County advances agricultural economic development work plan; proposes branding and advisory council

Santa Clara County's administration presented a draft 2025 agricultural economic development work plan that would recast the county's asset and economic development functions to emphasize agritourism, local branding and partnership-driven outreach.

Consuelo Hernandez, deputy county executive, said the work plan focuses on two priority areas from the 2018 Santa Clara Valley agricultural plan: an economic development strategy and branding/education to raise awareness about agricultural assets in unincorporated South County. Hernandez described close coordination with UC Cooperative Extension and a plan to contribute $20,000 toward a branding consultant while county administration allocated $50,000 ongoing to support work in this area.

Hernandez said the office is recruiting a second program manager (funded in a midyear budget adjustment) and is exploring an advisory council model designed to be open and generative rather than strictly regulatory. The administration is also piloting an interactive map with Visit Gilroy to list events and attractions and to drive traffic to a county website that will better showcase agritourism options across Gilroy, Morgan Hill, the Los Gatos Mountains and other unincorporated areas.

Supervisors praised the approach and suggested quarterly updates, off-site tours of agritourism sites, and closer coordination with Team San Jose and local chambers to link visitors to South County lodging and attractions for upcoming large events. A motion to approve the work-plan direction and request quarterly reporting carried on a roll call vote.

Next steps: finalize recruitment for the second program manager, publish updated web resources and interactive event maps, convene an advisory council in the coming months, and return quarterly progress reports to the committee.