retail sector uh and and that's also kind of tied into the the actual shopping center so our involvement is typically looking at you know not every small space but usually the bigger types of tenants so how can we assist with you know helping that South Shore Center or or Alameda Landing how can we assist with those larger type of spaces what kind of outreach can we work with um so from that aspect it's also um dealing with brokers dealing with property owners in the case of shopping centers dealing particularly with their property kind of managers um the retail attraction is more proactive because it's okay we found out about the space we want to work with you so now we're we're proactively going to go out and help you try to find tenants um so for both the downtown attraction efforts and for the retail attraction efforts um finding that tenant kind of process is is learning about the space learning about kind of um putting the putting businesses into those spaces and then when we talk about our website um we'll get into kind of how we can promote that how we can list those kind of spaces on our choose alameda website um so then getting into kind of the the the proactive part of it so for for when we're looking at the business sectors and you know in the past I think our efforts have been more kind of general um you know promoting Alameda as a whole and so now our focus that we want to do is is more into okay how do we attract it's it's the blue tech the green tech clean tech and also the bio tech bio sector um so those are the four kind of business sectors that we're looking at and for those sectors it's definitely it's definitely looking at where they can locate so the advantage that we have or the message that we have for Alameda is you know we have different places for you to locate size wise so you can go to um you know alamed a point and have this have these have these big type of spaces you can go to research park and have a smaller space medium sized space you can go to Harbor Bay and get a big space and then it's also tied into wanting to be you know how can we align you with other businesses that are that are the same like yours so um it's not just the space needs but also kind of that alignment with other types of businesses.

So for that strategy it's really it's really about how do we reach out to to the to the not only to the businesses but to the property managers how do we promote how do we know about and promote those specific kind of spaces and then what are those messages that we're that we're trying to convey and that's kind of what we're going to get into talking about more tonight is those kind of common messages that we have and then those specific messages that we have um the other thing before we get into that also wanted to talk about so we've got business attraction activities and then we have workforce activities um for the most partforce typically is is is handled by um or most of the heavy lifting typically is done by like workforce development board and and um and entities like that that are that are kind of set up to how can we find out about the needs how can we address those kind of needs um in the in the case here one of the things that that we found successful is actually our with our partnership with the chamber the executive round tables that we've had and so that's been with the different kind of business sectors and the and the purpose of those that Madeline set up is to really get their kind of feedback on okay what's working for you in Alameda what are the needs that you have what should we know about your kind of industry and what came out of those meetings was kind of this common theme of when we asked them about workforce it was this common theme of of okay we could find the we can find the entry level workers we could find the engineer type of workers but it's the kind of those technicians in the middle that people were having a harder time finding and so um so we felt like okay that was an area that we could then focus on for our workforce activities and then talking to the uh to the College of Alameda it's okay how can we once we find out so our next step is to go and survey those companies and find out exactly okay we just want to confirm this is what you told us this is you know we want to confirm that are there any other needs and then we can take that to the college to say okay um is it are there courses that we can do are there other avenues of training that we could do so that's kind of our next step from a from a workforce standpoint um so kind

This is, you know, we want to confirm that are there any other needs, and then we can take that to the college to say, okay, um, is it are there courses that we can do?

Are there other avenues of training that we could do?

So that's kind of our next step from a from a workforce standpoint.

Um so kind of getting into the into kind of our our partners and what we want to do.

Um, you know, I've talked in the past before about economic development really is about kind of uh very tied into our relationships.

And so for you know, for the for downtowns and and for the retail sector and also for the business sector, you know, the relationships are the people that are involved in that development kind of process.

So um, so our relationship is with brokers, with property owners, with property managers, with resource kind of providers.

So part of this attraction effort is to is to make sure that we're continuing and nurturing those kind of relationships.

Because in many cases, that's the way we're finding out about what's available, what businesses are looking for.

Um, and then really the proactive part is telling our story.

And so what I want to kind of talk about next is is what are those messages that we want to tell, and then how are we going to go about telling that story?

So um, so we're gonna look at our kind of two websites, work our way through those, and then also get into kind of those messages.

Um bringing back, so so when we the um, I think it was two or two meetings ago for this group, we talked about okay, because we were in the process of of looking at starting this kind of choose alameda business attraction website.

And the feedback we got from this group was okay, we can we could talk certainly talk about Alameda and lifestyle and and transportation and where we're at and the all those kind of things that you typically see.

But the feedback was what we really need to kind of hit home about is the nuts and bolts of of how you're starting your business, getting the business started in Alameda, and then the cost of doing business.

Um so getting the business here, getting it up and running, and then the advantages that Alameda offers as far as the cost of doing business here, finding employees can tie it into things like AMP, uh, our and our specific kind of advantages in those areas.

So as we've set up our websites that that we've set it up specifically that way to kind of walk our way through.

So maybe what we could do is look at the the choose alameda um kind of template that we have, and I'll and I'll kind of I'll walk through that.

And um, and then I'll get into our other website, then I'll start, then I'll we'll talk about kind of the messages.

Oh, perfect.

Okay.

Okay, so so uh, and and this is this is still kind of the the narratives getting plugged into, but um, and logos and things like that, colors, but um it really starts off with kind of this.

This is the main kind of page.

This is the first thing that you're scrolling down and seeing.

Um so the main messages we have at the very top, we have that that section on you can click on opening your business and cost of operations.

So um, so that's really those are the main kind of messages.

We also have lifestyle in there, but but the three messages we got from this group was make sure that that's readily available, those are the parts that people want to see.

Um this front section will have will have videos, they'll have pictures that'll kind of scroll through, and then those two tabs there explore business clusters and available buildings and spaces, um, get into then the story of okay, well, what businesses are here already?

How can you locate next to other businesses?

And then the nuts and bolts of okay, where can you actually find your your building site?

Um so the site is set up to at the very beginning, telling the story and getting down to how the nuts and bolts of how our business um uh how Alameda is a great place to locate your business, start it up and run your business.

How are we how are we pushing this out to the world?

Umce it's done, our plan is to kind of go on the circuit of getting this out to the to the development community, the brokerage community, through our regional partners, um uh through site selectors.

So basically everyone who would come in contact with that, that's that will be our kind of our press release type of thing that now we have the site.

So it won't necessarily rely on someone thinking.

I might want to move to Alameda and almost put the idea in our head.

Yeah, so there's there's kind of the component of yes, it's there, but then also the component of we want to reach out to let people know that it's there.

And then part of this is also the you know, the SEO part of our website is making sure that we're you know, when people are hitting on locating businesses Bay Area, that that this site is kind of front and center.

Um so you could if you could scroll down a little bit.

So then we have this section of of okay, here's here's a listing of of different types of companies.

Uh this will also you know be kind of rotating.

Um and then the column, if you scroll just a little bit, the the column on the left side is really hitting kind of the theme of of the innovation in Alameda.

Um so that's that you know, it talks about at the heart of Alameda is the innovation that we have here.

So those boxes, if you scroll down a little bit, will be you know the innovative businesses we have here, the innovative ways to get to Alameda, our transportation kind of corridor, um, food and beverage innovation, and then innovation with the arts.

So that's really telling the story of all the innovative things we have kind of in Alameda.

Um, and then the column on the right side, if you if you go back up to the top right there, I mean, this is this this kind of this format of frequently asked questions really gets to the heart of kind of um, you know, again, reinforcing that how do you do business in Alameda?

Um, you know, how is Alameda help lower the cost of doing business?

Uh we talk about the talent and workforce available.

We again highlight the the industries in Alameda, and then if you go down a little bit, um you know, talking about our geographic area, what's it like to live in Alameda, kind of our lifestyle, and then our our main kind of corporate districts.

And then further down, then is testimonials that we're gonna have, um, kind of running through of you know, talking about Alameda, those are gonna constantly kind of change, and then steps, these very young looking people that can help you out.

Love it.

Uh and then and then through all of this, then you know uh virtually all of these tabs will have kind of a call to action of okay, for more information, contact us.

Um so this is kind of the template of the of the um choose alameda website.

This would be where all of that kind of information about that a company would want from an attraction standpoint, you know, when they're looking at the decision of why choose Alameda, then all of that information would be located here.

Um and and what what's not showing down there also when you when you click on kind of more about the Alameda, there's also there'll be a whole section there of demographics, all kind of GIS base where you could you know look at different neighborhoods and and you'll be able to when you click on buildings, you'll be able to see the business parks, the actual buildings themselves.

Um that's kind of in a nutshell, that's that's the that's the layout essentially.

Um what's your timeline on this?

I think now we're probably looking at like maybe one or two months.