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BACKGROUND Over the years, Pleasanton has realized much success in creating a diverse and vibrant business climate. The city has many strengths that attract businesses to our community, among them our central location in the Bay Area, excellent transportation accessibility, a highly- educated and skilled work force, good access to higher education and a high profile community with an exceptional quality of life. As significantly, Pleasanton has infrastructure for business opportunities. Through public and private investment, a quality foundation has been established for business growth. All of these economic development elements have been supported by the ongoing implementation of the City's Economic Development Strategic Plan. While the City's economic development efforts have been well received, to remain competitive it is important to build upon these strengths while realistically addressing challenges that can be directly influenced by the City. In particular, as the costs associated with development continue to rise, many cities are exploring options to support the attraction of businesses. As well, the City recognizes that many of our existing businesses are facing financial challenges due to the current economic downturn. To that end, it is timely to consider instituting additional programs to supplement the City's ongoing support. DISCUSSION Following the City Council's discussion this past January of economic development activities throughout the city, staff met with representatives of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, the Pleasanton Downtown Association (PDA) and the City's Economic Vitality Committee (EVC) to solicit additional input as to those efforts they believed would assist the businesses they represent. In particular, it was noted by the Pleasanton Downtown Association that downtown retailers face significant challenges in competing with other shopping destinations within the region, as nearby cities along both the 1 -580 and 1 -680 corridor offer more visible retail choices. It is therefore important to focus some additional attention on supporting retail tenants in downtown. The EVC had further discussion at its subsequent meetings in March and May on the development of a Business Assistance Program and the elements that should be included to create the most benefit for existing local companies as well as encourage the attraction of new businesses to Pleasanton. While the EVC members felt that programs should be broadly available to all Pleasanton businesses and not segmented into programs for one specific district (i.e., not only for downtown), they also acknowledged that initially some programs would need to begin in a targeted area. In developing the Business Assistance Program, three key focus areas were defined: Marketing and Promotion, Retention and Attraction, and Development. By addressing each of these areas, the Business Assistance Program supports a variety of business types and stages of development such that our efforts are beneficial in both the short- and long -term. Some of these program elements already exist but need to be expanded Page 2 of 7