On Thursday, June 22 at the 2023 California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) Success Luncheon, the City of San Marcos won an Award of Merit for their Covid-19 Business Sustainability Program. CALED is California’s premier economic development association and is one of the largest economic development associations in the country. The Merit Award recognizes an innovative project, program or collaboration implemented within 2020 – 2022 as a response to an economic disruption.
City staff accepting 2023 CALED Award for Economic Resiliency and Recovery.
Merit Award Details
The award was presented to the city as a result of their quick thinking in providing economic relief for businesses during the height of COVID-19. San Marcos launched their Business Sustainability Program, with approval from City Council on March 24, 2020, and was able to assist 120 businesses by providing $2,944,800 in low interest loans through the city’s general funds. In the end, the city forgave 100% of those loans with money received from the federal CARES Act. Out of the 120 businesses the city funded, 95% of them are still open today.
“Receiving the Merit Award for our program is a huge honor and reflects our reputation of being a business-friendly city” said Community & Economic Development Director Tess Sangster, who attended the luncheon with Senior Management Analyst – Economic Development, Amanda Boudreault, on behalf of the city. “Whether it’s through the OpenCounter platform or our various business concierge services, we work hand in hand with businesses to make sure their needs are met. Our commitment to the community is what continue to solidify San Marcos as a North County leader.”
For more details on this project, click the link here to visit the city’s program website.
For more information on CALED, go to their website at https://caled.org/.
