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With new Chamber leadership, strides have been made in strengthening this valuable partnership. In February 2009, the Agency and Chamber launched a San Leandro Industrial Councils program which divided the City's industrial area into five regional councils. Five meetings have been held to date, which resulted in the planned implementation of the Police Departments Business Crime Watch program for the Adams Area and the creation of a steering committee to develop an industrial job training program to expose youth to careers in manufacturing. Additional accomplishments in the industrial area include the development of the San Leandro Industrial Directory website which is currently under construction (see Exhibit A for draft home page), and meetings with green business leaders and other East Bay Green Corridor participants to gain an understanding of how the City of San Leandro can most effectively participate in and benefit from this exciting initiative. The above, along with the Mayoral Visitation Program are programs which will support our industrial sector and staff recommends continuing next year. Agency staff is also recommends continued support of the San Leandro Economic Forum, a Chamber lead program aimed at educating the public about development trends in San Leandro, the San Leandro Map, Farmers' Market liquor licenses and expansion of the web-based Industrial Directory. In total, the Agency is proposing up to $46,600 in support to the San Leandro Chamber in FY 2009-10 for the following programs. • Mayoral Visitation Program $250/visit • Farmers' Market Liquor Licenses $600/season • Industrial Programs $2,500/month • Web-based Industrial Directory $5,000 • Summit/Bconomic Forum $2,500/event • Map Ad $1,000 The attached Chamber of Commerce report (see Exhibit B) includes information on the business assistance programs included in the FY 2008-09 assistance agreement with the Agency. Staff recommends the Chamber produce quarterly reports in FY 2009-10 which will be forwarded to the City Council through the Business & Housing Development Committee. To provide perspective on how other cities manage their relationship with local Chambers, also attached (see Exhibit C), is information from a September 2008 California Chamber of Commerce survey regarding government funding of Chamber organizations. Staff recommends that the Business and Housing Development Committee direct the Executive Director of the Redevelopment Agency to enter into a Consulting Services Agreement with the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce for up to $46,600 in FY 2009-10 to assist them in implementing assistance programs that serve the business community. G:\OBD\Files EDA\Chamber of Commerce\2009-10\Support BH&D 7-9-09.docx