City staff presented a broad update on the Growing Our Economy focus area, describing business attraction efforts, workforce initiatives, infrastructure readiness for data centers and the early stages of sports and entertainment district planning.

Jen Beck Baker, Director of the Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs, said outreach at industry events such as Semicon West contributed to '1,300 jobs' created year‑to‑date and identified priority sectors including AI analytics, GPUs/CPUs, robotics and physical AI applications. Staff discussed methods to document and attribute business 'wins' (retention, expansion, attraction) and plans to procure software tools for business attraction work.

On infrastructure, staff cited a PG&E power agreement and reported 19 data center and large energy projects in the development pipeline as of September 2025; the presentation set targets for projects receiving permanent power and for projects in entitlement by mid‑2026. Staff emphasized that data centers are primarily revenue generators and estimated that three projects fully ramped could produce roughly $2.1 million in incremental tax/revenue for 2026–27, funds that could be reinvested in city services.

Council members questioned what community benefits would accompany data center incentives, such as local hiring, apprenticeships, and neighborhood investments. Staff and the deputy city manager said the PG&E partnership includes workforce development elements; staff pointed to Power Pathways and IBEW partnerships and said Work2Future is coordinating training to connect residents to construction and electrical trades.

Staff also outlined downtown incentives (office leasing incentives, reduced insurance requirements, fee relief and free parking for some leases), upcoming business improvement district petitions (Alameda and Alum Rock/Santa Clara), and early consultant studies for an entertainment district and convention center expansion. Staff noted a clarified liquor licensing approach that allows temporary outdoor alcohol sales to support entertainment zone activations.

Council members pressed for specifics on funding for neighborhood activations tied to 2026 events, expressed concern that small businesses may lack capacity to lead watch parties or BID administration without training, and asked how allocation decisions will be made. Staff said toolkits, branding materials and capacity‑building supports are being developed and that a portion of event activation funding has been committed to local partners; exact dollar amounts were not finalized in the meeting.

After extended Q&A and public comment, the committee moved to accept the report. Staff said a fuller status update will appear in April ahead of major 2026 events.