Friday, March 20, 2026, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
Committee: Economic Opportunity Committee
0:05 If I can bring to order the chamber here.
0:14 I know <laugh>. Okay.
0:16 If everyone can limit your conversations, we are gonna get started with today's committee hearing.
0:21 Thank you. Good morning.
0:23 I'm Vanessa Fuentes, vice chair of our economic opportunity committee, and we'll be chairing today's March 20th, 2026 meeting.
0:32 As our chair Council Member cadry is currently out joining me today, I'm joined by our committee members,
0:39 Council Member Mike Siegel and Council Member José Velásquez joining us virtually the first, uh, and we are here
0:46 at City Hall, March 20th, 2026.
0:49 And the quorum is present.
0:52 Colleagues, we have a packed agenda.
0:54 I will say this is, uh, the most amount of people I've seen at a committee meeting in
0:58 a while. So, dr. Johnson, you know how to draw a crowd here.
1:03 <Laugh>, uh, colleagues, we will be going through today's agenda.
1:07 We'll have public communication followed by a consideration of the December 1st committee meeting minutes.
1:14 Then we'll have a presentation on the economic development roadmap, a strategic plan that is intended to guide
1:20 austin's economic development strategy over the next three years, followed by a briefing presentation on the small business
1:29 insights and policy recommendations report published by the institute for justice.
1:34 Then we'll move on to a briefing presentation regarding Austin film society's creative workforce report.
1:42 Then we have, uh, on our agenda, copies of memos that have been sent to council in in
1:48 the previous months. Just wanna draw your attention to that in case you have any questions, uh, regarding
1:54 those memos. There's four of them that have been sent regarding social services, development services, process updates, the
2:02 imagine Austin plan update, as well as the economic incentives, which I believe we will also briefly cover
2:09 those. Any questions? Okay, see, I, we were also joined by Council Member Ryan Alter, uh, with that
2:17 clerk. Do we have anyone signed up for public communication?
2:19 Yes, we have two speakers.
2:21 Yes. If I can have larissa davila followed by andrew ani, please come forward.
2:44 Hi, good morning. I wasn't expecting to be speaking this early, but, um, so, hi.
2:50 Um, my name is larissa davila.
2:52 I am a business consultant.
2:53 I work with, um, hundreds of business consultants every, every year.
2:59 And I am here today to provide commentary on the proposal for, um, allowing business owners or looking
3:08 into impro, um, the current restrictions or the current regulation that we have for operating businesses from home.
3:16 And, um, I want to, um, provide commentary for it.
3:21 I suggest that we look into it because it benefits small business owners in the way that they
3:26 can better operate. And it also benefits those businesses that are already registered and operating with, um, the
3:33 current format that we have because the competition is more level field, um, and they can, uh, both
3:40 focus on providing better service and growing their businesses.
3:43 And, um, the other commentary in favor I'm gonna, um, provide is in favor of doing tiered, um,
3:52 fees for small business owners to get licensing to operate.
3:56 And the reason being is a lot of business owners don't, are, are not aware of the difficulty
4:04 or the length of time that, um, it takes to get a license to operate.
4:10 And a lot of small businesses, um, don't get to see the light of day before.
4:15 They have to stop their intention to open a business.
4:18 They, um, deplete their funds.
4:20 So I would say it would be groundbreaking if we were to revisit the current licensing, um, fees
4:30 that we have and look for a better solution for small business owners and aspiring business owners.
4:37 Thank you,
4:42 andrew.
4:48 Oh, fantastic. Hey, good morning.
4:51 Uh, my name's andrew chiai.
4:52 I'm with lt commercial group.
4:53 I am a commercial real estate agent here, uh, for district two.
4:57 And I just wanna make some public comments as far as the reforms that are being put forth
5:00 here. Uh, in the end, I'd like to formally endorse the measures that are being put forth by,
5:06 uh, the organization here as specifically to deputy off issa was the, uh, the reforms as far as
5:13 transparency mostly has to do with business owners starting up.
5:16 If you have a large organization, it's a little bit easier to navigate some of the regulations and
5:21 fees and permits and stuff like that.
5:23 For small business owners, a little bit harder 'cause they're kind of more focused on actually doing their
5:27 business. So with more transparency, uh, reduced regulations I think would definitely help them get started as opposed
5:34 to having more of a failure to start itself.
5:35 'Cause I talked to a lot of business owners, especially in the site selections.
5:39 Those that are, uh, smaller in organizations, a little bit harder, they don't understand and to navigate the,
5:43 uh, the city's plans as much as possible.
5:46 The second thing I'd like to talk about is the I produce fees.
5:50 I do think that would definitely greatly help small business owners.
5:53 Again, if you come from capital funds and you have a lot of investors, it's so much easier
5:57 to start the business.
5:58 However, a small business owner make that leap of faith start it's a little bit harder by reducing
6:03 the fees over a tiered four year time period, I think would definitely help out as far as
6:07 getting them off their feet to establish, uh, their business.
6:10 Uh, and with that, that's, uh, lot to talk about.
6:12 Thank you so much for your time.
6:13 Thank you. That's everyone.
6:16 Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
6:20 Okay, our first item is to approve the minutes from December 1st, 2025.
6:24 This is a special called economic opportunity committee.
6:27 We have a motion from Council Member Siegel seconded by the chair.
6:32 Um, any objection to approving the meeting minutes?
6:39 Okay, seeing none, those stand approved.
6:42 Next we'll move on to item number two, briefing presentation on the economic development roadmap.
6:48 A strategic plan guiding austin's economic development strategy over the next three years.
6:53 We're welcome today by assistant city manager, dr. Eric johnson.
6:57 Welcome. Good morning. First, I'm sorry.
7:00 Good morning. And first of all, lemme say, uh, thank you for this opportunity, uh, dr. Eric anthony johnson, uh, assistant
7:07 city manager. Before we get started, um, I want to quickly show a video.
7:13 And this video is actually aligned with the roadmap, but I wanna say for one, for the first
7:17 time, we've actually created a video that starts to capture our collective economic strength as a city.
7:23 So let's roll the video, then I'll get into the presentation.
7:31 Austin, a city in the heart of texas where commerce and creativity thrive.
7:36 This is a place of bold ideas and innovation where education, industry and government come together to move
7:43 ideas into action. Austin is one of the most dynamic business ecosystems in the us with a pro-business
7:53 environment, a deep and growing talent pool and culture that champions risk taking and originality as home to
8:01 some of the largest and most influential global brands and a thriving creative economy.
8:06 Austin is open for business.
8:10 We are growing and building for the future.
8:13 At Austin bergstrom international airport, record growth is driving major expansion with new gates terminals and improvements designed
8:21 to better connect Austin to the world.
8:25 Across the city. Project connect is reshaping how people move with new transit investments.
8:32 Ensuring Austin remains accessible as it continues to grow.
8:36 Downtown Austin is reimagining its core.
8:38 The redevelopment of the Austin convention center is creating modern world class spaces that integrate seamlessly into the
8:46 city's fabric and welcome global events, conferences and festivals, new parks, transit hubs, and emerging innovation districts are
8:54 part of a coordinated vision to ensure austin's infrastructure keeps pace with its ambition.
8:59 From mobility to meeting spaces, Austin is investing in connections that bring people together, support businesses, and open
9:07 doors to opportunity. Amen.
9:09 The heart of austin's success is its people driven, talented, and ready to build.
9:14 What's next? Austin's talent pipeline is fueled by world class, higher education, and a culture that values curiosity,
9:22 creativity, and ambition, producing innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders every year that talent flows directly into austin's economy, strengthening
9:32 industries across technology, creative media, healthcare, clean energy and beyond.
9:39 Austin's soul is creative, energetic, and unmistakably its own music fills the city from small venues to global
9:48 festivals that draw the world to Austin.
9:51 Austin's food scene serves up everything from local tacos and barbecue to michelin starred restaurants.
9:58 Austin's outdoors is unmatched trails, waterways and green spaces invite people outside and bring balance to a fast
10:05 moving city. In Austin, we tip our hat to tradition while designing our future.
10:12 This isn't just a city, it's a lifestyle that attracts talent, fuels, originality, and offers meaningful work and
10:21 a high quality of life in one place.
10:24 Whether you're an entrepreneur, a fortune 500 executive or creative, you have a place in this community of
10:31 trailblazers. This is Austin, texas.
10:34 We invite you to come, grow and thrive with us.
10:51 Okay, so let's, uh, let's pull up the video.
10:53 Um, uh, the presentation, uh, we wanted to show you the video because what we've come to learn
10:59 is that when we are out and about trying to celebrate and market Austin, we're gonna have to
11:04 show the strengths of who we are, whether it's internationally, domestically, we felt like it's important to do
11:11 that and we'll continue to build upon that.
11:18 Okay? You speak to somebody else.
11:26 So lemme start the presentation.
11:27 This is just a great quote from, um, ed glazer, which is arguably one of the leading scholars
11:32 in terms of, uh, cities around the country.
11:34 So great cities are not just static, they constantly change and take the world with them.
11:40 So lemme start by saying this, you know, we, we are really in an interesting time right now,
11:44 and that time is really about, uh, change and disruption at every level we see.
11:49 But when you think about Austin as a city, you can see it on the screen.
11:52 For example, we have what's called a full stack economy.
11:56 A lot of places don't have what's called a full stack economy, and that's a balanced economy that's
12:01 made up of tech, healthcare, government, higher education, creative sectors.
12:05 It gives us a real strong base.
12:06 So when one sector is down, um, other sectors tend to hold the line.
12:11 So we think about human capital, infrastructure, market resilience.
12:15 So I, I wanted to put this up here because we hear a lot of negativity and you
12:19 know, Austin is not a dying city.
12:21 It's not a city that is on the verge of collapse.
12:24 And I think it's important for us to recognize that and outstate something.
12:27 For example, uh, last year alone, Austin property did 8 billion in venture capital.
12:32 That's up 116% from the previous year.
12:36 Even though we represent only 8% of the state's population, 30% of all patents come out of this
12:41 city. So the foundation is strong, but we are actually heading into an environment that's in flux.
12:49 So when you think about the environment we're currently operating in, it's an environment of slow growth and
12:53 in and, and increased suburban competition.
12:56 Uh, we're still one of the, uh, leading creative cities in the country, still working to drive investment,
13:02 but we have to be intentional about what we do.
13:05 Uh, physical environment is undergoing massive transformation, often, often referred as to re urbanization, which is constant construction.
13:13 You see it, street closures, it's a part of re urbanization.
13:17 And the last bullet really talks about this constrained resource environment, which is really at the edge of,
13:22 uh, what we're facing requiring some recalibration, and I use the word recalibration because we are in a
13:29 recalibration mode. Some would say, oh, austin's growth is slowing, blah, blah, blah.
13:34 But we are really in a recalibration mode no different than most cities go through.
13:39 So we think about Austin, yep, we're slowing in terms of growth, hyper growth, but it's never expected
13:44 that that pace of growth would always be the pace in terms of what we are dealing with.
13:49 So the recalibration is really about a return to earth rather than a collapse.