The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce announced its first initiative as a merged organization — a plan to reinvigorate the economy.
Its Economic Development Committee aims to support long term economic vitality, job growth and tourism in the region.
The chamber hopes to take an action-oriented approach to accelerating economic recovery, with an initial focus on the downtown core.
The committee is made up of 12 business leaders active in their communities, from Goleta to Carpinteria. It approved a business recruitment and retention plan developed by local Keith Higbee of Strategic Growth & Ventures and small business advocate Amy Cooper, owner of Plum Goods.
The plan will recruit a diverse mix of entities to repopulate downtown Santa Barbara’s core business district, address business retention and support the current small business community.
The initiative bridges private and public entities, and is independent of any one interest. The committee will gain insight from city planners and officials, commercial realtors, business owners and leaders, developers, nonprofit partners and more.
They will also focus on the future of State Street and how to create a thriving district that will extend beyond the confines of State Street to serve the whole region.
There will be an informational survey conducted to gain input from the community, and the results will be shared in the coming weeks. The venture is funded by the chamber, along with the city of Santa Barbara, Visit Santa Barbara and the Better Together Fund.
To learn more, visit https://goletachamber.com/economic-development/.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
