try to be less all inclusive and more Bay Area inclusive. So just I'm just thinking, Mark, like, on our side of the world in the water, maybe it's a just a regional thing where you're trying to bring in I'm I'm trying to imagine it. I I like the idea. What does a

blue tech event look like?

It's sort of a broad term, but it's it's technology focused businesses on the water. So like a sail drone or someone building ROVs or AUVs that operate in the water. Marine energy is very popular now. You know? Everything from wave buoy electrification to offshore wind. It's it's a very broad kind of catchy term because Yeah. Technology's finally turned and pivoted toward the ocean. Yeah. And so there's a lot of money chasing different ideas. There's different cities on the West Coast.

San Diego and Seattle, for example, really wanna sort of become the node for for marine technology, but the Barrie has a pretty good jump. It's a technology space already. We have Cal and Stanford here. They produce a lot of ocean engineers. So there's a lot of sort of bubbling ideas, but there's also just I mean, I get invited to shows all over the country constantly, and I don't know which ones I should even attend. There's so many. Mhmm. And so it would have to be more focused, at least for our world.

And do you think it would be led by hosted by an industry group or or by city economic development?

What's I'm trying to understand it, would one attend it if it were city focused? Like, someone like a saildrone I don't know. I mean, someone like a saildrone would have a lot of haftif. Like, a sail drone said we're doing something. I think a lot of people would sit up. They're sort of a recognized leader in the space. If the city said they were doing it, I'm wondering how much traction you would get.

Well Yeah.

Last year, we host last year, Callaway organized and hosted the Zotac and Maritime Happy Hour at Intel's building. I happened to hear about it about two weeks before, and we ended up sponsoring the event. And that was better visibility than we could have ever

I actually think that's a great example where where they they sort of took the lead. They took the lead. They and it was a fantastic event. Met a lot of interesting, very early startup companies.

Think it adds some credit, you know, when you bring those industry groups here Mhmm.

Yeah. I that have

So it seems like it should be industry led and maybe city supported.

Yeah. There you go.

Yeah. That's what I was thinking. Yeah. Because I think it's definitely

Otherwise, it looks like you're kind of pushing city agenda.

Chicken sliders, and everyone was very happy with that at all for us.

That was actually it's a great example of a a very successful event.

Yeah. This can't be so narrow if we take I mean, you can kinda just think about the state of state of the world is there. There is a lot of investment opportunity where ECs are gonna be here investing in AI companies. Mhmm. We will let those be native office space and computer problem. But the other big area where there's investment, whether you like it or not, isn't in the defense sector. It's been looking broad. So instead of just maybe, like, what SailDrone is tuning with this on water Mhmm. Drones, defense in itself is a leading broader market. So you can even reach out to traditional companies that are looking to expand, like, I know, not like a maybe not like a Lockheed level, but, like, companies that have been around.

Generally, when I think defense in California, obviously, there's a huge presence in LA, huge presence in San Diego. But those companies may be looking for a piece of grill, or there's huge new always new startups in this space of the defense tech, whether it's flying drones, water drones, a lot of drone stuff Mhmm. Rockets.

Mhmm.

Other you know, people wouldn't be against it, whether if it's, you know, just personal choice, but there is a lot of investment in that currently based on today's time.

Mhmm. For me, much of what David and Mark have just said is, like, should be the broader marketing message of attracting people here to help me. I think I love the idea of, you know, of somebody who works for a company that sells, you know, alcohol on a broad level for a living. I love the idea of broadening the Spirits Alley website because I feel like it's a story that hasn't been told well enough, just how much innovation is taking place. And when we give people here at Almanac, I think something that blows people's mind is talking about sales or talking about newer across the street and all the fascinating things that are happening.

So for me, that's, like, that's a story that grabs people, whether you're a business owner or whether you're someone who's looking to live on the island. The fact that this is an innovation hub, I feel like, is something that needs to be led with, a story that just needs to get out there more. It's amazing how many people come to the point and have no idea, like, the fantastic things that are happening on the island. And that to me, that's really exciting. Think that's what, you know, in terms of messaging, will catch people's eye and say, wow.

Look. Look at what's taking place in Alameda. And then all those other things spawn off of that. You know? But I, you know, I love taking what you guys said and taking that to even a broader level of what you guys are trying to do in terms of attract businesses.

Yeah. The other thing too is if you're if you decide if you can grab the story, the message can depend on what industry you're following. I'm trying to you can create different stories. So, like, as an example, you know, on the defense side, you could message that story that actually it's a formal naval base, but it has a history to it. You can say that the innovation started when that that base was established in the forties, right, with the all the work they're doing. That's why seaplane is there. Right? They are doing developing seaplanes as a new new technology at the time, and so it's always been a place for innovation. They continued that until they left. Now, you know,

we're carrying that tradition.

You know, there's a story you can build around that. It's innovation of what other companies are now doing on base from that side of it. And then, yeah, and just it is a place to live, it's a place to play. Right? So you have everything you have instead of living. You have enjoying the food and beverages and work. So Mhmm. Oh, go ahead.

I'm going back to the topic earlier of how we're going to market. I I think instead of reinventing the wheel, you know, finding those events that are already targeting the green tech or the blue tech and, you know, contacting the organizers and offering to sponsor. We're having a booth there with information about the city of Alameda and all the things it offers. But I don't think and I don't think the city of Alameda as an inviteur is going to get the same kind of, you know, turnout.

Yeah. I agree that, in my mind, our role would be the sponsor.

Yes.

But the but the the advertising, the push would be coming from that from the industry group. I

think we have to go where they are. So, you know, if I think about who's gonna be bringing those big businesses in, those really cutting edge businesses and I know nothing about BlueTech, but it's going to be either the people that are currently doing research or a company that's already already in another city looking to move. Right? So can we go to those two populations and advertise the city value? And you mentioned Cal. You mentioned Stanford. We had talked about it at previous meetings. So is there an opportunity to go to those either professors or clubs and just kind of let them know what Alameda is about, invite them over to kinda test their their stuff so there's there's some familiarity with the area.

So may maybe as a starting point, as as far as kind of those industry sectors, we've we we already had a meeting with the I forget who the who the bio. With California Life Sciences Association. Yeah. Who who came to us and said, hey. We're you know, this is our organization. This is what we do. We do events. We'd like to, you know, partner with you to do things. So and we and we've heard specifically from the life science companies that that's what they're looking for. So maybe as a starting point, if we're planning events, maybe that one We've we've also heard the similar message from the clean tech, green tech, and all those kind of companies.

So maybe those are the first two sectors that we look at. And then, you know, then we're figuring out BlueTech and manufacturing that sort of stuff after that.

Hey. Good question. Say I emailed it. It's funny. Are you guys in involved with the East Bay MBA? Mhmm. Of course. Ask me to speak at this IAA core or paying my businesses. Yep. Be into those companies. Yeah.

So what that's one of our East Bay is one of our partners. Okay. We're pretty active.

Yeah. It's an email.

Oh, really?

Mhmm. Okay.

They knew you're in this meeting, apparently, Mark.

Yeah. Really?

Okay. So I think that's I think that's good kind of direction. So what I'd like to maybe get into next is that so we we've talked about the the kind of the common messages. Mhmm. And we've and, previously, you've talked about kind of, the priority of having starting your business the the nuts and bolts of running your business, starting your business is is kind of at the top of that common messaging list.

Or I wanted to kind of throw out there or have a discussion on you know, to the extent that you have input, what are then specific messages? So for your industries that you're involved with with, like, the you know, are there specific, say, Bluetech, you know, messages beyond the ones that we have common? And and maybe that's not an answer we could have today, but, like, you know, when you're talking to other companies like yourself beyond the kind of what we have to offer and that sort of thing, are there specific messages?

The space is the space is where

it attracts,

I think, companies like those. You you have unique buildings that you can't just find in the Bay Area that's filed in industrial type work. Right? Mhmm. And maybe even in the next week, the the spirit stuff, they get an issue. You have a such a that tall, high bay environment that's just not available anywhere unless it's and have that those big doors. I mean, and and we brought we just brought every time I bring the the group through of potential customers and investors, everyone's blown away by these whole thing. They all just love them. And in fact, we we posted a group from Denmark today. They were walking around there.

It's like, besides being we thought drones were cool. They're like, oh, this is, you know, a really exciting, cool building. And I thought this is a fun label based, and they're like, oh, And they just like the history of it. And so, again, there's always that selling feature of the uniqueness of some of those bills. Oh, some of them weren't. Mhmm. Maybe you need to

be torn down. That's no

more very unique. Yeah.

Any other kind of based on your experience, any kind of or or are the common messages really the messages that are Power. Good enough.

Yeah. Everybody wants power. All these sectors, you know, we've talked here. Power. I mean, we should change our city logo from a Yeah. To a lightning bolt. I really do. I think we there's need to lead heavy with power.

I say you have.

Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. AMP is a good selling point for you. I mean I think that came through even with Pacific Fusion.

Yeah. I think we honed our message with Pacific Fusion. I think we weren't doing a good job Yeah. Out of our our message. And maybe we're still not doing the best job, but it's better. We now we have the talking point.

Oh, Joe Joe, you raise a great point. I mean, we have projects where in other cities where three, four years for a service drop.

Yeah. We just did seven upgrades in Oakland. Took three plus years.

Yeah. So Yeah. But that's a that's a definitely a winning selling point.

Like, OpenAI is a strange So I just lost an employee to go to OpenAI because they built a new building. They've got a new office in Michigan. First, actually, he he moved just moved to Alameda. Was on an island, but he got a he got a nice big offer, money wise, to go join OpenAI, which they said, well, we'll build a new office in Richmond. And he was like, yeah. Let's let's do it. So those those AI companies are investing in their expanding Bay Area beyond just the Peninsula Side. So, obviously, we go after.

But, yeah, and, you know, in San Francisco, you know, a lot of these as AI starts to move into hard tech, looking for spaces to prototype and put that into the hard tech, there's not a lot of that over there.

That's what I didn't hope that

a ferry ride away. It's a bridge away.

Man wants to build hardware. So not only just we need AI stuff on the computer, they want to get into hardware, but that takes space to me.

Do you know what kind of space they

No. No. Yeah. No. I mean, he they said it's I think it's an old, you know, crew system building for the. He was gonna be going in the space. I said, you're gonna be moving out of the cold floor instead of going to sit up in the cold He said, no. I think I'm going more of the same as who's the system's facing. So who knows?

I mean, do we know who the brokers are that are that are helping the AI companies?

I think we're working with them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're the biggest. Yeah.

Yeah. So, I mean, he could be he or she could also offer the city of Alameda as a potential place.

And, I mean, do you think when it comes to our AI customers?

Yeah. I I had my first conversation with an AI robotics company maybe a month ago Mhmm. Who was connected by a broker and looking, and I extoled the virtues of a fifteen minute barricade. And they were it hadn't been burden them hadn't been burden them. It was a fifteen minute barricade. So yeah.

Has there ever been any and I know when we worked on site a, there was some discussion about renaming Alameda Point, rebranding it. You know, when you think of the name Alameda Point, what

does it mean to most people? You think

of Marina Village, marina, boats, yachts, but they rebranded it Research Park, and I think that made a difference. Mhmm.

Tell me the point is what that means. Because somewhere.

Dan used to be Dan from the Research Park used to be on this

Kretzky?

Yes. A long time ago in 2019, and then he couldn't make the.

I was brought on, I think, right when he left. But do we have an ongoing relationship with him? Yeah. So, I mean, he he could provide quite a bit of intel with my family. Mhmm.

Yeah. I think we are looking I mean, as part of that part of that website, it's it's what is that kind of brand value point.

Well, you're branding Spiritsale. It seems like

Well, we're we're actually moving away from SpiritSatellite and just leaning hard into this Alameda Pointe, but I think that's a question I think what we'd like to do and what we discussed after the business coalition meeting is really pulling the stakeholders together who wanna have a say in Alameda Point's positioning and really engaging in this conversation about this website and whether I mean, JLL advised that they don't think that we should move away from the name Alameda Point. Don't move away. They think people know what it is, but that we need to change what it means. Mhmm. And that we need to lean into the naval history a little more strongly and work up that was just their preliminary advice.

People do know what Alameda Pointe is, but that the what it identifies as, yeah, could be changed. So we're still in early conversations on that, but I think that's somewhere where we'll we'll specifically be engaging Alameda Point based businesses.

Yeah. Mark's point about innovation. Mhmm. You know, just really driving that.

Yeah. I mean, that innovation point.

Yeah. Innovation point. But innovation at the moment. How far do you have education as to business owners, educating workforce and being able to find techs,

This is bit community college.

I mean, we're it's definitely a compo we're talking about the workforce, not just not just what's here at Alameda, but the the access to the workforce through our transportation, how the how the workforce gets to Alameda. The other thing we're highlighting is is kind of the proximity to the to the universities. So so, you know, that workforce that's from Cal and from San Francisco and all around.

Did you say that it's

an environment message or the most specific message that we're talking about?

The I think broader message, the only real specific message that we've heard from workforce is is and maybe and part of our survey is gonna be asking them. You know, the only specific message we've heard is is that middle kind of technician type of

work. Instead of Spirits Alley, what about the Runway District at Alameda Point? Runway District tying back to, you know, obviously, the the runway and and the naval base, but also just launching these new innovative companies as someone, again, who produces alcohol. The Runway District at Alameda Point or something along those lines sounds much more exciting and something that a broader level of, you know, even consumer that we wanna attract

could

gravitate towards and just spears out of the but not saying it's gonna be the Runway District, but what about something at Alameda Point that ties in to the innovation and, you know, kind of the launch that have that is taking place on that in the island. Yeah. Interesting.

But back on education, you're clicking. Because something we can we as a company, we offer our employees a certain amount of money they spend each year out with health to continue education. I think it's usually how we want. Usually, when you say, hey. I wanna take this course.

Some people wanna pressure on some skills. Maybe it's more like saying that in Alameda, if there's you you develop a relationship with the local community college to also continue do continuous education. Now we've seen you've educated have to train folks from the school, but also work with school to offer things for your employees to continue other education and improve on that. Those are so close and so local. You know, if I offer my employees that each can spend x amount of money a year at the community's education, I'd love to say, Anne, here's a list of things that are offered by the community Alameda, and you can choose from them.

That'd be really kind of an incentive to give people when we talk about workforce. Again, not only I got contend with if you don't live on the island. Right? It's it is sometimes difficult to drive from other places and get here. But if you say other perks besides me giving them free coffee and snacks is here's an educational thing that you can take advantage of on behalf

of Exactly. That one will go down the academy in public administration as a way for their employees to move up on taking courses at our college.

You mentioned with Pacific Fusion, you honed your message. Did you tie it into College of Alameda? Was that a portion of the selling point for them?

That's the events on the events on our campus. Or Yes. You did host events on your campus. Absolutely.

Because they were gonna require a fairly large, well trained force. And, obviously, you're not producing physicists, but at the technician level, it seemed like it might be

Yeah. I thought I'm trying to remember.

Yeah. We had lots of conversations. We had many conversations with the college, and we talked about what the opportunities would be. But I don't remember that we, you know, to well, we saw what happened there. We we didn't have a chance really to take it beyond that, but but definitely, it was it was an important piece of what they wanted to do out there.

And we visited there. Mhmm.

Mhmm. Yeah. You toured. That's right.

And I think as we hone the, like, the message around technicians and maybe the curriculum around technicians, that's gonna be just a huge.

We're talking about selling points, and we're talking about AMP, and that's an obvious that's kind of a Mhmm. Right. Kitchen over the middle of the plate. But Alameda

Yeah.

College is another I mean, it's it's a local resource. It's right here on the island.

Well, that's a little too sporty. You think you hear all the news of AI is taking away jobs. One of the things AI AI jobs are not taking away are people physically build things or physically things. Not replacing that yet with robots, and so that still needs a core basic even to do it work. And I think you can't make a point of something you can't say, come down and even build that. I mean, build whatever you're building, build food or lots. Mhmm. You can do that.

Well, I think I think you bring up a good point because I think we were always looking at it or tending to focus more on the on on getting employed, on attracting those employees. If you're a company moving here, and where are gonna gather those employees from? But I think that's a good point for us to remember is it's also the retention side of it, how how your employees are moving up, growing their skills. So we could start have we could have those kind of Fascinations too.

What I'm seeing now is that, yeah, they're pretty young workforce, and then a number of people just getting married or having their first children. And that's why I said the gentleman gentleman just moved to the island because he was living in the city, having his first baby, wanted to move in the family of schools and more of a neighborhood community. So he was choosing our community that he worked there, and now I recognize the community aspect. Mhmm. I wanted to live. So those are opportunities too as these young startup companies attract a lot of young engineers that are just fresh, not married, or don't have children, but recognize over time the value of having me that that is.

I think the other thing is, you know, for we're we're recruiting at universities, you know, all over the state. And, you know, over time, we see actually more and more students who are getting from Cal State East Bay just because of proximity. It's like they already have a foothold. If you're if you're trying to pull someone who's from outside the Bay Area Yeah. And they don't have a foothold already in, you know, they don't have family, whatever, already in the Bay Area, mean, it's just a hard place to move to.

It's expensive. It's really expensive. Mhmm. You know, think of College of Alameda. All those students must have some sort of foothold, or they wouldn't even be there. They would go to whatever community college was where they are. So, I mean, as a as a resource, a workforce resource, you know, there's tons of young people that are right there that already have figured out how to make it work here, or they're willing to figure out how to make it work here because they like this place. It can be hard to convince people that are from somewhere else that sometimes, you know, they they might have loved it, but they're like, yeah. The cost of living. You know? Mhmm. And then they give up.

Just

going back to the websites for a second, are you planning to utilize the great video that you showed at the State of the City? I feel like those videos each year are such a great promotional tool. And I don't know if you're planning on using either of those the that video for either of the websites.

Yeah. So both websites will have video components, the choose Alameda and the Alameda point one. Whether we're still for the choose Alameda point, the the videos would be shown at the very top. For the for the Alameda point one, words that would still be figured out and where things like that would get embedded. But we feel we have a really strong, kind of library of videos and pictures that do a great job of kind of telling the story, so we're definitely using those.

That's great. Because then you can I think you already are repurposing those for social media just in, you know, bite sized chunks, and and it's again, those those videos are really strong tools? And I also, by the way, liked the Runway District idea. I like that I like that name.

So I think I guess in in summary for the messages, what I'm hearing from this group is it's there's it's it's not necessarily industry specific messages. There's still these common messages that that we should be pushing the the unique space and the power and innovation and those type of things. You know? From what I'm hearing, those are the messages that are important for us to be focusing on, not just, you know, not just, okay. What what are the five messages for biotech or blue tech? It's it's still

Yeah. There's just, you know, there's built to be five things that every industry, you know, the power, the innovation Right. Culture, quality of life, the live or play. Yeah.

You want yeah. You need to

be generic enough to weather the shifts and change where the investments are going. Like, right now, said, it's without investment in AI and defense, but with a different government administration that all the ship back into green and all these other things. So you're not kind of pigeonhole in one issue or whether those shifts. You have to be a little bit when the depression's hurting the mood, and you have them in the building. So you want that.

We've gone through most of it. Are there any other comments or follow-up? Kinda we've gone through our list of of questions and feedback. It's been really helpful. Is there anything else you guys wanna bring up for for this discussion?

Well, thank you. Thank you for your time. And,

I think that was

I mean, there's no action required for this. It was it was really just discussion. Mhmm. So I think we're ready now to move on to the next, I think, agenda item.

Well, I only wanna leave you with this. Oh. And on auto side, frustrated with the the roadway designs. I'm just putting this an open agenda. If you want industry to come in there that's actually requires large trucks, the road design and the trailer,

the battery

have to be considered in that planning,

and they can't you know, I I just think there are some of these large buildings, and the roads are

getting narrower and narrower.

And so it be great to have a, maybe, a separate discussion with them if you're seeing engineers. Whoever designs the plan of that

before. We've met with the

Yeah.

Poor David has Yeah. Had a spill of turning radius conversations.

We can't get long trucks onto the base anymore with the new rotaries Mhmm. The new roundabouts.

Okay.

They're not sized for an Australian length truck.

You know what mean? You can set a loud truck traffic. At least you can just do one, and then we can use it, but it's just that it's designed and sized for those.

That was lost in the

I don't know.

The design discussion.

Yeah. We'll we will engage. I think as as you all know, I think we're working on getting the funding for the phase two reuse loop, which is nearing a 100% design so we will get together with Public Works to make sure because because Monarch, Redline, and Maine, I believe, is the

truck rep. Yeah. That was talked years ago.

Need to solve still then.

Yeah. Maintaining a truck loop for, you know

Yeah. Big buildings, big,

you know, you know, the trucks.

Yeah. So we should get together with Public Works and and discuss how we're gonna I I think we learned a hard lesson with the roundabout and what we did to power engineering and in particular. What roundabout?

And One is still One

that's going in right now.

The one that's going in right now. Pacific. Pacific. It was the base where Yeah. Where Pacific Fusion was going to go. Yeah. That roundabout won't allow an extended length truck, just based on the approach angle and the turn radius. So you've effectively closed the gate.

We're we're working on a solution to Orion and Atlantic. Gonna take a little while to Orion doesn't really exist going into Atlantic yet from the South Side. Yeah.

And the current approach to Atlantic Infrastructure.

You guys have infrastructure planning for

Yeah.

I'm glad you said that word. Yeah.

Yeah. Right. If you mick it all down for a bit of history, it's Mhmm.

Your your

ability to keep them obsolete.

Love our bike needs.

Just just once.

Yeah. Alright.

I think we're on to number seven, staff communications.

Yep. So, item seven, any staff communication?

Do you wanna start? Best probably can

What?

Career fair and

Yeah. So we've yeah. So economic development standpoint, I think it's it's yeah. It's the end of next week. We have our our departments doing the annual restaurant week.

It's it's it's kind of a World Cup type of theme, where where where people can go to different restaurants and and then have, like, you've kind of a bracket where you're picking restaurants, and then you have kind of an overall kind of winner. So that's starting the end of next week. And then right after that in April, we have our annual career fair that we do at the high school. So it's it's it's at Ensignal High School. And so that's a way that the career fair for for business for people who learn about what's out there for businesses, these are all high schoolers, and that's also an entry to our, a way for people to get plugged into our summer internship program, at the city of Alameda.

So that's kind of March and April coming up pretty quickly.

I just look at them about that,

who participate in the last time.

About career fair? About you guys participating? Yeah.

We usually

Oh. For for the top year. Okay.

But you haven't been connected this year, you're saying?

I I did. But he did something, but I know we're gonna call singing.

Okay.

Maybe it went to an

outreach department and not directly to the

Okay.

Officials.

I'll make sure you're connected. Yeah.

And I was asked to make an announcement about some staffing transitions not in our department. There are no staffing transitions in our department, and there will not be. No

one's allowed to leave.

Alan Ty announced yesterday he is leaving as planning director. He's leaving for the city of San Pablo to be the community development director in San Pablo, and he will be leaving at the March. So I don't have any update on transition, but we'll be acting. So you all are always welcome to reach out to me if you have any planning concerns, of course. And as well, library director Michael Eiger is also leaving. Or Michael Ader, the director of library.

Oh, okay.

He'll be going to, I believe, I wanna say Solano County to be the head of the Solano County Libraries, which is where he came from. So changes afoot.

Yeah. Do you know how the city manager searches from?

Yeah. They're still conducting interviews. So they're they're doing interviews at the council meetings right now. So I I don't know. We are being told to look for a transition potentially June, but, of course, it depends on who the candidates are.

Were there I think did they say announce that there were four of them? I don't remember. I don't know

if they have all the events.

Oh, they've

were there.

And I'm probably. It's four.

Somewhere between three and five.

Any other staff communication?

Can't think of anything.

Do we have any panel member communication? Anyone?

I'd like to share an update. There is a new restaurant coming to Alameda where the comedy club used to be on Central Avenue. Their ribbon cutting is on April 2 at 04:00 in the evening. Hopefully, everybody can come and what's it called? It's called Linea.

Cut food?

It's replacing the comedy club.

What style of food?

Mexican. Mexican food. Yep. Yeah. Mexican food. So that will be great. Then, we just finished the State of the City. Our next signature event is the Innovation Island Business Excellence Awards. It'll be hosted at Almanac Adventureland Mhmm. On May 14 from five to seven in the evening. So we're gonna look for nominations on that, and we're having the committee formed next week when we have our board meeting too, so that will be great. And then also on next Thursday, the nineteenth, we have our business after our social at Oakland Roots and Souls in the evening, five to seven. It'll be a great event, especially that they're running the theme of the World Cup there too, so it'll be great for everybody to come and join us there.

What day is that? It's a Thursday.

That's next Thursday, the nineteenth, the day after the boat. Feel Yeah. Great for everybody to come to that. That's what I have so far.

Oh, speaking of speaking of that, I don't know if the group knows that we did so that so, the Open Roots and Seoul facility, you know, we went out to helped support them for for getting the World Cup Yeah. Team to use that as the base camp. So that's Yeah. Been announced that Australia is gonna be the team that's coming to This excites us because we think

the Australia team drinks more beer

than the

other team.

We we met with the Dell and HubeBen Australia. It's probably a fair bet. I think they said something. I was what was the number? Like, a 100,000 Australians in the Bay Area. It was a big number. Wow. I

know a 100,000 put in for the bids for the tickets.

Okay.

Yeah. But it is it was a large it was the diaspora is large in the Bay Area. Tens of thousands of police. Yeah.

Well, migration employees have had their team stakes, and so we weren't excited about

it. Yeah.

They're already at 27, but they did make it to the round of 16 last time.

Very cool. Exciting. That's good news. Any other communication?

Well, with that

Wanted to mention one thing. Sorry.

Oh, sorry, Becca. Didn't see your hand.

That's okay. So the East Bay ADA hosts the innovation awards, and it's on the twenty sixth, believe. It's a Thursday evening, and it's the first time they're having it at the newly remodeled Kaiser Center in Oakland. And I believe I know Rhythmix from Alameda is getting an award. And, Dwayne, Abby, I don't know if any other Alameda businesses are getting awards this year in the past. I know SailDrone has received it.

There is. Anthro Energy is getting an award as well.

Oh, that's great. Okay.

Mhmm.

Thanks, Becca.

Are there any there's no public no one on the public here. So no public comments. Well, with that, the meeting is adjourned.

Great. Thank you all for coming. Thank you.

Paul's at home slash for the

ratement option.