Economic development update: childcare incubator launches 3 family‑child‑cares; SBDC digital literacy classes and tourism planning advance

Director O’Neil presented a multi‑part update on economic development initiatives, focusing on a small‑scale childcare incubator, digital‑literacy training for small businesses, and tourism and marketing work funded by prior allocations.

Imagine Institute — childcare incubator: Carly (Bridal Meek), director of Imagine Institute’s Imagine You program, told the committee her team opened three new licensed family child‑care businesses within Federal Way after an eight‑month peer‑mentorship and on‑the‑job training program. Each graduate received a $5,000 incentive ($4,000 paid to mentors and $1,000 from the city), and the program provided paid on‑the‑job training (up to roughly 480 hours reported) and business and licensing assistance. Imagine reported the three new providers will serve about 30 child care slots after their initial licensing periods, and all three were reported by staff to be operating at capacity with waiting lists. Imagine has a current list of 27 people in the city who have started prerequisites; staff estimated roughly nine of those would likely complete the program and open businesses in the near term.

Imagine’s presenter outlined a per‑provider cost of roughly $27,000—made up of direct awards ($9,000), paid internship/on‑the‑job learning ($7,200), outreach/training/onboarding ($6,100) and evaluation/administration ($4,600)—and said that to fund nine additional providers the city would need on the order of $243,000. The presenter emphasized the potential public benefit of expanding family child‑care capacity: increased access to child care, improved early learning outcomes and supports for working parents. Council members asked about program safeguards to prevent fraud (time sheets, mentor observation, spot checks) and whether Imagine’s broader shared services can support grant writers and bulk purchasing; Imagine said it provides technical assistance, shared‑services discounts (QuickBooks, Brightwheel, Lakeshore Learning) and can refer childcare providers to grant‑writing help.

Small Business Development Center (Highline) — digital literacy and advising: Rich Shockley and Andrew Powers from Highline’s SBDC reviewed small‑business advising metrics and the digital‑literacy/AI workshops the city funded. SBDC reported 300+ client meetings year to date, 69 unique Federal Way clients and roughly $2.7 million in capital investment attributed to advised businesses. Andrew described a series of two‑hour workshops—website creation, Google Sites, basic AI tools for copy and imagery—that the SBDC piloted in Federal Way. He said the curriculum generated immediate business results for at least one Federal Way participant who used workshop tools in a University of Washington competition and won third place and $12,500.

O’Neil also reported other program housekeeping: a previously contracted online marketplace (Start to Cart) will be ended; a national city‑marketing contractor’s work will be finished by a local firm (Madcap Marketing) to finalize collateral (developer and retail one‑pagers) and generate completed products; $4,043,000 of marketing funds remain for future efforts. O’Neil reviewed hotel market metrics from STR/CoStar showing average daily rate and occupancy trends (about 65–66% occupancy and ADR near $140–$150 for the eight larger Federal Way hotels), and said a tourism consultant (JRay) has begun media monitoring, geofencing analysis and partner outreach in preparation for a tourism promotion plan and fall photo/video shoots.

Committee members thanked presenters and asked for follow‑up materials: Imagine was asked to provide a clearer timeline for cohorts and a plan for funding the waitlist cohort; SBDC was asked to publish short, five‑minute AI tutorial videos to improve accessibility; O’Neil said staff will return with any proposed reallocations for programs (for example, remaining Start to Cart funds and smaller marketing dollars) at a later FedRack meeting.

Ending: Staff said they will return with funding options for childcare cohort expansion and with trend data/short tutorial materials requested for digital training; tourism consultant work will continue and an events calendar and itineraries are expected on the Visit Federal Way site later this year.