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Economic development team rolls out 40‑page implementation plan, business concierge and a one‑stop business lounge
Summary
City staff reported a formal implementation plan to implement Santa Rosa’s economic development strategy, launch of a business concierge program (small business ombudsman), and an in‑house one‑stop business lounge; staff also summarized baseline economic indicators and said a public dashboard and KPIs will be developed.
Staff told the Economic Development Committee that the city’s economic development implementation plan — a 40‑page document that staff said kicked off on Jan. 1 — is now turned into individual staff work plans and a one‑page summary that will be available in English and Spanish online.
“Think of the economic development strategy as the blueprint; the implementation plan is the foundation,” Scott, an economic development presenter, said. Staff said the team also worked with Siro to develop a new tagline, “where success takes root,” and that the implementation plan will be summarized in a one‑page handout.
Staff reported early operational initiatives tied to the plan. They described a new business concierge program that provides two branches of service: an internal liaison to help businesses navigate licensing, permitting and planning processes, and direct business technical assistance (education, grant/funding connection and outreach). The concierge program will be administered by the city’s small business ombudsman, Rafael, staff said; Rafael has begun outreach and hosted an initial Rise and Thrive breakfast with community partners representing BIPOC and other underserved business communities.
Rafael listed organizations that attended the Rise and Thrive meeting, including the Sonoma County Hispanic Chamber, North Bay Black Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), SCORE, Latinx professional groups and the Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of the North Bay; staff said a follow‑up meeting is planned for May.
Staff also described a physical one‑stop business lounge created in Room 6 at City Hall to serve entrepreneurs and small businesses with drop‑in or prebooked appointments. The space will host partners and technical advisors and feature a monitor for a public economic dashboard staff plans to develop.
On business climate indicators staff reported earlier data for context: staff cited a February 2024 unemployment rate for Santa Rosa at 4.3% (compared with a national 3.9% and a California average of about 5.4% at the same point in time). Staff said they will put economic and program KPIs into an online dashboard and that the implementation plan’s milestones will be tracked in Microsoft Planner.
Staff said they received more than 800 new business license applications in the prior year, about 360 of which were home‑based business applications; staff also said a Retail Strategies contract for a leakage and gap analysis is being routed for execution to support business attraction and recruitment.
Ending
Staff will continue to develop the one‑stop portal, the business concierge services and the public dashboard; they said they will return with regular KPI reporting tied to implementation plan milestones.
