Friday, March 20, 2026, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
Committee: Economic Opportunity Committee
The Economic Opportunity Committee, chaired in Council Member Qadri's absence by Vice Chair Vanessa Fuentes, approved the December 1, 2025 minutes and heard three presentations. Assistant City Manager Dr. Eric Johnson presented a 36-month economic development roadmap framework, describing slowing growth, suburban competition, and a goal of raising development's general-fund contribution from 0.75% to 2% or more. The Institute for Justice presented its November 2025 Austin small business insights report, recommending home-based business reform, an emerging business fee reduction, and a 'spring cleaning ordinance' for outdated regulations. Austin Film Society presented its creative workforce report, highlighting over $2.8 billion in economic impact from Austin Studios and requesting $35 million in a future bond for modernization. The committee also discussed a deferred childcare/social service funding memo, which staff said would return around the May or July meeting.
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.