New economic development director summarizes ARPA-funded programs, grant-writing work and childcare wins

Meredith Veil, Federal Way’s new economic development director, presented an informational report to the FEDRAC committee on May 27 summarizing multiple ongoing projects and contracts funded primarily through one-time ARPA allocations and other sources.

Veil said the presentation included updates on mobile surveillance trailers (MST) used by police for monitoring high-crime areas, an outsourced city grant-writing program that researched roughly 91 grants and helped secure several awards worth tens of thousands of dollars, a website audit and rebuild work (visitfederalway.org) and the shop-local marketplace effort. She also introduced partners who reported progress on two programs: a grant-writing and capacity service and a home-childcare expansion through the Imagine Institute.

On mobile surveillance, Veil said the city purchased additional MST units to expand real-time monitoring in parks and commercial areas; police data on uses and outcomes were not available during the meeting, and staff committed to follow up with counts and performance metrics by email. Council members asked whether deployments reduced crimes, where trailers were placed, whether businesses can request units, and whether any units were damaged; staff said they would provide a follow‑up report showing uses, outcomes and request procedures.

A contracted grant-writing team reported 596 hours of work across roughly a year, with about $211,000 in grants (including a CEDB/CURB award and an EECBG item in process) noted among outcomes described to the committee. The contractor also ran six grant- and fundraising-workshops, provided one-on-one grant-editing assistance and conducted follow-up grant-management work for awards that required reporting and compliance. Council members asked about the ongoing funding model: the pilot used ARPA/multi-year funds that have now lapsed, and staff said they will return in about 60–70 days with recommendations about continuing, narrowing or reallocating those resources.

Representatives from the Imagine Institute said work to license three in‑home childcare providers in Federal Way should create roughly 30 childcare slots when licensing is complete; the providers were in the DCYF licensing process with anticipated openings in June. The contract includes pass-through stipends to new providers (a $4,000 stipend noted) and shared-services supports (training, tax help, grant-writing assistance) intended to improve provider sustainability. Committee members asked about the program’s cost, the amount of pass-through funds (the presenter calculated about $45,600 of pass-through in the three‑provider cohort), and whether there is a waiting list; Imagine Institute said more providers had expressed interest and that the organization maintains a statewide queue.

Madcap/VisitFederalWay contractors reported that visitfederalway.org had been refreshed and is live; additional pages for economic development and engagefederalway.org work remain to be completed and face technical platform choices. The city marketing contract was terminated earlier and about $83,241 of that contract balance remained; staff said they were auditing deliverables and would return to committee with a proposed next-step plan to reallocate or complete remaining work.

Shop Local Federal Way (Member Marketplace) staff reported a relaunch of a directory and “start-to-cart” ecommerce education program; the directory includes more than 500 businesses and a targeted set of e-commerce trainings. Staff said the approach for the coming year would focus on building a full, searchable local directory and business-engagement features rather than a broad platform-wide ecommerce onboarding for all businesses.

Council direction and next steps included: staff will provide follow-up data on MST uses and outcomes, provide a clearer accounting of grant program results and grant-management needs, return within roughly 60–70 days with recommendations for how to manage unspent ARPA/ED funds, and pursue better analytics for the visit/site work and the shop-local platform.

Why it matters: The economic development portfolio covers multiple ARPA- and grant-funded pilot programs whose continuation or reallocation will affect next-year budget and program priorities across downtown redevelopment, workforce and small-business support.

What’s next: Staff will return with requested follow-ups (MST performance data, grant outcomes and ROI, and a proposal for unspent program funds) and a recommended plan for next steps in roughly 60–70 days.