Over 10 years ago, Vista city leaders created the Base Industry Analysis which was the City’s first Economic Development Strategic Plan. This plan came at a time of economic uncertainty and set the path to low employment, low vacancy rates and much success in the business community. With the same foresight, the City was on its way to create a new Economic Development Strategy with a committee called Vista Economic Strategy Committee (VEDS). As it would turn out, the timing was right and the Committee is also serving as the Vista Economic Recovery Committee during the COVID-19 crisis, helping create immediate, mid-term and long-term solutions for our residents and the businesses community.
Again the timing of this committee couldn’t have been better. The City hired the consulting firm The Natelson Dale Group to help complete the Economic Development Strategic Plan. Managing Principal, Roger Dale is working directly with the team and said about the plan, “What we will be doing is developing a recommended economic development program for the city over the next 5-10 years. That will involve identifying the types of industries that would be good targets for growth in the city.”
Over the years, Vista has been successful in meeting its economic development goals. The Vista Business Park doubled in size, and the City saw growth in industries such as breweries, sports manufacturing, software, biotechnology, we have had a high rate of Vista’s working in our community and so much more.
As the City embarks on its next effort, the VEDS committee has made it a point to include a diverse membership that represents all aspects of our community and the areas we need to explore.
Today’s VEDS committee includes:
City of Vista Mayor Judy Ritter
City of Vista Councilmember Corinna Contreras
Real Estate Broker Al Apuzzo
Vista Chamber of Commerce CEO Rachel Beld
Business Park/Larger Property Owner Representative Adam Molnar
Small Business Development Center/Finance Representative Sundershan Shaunak
Downtown Vista Business and Property Owner Representative Clay McCarthy
City of Vista Economic Development Director Kevin Ham
Career Tech Education/Workforce Professional Andy Hall,
San Diego Regional EDC Representative Matt Sanford.
Since the COVID-19 crisis, the committee has also become the Vista Economic Recovery Committee. Together, they are working on finding solutions for the City for the immediate and mid and long-term needs of our community and its businesses.
In partnership with City efforts already underway, the Committee and its members are responding to the urgent needs of local businesses and their employees as well as stemming the losses incurred already. This includes providing counseling and resources for small businesses, listing to their needs and supporting them in these challenging times.
Mayor Judy Ritter added, “We are listening to our businesses and seeing how we can help them open as soon as possible and when they do, what that might look like for each business; whether it’s masks, gloves, temperature checks, plexiglass between parties, etc….”
The long-term plan is to have measures in place to continue our economic successes and resilience in the “new normal” for our residents and businesses.
Mayor Ritter is confident that this plan will work as she has seen many changes in Vista throughout the years, “As Mayor and previous council member, I have been involved in economic development in Vista through many years, recessions, and many changes.”
Vista Economic Development Director, Kevin Ham, agrees that the plans put in place have worked during the various economic cycles and the City is well-equipped to handle what is ahead. “These efforts, when well planned and executed, set a successful course for the future. We have the right Committee to help us and appreciate their time and efforts.”
Some of the immediate solutions that the City has implemented have been incorporated on the City of Vista’s robust COVID-19 resource pages. These pages provide community and business information to help the Vista community access helpful information throughout this pandemic. Information includes resources specifically for seniors, information on essential businesses that are still open and how to contact them, guidelines on staying safe, as well as updates from the Mayor.
Providing Resources and Reaching Out
For instance, staff is working with Cox Communications and the Chamber of Commerce to help market the restaurants that are still open in the community. This will include marketing City-wide for restaurants and essential businesses. Other items the City has addressed include filming informational videos to support local businesses; and a COVID-19 business hotline (760-639-6165) for businesses to get direct assistance over the phone. In addition to help ease financial stress on downtown businesses, Vista has eliminated Business Improvement District assessments for FY 20/21.
Additionally, surveys and virtual Vista Cares phone calls to businesses are ongoing to gather information from businesses throughout the City to understand specific and immediate challenges that businesses are facing. “We have checked in with over 200 businesses to connect them with resources and information programs so far,” said Ham.
Vista Biz Park
Aerial view of Vista’s Business Park
Rachel Beld, CEO of the Vista Chamber of Commerce, is helping too, “We have called every member of the Chamber to see how they are doing.” Beld is grateful to be part of this committee as she feels her participation will help speak for the membership who are all experiencing their own unique issues. “As a committee we are looking at how needs and resources will change for our businesses. Everyone is going to have to adapt and pivot. That’s important to talk about and consider as we navigate the coming months.”
Beld is working with Chambers throughout North County to address these issues in addition to bringing the Chamber perspective to VEDS. “The biggest thing that has come out of this whole pandemic is the collaboration we have experienced. We know we all need each other to work together to get out of this.”
The five cities throughout North County that are part of Innovate 78 are also working together and have created a shared portal that has information related to loan programs and resources. Grants and loan information is another immediate concern for the VEDS committee. The VEDS team is working with the Vista City Council to discuss available grants and funding options which they will announce at the end of April.
VEDS member Sudershan Shaunak said, “This pandemic has certainly shown us the need to be prepared at the City level – including having usable inventories of critical items and equipment.”
Shaunak represents the Small Business Development Center and his focus is on small business in Vista. When asked what some key goals he hopes that VEDS can bring to Vista is to “evaluate the current mix of business in the community while considering bringing in growing industries such as clean-tech, biotech, and IT.”
Al Apuzzo, a Vista commercial real estate broker who represents fellow industrial and commercial brokers, is “hopeful that VEDS can develop a strategy that encompasses the changes we are likely to face with how businesses will operate, occupy, and locate going forward with lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis.”
Setting Goals and Strategies
The VEDS committee has outlined goals to meet these strategies, which include evaluating industrial, office and flex spaces within Vista, and understanding where growth will occur.
“We need to understand what the businesses of the future are and how can we train our residents and prepare our business community for those opportunities,” Ham said.
Matt Sanford, San Diego Regional EDC Representative, agrees with Ham. “Vista has a lot of larger companies in the Business Park, many of whom are still operating today, that can hopefully recover more quickly, activate surrounding suppliers and create enough economic activity that surrounding small businesses will be able to latch onto,” he said.
Dale concurs with these statements and added the importance of this objective, “A lot of cities are devoting resources to attract new businesses and new industries to create employment and that’s important but it always needs to be balanced with retaining and strengthening the existing businesses that are already there. I think under the current circumstances, retention becomes the most urgent need.” He added, “The City separate from this plan is being very proactive and reaching out to the business community and identifying what those immediate plans are.”
Ham said being organized and having strategies in place has enabled the city to put in place strategies that support our community. “When you put in place a strategic plan that correctly analyzes what you should do and how, who should be involved, you are mindful of pivoting when changes occur; you can glimpse just far enough into the future to come up with a view of where you should go for the benefit of the businesses and the community.”
Moving Forward
Another goal of the Committee is to keep inclusivity in mind. Staying mindful of the interests of the residents and businesses will be important to its success.
Having a forward focus and empowering staff and others to help inspire growth are two of the goals of the plan. This means being able to look around the bend and understand where the City needs to go in order to prosper. During the pandemic, the City has seen how consumerism has shifted – for example, online sales have increased, which leads many to speculate if this shift will stick or not.
Vista City Council member Corinna Contreras sees opportunity in the recent changes. She feels these changes will give VEDS an opportunity to “push Vista’s economy towards resilience by linking and expanding the various niche industries we’ve already attracted, as well as creating more inclusive opportunities for our local workforce to participate in second and first tier jobs in Vista.”
Finally, the VEDS committee hopes to create a reasonable, implementable strategy with reasonably implementable tools. This will require bringing investors into the City and giving them a clear understanding of their roles.
Appuzzo sees this as one of Vista’s strengths already. “My favorite thing about the City of Vista is they are an open city that plays its cards face up. They ask for community involvement. They are straightforward in their goals. When we are faced with use and entitlement questions on commercial real estate projects, the City Planning and Economic Development Departments provide honest answers and guidance, quickly. That saves us in the private sector, time, energy, and money. I am a huge fan of the way the City of Vista does business and I wish all cities had the same approach.”
Industry Trends
As these goals are being put in place, Vista is seeing some trends in the workforce. After speaking to them through the virtual calls and analyzing the surveys, City leaders found businesses least affected in the City are manufacturing, construction, biotech, pharma and IT. Those who are being affected the most are retail, service, and hospitality industries. As far as businesses by size, those with 50-plus employees are faring the best. Midsize businesses are incurring losses, but most have financial reserves for 60-to-90 days and have been able to navigate loan programs. The most impact has been on our businesses with under 20 employees in the hospitality and retail industries. Many of these companies have lost income from sales, are losing their employees, and aren’t connecting to available resources.
But as Ham said, “There are points of light.” Many businesses in Vista have shifted their business models to help in the crisis. Eliel Cycling which makes cycling gear has been using their materials to make face masks. Leica Biosystems, is creating software for remote diagnosis. Scuba gear company, Ocean Reef Group has reformed their scuba masks into PPE’s for medical care and emergency workers. Dr. Bonner’s is giving a portion of their hand sanitizer sales to at-risk and low income populations during this time. And McCain Manufacturing’s containment walls are being used in pop-up medical facilities around the country.
Dale added, “I think the timing is actually good. In a sense you could say this program was always intended to include a mix of retention and expansion activities for business. But it was also intended to include a mix of near term and longer term program activities. And so it’s really a good opportunity that Vista is convening its stakeholders to talk about economic development. It is also good timing because some industries and economic opportunities may in fact be changing over a longer term because of what we are experiencing right now and this is an ideal time to identify what those longer opportunities might be and be ready to position the city for them.”
Mayor Ritter summed up how this crisis has affected Vista. “COVID-19 has created a shift in our economy, our business structure, and our daily lives. But with proper planning and strategic decision-making, Vista will rise to the challenge and will recover and return to our previous successes”.
Economic Development contact for the City of Vista:
Kevin Ham
Economic Development Director
kham@cityofvista.com
