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Bakersfield council receives economic development strategic plan update, discusses incentives criteria
Summary
City staff presented an update on the 2021 Economic Development Strategic Plan, reviewed programs (entrepreneurship grants, Opportunity Zones recertification, EIFD), and proposed a weighted scorecard for incentives; council voted to receive and file the report.
Bakersfield City Council on Sept. 10 received and filed an update on the city’s Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) and a proposed criteria framework for economic incentives, staff said.
The report, presented by Jenny Byers of the Economic and Community Development Department, summarized work under three EDSP categories—industry targeting, umbrella programs and placemaking—and highlighted actions including entrepreneurship grants, business recruitment efforts, Opportunity Zones recertification and exploration of financing mechanisms such as an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD).
Why it matters: Council members said a clear, transparent incentives framework would help the city compete for large projects, direct limited public funds to priorities and track outcomes such as jobs created, sales-tax generation and private capital invested.
Byers told the council the EDSP, adopted in 2021, contains 17 strategies and that staff is now focusing on a next layer of programs and an economic development scorecard. She listed recent accomplishments including…
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