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Providers warn Opportunity Center funding will lapse; city and county seek grants to keep services
Summary
Program evaluation shows early success — hundreds served and job placements — but the city—s ARPA-backed contracts with providers will sunset and providers are pursuing federal earmark, philanthropic and county funding.
City staff and nonprofit leaders told the council the Opportunity Center of the Coastside (OCC) has produced measurable results since opening but faces a funding cliff because ARPA-funded contracts and prepaid rent will end within months.
Karen Decker, Half Moon Bay's economic and community vitality manager, summarized a third-party evaluation by Head & Heart Advisory that covered the center—s first 15 months. The center was created as a partnership among Half Moon Bay, the city of South San Francisco and San Mateo County to run place-based economic advancement services for jobseekers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Decker said the city prepaid the lease through the end of the calendar year but that provider contracts and intergovernmental agreements will "sunset at the end of next month." She listed grant and funding avenues the city and providers are pursuing: a federal earmark request routed through Sen. Adam Schiff's office, a proposal to the Sobrato Family Foundation stewarded by JobTrain and Renaissance, a county supervisor request, and private investment and matches sought by the COSI Venture Studio.
Provider leaders described activity at the OCC and urged that the city continue to pursue funding to keep the center intact. Sharon Miller, CEO of Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, said Renaissance had served 171 local entrepreneurs with small-business counseling and consulting, helped 51 clients with consulting services and supported 41 businesses (29 existing and 12 startups). She said Renaissance staff had helped secure loans and small grants for childcare and food businesses.
Barry Hathaway, chief executive of JobTrain, said JobTrain had enrolled 284 residents through OCC outreach and delivered nearly 1,200 services; of 117 clients who engaged in job-search activities 77 were placed in jobs (a 66% placement rate for that subgroup). Hathaway said employers including Rocket Farms, Safeway and The Ritz-Carlton had hired OCC participants.
Eric Vettel of the American Energy Society described the COSI Venture Studio—s early-stage work, saying the incubator achieved a roughly 60% success rate among early cohorts and had attracted startups that plan to relocate or hire locally. Kristalyn Geet, the chamber leader, said the chamber now meets roughly 150 visitors per month at the OCC site, up from an estimated 150 per year in the old building.
Council members and staff discussed options if outside funding does not materialize: continuing to house providers in the OCC through the prepaid lease while providers seek program funding, relocating services to co-locate with other existing community providers, and using limited local funds to cover utility or short-term operational gaps. Decker said utilities for the remaining lease term are roughly $8,0009,000 and that provider program funding requests are already submitted to several funders.
No new appropriation or contract extensions were adopted at the meeting. Council members asked staff to return with updates and to be prepared to consider time-limited local match requests at the next council meeting if grant prospects improve.
"We have proof of concept," Vettel told the council, "but the lights will go out if the funding doesn't continue."
