In preparation for the establishment of an Opportunity Center on the Coastside aimed at supporting Half Moon Bay small businesses and workers, the City Council has named the Chamber of Commerce as the manager of day-to-day operations.
Krystlyn Giedt
The Opportunity Center of the Coastside will be funded through a county grant of $2.5 million from federal funding aimed at developing economic advancement centers to provide services for workers, small businesses and entrepreneurs. According to Krystlyn Giedt, the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce CEO, the new agreement with the city will see the organization serve as a first point of contact for visitors and oversee economic development services for residents and businesses.
“I’m really excited about the services in general to the businesses and the job seekers,” Giedt said. “It’s two-pronged and not solely focused on one or another.”
The chamber will be responsible for promoting OCC, outreach, managing facilities and helping connect people to services. The OCC will be open five days a week and will consist of space for a classroom, meeting space, work desks for people who can’t work from home and a media room for multimedia services like podcasts and videos. Classes and workshops will be available for people on running a business, budgeting, resume building and internships as part of the funding.
“Everything gets improved because of the funding,” Giedt said.
Recommended for you
According to a city staff report, the city plans to launch the programming out of the current chamber location at 235 Main St. because of its ideal downtown location. The report noted the facility could serve as the location in the short or long term, with the potential to consider other larger options at a better point in the commercial real estate market.
The small business assistance center fulfills one of the recommendations in the Coastside Recovery Initiative from the city aimed at economic recovery after the pandemic in collaboration with the county and Chamber of Commerce. Many businesses had to survive through the pandemic through outdoor dining and some struggled to recover in the aftermath. The area also faces challenges due to its geographic isolation and reliance on tourism and several industries. Giedt said that the OCC will be a boost as many businesses face hard times.
The fishing season for salmon delays have hurt businesses at the harbor, and the push to have people shop local during the pandemic has also dwindled following the pandemic. The recent weather has also affected summer business and sales, with farmers facing a lower crop yield following the storms.
Plans for an economic advancement center have been in the works for over a year, with the city obtaining funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in 2022 for the evaluation of a center in South San Francisco and the unincorporated region of North Fair Oaks that were vulnerable to the economic changes from the pandemic. In October 2022, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved the plans and allocated $2.5 million each to the coast and North Fair Oaks. South San Francisco’s economic advancement center opened in February 2022.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.