Westminster City Council
SUBJECT
Title
Strategic Plan Goal #1: Achieve Financial Stability.
Strategic Plan Objective: Update the City Council on the Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP)
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From: Christine Cordon, City Manager
Requested by: Administration
Prepared by: Adolfo Ozaeta, Assistant City Manager; Carina Campos, Economic Development Manager
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommendation
Receive and file the report.
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BACKGROUND
On April 28, 2025, the City Council held a strategic planning workshop to develop the City’s second three-year strategic plan and identify priorities for the City. Strategic Goal #1 - Achieve Financial Stability included an objective to develop and deliver successful economic development initiatives to build a financially prosperous community. This included the development of an Economic Development Strategic Plan (EDSP) to guide the City’s economic development efforts.
Since the adoption of the City’s three-year strategic plan, Staff has consistently worked towards achieving the goals identified. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the Economic Development Strategic Plan as directed by the City Council at the last three-year strategic plan workshop held on April 28, 2026.
On September 10, 2025, the City Council approved a Professional Services Agreement with RSG, Inc. to develop the City’s Economic Development Strategic Plan. In October 2025, an in-person kickoff meeting was held to initiate the work for the EDSP.
Task 1: Economic & Demographic Analysis
Task 1 has been completed by RSG. This included collecting extensive background information to understand the economic landscape of the City. RSG reviewed documents that would support the development and implementation of the Economic Development Strategic Plan such as:
• Westminster General Plan Economic Development Element
• Citywide 3-Year Strategic Plan 2025-2028
• Little Saigon Blueprint for Investment
• City’s specific plans and related studies
• City’s existing marketing collateral
• Orange County Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (OC CEDS)
Additionally, Task 1 deliverables included collecting information on the City’s demographic trends, industries, businesses, retail gap analysis, and other key data. Together, the background research provides a foundation of the City’s economic landscape.
Task 2: Stakeholder and Community Engagement
RSG prepared a draft outreach and engagement strategy for the EDSP that outlined the proposed engagement with the City’s stakeholders, such as but not limited to, elected officials, businesses, residents, workforce agencies, educational institutions, and other stakeholders. Additionally, it also identified the methods that would be utilized to engage with the community. These included a business survey, community survey, stakeholder interviews, focus groups, a business workshop, and partner agency interviews.
As part of Task 2, RSG completed the City Council one-on-one interviews to gain an understanding of the City Council’s priorities and desired outcomes for the EDSP. A draft business survey and a draft community survey were prepared. The data collected from the surveys are proposed to illustrate the current and anticipated economic needs of the City’s businesses and residents. The outreach and engagement strategy, business survey, and community survey remained drafts until recently.
Economic Development Staff
In late 2025 and 2026, the Economic Development Division experienced unplanned vacancies, which made it difficult to continue executing the scope of the project. Additionally, in early 2026, the consultant project manager assigned to the EDSP left the company, and replacement was provided. Changes in both city and consultant personnel have delayed the EDSP, and consequently, the EDSP was strategically paused until vacancies were filled. A new Economic Development Manager was hired in April 2026 and work resumed soon after in May 2026.
EDSP August 2026 Status Update
Staff reengaged with RSG and held a project kick off meeting in May 2026. Since then, several virtual meetings have been held to bring Staff up to speed and develop a new project timeline.
Burris Planning Group (BPG), a consulting firm, was engaged to provide economic development strategic plan support. BPG has assisted in providing project support and project focus to ensure the final deliverable is an EDSP that is realistic, implementable, and meets the needs of the business community, residents, elected officials and City staff.
Staff and BPG reviewed the outreach and engagement strategy, business survey and community survey in detail. Staff were intentional in the proposed community engagement to ensure it was inclusive of the City’s diverse stakeholder groups. Likewise, the business survey and community survey questions were designed to collect relevant information to inform the goals of the EDSP.
The outreach and engagement strategy, business survey and community survey have been finalized and the surveys are available on the City’s dedicated EDSP webpage. The business survey and community survey can be completed online or on paper form in English, Vietnamese, and Spanish. Community engagement efforts launched at the City’s Summer Concerts with Westminster Police Department’s National Night Out on August 6, 2026.
Next Steps
Staff will continue working on the implementation of the Outreach and Engagement Strategy (Task 2). Community engagement with businesses, residents and other stakeholders is expected to take place over the next two to three months. The following activities are anticipated:
• Promote and administer the business survey
• Promote and administer the community survey
• Conduct up to 12 virtual stakeholder interviews
Thereafter, in subsequent months, forecasted activities in the project schedule include up to three virtual focus groups, an in-person business workshop, and up to six partner agency virtual interviews.
The outreach and engagement component of the EDSP is an important undertaking and a cornerstone to developing a roadmap for strengthening the local economy, fostering business growth, and enhancing community prosperity. It represents a large portion of the scope of work and will help shape Westminster’s economic future.
A presentation with an update on community engagement completed to date and preliminary findings will be placed on a future City Council agenda.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with the update to the Economic Development Strategic Plan.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed as to form.
CONCLUSION
This report provides an update to the Economic Development Strategic Plan in accordance with the citywide strategic plan.
ATTACHMENTS
None.
REVIEWED BY
Erin Backs, Finance Director
City Attorney’s Office
Christine Cordon, City Manager