TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
George Gabriel, Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Resolution No. 18-0101 Approving the Chamber of Commerce Work Plan Contract for Fiscal Year 2018-2019 (City Manager Moe).
ADOPT RESOLUTION NO. 18-0101
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Resolution No. 18-0101 (Attachment) approving an agreement with the Chamber of Commerce, review the draft of the Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Chamber of Commerce Work Plan contract (Attachment), and provide direction on which services the City would like to fund.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-2019 budget, funds totaling $71,000 were appropriated for Economic Development partnerships and sponsorship of Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) events. Funding for the Chamber would continue to be provided from these funds budgeted within the Management Services Department. If City Council chooses to provide additional funding beyond the $71,000 currently appropriated, staff recommends utilizing the Council Contingencies fund to offset the additional amount towards the Chamber. Should the City Council direct staff to draft the agreement for the full $84,350 requested by the Chamber, the estimated remaining balance within the Council Contingencies fund would be $86,650.
BACKGROUND:
At the September 5, 2017, City Council meeting, City Council adopted Resolution No. 17-0115 approving the Chamber work plan contract for an amount not-to-exceed $57,250 for FY 2017-2018. Consistent with the conditions set forth in the agreement, the Chamber completed six of the seven tasks set forth in FY 2017-2018 work plan contract. Below is a summarization of the tasks, the funding provided, completion level, and the deliverable associated with the task.
Local Marketing Programs
• Visitor Business Map ($12,750) - Completed
o Printed 35,000 copies of the map and distributed throughout community.
• Online Visitor Resource ($25,000) - Incomplete
o The Chamber has not completed this task but has started to create the visitor website. Due to higher costs than anticipated, the Chamber believes it is unable to complete the task with the current funding allocated and disbursed. The Chamber anticipates completing this task but requests additional funding to complete the online visitor website. The request for additional funding will be explained further in the discussion section of the report.
• LAX Hotel Outreach ($5,000) - Complete
o The Chamber has had meetings with the general managers of hotels along Century Boulevard to promote Manhattan Beach. The visitor business map described above is being distributed to hotels, as well.
• Hospitality Committee ($5,000) - Complete
o The Hospitality Committee has been created and is comprised of restaurants and hotels throughout the City. The group is inclined to consider marketing ideas for the City. Additionally, the Chamber has brought large groups of people visiting hotels from around the South Bay to further promote downtown Manhattan Beach.
Business Education and Engagement
• Small Business Education Seminars ($6,000) - Complete
o The Chamber hosted eight educational seminars on topics that included: business and employee matters, “Do it Yourself (DIY)” videos, active shooter situations, business tax reform, social media marketing, Instagram tips, employee happiness, and sexual harassment.
• Collaborative Town Hall Forum ($3,000) - Complete
o Town Hall Forum was held in January 2018 and allowed for engagement between businesses and city officials.
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy ($500) - Complete
o The Chamber has created the Young Entrepreneurs Academy program for City of Manhattan Beach students in grades six through twelve. Chamber held an event where students were required to present their business ideas to a panel. One student went on to compete at the national level.
Additionally, the City sponsored Chamber events totaling $11,000 which are not accounted for in the prior contract but approved by the City Council in the FY 2017-2018 budget process. These included:
• Best of Manhattan Beach Awards ($5,000)
• State of the City ($2,000)
• Economic Forum ($4,000)
DISCUSSION:
Staff has prepared a new work plan contract in coordination with the Chamber to reflect what the Chamber is requesting for City Council consideration in the new fiscal year.
The Chamber Work Plan contract (Attachment) lists several programs and services intended to improve the local economy. These can be broadly divided into services that 1) look to improve the hospitality climate in Manhattan Beach through production of better marketing materials and more strategic outreach; 2) provide programs to improve local business engagement and education; and 3) continue sponsorship of events hosted by the Chamber.
While the legal requirements of the contract have not been modified, staff has highlighted changes in the work plan section of the contract for City Council discussion and consideration. These changes include:
• The Chamber requests an additional $10,000 to complete the online visitor resource task from the prior FY 2017-2018 contract. Chamber has indicated that the costs are higher than anticipated to complete the project and an additional $10,000 is required.
• The Chamber requests an additional $2,000 from the prior contract to host more small education seminars.
• The Chamber requests a new work plan item titled, “Business Community Marketing” in the amount of $21,600 to be included in the contract. The Chamber would like to contract with a local marketing company to better engage residents and businesses on Chamber events and initiatives.
• The Chamber requests an additional $7,500 from the City to be a Title Level Sponsor for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy initiative. The Chamber believes this initiative has been a success and would like to expand it if provided the financial resources.
• Staff requests to include the sponsorship of events the Chamber hosts that the City regularly sponsors. This amounts to $11,000 for three events. These include:
o Heroes of Manhattan ($5,000)
o Economic Forum ($4,000)
o State of the City ($2,000)
The City Council is encouraged to review the Chamber’s work plan and provide direction over what specific work items they would like to provide funding for in FY 2018-2019. The draft agreement will be modified according to City Council direction.
PUBLIC OUTREACH/INTEREST:
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
Attachments:
1. Resolution No. 18-0101
2. Chamber of Commerce Work Plan Contract
3. Chamber of Commerce Deliverable Report