San Mateo Area Chamber presents 2025–26 work plan; council questions funding for leadership program

San Mateo City Council received a presentation from the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce on its 2025–26 work plan, with Chamber leaders and local business partners outlining membership growth, event results and four priority areas for the coming year.

The Chamber emphasized member services and business retention, downtown placemaking and events, leadership and workforce development, and stakeholder convening. Erica (CEO, San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce) and Pauline Chung (director of member outreach and engagement) described results from 2024–25 and plans for 2025–26, and councilmembers asked about onboarding new businesses, funding for the Chamber’s LEAD Forward program and how the city and Chamber plan to leverage major 2026 sporting events.

The Chamber said it now has roughly 350 members and highlighted business-referral network (BRN) groups that meet regularly to exchange referrals. Erica cited an example from Carmen Avila, saying that “she credits over 221,000 enclosed business to our BRN referrals.” The presentation also summarized public events and outreach: Septemberfest 2024 drew more than 5,000 attendees based on cell-phone data; a downtown survey gathered about 1,300 responses; and the Chamber’s Best of San Mateo campaign drew more than 40,000 votes in its second year. The Chamber reported 250–320 daily visitors to the Best of San Mateo website.

On leadership development, the Chamber described a reimagined LEAD Forward immersive three‑day retreat. The Chamber reported post‑program evaluation results it said were strong: 95% of participants rated the retreat “very effective” for building networks, 91% rated it “very effective” for strengthening leadership skills, and 100% said it was “very effective” for inspiring them to make a difference. The Chamber said 100% of respondents would recommend the program.

The Chamber summarized four focus areas for 2025–26: 1) business attraction and retention (including outreach to women‑ and minority‑owned firms and an onboarding approach for new licensees); 2) place‑focused work and downtown activation in coordination with the Downtown San Mateo Association (DSMA) and the city’s upcoming Downtown Specific Plan; 3) civic engagement and workforce programming including a job fair and community service projects for leadership alumni; and 4) convening developers and major employers through roundtables to identify process bottlenecks and opportunities.

Councilmembers asked specific operational questions. Councilmember Swarco Kidigi asked how new businesses are engaged; the Chamber said it currently responds when businesses call but lacks a real‑time feed of new business licensees and suggested obtaining a list of new licenses from the city to enable proactive outreach. The city manager said new business licenses are public record and the city would consider how frequently to share them with the Chamber.

Several councilmembers pressed the Chamber on plans to leverage major 2026 events, including the Super Bowl and World Cup, for local businesses. The Chamber said it is coordinating with Peninsula chambers and the Bay Area Host Committee, has added the topic to standing partnership meetings with the city and DSMA, and plans to publish a playbook of tactics local businesses can use to capture increased foot traffic. The Chamber also noted practical constraints such as licensing fees for NFL streaming rights.

Councilmember Nicole Fernandez asked about a referenced $90,000 request and how much would fund LEAD Forward; the Chamber replied that the historical city allocation for LEAD Forward had been about $20,000. Multiple councilmembers said they would consider continuing support for LEAD Forward for one more year while monitoring outcomes and whether the program remains core to the Chamber’s mission. The Chamber said the most recent cohort included city staff participants identified as Zach, Dahl and Martin.

Councilmembers also asked about the Best of San Mateo winners and membership conversion. The Chamber said roughly half of the winners were chamber members and that staff have pursued a more active conversion strategy since the inaugural year. When asked for the city’s largest employers, the Chamber cited College of San Mateo and Mills Peninsula Medical Center among the larger local institutions and said at least two of the largest employers are Chamber members.

Public commenters who spoke in support of the Chamber included Pauline Chung (Chamber staff), Roby Leonantonio (senior vice president, local public affairs, California Apartment Association; Chamber board member), Mackenzie Jakovic (executive director, Downtown San Mateo Association), and Ilya Frangos (partner, Killeen Fry Fitting and Frangos). Comments praised the Chamber’s events, networking and role in local economic development.

The presentation concluded with council direction to keep working with the Chamber and DSMA on downtown activation, pursue a practical business onboarding process with the city, and continue planning with regional partners for 2026 event opportunities. Several councilmembers said they expected to review LEAD Forward’s results after another program cycle before deciding on any change to city support.

The City Council discussion and public comments did not include a formal vote on Chamber funding during the session.