Friday, July 18, 2025, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
Committee: Economic Opportunity Committee
The Economic Opportunity Committee, chaired by Council Member Qadri, met on July 18, 2025. The committee approved minutes from its May 16, 2025 meeting and heard three briefings: the Diversity and Ethnic Chamber Alliance (DECA) Regional Equity and Economic Development (REED) Plan, including a request for $1 million in annual operating funds and a $5 million capital budget; immigrant business resources and limited-English-proficiency entrepreneurs, with recommendations to restore a community navigator program and improve multilingual outreach; and Phase One of the ACME (Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment) department's Creative Reset funding program enhancements. The committee also received items five and six by memorandum on the Chapter 380 economic development program, with Council Member Siegel asking staff questions about outreach and eligibility. The chair requested future memos and a briefing on film incentives and on arts grants, and the meeting adjourned at 11:25 a.m.
0:03 Well, good afternoon everyone.
0:04 Or good morning. It's only 10 o'clock.
0:06 Uh, I dunno. It feels like the afternoon.
0:08 Um, and this is such cozy settings.
0:11 We could, I could <laugh>, I could touch José from here.
0:13 Um, well, welcome to the economic opportunity committee meeting.
0:17 Um, president on the diocese, Council Member Velásquez, uh, and councillor Siegel.
0:21 And participating remotely is, uh, Council Member Harper Madison, and unable to attend, unfortunately, as Mayor Pro Tem,
0:29 uh, Fuentes. But, um, I will call this meeting of the economic opportunity committee to order at 10 0 2,
0:36 uh, am on July 18th, 2025 at Austin City Hall.
0:39 Uh, as a core ms present, uh, the, the first, uh, item of business is public communication, but
0:46 I don't believe we have any speaker signed up to testify.
0:49 So we'll move on to item number one, uh, which is approval of, of, of the minutes from
0:54 the May 16th, 2025 economic opportunity committee meeting.
0:59 Um, do we have a motion to approve item number one?
1:01 Motion by Council Member Velásquez and seconded by Council Member Siegel.
1:06 All in favor say aye.
1:08 Okay. It's passes four oh.
1:11 Item number two will be the briefing on diversity and ethnic chamber alliance regional equity plan.
1:18 Um, so, uh, I believe we have a special guest to do that.
1:22 And that is tina cannon, the president and ceo of the Austin, lgbt chamber of commerce.
1:29 Oh, several special. Yeah.
1:31 Uh, uh, uh, yes, Council Member.
1:33 Um, so they tried to pack us in there yesterday, like sardines, like that.
1:37 And nobody said that we're allowed to move those name tags.
1:40 They're not permanently affixed.
1:42 You guys could spread out <laugh>.
1:44 You don't be silly.
1:45 Wanted to sit right next to each other.
1:46 We like each other.
1:48 <Laugh>. Oh, and also, hi, tina <laugh>.
1:51 Hi, Council Member. Uh, thank, thank you council.
1:55 Uh, uh, as council members re uh, said, I'm tina cannon presidency of the Austin lgbt chamber.
2:00 I'm also here with my colleagues that you'll meet here in a moment for the, uh, the remaining,
2:04 uh, deck of chambers.
2:06 Uh, so we're gonna lay out, uh, a little bit about how, how we've gotten here.
2:09 Uh, a couple of words up front, and then we'll run through the deck and happy to answer
2:12 and feel questions. Feel free to be interrupt as maximus, uh, along the way if there's something that
2:17 you have a burning question about.
2:19 Uh, again. So, uh, thank you for the opportunity to speak.
2:22 Uh, I'm here, joined here today with my colleagues.
2:24 We'll meet in a moment.
2:25 Represent deca, the diversity ethnic chamber alliance, made up of the black, hispanic, asian, and lgbt chambers of
2:30 commerce. Together, we launched a very first of its kind initiative in the united states, the replan or regional
2:37 equity and economic development.
2:39 Each of our organizations brings a legacy of advocacy, community engagement, and cultural competent support for our underserved
2:46 business community. Together we'll leverage our collective strength to ensure that small and micro businesses, particularly those that
2:53 are historically excluded, entrepreneurs have access to resources, training, and opportunities that they need need to thrive.
2:59 Austin, of course, as we know, is an economic powerhouse, but that prosperity has not been evenly distributed.
3:06 While median income for white households is over 104,000 annually, black hispanic households trail significantly by 30 and
3:13 22% respectively. And despite population growth, minority owned businesses account disproportionately small share of the total firm's employees
3:21 and payroll. The reid plan developed through years long collaboration with each of our deca chambers.
3:28 Our distinguished deca advisory board, which we'll learn about in a moment, and our community partners lays out
3:33 a very clear actionable strategy to address this.
3:36 It is ground in three pillars, resilience, equity, and investment, but is more than a mission statement.
3:42 It is a blueprint, some key components, place-based procurement initiative, working with our major employers, uh, to set
3:49 real supplier diversity goals, not just promises.
3:52 We're identifying procurement opportunities, building certification frameworks, and holding companies accountable for clear benchmarks.
3:59 Access to capital. You'll learn more about this in a minute as well, but a little preview.
4:03 We did launch a $1 million deca loan fund for businesses that don't meet traditional underwriting standards, but are
4:09 ready to grow technical capacity building.
4:12 Many of our minority firms are excluded, not due to lack of ideas, but because they lack the
4:17 bandwidth and or mentorship to scale.
4:20 So we are rolling out targeted support, including professional development, mentorship, and industry specific trainings.
4:26 Entrepreneurial pathways. We are supporting aspiring entrepreneurs, helping individuals turn their skills and potential into success.
4:35 Uh, expanding access to ownership to opportunity and economic mobility.
4:39 And of course, workforce housing and childcare.
4:41 We know you cannot build a business, uh, if you don't have, uh, adequate housing and or childcare.
4:47 The replan, of course, supports broader city efforts to create both affordable units in your transit and expand
4:53 childcare availability, both critical to labor participation and entrepreneurial stability.
4:58 And finally, long-term, we'll be calling for the creation of a deca business center for our under-resourced business
5:03 development to serve as a permanent home for these initiative housed within deca and or partnership with one
5:08 of our, our partner organizations.
5:11 So what's exciting about this model is that, uh, we are setting a national standard proof in point
5:18 seattle, washington just launched their very own minority chamber coalition called the wmbc, not a radio station.
5:27 Our work is already shaping national best practices.
5:30 And so we are just getting started as we move to the implementation phase.
5:33 We look forward to continuing our partnership, uh, with our friends at the city of Austin.
5:37 Together we have a shared commitment to building an economy that is not only dynamic and fast growing,
5:41 but inclusive, equitable, and resilient for all of our austinites.
5:45 So thank you for being a part of this important work.
5:47 I'll turn it over to my colleagues to run through the deck and get a little bit more
5:51 detailed. Thank you so much, tina.
5:54 I turn this on.
5:56 Yes. Thank you for having us, uh, members of the council.
5:59 We're so excited to be here with our deca partnership.
6:03 Uh, we're grateful for your leadership and continued support as we work together to advance equitable economic opportunity
6:09 across central texas. Um, if you could take us to the next page.
6:13 As tina mentioned, you know, the diversity ethnic chamber alliance is committed and has a vision to make
6:20 sure that we strengthen minority owned businesses.
6:23 We're gonna talk a little bit about our goals, our regional mo road plan, and our re plan,
6:28 if you'll move us forward to the next page.
6:32 As tina mentioned, we're comprised of the greater Austin hispanic, black asian, and l-g-b-t-q chambers.
6:37 Deca represents thousands of small businesses and entrepreneurs across our region.
6:42 More specifically over 4,000.
6:44 We've come together to address the persistent inequities in economic growth and to ensure prosperity reaches all of
6:50 our communities. We're going to make sure that we, um, do this with a regional lens in mind,
6:59 recognizing that economic opportunity doesn't stop at city boundaries.
7:05 Oh, they gave me the clickers so I can do this.
7:08 Let's do it. All right.
7:10 So let's dive in a little bit more specifically about the regional, um, economic e equity and economic
7:16 development plan. As tinana likes to say, everything is better with acronyms, right?
7:20 Read plan. Um, as mentioned, it is the first of its kind.
7:25 It is, it does not replace existing regional plans, but really compliments them with a focus lens on
7:31 diverse businesses and workforce participation.
7:33 Oftentimes, our communities get brought in, um, you know, at the, at the tail end to represent the
7:40 diversity. And this plan has the intention of making sure we go much further upstream to be part
7:46 of the decision making table, to be part of the data and need surfacing from our communities so
7:52 that we can make the right decisions, um, make sure that we have commitments and follow through in
7:58 our support and collaboration as we work through, um, you know, central texas.
8:04 Um, we, like tina mentioned, have the blueprint and who better to surface that from, uh, from diversity
8:11 communities? Uh, for diversity communities.
8:15 And so our goal really is to align private sector capacity with public needs for inclusive benefit of
8:21 all to integrate excluded communities into the broader economic narrative, and really to have a community led plan
8:31 of economic development under deck of stewardship.
8:35 Let's move to the reed, um, advisory council.
8:41 These folks are leaders across sectors from government and education to real estate and banking.
8:47 Their expertise and lived experience guides our work and ensures accountability.
8:51 It also makes sure that there is, um, little duplication.
8:56 Oftentimes when people are in silos, we create and recreate the same wheel.
9:01 And our intention is to make sure that we surface these subject matter experts to influence and guide
9:07 our work so that we can build upon, so that we can look to scale and inject resources
9:12 to what's already working and perhaps amplify existing good working work models in addition to identifying new ones,
9:22 our deca ceos look at us in our headshots.
9:24 Wonderful. Um, let's move on from here.
9:27 Just to, um, give you an idea that the deca and replant is informed through data.
9:34 We've deployed over 12,000 surveys.
9:36 We've had over 180 focus group participants, of course, the 15 plus advisory council and growing.
9:43 And our collective 4,000 members plus have influenced and had input into our work.
9:50 Our outreach ensures that the re plan reflects real community voices and the diverse needs of our communities.
9:57 Um, at a high level, tina mentioned our focus areas.
10:02 Housing affordability, of course, is key to workforce stability, transportation, equitable access drives, regional growth in small business
10:11 resources and access to capital.
10:12 Our business continue to get a no 60% of them when they ask for capital.
10:18 Our objective and goal is to get a yes and to be able to triage and guide, um,
10:23 the opportunity, uh, respectively with our partners.
10:26 And we're gonna talk a little bit more of the deca loan fund that tina mentioned with over
10:31 a million dollars. It's already fulfilling its objective of giving access to capital.
10:36 And of course, childcare, creative economies and global competitiveness is also part of this strategy.
10:42 Let me say that to be clear, our goals are very specific to foster collaboration between the public
10:50 and private sectors to create more inclusive workforce pipelines and to center community voices in economic planning.
11:03 We do this all with a regional approach, and I am happy to pass this on to our
11:08 sister chamber with mark duvall, um, the greater Austin asian chamber of commerce to talk about that global
11:16 and regional perspective. Yes, passing the power.
11:21 Good morning. Type a personalities that need the power.
11:23 Exactly the button. All I need is the button.
11:25 I don't need the power <laugh>.
11:26 Good morning council. Thanks for having us.
11:28 Uh, we do take this, uh, regional, uh, greater Austin title very seriously.
11:33 Um, and you know, of course we, our focus is on city of Austin, travis county.
11:40 Uh, but we work with cities and stakeholders partners across the, the, uh, the entire greater Austin five
11:45 county region. Uh, for gacc, for example, you know, our, the asian community, uh, pan-asian community, uh, which
11:52 covers many cultures, of course, is pan Austin.
11:55 Uh, it's all over the region, but primarily concentrated in sort of north Austin, northwest Austin, up into
12:01 cedar park and leander round rock, pflugerville.
12:03 But we do prioritize all of our activity across the region.
12:08 Uh, you know, our deck of partners have concentrations in different parts of the city, but we're everywhere.
12:13 And that's really, uh, exciting for us, uh, as a collaboration to be, to be everywhere.
12:19 And, and really that's a key point I'd like you to take away from this.