1 STAFF REPORT
DATE: March 19, 2024
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Patrick Prescott, Community Development Director VIA: Simone McFarland, Assistant Community Development Director BY: Mary Hamzoian, Economic Development Manager
SUBJECT: Approval of the Five- Year Economic Development Strategic Plan 2024-2028
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the City of Burbank Five-Year Economic Development Strategic Plan 2024-2028 to help future-proof the City of Burbank in the face of an evolving and rapidly changing economic environment.
BACKGROUND
The City of Burbank’s economic development efforts are dedicated to creating a safe, beautiful, and thriving community. This is achieved by facilitating job growth, inspiring innovation and entrepreneurship, attracting new investment s, increasing revenues , creating vibrant neighborhoods , and supporting businesses. The Five-Year Economic Development Strategic Plan (Plan) (Attachment 1) was developed to build upon the current success of economic development while also positioning the City for future growth and diversification during the next five years.
Economic Development continues to be a top priority for the City Council (Council) following the effects of the COVID -19 pandemic, the continued work from home trends, and the recent strikes in the entertainment industry , all of which are still impacting the local economy. Staff presented an Economic Development Update Report (Report) to Council in April 2023 to provide an overview of Burbank’s economy while looking at our strengths, opportunities, and areas of focus. The Report (Attachment 2) was the first step in a multi-phased process that helped provide foundational data for the proposed Plan.
In July 2023, staff engaged Stratiscope, a consultant firm, to develop the new five-year Plan. For more than six months, Stratiscope conducted research and analysis utilizing multiple sources to compile a comprehensive outlook of the current and future challenges, opportunities, and potential areas for growth for Burbank. Multiple stakeholder interviews
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
2 (including Council, City staff , and business leaders), group meetings, and community workshops (both in- person and online) were conducted to obtain valuable input and feedback from the community on recommended areas the City should focus on during the next five years.
The proposed Plan aligns economic development priorities and activities with Council’s Economic Development and Quality of Life goals. If adopted, the Plan will b ecome the new guiding document for Economic Development over the next five years. Prior to the proposed Plan, the 2018-2022 Economic Development Strategic Plan and the Economic Recovery Plan (Attachment 3) were the guiding documents for economic development.
DISCUSSION
The City has a reputation for providing a premier level of service to the community .
Economic development programs and initiatives generate a direct return of revenue to the City’s General Fund through increased sales tax, transient occupancy tax, and property tax. These funds directly impact the City’s ability to maintain and enhance its level of services for the community . The Economic Development Team is continually working behind the scenes by supporting and fostering projects and programs which ensure the ongoing success of the City and its ability to generate more revenue and investment. Additionally, the Team focuses on keeping economic development concerns and financial resiliency in the forefront by working with internal departments and the community to champion projects that enhance the City and help to increase the quality of life through efforts that diversify the employment base and grow and maintain jobs , enriching Burbank’s reputation as a business-friendly city along with boosting tourism.
Since 2012, the Economic Development Team has developed a variety of creative programs to help generate additional revenue and investment in Burbank. Economic development is a citywide effort and by working in collaboration with colleagues in the Community Development Department and citywide, the City has realized a great deal of economic growth including increases in sales tax and property tax revenues year over year.
Although faced with recent instability in the office market and changing ways of doing business, Burbank continues to have a strong economy. This is partly due to the City’s commitment to focusing on a strong economic base from which to grow.
In Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23, the City received $61 million in sales tax and $69 million in property tax revenues, both of which are projected to increase in FY 20 23-24. The increase in property tax can be attributed to the rise in development of mixed-use projects, repurposing of shopping centers , and the addition of new hotels. The Economic Development Team champions these efforts by marketing and promoting the City ’s opportunity sites to developers and decision makers.
In 2023, t he City also added 150 new hotel r ooms with an additional 307 hotel rooms under construction. The Economic Development Team continues to promote and work with developers to identify and attract new hotel brands. One of these ways is by collecting data from multiple sources and creating marketing materials that include key demographics and economic indicators that showcase Burbank’s strong attributes. 3 Lastly, Burbank can boast that there are currently more than a dozen developments either approved or under construction, our AMC Theaters rank in the top three theaters globally, and the Empire Center is the sixth most visited shopping center in the nation. The Economic Development Team helps increase these numbers through our constant tourism efforts and management of the Tourism Business Improvement District.
While the City has made progress to support and grow the local economy, it is important that these efforts continue and expand. The Plan has objectives that help with future focus and address the need for additional investment in economic development to ensure that we are able to diversify our industries and workforce, focus on growing emerging sectors such as healthcare and education, adapt to innovation and technology, and support small businesses. This will help future- proof the City in the face of an evolving and rapidly changing economy. Continued enhancement to its economic development function is necessary for the City to maintain its premium level of service that residents and businesses have come to expect and appreciate.
Developing the Plan
Stratiscope began developing the Plan in July 2023. For more than six months, the team conducted research and analysis utilizing multiple sources to compile a comprehensive outlook of current and future challenges, opportunities , and potential areas for growth in the City.
The Plan develops specific programs to create a vibrant, resilient economic future while also identifying the four industries that have the greatest impact on the City’s economic stability and growth : Creative (Entertainment), Tourism, Healthcare, and Higher Education. The Plan focuses on the City’s largest employers and small businesses with the intent to:
• Enhance services and resources for new businesses;
• Streamline processes for existing businesses;
• Create a competitive advantage for the future; and
• Lead the way towards sustaining and growing a more vibrant economy.
The Plan was developed utilizing the extensive feedback and insights obtained from more than 100 stakeholders, including Council, City staff, business leaders, and various community groups/organizations. The data from these meetings guided the development of the following six goals. The Plan provides detail regarding each goal , the objective used to achieve the results, and the intended results.
Goal 1: Streamline the permitting process to enhance opening of new businesses and the expansion of existing businesses.
Goal 2: Optimize occupancy of vacant or underutilized spaces to maximize City revenues and opportunities.
Goal 3: Focus on innovation to ensure a vibrant, growing economy.
Goal 4: Retain and expand Burbank’s leading and emerging industries to balance the future economy: Creative (Entertainment), Healthcare, Tourism, and Higher Education.
4 Goal 5: Increase the resources to support diverse, independent small businesses.
Goal 6: Market Burbank to attract businesses and employees.
Economic Development Strategic Plan Implementation
This Plan has robust objectives and is far reaching in its desire to achieve success in many areas of economic development. Implementation of the proposed Plan will involve building awareness and alignment for City employees involved in supporting the business community. The Plan reinforces the importance of economic development in each City department and creates a shared vision. The six goals are developed to allow for the growth and diversification of Burbank’s economy while maintaining and enhancing both high paying jobs as well as building out the entrepreneurial and small business ecosystem. The goals also recommend pursuing state and local incentives for certain industries such as animation and providing innovative start -ups a place to locate and grow. Overall, these goals and objectives seek to increase the tax base which supports the premium level of service Burbank is known for and continues to enhance the community’s quality of life.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The most important element in developing the Plan was engagement of stakeholders and community members. A series of one- on-one interviews, community meetings, presentations to organizations and groups, and meetings with internal staff, C ouncil and external stakeholders were conducted, resulting in input from more than 100 individuals.
The information that was obtained from these meetings and workshops helped frame the six goals and objectives outlined in the Plan. The list of stakeholders who contributed to the Plan can be found on page seven of Attachment 1 of the Plan.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This activity has no potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, and as such, is not a “project” subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 14 Cal. Code Regs § 15378.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact related to adopting the Plan and its objectives. Coordination, supervision, and implementation oversight of programs will be critical to the Plan’s success. To fully realize the goals and objectives set forth in the Plan will require review of the resources dedicated to the City’s economic development function. The Community Development Department, in consultation with the City Manager, will evaluate the recommendations within the Plan, in addition to direction provided by Council, to determine appropriate resource allocation and the associated fiscal impact. As this is a five-year plan, staff will consider how goals, objectives, and resources are incorporated into the City’s existing work program and funding priorities and will implement requests for additional resources as part of future City budget planning processes.
CONCLUSION
The City of Burbank has a strong , resilient economy and economic development continues to be a top priority for Council. Though resilient, Burbank still faces many challenges ahead, from the lingering effects of the COVID -19 pandemic, the recent 5 entertainment strikes, to the continued work from home trends . The City’s economic development programs have made a significant positive impact on the City’s G eneral Fund, and continuing to enhance economic development efforts will allow the City to remain competitive in the region and diversify our economy. The proposed Plan will help position Burbank for the challenges and opportunities that are ahead over the next five years.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Economic Development Five-Year Strategic Plan 2024-2028 Attachment 2 – Economic Development Update Report 2023
Attachment 3 – Economic Development Strategic Plan 2018-2022