Staff Report
City Council
Item No. {{section.number}}.B
Meeting Date: June 25, 2025
From: Andrew Firestine, AICP, Director of Community and Economic Development
Title: Economic Development Update: Strategic Partnerships, Auto Industry Analysis, and Development Dashboard Tools
RECOMMENDATION:
This report is for information and discussion only.
BACKGROUND:
Cathedral City is modernizing its approach to economic development in response to regional competition and evolving business needs. This shift includes a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the City’s automotive corridor, led by Kosmont Companies, to address infrastructure and marketing challenges. At the same time, the City is enhancing small business support by ending its Professional Services Agreement with the Chamber of Commerce and partnering with the Coachella Valley Women’s Business Center and the Small Business Development Center to deliver structured, trackable programs. To promote transparency, a new GIS-based Development Dashboard has been launched, offering real-time updates on active projects. These efforts reflect a move toward proactive, data-driven, and transparent economic development.
DISCUSSION:
Cathedral City is undergoing a strategic shift in how it delivers economic development services and communicates project activity to the public. In response to emerging regional competition, the evolving needs of local businesses, and a commitment to data-driven governance, the City is transitioning away from traditional service delivery models and investing in targeted initiatives designed to generate measurable economic outcomes. This multi-pronged effort includes a comprehensive SWOT analysis of the local automotive industry, the realignment of small business support programs, and the launch of a new online Development Dashboard to increase transparency and engagement around active projects.
Earlier this year, the City engaged Kosmont Companies to begin a focused SWOT analysis of Cathedral City’s automotive industry. The automotive sector remains one of the City’s most significant sources of sales tax revenue and commercial activity. However, dealerships face increasing pressure from surrounding cities such as Indio and La Quinta, which have begun enhancing their dealership corridors through incentives, branding, and infrastructure investments. While the final report is still in development, Kosmont has initiated stakeholder outreach and held preliminary meetings with local dealership representatives.
These conversations are helping identify key pain points such as infrastructure challenges, limited cross-promotional marketing, and visibility constraints along Highway 111. Kosmont’s findings will inform a strategic action plan to reinforce Cathedral City’s position as a regional automotive hub and ensure continued revenue stability from this vital sector.
In tandem with this industry-level assessment, Cathedral City is also realigning how it supports local entrepreneurs and small businesses. As of June 30, 2025, the City will conclude its contract with the Greater Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce. Moving forward, the City will redirect those resources into two new partnerships—one with the Coachella Valley Women’s Business Center (CVWBC) and another with the Riverside County Office of Economic Development, which oversees the Coachella Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Both organizations bring regional expertise and structured programming to support local business growth, and both have a track record of delivering results that can be tracked and evaluated.
Through CVWBC, Cathedral City will host in-person, one-on-one business counseling for local entrepreneurs on a weekly basis. These sessions will be conducted by rotating consultants from the University Enterprises Corporation at CSU San Bernardino and will cover topics such as business planning, financial strategy, marketing, and operations. The City will provide a dedicated location for these services along with basic internet and logistical support. The program is funded at $10,000 annually and includes quarterly performance reporting that will capture metrics such as jobs created, clients served, and increases in business sales.
The partnership with the SBDC will complement CVWBC’s services by offering multi-week accelerator programs and workshops targeted to specific business types. These include support for food entrepreneurs, product-based startups, e-commerce enablement, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. The SBDC’s programs are offered on a rotating quarterly basis and are supplemented by one-on-one consulting, free resources, and technical assistance. These programs provide Cathedral City business owners with tools to formalize, grow, and sustain their operations while improving their access to regional and state-level support systems.
To further promote transparency and increase public engagement around development activity, the City has also launched a new Development Dashboard, an interactive GIS based platform that highlights current projects throughout Cathedral City. This map-based tool allows residents, business owners, developers, and commissioners to view real-time updates on planning, permitting, and construction activity across commercial, residential, and public infrastructure sectors. The dashboard improves access to key data, supports better-informed decision-making, and reinforces the City’s commitment to open communication. Active projects include new housing developments, restaurant openings, public safety facility improvements, and large-scale commercial proposals currently under review or in progress.
Together, these initiatives represent a broader evolution in Cathedral City’s economic development strategy, moving from passive outreach to proactive engagement, from general promotion to industry-specific planning, and from limited visibility to full transparency. These efforts position the City to remain competitive in a rapidly changing regional economy and to better serve the businesses and residents who contribute to its long-term vitality.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The two professional services agreements will be paid from the existing budget in the Professional Services account for Economic Development: 100-100-150-151-8600-8601.
FIVE-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN:
Goal F – EMBRACING, INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY
Objective: Cathedral City is valued and respected as a community that welcomes and embraces diversity, has an abundance of high quality and affordable housing options and vibrant businesses. Our neighborhoods are attractive, well-maintained, and issues surrounding homelessness have been compassionately addressed.
ATTACHMENTS:
None