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Tulare County Economic Development Corporation reports year-end leads, marketing and small staff capacity
Summary
Tulare County EDC reported a year of marketing outreach, 39 active projects, two small grants and continued work on site-selection tools; EDC said it is operating with a two-person staff and growing private partner support.
Erica De Oliveira, president and CEO of the Tulare County Economic Development Corporation, presented the EDC’s year-end overview for fiscal 2024–25 to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors on July 1, outlining marketing metrics, project counts, recent grants and staff capacity.
De Oliveira said the EDC is organized as a nonprofit 501(c)(4) with a 501(c)(3) foundation arm and is led by a 22-member board. She described core activities as recruitment, site selection and marketing, and highlighted the EDC’s Guru GIS site-selection platform, which includes zoning, utility layers and a 3-D spec building viewer. “These are really our top three priorities,” she said.
On outreach and metrics, De Oliveira reported that the EDC had “sent a little over 36,000 emails” and described open- and click-level engagement in the campaign. She said the EDC had about 39 active projects in the pipeline (with four added in the prior 30 days), issued 21 RFIs, prepared 17 proposals and submitted 129 sites to prospects. The organization reported being shortlisted on 12 projects and sending 26 incentive packets.
De Oliveira told the board the EDC received a $25,000 CRA grant from Bank of the Sierra and a $5,000 ARPA grant from Tulare County this year, and said private partner investment has risen to roughly $80,000. She also said the EDC had trimmed staff from three people to two and expects to close the fiscal year in the black for the second consecutive year.
Supervisors praised the EDC’s outreach and its improved collaboration with county cities. Supervisor Townsend asked about S2J2 catalyst awards; De Oliveira said one recipient was a health care simulation center led by board member Clay Ipsen of True Health North and that the organization is working with regional partners on infrastructure and power issues relevant to economic recruitment.
De Oliveira said the EDC plans to expand industry cluster layers on the Guru platform (food processing and manufacturing were the first) and to pursue additional grant and private-partner opportunities in 2025–26.
