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EDC touts awards, outreach and festival attendance; council approves grant start documents and related contracts

City of Cleveland City Council · March 18, 2026

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Summary

The Cleveland Economic Development Corporation reported 2025 achievements including target‑industry work and Logjam Fest attendance (~5,000). Council approved TDA CDBG start documents for a $750,000 well‑repair grant, signed a GrantWorks grant administration contract, authorized submission of a phase‑1 downtown CDBG application, and approved a sewer capacity agreement with Union Tank and an ERP upgrade.

Emilio Navarro, the city’s economic development director, presented the Cleveland Economic Development Corporation’s 2025 annual recap on March 17, highlighting target industries (manufacturing, data centers, distribution/logistics, construction materials and aviation), regional outreach, and two site visits generated by recruitment efforts. Navarro said staff pursued roughly $25 billion in potential private investment via RFIs and described promotional work that produced nearly 700 page views of a hotspot page and other business outreach.

Navarro also reported the EDC won a statewide economic development excellence award, and staff highlighted Logjam Fest as an inaugural event that drew nearly 5,000 attendees from across the region. The downtown work included lighting and parking improvements and acceptance into the Texas Main Street program’s Street Initiative cohort.

On the consent and regular agenda, council approved several staff requests: start‑up CDBG civil‑rights documents required by the Texas Department of Agriculture to move forward with a recently awarded $750,000 TDA grant for repairs to Well Number 8; a grant administration contract with GrantWorks; and authorization to submit a phase‑1 community application for the Texas CDBG downtown revitalization program (a low‑match program). Council also approved an agreement reserving sewer treatment capacity with Union Tank and voted to upgrade the city’s Tyler Technologies ERP from Pro 9 to Pro 10 (cloud) to modernize accounting and move server functions off‑site. All listed motions passed by recorded vote as presented.

Staff said the next steps include publishing the full EDC annual report, circulating grant start documents to the state, and returning to council with detailed downtown project proposals if the city is invited to the next grant phase.