Economic Opportunity Committee (EOC) Meeting Transcript – 9/19/2025 Title: ATXN-1 (24hr) Channel: 1 - ATXN-1 Recorded On: 9/19/2025 6:00:00AM Original Air Date: 9/19/2025 Transcript Generated by SnapStream ================================== Please note that the following transcript is for reference purposes and does not constitute the official record of actions taken during the meeting. For the official record of actions of the meeting, please refer to the Approved Minutes. [9:59:45 AM] This is a-t-x-n the City of Austin's government access channel okay. Good morning everyone. [10:01:34 AM] okay. Good morning everyone. Good morning. My name is Vanessa Fuentes. Mayor pro tem, Austin city council member, district two. And I'm here calling to order our committee meeting of economic opportunity. It is September 19th, 2025. We are in city hall chambers. It is 10:01 A.M. And I am joined here on the dais with council member Siegel and harper-madison and unavailable to join us today are council member Velasquez and chair qadri. First item is public communication clerk. Do we have anyone signed up to speak? >> No, we do not. >> Alrighty. Next item is we will approve the meeting minutes from July 18th, 2025. May I have a motion to approve? Item one motion by councilmember seagull, seconded by harper-madison. Any objection to approving the meeting? Minutes. Seeing none, those stand approved. Item number two. This is a brief update on the infrastructure academy workforce development program. So I'd like to welcome our interim director of [10:02:36 AM] our interim director of economic development department, Anthony segura, who also is joined with members of his team for an update on the infrastructure academy. >> Mayor pro tem good morning. Anthony segura, interim director for economic development department. I'm joined this morning and have the pleasure of introducing workforce solutions, which is our major partner for the infrastructure academy, and they will be helping lead the presentation this morning. >> Good morning. Thank you for having me here. I'm very excited to talk about the Austin infrastructure academy. Today is actually my first day at starting at noon as interim CEO of workforce solutions. I've been with workforce solutions for 25 years, and I've been at the helm. Well, not at the helm, but with the start of the infrastructure academy, and I so believe in it for our community. But also really as a model for how we do workforce development in our [10:03:37 AM] workforce development in our community. One thing I did want to share also is last week I was at the airport and it was really exciting to see on the economy parking, which is where locals park the big Austin infrastructure sign. So we really are getting the word out there about the opportunities. So today we're going to go over an overview of the infrastructure academy, our journey and impact. And then looking ahead in collaboration. So what is the Austin infrastructure academy. It is a local initiative that helps connect people to training jobs in construction, transportation and skilled trades. We work with partners in government, education, business and the community to help our local residents access well- paying jobs that lead into future careers, long standing careers to help build Austin's future and what we do. We help employers find the workers that [10:04:37 AM] employers find the workers that they need. Connect local people to local jobs, support people in building long term careers, and we remove barriers such as the training costs, childcare, transportation, and even those supports that someone needs when they get on the job, such as tools or shoes. When I think of the Austin infrastructure academy, I think of it as a workforce development strategy. It we don't have a physical building yet, but it truly is an ecosystem of partners working together to support the industry. So as you can see here, I love this diagram because it shows the infrastructure academy as the initiative, the strategy, and then we have workforce solutions, who serves to convene, collaborate and as the hub where people enter the workforce academy. And then we have our education and training partners. We have them working together to develop curriculum that meets industry demand and ensuring that their curriculum is aligned so an employer can pull from any training provider [10:05:40 AM] pull from any training provider and know that they have somebody who is trained and ready to work on the project. It's also community based organizations who are sharing the word and referring individuals to workforce solutions. We do have access to thousands of people through our online database, but we also want community partners to refer people so they can learn about the opportunities and government. We're working with the city and the county for equitable growth and sustainability goals and industry. We can't do anything without industry. That's our major partner because we're looking to meet their needs. As Austin grows. And so the why Austin has many major projects. These are five of them. But, you know, project connect the airport expansion I-35. But these are in addition to just Austin growing and all the work that is done there. But what we do know is that Austin needs 10,000 skilled workers to fill [10:06:41 AM] 10,000 skilled workers to fill 193 jobs, and currently we are only graduating 6000 from our training community in in Austin, Travis county. So there's a 4000 delta. We know that, again, these projects are going to create a lot of jobs across key sectors, creating unprecedented need to attract new people to these careers and pathways. We know childcare and transportation are barriers to individuals getting into these jobs or getting into any jobs, but it can also limit people's access to training. And we also know that there's a gender gap. Women represent just 14% of the workforce in these skilled trades, and our job is to connect local people to local jobs. And that is exactly what we hope to do with the infrastructure academy. And so how will we do this? How are we tackling these challenges? As I shared training, alignment, ensuring that the training providers offer quality, consistent training that meets the needs of the employers, [10:07:43 AM] the needs of the employers, wraparound services that we just discussed, and placement and navigation. I'm really excited that the Austin infrastructure academy and the money that the city graciously gave to us, has allowed us to truly transform our system placement and navigation. We at workforce solutions have had 30 years of offering training scholarships to people. But what we didn't have is true navigation. And that is what I'm so excited that we've been able to deliver where somebody comes into workforce solutions and we can help them not just with the training, but meet them where they are, learn about what they're interested in and share with them the labor market information, the opportunities, the pathway. You can start here. You can move along the pathway into these quality, self-sustaining jobs. And so I'm so excited that we were able to hire for and I think we're going to have six navigators that they don't have a caseload. They're just [10:08:45 AM] a caseload. They're just talking to people and sharing the the opportunities that are available to them and recruitment. We want to develop a robust, a robust pipeline of people. So when employers say, I need 100 people, we have those people ready, whether it be in our system that are looking for work or that we've trained and we know they're ready to go. And governance, we're setting up a governance structure structure rather that reflects stakeholder input and ensures accountability to our funders impact and evaluation. We want to ensure that we have processes in place that we can evaluate the work that we're doing, because we don't just want to do it, we want to see what the impact is, what are the wages, how many people are getting into jobs, and then upskilling a sense of belonging. A we want to establish a brand that fosters increased participation and funding while instilling a sense of pride and belonging. And this is our journey and impact. When we first shared the updates in [10:09:45 AM] first shared the updates in March, our next steps was focusing on the launch of the infrastructure academy, the career fair, hiring staff, developing the marketplace, and connecting job seekers to training opportunities. And so we've talked about the Austin infrastructure academy for a long time, but really, we just launched at the end of March in 2025. So this is just a roadmap of where we've been and where we are now in 2023, mayor Watson and judge brown initiated the the idea of the infrastructure academy. We were able to secure funding from capmetro and atp for a study to identify what the needs were of the community. And then the city council approved a resolution and a sec has offered space with their new campus that will be built by the airport. And then we received funding from Texas mutual and Google to be able to [10:10:46 AM] mutual and Google to be able to hire a consultant to help us really plan out the work. So we had that roadmap of what it is we were going to do. And then again, graciously, the city council approved 5 million so we could actually put this into action, which is where we are now in may and March. I'm sorry, of 2025. We launched the infrastructure academy with an event, and we had a job fair after the event where we had individuals who were coming in for the job fair, but we also had individuals that were prescreened and vetted that we said a nod to Willy wonka had the golden ticket, and they could come in and choose any training that they wanted, because we knew that they were approved and that they could start on their career path. And then as we were hiring and onboarding dedicated staff, our career navigators and and career advisors, and we hired Megan Fortson, our senior senior director, senior director of mobility and [10:11:46 AM] director of mobility and infrastructure, who has been key to just taking this off from there. And then we're also right now we're in the process of designing a framework and implementing our advisory council. We did have a launch of our advisory council and we're looking forward to continue that. So again, we're getting real input from from our stakeholders and employers. And this is from March through June, a snapshot of of what we've done. We've had 306 individuals that attended the launch in the career fair, 28 employers and 11 training providers were there in June. We did have another career fair, and we had 209 attend, 21 employers and five training providers. To date, we've had 100 individuals that have met with that career navigator who we've been able to help them, whether it be they're ready to go directly into employment and we can send them to our business service consultants, or we've been able to award 47 [10:12:47 AM] or we've been able to award 47 individuals with scholarships for training, and we have 28 job seekers who have been able to obtain full time employment, and nine of those were in earn and learns. That then led to the full time employment. And here we just have some of our media wins. And, you know, the Austin infrastructure academy and in the news and, you know, our partnership with the city of Austin and acme is it's a big deal. And the community is excited to learn more. And this is just some of our impact again, with some pictures. We worked with local 286 union, the plumbers and pipefitters union, and they have a course called mc3, which was developed with industry prior to all of this. And really what it is, is an entry level. I think it's about two weeks, a 2 to. >> 3 weeks pre-apprentice. >> 2 to 3 weeks pre-apprenticeship, where it's introduction into the trades. [10:13:47 AM] introduction into the trades. So students get information about all of the trades. They kind of get a taste of all of them. And then from there they can go directly into any of the apprenticeships or they can go directly to work. And we were really excited to partner with del valle high school, and so we were able to partner with them and provide training to seniors. In the last couple weeks of of school, and 100% of them had jobs upon graduation. And then what we were also really excited about was occ developed with the unions, their version of an mc3. And so we were able to fund they had their first cohort in June, and we were able to fund six of the seven students, and we're waiting on the outcomes to see how many got jobs. And but it was really a nice coordination between occ, the unions and workforce solutions to be able to launch that and the other ones foundation. We were able to fund an hvac training. The [10:14:48 AM] to fund an hvac training. The other ones foundation works with individuals who are experiencing homelessness, and we were able to fund ten of the 23 participants in, I think it was a 16 week training. Correct. And we're waiting on outcomes for that. But again, first of its kind, first training that the other ones foundation was able to have on their site, and we were just happy to be a part of that. And I am going to let Megan Fortson take over for here, because now we're going to talk about what we're doing now, how we're actually operationalizing, and then what our future steps are. >> Great. Thank you. Nice to meet you all. So like I said, you know, we had this amazing research that backed this data informed initiative to even be launched. Right. And with your support then we had civic soul do our design. And I was onboarded in June along with the career navigators. And then we were all ready to say, hey, let's take this design to the [10:15:48 AM] let's take this design to the next step. Let's put this in action. So right now we're really focused on, you know, streamlining, refining our internal systems for tracking and reporting how we serve our job seekers, how we work with all of our stakeholders, you know, taking the time to really work closely and co-create with our external partners on how do we align on outreach and training and placement, how do we ensure that the career seekers, the job seekers, have a wonderful experience and journey as we meet them where they are? And also with that working hand in hand with our employer partners. What is the true demand need? The timing, the critical roles that are hard to fill? And how do we coordinate with all with all of our amazing training providers to make that happen? So there's so much awesome work already happening in this space, and we don't want to be an extra cook in the kitchen. We want to work hand in hand to support and enhance that work. And then also developing our five year business plan with the advisory council strategic guidance. So having that governance, having that accountability, Anthony is [10:16:48 AM] that accountability, Anthony is on our advisory council. And so it's just an amazing board of stakeholders, industry, government, education, the community, all of us coming together to make sure we have a great strategic plan to build this workforce and that we're held accountable to make an impact. And so all of this work is really driving steady enrollment, supporting our outcomes, and really laying the foundation to keep making that impact. Awesome. All right. And so like we said this quarter, we're really focused on launching that advisory council, refining internal systems, deepening our collaboration with our partners to really co-create a seamless experience for the job seekers, and then definitely strengthening that coordination with employers and training providers to maximize the roi on both sides. We want employers to get career ready, reliable talent, and we want job seekers to get those jobs. So making sure placement is always number one has. We're helping our job seekers and [10:17:50 AM] helping our job seekers and employers. And then next quarter we're really focused on formalizing our partnership with the city of Austin. How can we establish even a deeper partnership. So talking a lot with Ann and Anthony on, hey, let's get in in tune with the public projects and what that demand is really in tune with water, energy, transportation. What are those mobility and infrastructure roles at the city that we can really help build that pipeline, that continue pipeline to fill those roles, and then developing that five year business plan, and then q1 for 2026 is really going to be focused on and tentative on where they are. But let's launch this facility, this co-location operations. And then what does that training marketplace look like? This digital space where everyone can come to this hub of information, this front door that makes it super easy to connect employers and job seekers. Awesome. And so we're just really excited to work with city of Austin and all of our stakeholders to just connect, collaborate, and [10:18:51 AM] connect, collaborate, and create opportunity. And so with that, we really see our partnership with the city in helping our residents access these amazing careers, afford living in Austin, reaching out, working closely on, hey, who are our community partners that, you know, serve or underserved communities, and how we can provide them with opportunities and meet them where they are. Streamlining our collaboration across agencies, employers, educators. Like I said, we don't want to be an extra cook in the kitchen. We want to support enhance this work. We want to streamline, watch out for duplication and overlap. And that's how we're going to scale our reach. All of us, when we partner in that coordinated way. And then also filling those critical roles in water, energy and transportation, working on those career pathways and just all, you know, making that opportunity here in the city of Austin and also building it, but keeping true to the uniqueness of it. >> And when I think about all this work and even as stepping in as interim CEO, I think that Austin has so much to offer. [10:19:52 AM] Austin has so much to offer. And these are my friends and neighbors, the whole community, Austin, Travis county, they're my friends and neighbors, and I want everybody to be able to achieve economic prosperity and be able to participate in all that is happening in Austin. And so really, the Austin infrastructure academy is laying the ground for that through education, training and opportunity. >> Incredible. >> Thank you. And we wanted to before we take questions, we wanted to remind everybody and invite everybody to the water forum, which is October 16th from 8 to 12. And there's information here. >> Very good. Thank you. Colleagues. From my understanding, our chair, councilmember zo qadri, has joined us and will be is available online. And there we go. >> Sorry, I apologize for the messy hair, but I had a constituent who needed a diaper change and a bottle feeding, so [10:20:55 AM] change and a bottle feeding, so that's why. So sorry, sorry. They're joining a little bit late. Yeah. >> Oh, good. Very good. Thank you. Chair qadri and colleagues, I just wanted to take a quick break here to make a motion to reconsider item number one, which was the approval of meeting minutes for July committee meeting, seconded by councilmember harper-madison would like to show council our chair qadri voting in support of the meeting. Minutes. Without objection, those meeting minutes stand approved. Thank you. >> I'm going to I'm going to go back off of mute and video because of the baby. But I just want to thank vice chair Fuentes for filling in and becoming chair for with us today. So and I appreciate everyone else for being on. >> Thank you. Thanks so much. And thank you for the presentation on the infrastructure academy. We'll now stand for questions. Colleagues who like to kick us off. Councilmember Siegel. >> Thank you, mayor pro tem, and thank you, director segura and the folks at workforce solutions for the presentation. Congrats, miss Lawson, for your [10:21:55 AM] Congrats, miss Lawson, for your new position here. You know, when I came on council, I was excited to be added to the advisory council by the mayor and really enjoyed working with miss Atkinson. So look forward to collaborating in the days ahead. And I think, like a lot of folks on council have really high hopes and aspirations for this concept to kind of integrate all of our job training and workforce solutions, you know, objectives as a community and, you know, funnel a lot of good stuff through the infrastructure academy, through occ and hopefully get a lot of great outcomes. I'll just say that council, in our recent budget, we did add $1 million for for job training for folks, you know, exiting homelessness and exiting jail. And we're still figuring out exactly how to, you know, focus those resources. But to me, like whenever we're talking about job training, if we could find an angle to connect things to the infrastructure academy and provide opportunities, I mean, that item was focused in particular on finding tech jobs for folks. But there's a lot of opportunities there. And just [10:22:56 AM] opportunities there. And just another kind of big picture thought is that we're doing a lot of work on solar power as a city. Through Austin energy, we have an item that's developing quickly about building solar power on city lands, and that is a huge area of potential activity for the workforce, for the, you know, infrastructure academy to basically, you know, maybe through the mc3 program, train folks on how to be solar panel installers through electrical workers union, get people trained up, and then to build literally thousands of acres of solar panels is what we're going to need to live up to our Austin energy goals. And so I'm also hopeful that we can figure that out as well in the days ahead. With that. My team, because we are very much obsessed with infrastructure academy. We've got a lot of good questions and wanted to start with the childcare and transportation funds that are, you know, allocated to this and some of the kind of questions we have. And feel free to answer them as much as you can. [10:23:56 AM] answer them as much as you can. But, you know, childcare in particular plays a very important role, right, in making these jobs more accessible to women. And so any efforts you can share to target outreach to women who might be interested in the building trades would love to hear about that. And also, do we offer childcare or transportation fund benefits beyond the pre-apprenticeship training as graduates enter, you know, earn as you learn apprenticeships. Would love to hear more. >> Sure. Absolutely. For childcare, we are tracking our navigators. Our as I said, they're talking to people, they're tracking their conversations. And we are looking at how many people we are talking to about childcare and then how many are being referred to to our childcare provider, because through the infrastructure academy, nobody has to go on the waitlist. It is a direct referral to our childcare provider, and then the parent chooses a a childcare provider. One area that I'm would like to strengthen is there is an mc3 [10:24:58 AM] strengthen is there is an mc3 ish class run by lone star, and they are women that started that worked in the trades and actually started a company to offer training. While they don't focus solely on women, I think it's a great example of women in the trades that can share their stories and hopefully recruit more women. So we're looking hopefully to fund a class with them soon. In regards to transportation. Absolutely. We provide transportation assistance through somebody's first paycheck, even beyond if somebody needs it beyond their first paycheck, we can provide that. We individualize all of our services. So we're once somebody gets a job, we're still working with them to ensure that they maintain that job, and we can offer them the services that they need. So absolutely great. >> Thank you. I'll go ahead. >> Please. Just to add, we also have a women's survey. And so this is really targeting women who are working in the trades. [10:25:58 AM] who are working in the trades. What are your challenges. What what also attracted you to this. What are the great things that are happening. And how can we attract more women to the trades. And then we have another survey for the general public. Hey, why have you not considered this? What would make you consider this industry? And we have a priority. Priority group with stakeholders from employers, government, community and education that also come together and are looking at tackling this. How do we work together to get more women in the trades? And I also want to add, and I have had amazing conversations about second chance and unhoused individuals in Austin and how we can really help uplift them and empower them and find out, meet them where they are, you know, and do the research to be transparent with them. Hey, what are the opportunities in the trades for you? Because there are some restrictions, especially when it comes to registered apprenticeship programs for plumbing electricians. If you have a certain background, you cannot get that apprenticeship, but there are a million other paths. So we want to take that [10:27:00 AM] So we want to take that positive approach of, hey, look at all these amazing opportunities. We want to help you get there. >> And that population is important to me. I serve as chair on the board of on point reentry, which works with individuals who are who were justice involved, and they work with employers and they work with individuals. They also provide training to organizations and staff who are working the front line to be able to help individuals that are just as involved. And right now, we're in a time of no worker left behind. And so everybody has an opportunity. So we certainly are doing outreach to that, that community as well. >> Great. Thank you. I'm looking at the rest of my questions. Some of them are pretty granular, but a lot of it has to do with how are we tracking folks coming through the mc3 as they get into the earn as you learn programs and hopefully Austin water, Austin energy, etc. Hires them. So would love to set up some time to talk more offline. But thanks again for being here. >> And I want to add one more thing too. We have the pre-apprentice mc3, but there's tons of trainings involved, [10:28:00 AM] tons of trainings involved, right? Like there's apprenticeship programs, electricians, plumbers, hvac. We have a whole amazing crosswalk pathways that we created to show all the multiple careers in construction, transportation, mobility and infrastructure. So just want to also just call attention to that. It's it's vast the opportunities. >> Thank you I appreciate it. I think you actually answered all my questions, including in addition to joining my colleague and congratulating you on your new position. I think Tamara and I really were able to have the kind of conversations that helped me find the language to articulate my concerns, but also recognize that the dollars always are what count. And so a couple of things that came to my attention as we were talking, and one that I just wanted to make sure to point out, because I want you to know it matters. Words matter. So I was going to give my my colleague Miguel here a hard time because he said people coming out of jail. But you said justice involved. There's a difference and words [10:29:00 AM] There's a difference and words matter. And given our current political climate and where dollars get cut and saved and offered for supports, you know, we really have to be careful with how we use words. And so I just wanted to acknowledge that. I appreciate that you get it, because not everybody does. And when you have people in positions that don't get it, it's difficult for them to get to a certain population of people. You know, one of the things I ran on when I was running, I was like, listen, if you've ever pawned anything, you can be my council member, you know what I'm saying? And so there are certain when we talk about diversity of leadership and diversity of knowledge base, there are certain things you really need to know what people are up against. We know what you know. If you go by the book, this is what the system says does. But I know that given these circumstances. So I really appreciate that. Congratulations to you also, Megan. Thank you. I wanted to just run through a couple of things that that caught my attention. So don't be embarrassed, Sharon. But Sharon in our office did something really cool and helped to [10:30:01 AM] really cool and helped to acknowledge and address that. So many of our student population are food insecure and just with some tenacity and hard work, she was able to get us to do some tweaks without council action. Really some tweaks that made it so. We're feeding scholars, students of all varieties. And so as we talk about the infrastructure academy, one of the things that I thought about was wanting to make certain that people in training at every level, regardless of whether they're students at an accredited university or college or infrastructure students or workforce solutions, everybody's got to eat. And so recognizing food security as a part of one of those things we need to address in those basic needs categories, is something I'd love for us to visit in the future. And then the other thing I was thinking, I loved that you said the thing about streamlining collaboration. So I went for a whole nother reason. I don't know if y'all remember our former acm shorter. Chris shorter went to Baltimore for a period of time, so I went to visit and check out their [10:31:01 AM] to visit and check out their structures. And I think I was telling director segura about this. They have this program where the integration of their workforce system is like overnight, revolutionized how they're addressing workforce because it was like, you know, whether you're justice involved or just coming into a new gig, whatever the thing was, they were readying people in a way that folks weren't thinking about. So like, there's a local organization called moj, there's a lady, Latrice cook, who runs an organization called moj. We work with her. Miss cook is thinking about some of the things that other folks aren't thinking about. How do you need a dental appointment? Have you ever tried to go to work with an abscessed tooth? You know what I'm saying? Like, really think about what people's needs are. And so when we get that granular, that's how we offer the pathway to sustain success. Something else you said that I wanted to make note of when I say words matter. You said the city gave us money. City didn't give y'all nothing. We didn't have it to give the people. The people are general citizenry. They made that investment with their tax [10:32:02 AM] investment with their tax dollars. They didn't give y'all nothing. So they want something back. They're watching and they expect just like they might not yell at you like they do me, but they expect accountability for their dollars and their investment. What they want to see is their neighbors be offered the opportunity for sustained pathways to success. And I want to make sure to mention this agency and Independence. People don't want to be given nothing, y'all. And you keep giving. Then you can't give no more. And now they're stuck because they don't know how to sustain themselves. Beyond fragility is the goal. Beyond resilience is the goal. And so we're not giving nothing. We're offering pathways. That got me thinking about the transportation component for a moment. I want to make certain that when we make investments in transportation, that we make investments that make sense. So if people think there's a ride waiting for them, always, and that's the only way I'm going to go to school, that's the only way I'm going to work. Well, then guess what? You ain't got enough skin in the game, homie. So somebody else is going to take the bus or the e-bike or the whatever the thing is. And so I just want to [10:33:03 AM] thing is. And so I just want to make certain that our investments in transportation don't set people up to be expecting a ride. How are you? Are you invested? How are you going to get there? These are your four options, period. Point blank. You pick one, you get there. But I don't want us coddling people when it comes to transportation. It's already complex. It won't get any easier. So the path is sustained. Agency people can do it by themselves and they need to be able to. Otherwise. The truth of the matter is you're pouring money into a failed investment. And I want you to think about it like that. We're talking about living, breathing human beings. Right? But the truth of the matter is those dollars have to be accounted for. I don't care if they give you $3 or 300. The people who come up with the money, they want you to account for it. So during that reconciliation process, you have to say, like your slide said, these are our success stories. This is the data. That data has to show that we're making the money back on the transportation investment as well, which got me thinking. Instead of just giving people rides, instead of just giving bus passes, things like e-bikes. So there's an [10:34:04 AM] like e-bikes. So there's an apartment complex that I signed up, you know, to be considered for a unit. And they're a car free community, in which case, as a part of their entry package, they give you an e- bike. And so just thinking, I wonder if while we're thinking outside the box, we're a tech city, I wonder if we could partner with some e-bike companies. I watch how frequently folks in my neighborhood, I live just across the highway. I watch how frequently people use mobility devices that nobody thought they'd be the ones using. So there's safety vests and hard hats flying across 35 on scooters because they park in the neighborhood for free and then come to work to build your city downtown. But folks got to be able to get where they got to go. And a foldable, collapsible e-bike rack on construction sites sounds good to me. So that's something else I'd like for us to discuss and really bring in councilmember Ellison, the mobility committee, and, you know, sustained mobility and transportation options. And then I'll wrap it up with this last thing. So you said MC three ish. I heard you, girl. I'll leave it there. When I was going out to be a [10:35:08 AM] I was going out to be a firefighter back back in the day, I first of all, let's just say big ups to the firefighters. That job is not for everybody. And I discovered that in the training process. So thank you all for your service. But a part of that process was women can do anything men can do. However, we have to acknowledge that biologically born women more frequently than not, are physiologically not built the same as men. So taking an ax to a ceiling and ripping it down is not how my body was genetically built. I have to work towards having those strengths. So upper body strength, pull ups, being able to do some of the mechanics that you need to do to yoink, open a chainsaw or do some of those things. The ladies in the class were perfectly capable of. What they needed was the training. So there was a program, this kinesiology program called firestarter. And this lady, Kim Beckwith, I don't know what. Thank you, Kim, for driving me home after I [10:36:08 AM] for driving me home after I hurt my knee. That's how I exited the process, by the way. And so Kim and a team of folks were helping women in the gym over at UT. Maybe we could work with some of our other educational partners. I'm certain ACC has access to get women ready for those jobs that require strengths and ways that we're not necessarily built for. Speaking of words mattering, childcare is not just for women. Childcare is for everybody. And I think I think us following that narrative that childcare is the path to access for employment for women means that women that's synonymous with mom, which means her job is supposed to do that and not that. So it's like she's doing this instead of, and I really want us to be actively engaged in this paradigm shift that recognizes childcare is for everybody. The whole family needs that childcare. You're not offering mom some relief. Dad's not babysitting. He's being a father. So I want us to [10:37:08 AM] being a father. So I want us to actively be a part of changing that narrative. Women in the workforce, men in the workforce. Same, same. Childcare is for everybody. And then one last question about childcare as a fire family like I was, one of our challenges was firefighters work 24 on 48 off. So overnight. And or you know you'll see a lot of our fire population. They do what they call projecting which means on their days off, these people are the hardest working people in town, I promise you. So on their days off, they do side jobs, you know. And so I'm just thinking unique childcare opportunities drop in opportunities, overnight opportunities, weekend opportunities. Just want to make sure that we're always thinking about those unique childcare needs. >> We do. Unfortunately, we don't have enough in our community. But I think with the childcare and out of school time, the cost from the county funding, the the bill, I think that is going to make a huge difference because it's going [10:38:09 AM] difference because it's going to stabilize the industry and allow providers to offer that. It certainly is needed for whether it be in infrastructure or health care, because they work overnight shifts as well. >> Which I appreciate. I think to some degree, it's also going to be a matter of like building those resilient communities and encouraging people who didn't realize that you already got all these kids over here anyway, girl, go get some training and get your house together. And you know, like that, my childcare provider coming up, you know, people are always like, habla espanol, don't espanol. Well, my childcare provider was abuela down the street who was giving me fat on beans and tortillas and letting me watch novellas. But she was a built in childcare provider for our community. And who knew? Right. And so I think expanding on those opportunities for people who are already doing it in the community, to be compensated and trained and be professional in the services that they already provide to our communities. I saw you grab [10:39:09 AM] our communities. I saw you grab that mic, councilwoman. >> Hi. Ann Eaton, assistant director of economic development. I just also wanted. That's a great time to highlight through our shared work with also with the homegrown implementation plan and developing the continuing to build on the family and friends network. So tchoualack comments. Yeah, you need a diversity of options of care, and that's another one of our childcare initiative priorities that we're very much working with the community on. >> Thank you. Do you mind getting with Sharon and I on the family and friends program? >> I'd be happy to. >> I'd appreciate that. Thank you. And I really do think I was oh, I was telling you about the Baltimore program where they did the streamlining. That was one of the things that they did. They did these. You know, how sometimes, you know, there are programs that will offer you a subsidy of some sort, but only if you take this parenting class. So then it becomes this sort of arbitrary thing. It's a tool. And as long as you go to the class, you sign your name, then you get the thing. It's a transaction. It's not an investment in your family long term. Sustained. And I just [10:40:09 AM] term. Sustained. And I just think about to some degree, it's like when you give folks a leg up, so to speak, you know, it really is a setup. If there's no opportunity to take the next step. So I like that y'all talk about careers and pathways to building careers, because jobs is not what we're looking for. Jobs will get you by, but careers get you through. I just wonder if there's an opportunity for those you didn't call them case managers. What did you call them? >> Navigators. >> Navigators for the navigators to also be able to build in? Sort of. And this is not intended to be patronizing. It's the way I see it in my head. And if it helps, for reference, I have a 33 year old child. So like adulting is not instinctive. I'm telling you, sometimes you really need like a little extra support. And adults don't like to ask other adults for support. But in a situation like that, where they're already like this exchange is already comfortable and has that trust, and folks are already kind of vulnerable. I think it's a great opportunity to introduce some [10:41:10 AM] opportunity to introduce some adulting 101 stuff, financial literacy stuff, and, you know, the maintenance of it. One of the things that comes to mind, and I really will stop, is the insistence on homeownership being the pathway to success, to financial listen, hear any unless you have the kind of financial runway that can that can sustain, then actually that was just a set up. Now you're in foreclosure. You miss your little credit up and you know, there are implications. But unless somebody is telling you the other side. So, you know, the broader commentary is, you know, become a homeowner, whereas, you know, some folks who don't care about being liked will tell you, do not do it under any circumstances. You're not built for that. And not everybody is. But telling folks that kind of thing, I think, sounds like bad news. It's just realistic information, and having it come from somebody you trust is very helpful. Thank you all for your time. Really appreciate the presentation. >> Thank you for. >> And thank you, chair. >> Thank you. I will also take my questions offline. [10:42:10 AM] my questions offline. Colleagues, we still have three more briefings to get to this committee hearing. But I do just want to highlight I am looking forward for the information around the establishing the city of Austin as a as the main partner. I really want to look at how are we ensuring the investments that we're making through our city budget, that 5 million investment. And then it was also baked into the base budget proposal this year, if we are going to be maintaining funding for the infrastructure academy, how can we ensure that these funds are going directly to the city of Austin's infrastructure project? So project connect, convention center, airport expansion. Thank you. >> Thank you. I have a meeting with the construction training program next week in Ann, and I have a lot of great plans. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, colleagues, we're going to move on to item number three. This is an update on the digital kiosk program. We also have a presentation on this item. Interim director Anthony segura will kick us off with this briefing. Thank you. >> Council members. Thank you. Good morning. Anthony, interim director for the economic development department. It's my pleasure to provide you a brief [10:43:11 AM] pleasure to provide you a brief overview of the interactive digital kiosks project that we're currently working on through the economic development department. So my agenda this morning will be on just to provide you a high overview of the program goals, the overview itself, the financial civic benefits, advertising contract regulations, actual usage of the kiosks with other cities that use this current technology code amendment changes needed, and then finally implementation roadmap and next steps. First and foremost, what are we trying to do here with the digital kiosk and what are we trying to achieve? So basically we're looking at deploying a network of interactive digital kiosks in high pedestrian areas in the downtown core area, most importantly to promote local businesses, arts, culture and civic resources at no cost to the city. Most importantly, we're supporting economic opportunity to discovery, [10:44:12 AM] opportunity to discovery, navigation and mobile handoff. We're going to leverage city facing ad inventory for public service announcements, announcements, and city communications. Most importantly, there's going to be an inclusive and accessible to all for the usage of our digital kiosks. Now, what does it look like? What are we talking about here? Here's a markup of the hardware specifications on what it looks like. It's roughly about eight feet tall, weighs about 830 some odd pounds. So it's not something where an individual can come and just push it over. It is hard wired into the system to ensure that it is a safe environment for anybody to use. And so the really the intent was how big are these things? What kind of civic benefits and financials are we looking at if we're implementing the kiosks in the downtown area? First and foremost, as I mentioned, there's no start up cost to the city of Austin. We're working right now on finalizing a contract with the vendor, and [10:45:12 AM] contract with the vendor, and we're working on a revenue cost sharing model from advertising, which is how this is paid for. The vendor themselves are the ones that do all the solicitations. They're the ones who look at doing all the operation and maintenance of the of the kiosks themselves. And we're first looking at an initial deployment of 50 digital kiosks to start off with some of the civic benefits that I mentioned include public service announcements, community campaigns, small business promotions, and most importantly, any unsold advertising. Time will be provided to the city at no cost. Some of the things that are very important to us in ensuring that we get everybody's approval on this are advertising, content, regulations. We want to maintain that advertising will not have anything regarding illegal, false and misleading content. Tobacco, drugs, firearm or adult entertainment. And I will come back to the word alcohol, because I got to give you a caveat to that. [10:46:13 AM] give you a caveat to that. There will be no political or issue based or religious ads, no violent, offensive or obscene material, no lottery, gambling or unsafe content and so forth. And most importantly, no ads conflicting with city policies or interests. Now, when it comes to the issue about alcohol, we're working with our vendor to ensure that no advertising will be displayed within 500ft of any school, college, university libraries, museums, religious institutions, youth centers, cemeteries, youth organizations, daycare centers, charitable institutions, government offices. City parks, playgrounds, hospitals, medical clinics, and senior assisted living facilities, as well as substance abuse centers or treatment programs. We want to ensure that these are going to be utilized for everybody to use, but ensure that we have strict guidelines for content regulation. So who has these [10:47:14 AM] regulation. So who has these kiosks right now? You'd be surprised if you if you didn't know that there already live in different cities in Texas already, such as Arlington, Houston, San Antonio and surprisingly, Austin, Texas already has them. They're currently at the domain. And so this is an opportunity as we're looking for awarding and launching soon. Dallas is going to be coming on online soon, as well as our intent to put kiosks in the downtown area for Austin. What's it going to take for us to be able to move forward? There will be a requirement for code amendment changes to be conducted, and it would require us to amend chapter 25 dash ten, which is a sign regulation. These amendments are necessary to allow kiosks to include off premise advertising without any of the changes. Were not able to move forward with this program. Most importantly, as the city code indicates, transportation and public works [10:48:15 AM] transportation and public works will still be the overseer of city spacing, image speed, and lighting once everything is approved for that, what are the implementation roadmaps on next steps? First and foremost, we are in the final stages of contracting with the vendor, and so we're moving forward. We did an rfp back in may and just selected an individual company. We recognize that it's going to require us, especially with code modifications and amendments, to go to the code and ordinance joint committee. That's in October, as well as the planning commission in October, and continue on with our community engagement and citizen and partner engagement. We've already been working with the downtown Austin alliance on these kiosks, are very excited about this opportunity to be presented forward. We met with our deca chambers as well, and so it is now a continuation of how do we include more citizen engagement on placement, what we're looking to to achieve and getting citizen feedback. What I failed to mention is the next [10:49:15 AM] I failed to mention is the next steps after this is literally to have individual meetings with each of your council offices to do a thorough presentation on what the kiosks will do individually, the benefits and most importantly, as I've heard you say earlier, council member, what is the return on investment? How are these really going to make the city better? So as we move forward, we'll be we'll we'll schedule those appointments with each one of your council offices. We have scheduled tentatively now city council public hearing for code amendment changes scheduled tentatively for November of 2025. And then we can fully expect to see these sometime in the fall and summer of 2026, after we've done final kiosk placement, doing all the permitting, approval and utility drops that we work with our with the internal departments as well. And so this is an extensive process to ensure that we get it right the first time. With that, I'll open it for questions and answers, please. >> Thank you, director segura. I believe our chair, [10:50:15 AM] I believe our chair, councilmember qadri, has a few questions to kick us off. >> Thank you, vice chair. Acting chair, I have a few questions. A few years back, myself and mayor pro tem were at a national league, national league of cities event, and they had a big exhibit. And they had, you know, you know, kiosks, you know, concepts like this. And one thing that I found interesting is that they had at least the company that was there, like navigation support for unhoused folks, you know, if it was too cold or too hot, you know, where to go for a cooling shelter or a warming shelter. Is that something that this would have? And another thing that those showed was if there was, you know, god forbid, an emergency, you could press a button and it would, you know, contact, you know, you know, whoever you might need. And then the last thing that those also had and I'm just, I'm just I'm trying to remember what that had. And seeing if this is something that these would have [10:51:17 AM] something that these would have is that the city would be able to put in, you know, if there's city jobs or city resources or, you know, city events going on, the city could use it to advertise, you know, X, Y, Z things. >> Thank you for the question, chair qadri. And to answer your question, the answer is yes to all three of those. And so we do have access to being able to advertise city business. And we'll have the ability of having a button on there to press for emergencies. The jobs portion that you're talking about will be a part of our, our public service announcements that we're allowed at time for this as a part of the advertising component. So to answer your question, in short, yes, we have access to all of that. >> Great. And then I know one of the, one of the things that you mentioned at the top of your presentation as it pertains to the kiosks is that they wouldn't be used for for political advertisements or campaigns. But for example, you know, the convention center expansion, let's say, in a decade or, you know, I don't know, X amount of time the DNC [10:52:19 AM] know, X amount of time the DNC or the RNC are like, you know what? We're gonna we're gonna come to Austin. Those are political entities. Would they be would would it would a political convention be able to put up an advertisement on those kiosks, or is that or would that be under the umbrella of, I guess, campaigning and campaign advertisements? >> I think if it's an advertisement and I will verify this with our vendor, but I believe that the political advertising is what we're talking about. Run for running for mayor or council members office of some sorts, as opposed to advertising an event where people are coming to a location, I think are two separate entities that would be talking about, but I will verify and get back to you, if I may. >> Got it. And obviously, and I apologize if this was already said, if it's if it's if it's in in a questionable group having an event, it's not something that the kiosk would would have. >> Correct. We have the ability if they were to have. Let's [10:53:20 AM] if they were to have. Let's hypothetically put in an advertisement that we have an issue with. We contact them directly and have been assured that they would be removed immediately. >> Got it. Okay, great. Thank you. >> Thank you. I have a quick question. We know that we are in an era of really tight budgets for our city. You mentioned that this would be a potential source of new revenue for the city of Austin, but how much can we expect or anticipate in revenue? >> I'd love to give you a number, but we really don't know yet. Until we get the advertising and get a full year under our belt. I mean, we have estimates that we've been working with them, but if I may, once we complete the finalization of the agreement, I'll get back in touch with you and give you estimates. >> From my understanding, it would be at least six figures. >> Correct? >> Okay. >> Thank you. Colleagues. Yes, councilmember. >> Thank you, mayor pro tem. And thank you, director segura. A couple questions along the lines of the impact on the right of way. And then I also have a kind of a data privacy question. My office has heard [10:54:20 AM] question. My office has heard from groups representing folks who are mobility impaired, maybe visually impaired. Concern about placing these devices kind of in the right of way, and it might impact their ability to get around. Have you thought about that and how do we kind of keep that in consideration? >> Absolutely. Councilmember, thank you for the question. And so as a part of my one on ones with individual council offices, I have an extensive presentation that provides all the benefits, talks about Ada compliance as well. So I will address all of that with you. >> Okay. Great. And then a related question more environmental. Would this have any impact on our street trees. >> At this time. No we don't foresee that. >> Okay great. And then the data privacy question related to I guess the standard package includes cameras for some sort of photo booth application. And so do we have information about when those cameras would be on, who can access what they record, and is it possible to have the kiosks without the cameras? [10:55:20 AM] kiosks without the cameras? >> I will ask and get back to you, if I may. >> Okay. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, councilmember harper-madison. >> Yes, thank you very much, I appreciate it. Thank you for the presentation. I've had the opportunity over the years to be a part of the conversations about the evolution of this becoming a possibility in our city. I'm happy to see that we're we're taking every opportunity to generate revenue for the city. Looking forward to hearing some answers to some of those questions that you asked about mobility and Ada compliance. I guess the one question I had that we haven't, that I haven't heard anything about, is there an opportunity? So let's say, for example, let's say Austin fc said, I'll give you a bazillion dollars and no other fc team can advertise here. Is there an opportunity for organizations or industries to kind of monopolize the kiosk? So only this only this burger joint only, you know, like with the UT center, only the longhorns [10:56:21 AM] UT center, only the longhorns can play there kind of a thing. >> Thank you for the question, councilmember. Not that I'm aware of in terms of monopolizing, but be advised with 50 different kiosks that do also have tailored advertising to those blocks that they're advertising. So you may have the local business that's in that area. That's only in that kiosk. That's all they wanted to be in. >> How good of a marketing ploy, though, would it be, if my business was around the block and I advertised in front of your business and monopolized, and you never advertised on this kiosk? You know what I'm saying? I'm just curious what the parameters look like with. And that was kind of actually where I was headed was like from a competitive perspective, could somebody with more resources outbid a smaller business, and then we'd start having different conversations. But I just want to put that on your radar, something I'm curious about moving forward. >> I'll return that information to you. >> Good question. I think it will probably be an ongoing thing to your point about like watching to see the data roll in. We'll see what it looks like. But I'm just saying that'll be something I'm [10:57:21 AM] that'll be something I'm watching for. Thank you again. >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you chair. >> Thank you. All righty. Thank you so much. We're going to move on to item number four. This is a briefing on the financial empowerment center model. Colleagues, for this presentation it's going to be led by doctor Lindsey Wilson, director of the office of equity and inclusion. Welcome. >> Well, good morning and thank you for the opportunity to brief you in response to a call to examine the financial empowerment models and review our citywide services, economic development director Anthony and I have been actively exploring financial empowerment center models across the country to better understand their structure, effectiveness and what's working well in different communities. We also had an opportunity to take a deeper dive into some of our current services that we offer here with the city of Austin and so on. Slide two. It's [10:58:22 AM] and so on. Slide two. It's really a high level overview of our time together. We'll start by looking at the various financial empowerment center models, their core services and requirements, and then we'll highlight a few peer city examples. We explored enclosed with a look at our own current landscape, ending with some considerations. So the million dollar question what are financial empowerment centers? Financial empowerment centers are f.ex provide professional one on one financial consulting or counseling as a free public service with a goal to support residents and addressing financial challenges, manage money effectively and planning for a more secure future across the country. We know that there are approximately three dozen local governments who have [10:59:23 AM] local governments who have launched centers, collectively deploying over 150 trained counselors. These professionals support clients with a range of goals, such as improving credit, negotiating debt, building savings, opening affordable bank accounts, or even planning for long term financial stability. This national initiative is supported by the cities for financial empowerment fund, or cdfi fund, in partnership with Bloomberg and others, and through programs like the financial empowerment academy. Local governments receive support and the development, launch and implementation of the services. So on slide four, it highlights the requirements for a city to launch a financial empowerment center. One of the first stipulations is you have to have over 50,000 residents. So [11:00:23 AM] have over 50,000 residents. So of course, we meet that there's three main steps following one register for the city's financial empowerment funds. Public platform two. Choose a service delivery model that fits local needs, our local needs, and we'll talk a little more about that in a minute. And three, complete training and certification process to ensure quality and consistency. Once those three steps are completed, the financial empowerment center model moves into implementation and at this stage, clients receive structured one on one coaching focused on areas of personal financial literacy that could be categorized in four different areas one. Baking access, credit improvement, debt management, and savings and budgeting. So let's take a moment to focus on the two main [11:01:26 AM] moment to focus on the two main service delivery models used in financial empowerment center programs. One is the in-house model and the. The second is the contractor model. Each approach comes with its own set of advantages and challenges, and the right fit often depends on the city's internal capacity, partnerships, and strategic goals, and so on this slide, it highlights when thinking about an in- house model. Cities often hire staff such as hud certified counselors or social workers, former bankers to deliver the services, and some of the pros of an in-house model would be greater oversight and consistency. While the cons are higher, operational costs such as salaries, trainings and then having to build out the infrastructure. As we think about the contractor model, cities identify and contract with nonprofit services who are [11:02:26 AM] with nonprofit services who are often already engaged in this work. And so, as you can imagine, it has a lower upfront investment. But quality control and sustainability are two things that we found to be challenges. During our review, we found that 35 cities, again across the country are currently recognized by the cdfi fund as partnering or participating in the financial empowerment center model. And while we noticed several interesting trends, we wanted to highlight three specific cities today Dallas, Houston, and Shreveport. Dallas identified four separate locations for residents to connect with services. Their work began in 2018. Houston has identified three separate financial empowerment centers, strategically located in areas [11:03:27 AM] strategically located in areas that meet the residents who have the greatest need. Shreveport reopened their center in 2022, but have begun began their work in 2015 and which during covid 19, their counselors offered the services virtually. Some of the broader observations from our scan was for cities in California. All appeared to use the in-house model through government agencies, along with Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, both north and South Carolina. The contractor model was more common in states such as Colorado that had three separate cities who used contractors. And here in Texas, we have four cities Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio who are using contractor model, while Waco operates an in- house financial empowerment center model. So within our economic development department, we know [11:04:31 AM] development department, we know that there are quite a bit of different services. And we found that there are no current active programs providing individualized personal financial. Ooh, let me try that again. Individualized personal financial coaching or literacy education that would meet the financial empowerment center standards. So we made the decision to go ahead and look citywide at some of our other programs. And while slide nine highlights a number of different programs, we won't dive deep into those programs. But one of the common things that we noticed was the absence of structured financial coaching component in these offerings. And this is not to say that that's a bad thing, right? Because each of these programs, in fact, do what they're all to do from a people centered perspective, we need to think financial coaching can [11:05:31 AM] to think financial coaching can offer both real benefits, but also potential burdens for residents with limited time and resources. It may feel like another hurdle, however, for others, especially those seeking more structured and longer term support coaching, this could be a vital tool. The key is really understanding the approach that will meet our residents. So in closing, while this slide says October 2024, we it's important to note that the enrollment form for 2025, the deadline for that was September 20th or September 12th, 2025, and the next financial empowerment academy is set to begin in October 2025. The academy is a 15 month program that has two phases. The first phase introduces the financial empowerment model to the city and help assess our [11:06:31 AM] the city and help assess our local feasibility. The second, the second phase provides in-depth technical assistance and includes a $20,000 planning grant to support deliverables. Upon completion of the two part phase, partners are eligible to apply for a $150,000 matching fund to support what the implementation. So we choose. And with that being said, I am happy to turn it back over to you, chair for questions. >> Very good. Yes, councilmember harper-madison. >> Thank you very much. I think I'll make it easy and I'll just have you pick up where you left off. Explain that to me one more time. So one of my questions was, and looking through this slide, you see there's some lack of continuity with the class and then another class following immediately after. But I think a part of what you just said, with the fact that it's a 15 month programmatic effort, explains why it's not like a straight 12 month, 25 straight. You understand what I'm saying? So with what does it look like [11:07:32 AM] with what does it look like with the start of the next cohort? So it clearly it's annual ish. >> Correct. And so it is annual ish because this cohort starts in 2025. So we would be looking at 2026 okay. And then that first phase of of the 15 month program really walks us through the feasibility okay. Whether we have the infrastructure, do we want to stand up a contract or do we want to do in-house where we would actually build out the infrastructure, have the staff provide the services in-house? So when you look at some of those models, we've seen one of the cities we looked at had four separate counselors within their city, and then a program manager who overseen the financial empowerment center. And that would be the first part of the phase. And then the second part of the 15 month is to start to actually work towards that [11:08:33 AM] actually work towards that implementation. >> Well, that actually answers both of my questions, because the second question was along those lines. But I think to some degree it's exploratory still. And so as we're making those, I'm deeply curious, committed and interested in seeing this is exactly what I'm always talking about. And I appreciate that you acknowledge that, you know, offering more classes doesn't mean people got more time to take them or what to do with that information. Frankly, I'll be honest, as a council person, I'm expected to know things that I don't have any subject to. Transit infrastructure engineer, I don't know, but I do get the opportunity to have access to subject matter experts and take the download. But not everybody's got time for the download, in which case I think keeping it appropriate to the individual receiving the information where they are, you know, and how much information they want and or need is important. But I also do believe there always just have to be something in the way of protocols around skin in the game. I'll say it every time, if a person's not invested, it doesn't sustain. The effort doesn't sustain, in which case in the end, if they do all [11:09:34 AM] in the end, if they do all right for two years but then flounder for ten, did you win? You know, and the win is the person's, you know, quality of life is what I'm talking about. In the end, I really don't think we get like, we got to talk hard, talk to us and them, you know, our resources and opportunities are limited. The need is great, the resources are limited. And we really have to make smart choices with the application of them. That got me thinking about one thing that I'm going to hit you up about offline, but it sounds to me as though the the in-house model I'm curious about. So I don't know if you heard recently, we have one of our constituents whose testimony was very much akin to what my office and I have been talking to the manager's office about, which is why why do we hire so many consultants? Why don't we operate from within the structure more frequently? We have so many experts. And so I have a question based on this in-house feasibility progression, I think you probably don't have not none of us have enough information yet, but I would like to follow up [11:10:34 AM] but I would like to follow up on that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Councilmember Siegel. Any questions? Thank you so much for this presentation. It was really well done. I greatly appreciate how you walked us through what other cities have as their models, as well as talking us through adjacent programing within the city of Austin. That's super helpful context for us to have. Is there anything else needed from city council at this point to move forward with the city exploring this and and participating in next year's academy? >> Trying to look to my colleague to to make sure that I don't miss anything. And so at this point, I don't believe there's anything else needed for us to start to prep for the application for next year. Again, once we start to explore if we want to do either in-house or hire a consultant or work with a community partner, we will need to be thinking about the resources to not only to stand it up, but the longevity of it. Really. Right. And so to that earlier point, 15 month investment is what the city would be offering [11:11:37 AM] what the city would be offering because we have to one go through this program. And so the consideration of how we can maintain this work going forward. An example would be we know that in the city of Dallas when we spoke with them, while the program has been successful, it is on pause because realignment of funding. >> And how much does the city of Dallas spend on their financial empowerment center? >> I will have to grab that information and I can get back to you. >> Well very good. I'm super supportive of the city exploring this officially and formally submitting that application. I think it's good information for us to have colleagues. Just as a reminder, in the budget that we adopted a few weeks ago, we did include some funding for financial literacy for older adults in partnership with the local nonprofit, a contractor, to deliver those services. So there are ways that the city is exploring this as a service for our residents. So this is, I think, in great alignment. [11:12:37 AM] think, in great alignment. Thank you. Okay, we're going to move on to our second to last briefing item. This is item number five, a briefing on the creative reset and fiscal year 2026 grant funding guidelines. We will have the director of arts, culture, music and entertainment department director Angela means welcome. >> Good morning. Good morning. My name is Angela means. I'm the director of the arts, culture, music and entertainment department. I'm also here joined with our assistant director, miss Morgan Messick, as well as Candace cooper, our interim chief administrative officer. I would like to say thank you for having us back here. We're very excited to present to you where we are with our creative reset, our cultural funding. When we first came before you earlier this year to Marc the launch of [11:13:37 AM] this year to Marc the launch of this department, we spoke about the critical role the creative sector plays in shaping Austin's identity. We talked about how arts, culture, music and entertainment are not simply features of city life, but really it's essential to Austin. It's what makes Austin. Austin. Since that time, our team has been focused on turning vision into action. Today's presentation is a follow up on a significant milestone. We are here to share the updated and enhanced funding guidelines that have been we've been working on over the last several months. This has been developed as part of our department's first major initiative, which I said earlier, the creative reset. These new guidelines are grounded in what we heard from across the city artists, organizations, businesses and residents. They reflect a commitment to improving access to funding, simplifying and streamlining the application process, providing greater [11:14:39 AM] process, providing greater transparency, and offering flexible tools that support creatives at every stage of their work. This is more than just a set of revisions. It's a rethinking of how we serve our creative communities, how we remove barriers, provide support, and build stronger connections between culture and civic life. Over the next few minutes, we will walk you through what we heard from the community. The major enhancements to our funding guidelines, and how these updates are being implemented to support a more vibrant, connected and sustainable creative landscape. On behalf of the entire acme team, I want to thank you all for your leadership, your ongoing, your ongoing support, and your partnership in building a future where creativity contributes to every corner of Austin. I also want to take this opportunity to thank our arts commission, our music commission, and I personally want to thank the acme staff, [11:15:39 AM] want to thank the acme staff, along with the entire Austin community who participated in this process. With that, I'd like to turn it over to Morgan and Candace. >> Good morning and happy Friday. Chair and committee members. My name is Candace cooper, and I am the interim chief administrative officer for acme. And so I have the pleasure of sharing with you what we did at a glance. And so, as you see here on the slides. Phase one of the creative reset was about responding quickly to community needs and also laying a strong foundation. This slide represents key highlights in terms of how we answered the call. We launched this process in direct response to community's demand for change. We listened to the community. Every step was shaped by by feedback from artists, organizations and residents. [11:16:41 AM] organizations and residents. Trust and transparency was at the center. The the lead of how we entered this process. We kept communication open to build confidence. Throughout this process, we learned the art of the pivot through these months when challenges arose, we adjusted quickly to stay on track of community needs, and as a result of what we did, we enhanced our funding guidelines by by input directly shaped from what we heard. In short, we built the plane while we flew it or at acme. What we like to say is we painted the mural while the gallery was already open. Our success in phase one came from the power of engagement, meeting people where they were were just not a saying. It is what we did. We [11:17:42 AM] saying. It is what we did. We ensured that all voices were heard and as a result, this was not a checkbox checkbox process. It was about real collaboration with Austin's creative community. Engagement is what gave legitimacy to the guidelines we're now putting forward. This morning. Slide three talks about our approach. Throughout this process, we had an opportunity to speak with you all a couple of months ago. But we also met and we talked with you all at the during the council work session. And during the work session, we talked about what we heard. Well, today we want to talk about our approach and how we arrived at that community feedback. It was a six part iterative feedback cycle. The engagement was not just a one time process for input. It was six steps that we took throughout the process. That [11:18:43 AM] throughout the process. That started with historical data, multiple public presentations through for our commissioners. And then we also created this process by going back and forth to the public six different occasions. We use multiple channels. Those in channels included surveys, focus groups, citywide sessions, and community led feed events. But I want to be clear, most of our feedback was on one on one sessions. We met people exactly where they were. Residents co-wrote pieces of the guidelines, and what I mean by that is they actually submitted word for word. This is what we believe this line should say. We extended timelines and we adjusted to honor community requests for more time. And then we used I plus human analysis in order to ensure that we reviewed all of the all of the information and that no [11:19:44 AM] of the information and that no context was lost as a result. And I want to say this proudly, within less than 90 days, our team reviewed 11,801 comments as a brand new department, this engagement model shows that what's possible when community, technology and staff all work together, it ensures the policies we implement truly reflect Austin and so on this slide, there is a link and also a qr code to go if you choose to do a deeper analysis into those. 11,801 comments I want to at this time give a shout out to Austin public health and specifically Christopher Collins, who partnered with us and assisted us with creating the analysis of all of the data that we collected. In closing, [11:20:45 AM] that we collected. In closing, phase one was has shown us that when we engage authentically, adapt when needed, and keep opportunity and access at the center, we can create funding programs that reflect the diversity and creativity of our city. The creative reset is more than a procedural shift. It is a new way of working with our community. Thank you for your continued support and we are looking forward to now announcing those funding guidelines. But prior to doing that, I'd like to turn it over to acme assistant director Morgan, who will walk you through our funding guidelines. >> Good morning, council members. Mayor pro tem, thank you for having us. Candace cooper walked us through how we collected the feedback, and I'm happy to lead us through how we took that feedback into action [11:21:45 AM] took that feedback into action by creating an enhanced version of acme funding programs. We took a unique approach. As you all know, we were many assorted divisions from five different departments that became one single department this year, and so we had an opportunity to streamline both the language that we use across our programs, as well as the way that we present that as a unified front. We know we are one city, one voice, and our department is really taking that into consideration as we come forward with this package of funding programs for creatives at large in the city. So that has taken the shape of a single set of funding program guidelines, whereas we used to have six different funding program guidelines, six different PDFs, six different documents using, you know, versions of the same language and versions of the same definitions across the city. So we're happy to have that into one streamlined document. Now that has one single set of appendices sharing one single set of definitions, as well as [11:22:45 AM] set of definitions, as well as policies guiding all of these programs, which is really been an enhancement for our community and for our staff and for our brand new department as a whole. So whenever we do come forward and publish those guidelines formally after this presentation and after we move forward and completely finalize this, there will be two documents, a document called what's new that kind of outlines what we're going to share today. The high level look at what is new across the board, as well as the formal document. That is all of the guidelines guiding all of our programs, which is a much longer PDF. So we're trying to break it down into digestible pieces for our community, using a high level executive summary with our what's new document, as well as individual pieces of information that we'll have that are web based. All of these documents will be complemented by the workshops, the office hours, and all of the other direct, one on one touchpoints that our staff will continue having with the creative community over the coming months. All right, so what's new? Generally, some of [11:23:46 AM] what's new? Generally, some of the funding guidelines and application enhancements that you will see are, of course, based in the community engagement process with which Candace shared about. They have been informed by our feedback loop with the commissions. They have been informed by our feedback loop with our incredibly, incredibly competent staff that we have worked with to make this happen, as well as the public input where we have shared out progress along the way and have resulted in this updated application process. So it's not just the guidelines that we're enhancing. We're enhancing the user experience of applying for the programs now that we're under one umbrella. So some of those major highlights include strengthened sops to prevent issues that we've had in our department or divisions over time, such as double dipping in funds, which is not allowed by ordinance for live music fund and the cultural arts fund. So we've just strengthened the way that we administer that and the way that we put checks and [11:24:46 AM] way that we put checks and balances in place and documented how we will do that moving forward. We have created a universal appeals process for all of our grant programs. Some of our programs allowed for this. If you were not receiving an award at the end of the application process, some programs allowed you to appeal that decision. And now all of our programs have adopted the same appeals process, allowing everybody the opportunity to say, please have a second look. Additionally, we have updated our panel process for the programs that use a panel. All of our programs that administer higher level dollars of funding administer a panel process using subject matter experts in our community and those in central Texas to review the applications objectively and to decide if the projects are falling in line with the objectives of the program. So we have shared that process up based on feedback and are hoping to have a really good process this fall when we roll that out. Additionally, one of the things that we've done as a [11:25:48 AM] the things that we've done as a department as again, trying to create a high level look at the ways that our creative community might fit in with these funding programs. One of the assets we've created is what we're calling eligibility at a glance. So you can see in the left hand column over here for the applicant category, we offer programs for a number of different creative businesses and individuals in our community. And that can get really confusing when you're looking at the suite of programs. So in an effort to streamline, like where you might fit in, we've created this chart to help people see if I am, for example, a 500 and 1c3 arts nonprofit, what am I even eligible for at the top? Just so they know where to focus their energy and where to ask questions better when they're approaching our staff. So we're able to use this as a high level tool. And then, of course, our staff are happy to walk folks through one on one to figure out what's the best fit for them as they look at these opportunities. Now, I'm going to walk you through each individual program, just sharing the high level information and notable [11:26:48 AM] information and notable enhancements for each of those programs. And of course, we're happy to take any specific questions about individual programs or the overall grants as a whole at the end. So the nexus grant is our most entry level opportunity, and this is a 12 month grant agreement term, which we are offering to two different applicant categories. This program is both for individual artists or arts groups, with a minimum threshold of one year of experience as an artist. The award amounts are available for $5000 or $10,000 and will be awarded based on score, so the top scoring half of individuals will receive $10,000. The bottom scoring half will receive $5,000. So some of the notable enhancements for this program, we are continuing to focus more heavily on individual artists and arts groups, creating two funding streams for this particular category. Additionally, we have upped our award options. Previously, this grant only offered $5,000 awards, and now [11:27:49 AM] offered $5,000 awards, and now we have two funding levels available for folks based on feedback we receive that some projects cost a little bit more and they need a little bit of extra funds. So now it's 5 or 10,000. Additionally, we of course have implemented our eligible appeals process for this program. The next level for cultural funding is our elevate grant, which is also a 12 month grant contract. We are now awarding this in four different categories. So the folks who are eligible to apply are the 501 c3 arts nonprofits, the state of Texas, non-profits, as well as arts groups. And then lastly, individual artists. You can see on the right hand side here, our awards go from 30,000 up, up to $80,000. So we have a wide spectrum of award funding available here. So some of the notable enhancements this year, we are happy to roll out the opportunity for similar applicants to compete against [11:28:51 AM] applicants to compete against similar applicants together. So you can see here we are grouping folks based on their operating budget. And this was directly based on feedback we received from, for example, organizations who said, me, I'm a small organization who only has a $50,000 operating budget. It doesn't really seem fair to compete with other folks who have a budget of $500,000. So we created this kind of breakage in how those awards are distributed so that people could be compared against other organizations doing similar work. Additionally, we have larger award size ranges for individual artists, like I mentioned for the nexus grant, in previous years, there was just $5,000 there. We created a second level of ten. And then in this program, individual artists are also eligible for up to $30,000. So that gives individuals a nice range of opportunity. And lastly, we have updated the panel process that guides this program. As I previously mentioned, panels are reviewing the applications and panelists are being [11:29:51 AM] and panelists are being recruited currently. And we build panels made up of industry experts to help oversee those different creative panels that we'll have. And our staff participates in those as well to manage it. Our next grant for creative funding is thrive grant. This is our top level funding for the cultural funding side of the house. So this grant is exclusively for 501 c3 nonprofits. But we've created some space between nonprofits that operate a creative space. So a physical space in the community where they do their art, versus 501 c3 non-profits who don't have the overhead of a creative space to try to create some parity in that funding as well. Again, competing together with organizations who have a similar budget and operating expectations as you do. So those applicants competing together is a notable enhancement as well, as we have made it possible for awardees from previous cycles to [11:30:52 AM] from previous cycles to continue to be eligible for these awards with no restrictions. Previously, we had a clause that said if you received the thrive grant for two years, you had to kind of take a break before you would be eligible again. A one year break, we removed that barrier to ensure continuity, continuity for folks who receive funding to continue to be able operating, and we will continue to evaluate that over the years to make sure that we are providing for the community what is best for them. And lastly, the updated panel process applies to this program as well. So we're happy to see that rolling out, moving forward to the programs who are overseen by our music and entertainment division. The first one that we will look at is the creative space assistance program. So this program is a 12 month grant agreement term. And the goal of this program is in the name. It is to support creative spaces in our community. So the applicants and organizations with eligible creative spaces who can receive up to $60,000 include live music venues, [11:31:52 AM] include live music venues, performance venues or theaters, museums or art galleries or multi-use spaces. And in our guidelines, we have the definition lined out for all of these so that it's very clear if this program is for you. I also want to note that this program is for creative spaces that are leasing the space that they occupy. Some of the enhancements that you will see in this program include a flat award amount of $60,000. Formerly we had a sliding scale award amount, so some folks were getting a very low investment of $5,000 all the way up to a higher end top investment. So offering a flat award amount will make it easier for people to plan their next year on how they can best use this in their creative space. Additionally, we updated that creative space definition and use definition, which again is the four outlined different creative space types that we are looking at and making that clear for people. If their creative space applies to this program, the next program we have is Austin live music fund. [11:32:54 AM] have is Austin live music fund. This is a first of its kind grant program in the world. We are very proud of this program. We get calls from people all around the world modeling new grant programs after what we're doing. So we're really proud of what we've done here. And so this year we were able to again create some enhancements. So the applicants who are eligible to receive Austin live music fund include professional musicians and independent promoters in the community. And so we offer to them grants of either $5,000 with a 12 month agreement term, or $20,000 with a 24 month agreement term. And really what that means is if you get the higher level, you have two years to spend that down instead of having to spend it within 12 months. And then lastly, live music venues who have at least a $60,000 operating budget are eligible for an award of $70,000 for a 12 month grant agreement term. $60,000 is kind of the threshold for operating budgets [11:33:54 AM] threshold for operating budgets that we are awarding in, and so this is a change as well to align the operating budgets for this program with our cultural funding. So again, some of those enhancements include updated award amounts that were informed by the feedback we received, updated scoring criteria informed by the feedback we received. And of course, an updated panel process for how we administer this program. Heritage preservation grant is our last program that we will talk about today. And so this program awards in two separate categories. The project types that are eligible include heritage events, which can be local, state, or nationally designated historic locations that apply. Historic heritage events that are eligible properties pursuing a designation or historic location with no designation, as well as capital improvement projects. And so the awards for this oh no, we don't want to end the webinar. The award amounts for this are range from [11:34:59 AM] amounts for this are range from $50,000 up to $250,000, and our 12 month agreement terms, or 24 month grant agreement terms. Some of the notable enhancements that you will see in these program include expanded funding categories, which now includes events. So previously this was specifically geared more towards capital improvement projects. So we're really happy to create an avenue for heritage events, to give voice to communities to preserve their heritage. And that way, additionally, you will see historic interior flooring, repairs and mechanical and electrical upgrades are now available. Uses for the funds. Kind of expanding on how you can use this funds to preserve your historic creative space in the community. A little bit about how we plan to roll these out. So we're very excited to announce October 21st is when the application will open for the following programs. Elevate grant Austin live music fund, creative space assistance program, and the heritage [11:36:00 AM] program, and the heritage preservation grants. All four of those will open, and those are planned to have funding distributed in the early part of next year. For those who receive awards. Then we will open our nexus program in March of 2026, followed by a summer launch of elevate, thrive Austin live music fund and historic heritage preservation grant. So the thrive grant is a two year program and only opens every other year. So that's why you don't see it opening this fall. But it will open next year and then again followed by nexus as our buffer grant March. We start back over with what we predict will be our regular cadence of events, because we are trying to get on a regular launch calendar since we're a new department. So starting in March of 2027, we'll have a regular cadence nexus, followed by our stacked grant launches, which again will be elevate live music fund, creative space and heritage preservation. And then we'll be bookended in September by nexus. So March, [11:37:00 AM] September by nexus. So March, July and September will be our annual cadence of applications opening. Thank you for having us today. We're happy to take any questions about the work we've done in the programs. >> Thank you. Colleagues who would like to kick us off. Council member harper-madison. >> Thank you, I appreciate it. I only have a couple questions this time. The appeals process. Just curious if that's going to have any financial or timing impact. So like let's say for example, you know the person goes through the appeals process. Their their consideration is reconsidered. And then, you know, does that have any subsequent time or like dollar impact. So let's say somebody goes through the process doesn't need to appeal or their dollars now compromised by way of the other person's successful appeal. >> We we have considered this as well. So we're keeping a portion of our budget as a reserve that we're we're saving in a bucket dedicated for appeals for our programs across the board, anticipating that they might there might [11:38:03 AM] they might there might potentially be some successful appeals. We've been doing this with some of our programs. So we're just modeling what we've done before across all the programs, having that reserve bucket. And then as far as timing, our goal is to build the timing of appeals into the distribution process. So appeals should happen before all final awards are distributed. So our goal is to get all the money out the door at the same time. So appeals will happen at the beginning of the year before distribution of funds, so that they're not kind of lagging behind everyone else who's getting money. >> Right. I think I guess what I was hoping was that the appeals process didn't impede on the efficiency of the primary process. >> Yes. And it shouldn't it should happen kind of in tandem, because when the award announcements go out for people who did receive awards, those who do not receive awards will also be getting communication. And there will be instructions on if you would like to appeal. Here's how that works. There's a certain time frame. We convene the group who reviews the appeals, and it shouldn't take away too much time from the process. >> It shouldn't, however. >> Because we've all done this [11:39:04 AM] >> Because we've all done this work, you know, it never goes like it's supposed to. It always takes too long, it always costs more. And so just really thinking through what that looks like, right? I'm just thinking about the practical application of this. So you review, then you got to rereview. Then you got a room full of mad as hell artists who are demanding that you rereview because you rereviewed so and so. And then they did it. And then there and then. And inevitably your capacity gets tested to where the rereview is, where you're really going to hurt. So it should if everything went according to plan by way of the process that you laid out. But it ain't going to go like that. And so I'm sorry. Don't let me speak ill on you. Speak good things into existence. It's going to go beautifully as planned. But if there should be some need for additional supports, I just want to make certain that on the front end that you know this. I do think it's appropriate to build an additional appeal opportunity, but I also think it's appropriate to plan for that rainy day. So just like with those additional dollars people, capacity is where, you know, like you said, y'all were strong and mighty and 11,000 [11:40:04 AM] strong and mighty and 11,000 comments. That's a lot. But you know, we're talking about from a sustainability perspective. Like you said, y'all are just getting started. You can't burn out anytime soon, so you really can't. We can't be setting y'all up with with things that you know, are going to potentially inundate your small staff and then really test your capacity. So just saying, let's be thinking about ways where we can offer some supports moving forward, should you ever find yourself. So like for example, the appeals process that happened in January, for example, in comparison to the rest of your annual schedule, that's an anomaly. Period. So our budget period, for example, we're doing more than than we. So maybe the adjustment would just be during this additional period of consideration we could offer y'all some additional support is something I'm wanting to think about moving forward. I see you, Mike. >> Understood I do. >> It was a pin. I'm sorry, I thought, okay. >> I do want to share our policy. I hear you, and we'll definitely plan ahead for that. I do want to share that our policy is really specific on the grounds for appeal. You can't just appeal because [11:41:06 AM] can't just appeal because you're upset. You can appeal based on a certain number of criteria. Like if you think that the panelists had a conflict of interest or like a other number of things, there's a few items where you're eligible to appeal. We have a working group that reviews that and says, yes, that does qualify for one of these, or no, you're just mad because you didn't get the money, because your score wasn't high enough. And it was like, you know, it's a very competitive program. So a lot of people will not receive funding. So we're very familiar with those mad people that you mentioned. And our goal is to have a really strong policy that helps guide that and expedite it. But I totally hear you. And we'll absolutely consider how we can manage our staff bandwidth. >> I appreciate that. And with the Leslie, I've already acknowledged the herculean effort, you know, bravo, y'all. Because, you know, this work is going to require that much in terms of diversity and contribution of people's, you know, opinions. It's my hope to see in my time here and with these systems, it's my experience that the recipients are all the same people. It is very much my hope that we get we start to see a new or a more diverse candidate pool, all the [11:42:07 AM] diverse candidate pool, all the same people, in addition to some other folks too. Thank you for the presentation was great. >> And just to pick up along that line, councilor harper-madison, how how are we ensuring that we are bringing new artists and groups and organizations in? Are we, you know, in the past, I know we the city invested in community navigators. I don't know how effective or successful that has been, but I know for a fact that the museum of human achievement, that organization, does some really great work in bringing together and holding a space for artists to come together and walking them through the application process. How do we how are we investing in really scaling up the capacity of our community? >> So thank you, mayor pro tem, for that question. I have had an opportunity personally. We've met with Zach over at mohai and just honestly met with him a couple of weeks ago just to speak about the community navigators program. It was extremely successful. We [11:43:09 AM] It was extremely successful. We believe that utilizing community to help us again as partners through this process is amazing. So we will be exploring opportunities for what the community, the community navigator, as you know, is a pilot program based on that grant funding. But we will certainly be looking at opportunities moving forward to utilize community navigators in the future to see what that will look like. But to answer your question in terms of how are we going to do things a little differently to meet some folks, we've been really looking at how we've done it in the past, and so we do want to enhance that process as well. And so we're looking at utilizing community influencers. And so we're looking at that process. And of course you know the traditional marketing. But what we really like to have is, is literally boots on the ground going into the community centers, the rec centers, going to where people truly are, the churches, the laundromats. So we're exploring opportunities for posters and fliers and to truly go to where the folks are, [11:44:09 AM] truly go to where the folks are, even if we have to sometimes go in the nightclubs. Okay, we're truly talking to the teams. And trust me, my bedtime is 10 P.M. Okay, so it probably won't be me, but we are really looking at ways and we've been meeting weekly and really researching and looking at ways to do things a little bit differently. I know that tiktok is not a place where the city typically advertise, but but honestly, that is a huge place where we need to be. And so we've identified influencers that we certainly want to partner with and just kind of looking at doing things more grassroots and, and how we can, can reach people in the ways that they're already there. And so we're we're doing that. And so we're hoping what our fearless director here has said is that we want to make sure that prior to that October 21st deadline, that the community knows it's coming, they're prepared for it and that we are bringing in new individuals that have never [11:45:10 AM] individuals that have never heard of these funding programs before. >> Thank you. I'll also jump on and share. The community navigators program was incredibly successful, and it was unfortunately an arpa funded program, which is why you don't see it existing today, right? It was really a great program, and we're looking at ways to explore to revamp that with different funding. >> Oh very good. Thank you. And then as far as the creative space assistance program. This is only for organizations, venues, that lease space. Is that correct? >> That is correct. Yes. >> How are we helping those organizations and entities that own their property, that own the space, that are looking to expand, that are an important part of our ecosystem? How do we help those individuals? >> And yeah, absolutely. So the programs that we have that are a really good fit for those folks will either be in the heritage preservation grant if your venue or your space has that historic designation, or that's something you're exploring. We do have a great number of creative spaces who qualify for that, and those who have partaken in that grant [11:46:11 AM] have partaken in that grant fund, that's an avenue. And then a really popular one is the thrive grant because it's kind of operational support. And so we have a lot of creative spaces utilizing that fund. Museum of human achievement, for example, somebody you've already mentioned is thrive recipient. So we have other major folks who own their creative spaces using that. And then we all know that the funding that we use hotel occupancy tax is limited. And so as a department, we're looking at those gaps that still exist. These other people, organizations that have needs beyond these programs. And we're looking at ways to plug those gaps with like future fundraising or future program needs and trying to direct our energy into that. And so we'll be looking at that when we enter our strategic planning process over this fall period, looking forward on how to better serve them in the future as well. >> Very good. >> Good deal. And I'm very thrilled with the updates to the thrive grant. I think that is in alignment to the feedback I was hearing from the community as well. So pleased to see that on the live music fund venue, the live music [11:47:13 AM] fund venue, the live music venue fund. How are we defining live music venues? >> Oh great question. We have we have definitions like I mentioned in our appendices. I don't have it pulled up right now, but I would be happy to email over some of the definitions for you to directly have access to. So you can see how we're defining that. >> Okay. You know, certainly I think there have been some concerns about engagement around our live music venues. Can you speak to the type of engagement that was conducted to include? >> Yeah, absolutely. So we have a really close relationship with many of the venues in the community and with organizations like the red river cultural district who oversee, you know, a chunk of venues that exist in the downtown corridor. So we invited those people to the table for focus groups specific to live music venues. Red river cultural district, as I understand, hosted some of their own kind of focus groups with their community and provided that feedback both in meetings to to the folks right here in front of you, through email and through other means [11:48:13 AM] email and through other means conversations that we've had. A lot of that feedback was incorporated into our guidelines as we did the iterative process. And additionally, we went outside of the downtown corridor, right? We have music venues in every district of our community. And so we reached out to them, and we're really looking at venues that might be nontraditional venues where, you know, other people might be frequenting more because we know there are transportation barriers for folks coming from a district up north to downtown to enjoy things in red river. So we wanted to make sure we're engaging with those folks. And then our music and entertainment division has also hosted last year a live music venue, summit, which they hosted over here at acl live. And so we invited owners, people who work in live music venues to come and just have kind of an open forum about challenges they're facing, so that we could better get an understanding to address that in the eligible way that they can use our funds. So we had a pretty good dispersion of folks not just focusing on downtown, but focusing across the city. [11:49:14 AM] but focusing across the city. >> Very good. And thank you for that clarification that the red river cultural district was included in the engagement and did participate. And that feedback was is represented in these guidelines that are proposed. >> Yes. So and I also want to like as Candace mentioned, we received a ton of feedback, 11,000 plus comments, plus all of the engagement opportunities. So we are happy to see folks specific recommendations reflected. And we also acknowledge that, like, not everything that was asked for is represented in the final version. But yes, they were heard and we consider them very good partners, and we're happy to keep those conversations going with them. >> Very good. Okay. And last question. You know, these are you laid out the timeline for the programmatic changes to the different grant programs, any any additional action needed from council at this point on the launch and changes? >> No, we do not need any additional action, but we do really. Thank you all for your support and your feedback that we've heard over the last several months. [11:50:15 AM] several months. >> Very good. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Colleagues, that now moves us to our last agenda item. This is item number six, which is a briefing by memorandum. This this item is if there are any questions on the summer youth initiatives report memo that was issued on September 12th, 2025, we have director segura with economic development department who is available for any questions on the summer youth employment program. I have a very quick question. This is an important program for the city and is in partnership with the county, and we've done a number of changes to the program, including raising the wage here recently. I think in the last year or two, I had heard some feedback on a couple of things that we actually reduced the number of positions funded by the city. Is that right? >> At an Eaton economic development? We did not reduce the number of positions, the number of students that we were [11:51:15 AM] number of students that we were able to assist was based upon the amount that we had available. There was a slight reduction in the amount that came over from one of the donors, but we did not reduce the budget. We just had to maximize the number that we could reach with what we had. >> We didn't reduce the city portion of the budget. >> That's correct. >> The only thing that was reduced as well, mayor pro tem, was from seven weeks to six weeks. >> Okay, okay. But participation level was down because of a private donation into the program. >> We still had over almost 200 students. So no, it wasn't. >> It wasn't done. Okay. >> Yeah. There was some natural attrition through some students who had accepted but then ended up not being able to attend. But we did offer 200 interns the opportunity. >> Okay. And I think it would be great. >> I. >> I get the sense from feedback I'm getting from constituents who are very involved in this program that they would like to be some alignment between the city, county funded summer youth [11:52:18 AM] county funded summer youth employment program, as well as the internship program that they have that is funded by the chambers. And then there's a third kind of youth internship program that I think is overseen by doctor Eugene. And so if we have three internship programs for high school students in our community, is there a way that we can align resources so that we're really maximizing the participation? In other words, getting internships available not only within the city and the county, but also at central health that also Austin community college, bringing other public sector institutions along board. >> Yes, mayor pro tem, that is part of the work that we're going to be doing now in the off season. And because there was a separation of the program that is administered by doctor Eugene is the summer internship, and it is different from the Travis county one. And again, as our first summer going through that, we learned a lot of things, but we certainly want to make sure that we are aligning resources to maximize those opportunities for the [11:53:18 AM] those opportunities for the youth in our community. And so part of our work in this off season is stepping back, working with public health, and also understanding the chambers program so that we can make sure that we it's an opportunity also for us to cross message and cross collaborate versus being very confusing for the youth in our community who don't know where to go. So yes, ma'am, we are definitely intentionally trying to strategically do that work% in this off season. >> Very good. >> Thank you. Thank you all so much. All right colleagues, next on our agenda is discussion of future items. Any comments or feedback for agenda items? Yes. Councilmember harper-madison. >> So my staff and I have had the opportunity to run some things past Ed Benigno about our constituents being able to more utilize their asset, which is their home, their front yard, and their front yard businesses. And so we have started to have that conversation with our chief financial officer, and he's into it. If you can get Ed Benigno into it, I say you keep going. So I'd like very much for us to have a presentation [11:54:19 AM] for us to have a presentation about front yard businesses as an item for future consideration. >> Very good. Thank you. >> All right. Okay. Seeing no further business before our economic opportunity committee, I will adjourn our committee meeting at 11:54 A.M. Thank you all so much.