DEPARTMENT: Economic Development Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Rene Dominguez
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City-wide
SUBJECT:
FY 2014 San Antonio Economic Development Foundation (EDF) Action Plan
SUMMARY:
This Ordinance approves the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation ("EDF") proposed Action Plan for FY 2014 (attached) as required by the City's annual Agreement with EDF to provide services to achieve the community's goals for economic development. In 2010, City Council approved a five-year Agreement with EDF which requires City Council annual review and approval of a fiscal year Action Plan. The purpose of the EDF Action Plan is to facilitate a more integrated approach to economic development between the City of San Antonio and EDF. The Action Plan for FY 2014 continues to build upon the momentum of the FY 2013 Action Plan and to create further alignment and focus on growth in the SA2020 industries - Aerospace, Healthcare and Biosciences, Information Technology/Security, and the New Energy Economy - to achieve the community-wide goals for economic development, and to begin the process of implementing the economic strategic plan, Forward San Antonio.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Fiscal Year 2011 was the first year of this enhanced partnership between the City and SAEDF to implement a new economic development model. In FY 2012 and FY 2013, the Action Plan included SA2020 sub-goals for each major metric. At the end of FY 2013, SAEDF met substantially all of the goals in the categories listed below.
In particular, the Business, Retention and Expansion (BRE) program continues to be successful. For FY 2013, it surpassed its company visit goal, and facilitated the creation of 2,931 jobs in the community. SAEDF continues to implement new marketing initiatives to include a new social media marketing campaign through Facebook and Twitter. The following are the SAEDF Action Plan results for FY 2013:
ISSUE:
The FY 2014 Action Plan will outline mutual goals, performance targets, specific deliverables, and a budget for FY 2014. Specifically, the plan will focus on business recruitment, retention, marketing, and research, to include specific sub-goals for SA2020 targeted industries. In FY 2014, SAEDF will continue to work with SA2020 to establish a baseline to measure progress in economic sectors and community competitiveness. In addition, SAEDF, with support from the Coordinating Council, will develop an implementation plan for the community-wide Economic Strategic Plan. Below are the proposed goals for FY 2014:
*SA2020 Goals are a subset of the Total Goals.
The Strategic Plan for Economic Development represents an opportunity for the community to coordinate and focus its economic development efforts to bring jobs and opportunity to San Antonio. SAEDF, along with its community partners, have a goal of developing a comprehensive implementation plan.
ALTERNATIVES:
City could consider other partnerships or a revised economic development structure in order to achieve the desired performance targets in recruitment, retention, and marketing. Staff, however, does not recommend this alternative as the partnership with SAEDF has proven to be successful in helping grow and sustain our economy.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Funding for this Agreement is budgeted in the Economic Development Incentive Fund (EDIF) in the amount of $500,000 annually. FY 2014 payments will be made quarterly following the submission of a quarterly report by SAEDF and an evaluation by EDD staff for compliance with the approved Action Plan.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council approve the FY 2014 EDF Action Plan. The Economic and Community Development Committee endorsed the proposed FY 2014 SAEDF Action Plan goals on September 3, 2013.