On Call Economic Development Services

The City of Benicia is seeking on-call Economic Development Services throughout the year to support economic development initiatives, special projects, track economic indicators as well as maintain and update the City's economic development website (BeniciaBusiness.com), data, and available properties web portal. The scope includes: Ongoing support for maintenance of the website Ongoing support with business relations and strategy Business and developer recruitment plan First Street (Downtown Benicia) placemaking assessment implementation Other projects as assigned Business and Developer Recruitment Plan The City of Benicia's high priority is increasing housing and commercial development to meet its Housing Element goals and increase revenue streams. In order to accomplish this, the City has made changes to zoning and height limitations in the City to address barriers to developers. As a second phase, the City is looking to recruit developers and provide a platform with information on key housing sites, and market to developers. The scope of this RFP would include the next steps in completing a developer and business campaign. First Street (Downtown) Placemaking Assessment Implementation The overall goal of the Placemaking Assessment is to provide an analysis of a strategic enhancement of First Street’s appeal and economic viability, leveraging its unique geographical assets to attract day visitors and increase community engagement. Currently, the first phase of this is completed, with a GIS map and inventory of businesses in the downtown area. The scope of this RFP requires a plan to incorporate the data to assess initiatives for the downtown area by examining the business mix, zoning, and placemaking. The plan would then be developed as a report to the Economic Development Board. The City's estimated budget for this on-call contract is $80,000.