Since the December 2020 meeting of the Northern Waterfront Ad Hoc Committee, two economic development staff positions—Economic Development Manager and Economic Development Project Manager—were filled to help advance projects under the Northern Waterfront umbrella.
Recent and proposed economic development activity to implement the Northern Waterfront Strategic Action Plan includes:
- Tour of the Northern Waterfront with staff from State Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), federal representatives, and other regional economic development agencies, to reboot the Northern Waterfront Initiative after the pandemic and to make sure that the area’s unique characteristics are understood by these agencies. This was a daylong event on November 2, 2022, with stops and participation from the cities of Hercules, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, and the county. This was an opportunity for each city to highlight a key site for the regional officials, and to illustrate the overarching principle of partnership and regional collaboration that is a hallmark of the Northern Waterfront Initiative. This tour also included a stop at Byron Airport with the Airports Division to highlight the business attraction of the aviation emerging innovation and technology sector at the Bay Area Test Site (BATS).
- In accordance with the direction from the Board of Supervisors on February 7, 2023 (See Attachment: February 7 2023 Board Order – PPAs), an application was submitted on February 10, 2023 for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Priority Production Areas (PPAs) Pilot Grant Program for multiple PPAs in the Northern Waterfront, namely the two PPAs within unincorporated Contra Costa County—Pacheco Manufacturing Zone and Bay Point Industrial Center—and those in the Cities of Concord, Pittsburg, Antioch, and Oakley. The four cities supported the County's proposal. If funded, this grant award for technical assistance would support the planning and infrastructure in the PPAs of the Northern Waterfront.
- Economic development staff from the County along with several staff from the departments of Conservation and Development and Public Works held a half-day information-sharing event at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on March 3, 2023 with the deputy lab director, a number of research and strategic partnerships and technology transfer directors, and start-up founders from the Cyclotron Road program to identify areas of collaboration along the Northern Waterfront. Staff presented on select initiatives of sustainability, recycling and waste reduction, and Public Works, in addition to the Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative. Staff will continue to explore potential partnerships with Berkeley Lab that facilitate technology transfer and other opportunities to support the development of and accessibility, inclusivity, environmental sustainability, and engagement with local companies and entrepreneurs.
- Economic development staff from the County supported EUV Tech (City of Martinez)’s CHIPS and Science Act grant application, to continue to support the Northern Waterfront’s advanced manufacturing sector.
- Economic development staff from the County participated in the Concord Life Science Center Open House on February 22, 2023, to continue to support the Northern Waterfront’s biomedical/biotech sector.
- Economic development staff from the County participated in CalRecycle’s Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) Zone Works training workshops in December 2022 and May 2023, to learn how to market and expand the Contra Costa County’s RMDZ low-interest loan program. Staff will work with the Zone Administrator to utilize CalRecycle Zone Incentive Funds (ZIF) to update and expand the RMDZ’s web and other marketing collateral, and to continue to support companies seeking RMDZ funding.
- Economic development staff from the County participated in the Universities of California Los Angeles & Irvine Brownfields 101 conference on February 27-March 3, 2023, to be trained on how to utilize U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brownfields assessment grant programs as seed capital to cleanup and redevelop brownfields sites. Staff will attend the Brownfields National Conference in Detroit, Michigan in August 2023, and the California Land Recycling Conference in Carson, California in September 2023, to continue to develop partnerships to pursue grants to inventory and assess brownfields sites.
- Economic development staff from the County and the cities of Antioch and Brentwood participated in TeamCalifornia-- the non-profit membership-based organization that markets California communities and site location assistance for California—at the 9th Annual Meet the Consultants (MTC) Forum in San Joaquin county on November 30 - December 2, 2022 to hear from multiple site location consultants making decisions about business investments in California, including for the Northern Waterfront target sectors of biomedical/biotech and clean tech. Staff will join TeamCalifornia to make connections with site selectors at the MTC Forum 2023 and selected trade shows and industry sponsored events focused on the target industries of the Northern Waterfront.
- To support business retention and expansion (BRE) efforts, economic development staff from the County assisted over 70 businesses in accessing services for: site selection in the unincorporated parts of the county and referrals to cities; access to capital including the Microbusiness COVID-19 Relief Grant Program; business resources including access to COVID-19 tests and compensation for employee sick days; resources for starting a business in such industries as food service, home inspection, and retail; specialized assistance for business owners such as veterans, minorities, and women; employee recruitment; support in applying for federal funding including the CHIPS & Science Act; and business development assistance including contracting and access to grant/new market opportunities. Staff targeted outreach to 3,417 microbusinesses with five or fewer employees to support marketing of the COVID-19 Microbusiness Relief Grant Program along with chamber, city, and community-based partner organizations. Staff will continue to support the retention and expansion of existing small and medium-sized businesses in the unincorporated areas by providing business assistance and amplifying economic development highlights.
- Economic development staff from the County and the East County cities of Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, and Brentwood presented opportunities in their regions at the East County (EC2) Brokers’ Breakfast in Pittsburg on September 8, 2022. Economic development staff from the County presented on the Northern Waterfront Initiative to the Hazardous Materials Commission in December 2022, Workforce Development Board’s Business & Economic Development Committee in December 2022, Diablo Valley Technology Initiative in January 2023, East Bay Leadership Council in February 2023, and five Community Advisory Panels in Martinez and Bay Point in March – April 2023.
- Economic development staff from the County convened six quarterly meetings with countywide economic development staff, and with the staff from the cities of the Northern Waterfront and the Workforce Development Board staff to coordinate and collaborate. Staff will convene quarterly meetings in May, July, and October 2023. Staff will plan an event in Fall 2023 with state/regional/local economic development entities, chambers, and other partners of the Northern Waterfront to convene and communicate progress on the Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative.
- Economic development staff from the County maintain the economic development webpage with up-to-date information on: economic development services; opportunities to do business with the County; funding opportunities for businesses; major projects; resources; and contact information. Staff will update and expand the web presence for the Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative, including with new economic data, current trends in target industries, links to individual city/county economic development websites and the Envision Contra Costa 2040 General Plan, and demographic and labor force data as required by businesses and site selectors.
- In accordance with the policy adopted by the Board of Supervisors on February 22, 2022, economic development staff from the County will continue to implement the County’s policy on participating in Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs). (See Attachment: February 22 2022 Policy Adopted on EIFDs).
- In accordance with the Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative Strategic Plan, economic development staff from the County will continue to investigate the feasibility of launching a non-profit advanced manufacturing, biomedical/biotech, or cleantech incubator/accelerator to encourage the development of sustainable industries along the Northern Waterfront.
- A Green Empowerment Zone that includes the Northern Waterfront area of the County of Contra Costa was approved by the Legislature on September 28, 2021. The Board of Directors of the Green Empowerment Zone is in the process of being established. Supervisor Gioia has been appointed as the representative for Contra Costa County. The Legislature also approved a $5,000,000 appropriation for onetime start-up funding.
The Northern Waterfront Initiative activities are funded by a General Fund allocation of $500,000 dating from 2017-2018. There is a current balance of $300,000 for the Northern Waterfront Initiative that has been rolled over from previous years and will cover the costs of the proposed activities.
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