Business Retention and Expansion Quarterly Report – Q1 2024

BUSINESS RETENTION AND EXPANSION QUARTERLY REPORT – Q1 2024

INDUSTRY The Business Retention and Expansion program is a partnership between the Solano Economic Development Corporation, the County of Solano, and Cities of Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Suisun City, Vacaville, Vallejo, and Winters, to implement a regionwide business retention initiative.

BACKGROUND In 2022, the Solano Economic Development Corporation (EDC) utilized funds from the US Economic Development Administration (EDA) to commission a comprehensive study aimed at assessing the economic landscape and identifying opportunities for growth within the region. Through this study, it became evident that there was a need for the establishment of a dedicated Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) manager role within the organization.

The study highlighted the importance of nurturing existing businesses to sustain economic stability and foster growth, recognizing them as integral components of the region's economic ecosystem. By leveraging insights gained from the study, a BRE manager would play in facilitating ongoing communication with local businesses, understanding their needs, and providing tailored support and resources to address challenges and promote expansion.

STRATEGY Success of the BRE program is highly dependent on the coordinated efforts with the following key organizations to bring the most resources to supporting the business environment.

City Economic Development Teams: Develop strong collaboration with the economic development teams of each city to support their strategy. Regular involvement in monthly meetings ensures continuous communication and goal alignment. Business retention visits occur either jointly or independently, aiming for a frequency of at least twice a week.

Following independent visits, key findings and will be promptly communicated to each city.

Additionally, participate in monthly economic development task force meetings to offer insight and assistance in refining the broader regional economic development strategy.

Regional and Local Chambers of Commerce: Engage with regional and local chambers of commerce to enhance existing in-kind relationship to include collaboratively market and provide programs aimed at supporting businesses within the community. To achieve this, participate in roundtable discussions and business issues committee meetings on a quarterly basis, where feedback is gathered to better tailor support to the needs of local businesses.

BayREN Commercial: BayREN is a collaboration of the Bay Area’s nine counties aimed at advancing energy efficiency and sustainable initiatives across the region. Within BayREN, the Commercial program is specifically designed to support small businesses in underserved areas by helping them upgrade to energy-efficient appliances through rebate assistance, which will ultimately lead to long-term reduction in energy costs. As part of our outreach strategy, the Solano EDC entered into an MOU agreement with the Solano Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to engage with new businesses that can benefit from the program.

This collaboration has proven successful in generating leads, and we intend to replicate this outreach approach with other community-based organizations in the area.

Workforce Development Board of Solano County: Connected with the business services consulting team to identify opportunities for involvement in their ongoing business calls.

Adding value to discussions by introducing additional resources on behalf of the Solano EDC. Solano Biz-Grow: Actively market the Solano EDC’s revolving loan fund, which was designed to assist small businesses that were impacted by Covid-19 by providing access to capital with more flexible credit terms. Leverage relationships with chambers and city partners to reach potential applicants.

OBJECTIVES Meet with each city’s economic development teams to understand existing strategies, challenges, and priorities.

Coordinate with city’s economic development teams to provide information on programs available to existing businesses.

Conduct business retention visits in coordination with city economic development teams/or individually.

Report on findings through visitation program and address issues and concerns of businesses.

Identify a CRM software to track services provided and communication with businesses which allow for better organization and follow up.

Serve as key contact for businesses to help solve challenges that hinder growth in the community.

Present available services to business owners, chambers of commerce, and other community-based organizations.

CITY ACTIVITY

Benicia

Conducting business retention visits and reporting findings to City staff.

Dixon

Received guidance on priority businesses to visit.

Conducting business retention visits in Q2.

Fairfield

Participating in recurring monthly update meetings Obtaining business visitation list.

Conducting business retention visits in Q2.

Rio Vista

Obtaining business visitation list.

Conducting business retention visits in Q2.

Suisun City

Met with Mayor Hernandez, received guidance on priority business sector to visit.

Conducting business retention visits in Q2.

Vacaville

Starting up on joint business retention visits with City staff and Workforce Development Board.

Conducting business retention visits in Q2.

Vallejo

Conducting joint business retention visits with City staff and economic development commissioner – once per month.

Winters

Met with City staff, Chamber, and Downtown Business Association – developing business retention and attraction strategy.

OTHER ACTIVITIES Selected a CRM tool – EDC Forge – moved forward with installation and setup for use in the organization as well as uploaded 700+ businesses and organizations into system.

Conducted six business retention visits.

Attended 25+ chamber and community-based organization events.

Participated in “Latest Development” video filming with the City of Fairfield to highlight BRE program and role.

BAYREN PROJECTS BY CITY: # of Qualifying Businesses:

Yearly kWh Savings:

Yearly $ Savings:

Project Costs:

Fairfield

26

169,543

$64,424

$142,273

Vacaville

21

134,080

$50,949

$120,056

Vallejo

17

121,127

$46,027

$68,459

Benicia

5

25,864

$9,828

$17,986

Suisun

7

21,994

$8.358

$25,079

76

472,608

$179,587

$373,853

Total

*The BayREN commercial program has identified 76 qualifying businesses to assist. These projects are pending installation, with no out-of-pocket costs to the business owner, and will help owners save a combined $180k annually in recurring energy costs.

BAYREN PROJECT STATUS BY MONTH

*A delayed status indicates a later follow up with the business owner once they have received a full year of PG&E service for eligibility assessment.

BAYREN PROJECTS BY INDUSTRY TYPE:

*Based on our BayREN results, the restaurant sector is benefitting the most from the program.

SOLANO BIZ-GROW LOAN YTD APPLICATIONS: City Benicia Dixon Fai rfi eld Rio Vista Suisun City Vacavi lle Vallejo

Total

Applications Approved 8 3 17 2 5 11 12 58

SBDC Declined 1 3

2 6

*Total number of approved applications (58) is based on meeting Solano EDC’s initial criteria. Applicants are then referred to the SBDC and are still in the pipeline. The total number of declined applications (6) represent applications that are disqualified and removed from the process after an SBDC assessment.