DAVID GRAHAM
CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER
CITY OF CARLSBAD
A couple of weeks. That’s what many of us expected. Restaurants, shops, schools, active recreation, and non-essential offices would have to close for a couple of weeks due to COVID-19. It seemed achievable at the time. Our community can make it through anything for a couple of weeks. And then weeks, turned into months, months turned into the better part of a year, and through it all we have seen the resilience of our community shine. Under immense pressure and facing unprecedented challenges, our community and businesses have continued to overcome barriers and breakthrough roadblocks. Restaurants, retail and personal care services have been hit hard and we have doubled down to support them.
When on-site dining was prohibited, we created and promoted a digital map to guide diners to their favorite curbside, takeout or delivery eatery. When indoor operations at restaurants were banned, we relaxed permitting rules and helped businesses move outdoors onto the public sidewalk, and private property like parking lots. At each turn we have adapted and made the unthinkable a reality. The ingenuity of our businesses, the Carlsbad Village Association, Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, and other business organization partners have inspired ideas that we have put into practice.
Efforts like the city’s #StaySafeStayOpen campaign has tapped into the creativity of Carlsbad businesses with them expressing a commitment to provide safe spaces to dine and shop. It’s one thing to hear from the government that you should follow the rules, but when it’s the owner of your favorite shop or the barista serving you a latte, the message becomes more real. They want to stay open to serve us and in return, we have done our part to keep them open by adopting some simple practices like wearing face coverings, keeping distance, and washing hands to foster a safe environment.
Being a destination for visitors and families, we recognized the need to find partners to get the message out that in Carlsbad we wear masks and social distance. Visit Carlsbad and our hotels have been tremendous in making sure whether you’re walking through the lobby, or walking to the beach, there are reminders of how we practice safe behaviors to address the health emergency.
Our resilience has meant more than just keeping businesses open. For more than a decade, part of Carlsbad’s economic development strategy has been to focus on supporting an ecosystem that includes innovation economy companies. Over the years, investments were made to position the city as the place to be for industries like technology, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, software and even video gaming.
The Carlsbad Research Center and business park are full of companies on the cutting edge of their field. Just in the last few months, despite being mid-pandemic, companies that are combatting COVID-19 like COPAN and Genmark Diagnostics are expanding in Carlsbad.
Many innovation economy employers have been able to continue operations and, in many cases, put their unique talents, products, and expertise to work addressing the pandemic. In fact, during a recent survey of Carlsbad businesses, 90% of firms indicated they did not have to close operations and many employees have been able to work from home instead of being laid off.
Speaking of working from home, which frankly feels more like living at work, our city government and businesses have adapted incredibly well. In fact, during this time we were able to fill the city’s vacant economic development manager position with Matt Sanford, a guy who has been working in economic development in the region for over a decade. He was fully onboarded remotely and continues to work remotely in between in-person visits to businesses. Matt has hit the digital and actual ground running. Whether it is doing in-person surveys, helping businesses get permits for outdoor operations, or working on new programs to strengthen our economy Matt has yet to set foot in a city office but is full-service all the time for our residents and businesses. Feel free to contact him at [email protected] with any business related questions. For general support email [email protected]. We are here to serve you.
It’s a good thing our economic development team is at full strength because our businesses have needed us more than ever. While a little over half of firms we recently surveyed did indicate that revenues have fallen by 50% or more, sentiment shows optimism in their ability to recover. This ability to maintain operations, keep people employed and adapt or pivot to address COVID-19 is important because Carlsbad employees who are able to keep their jobs are able to dine at our restaurants and shop at our retailers, furthering our community’s resilience.
A couple of weeks. It was going to be a couple of weeks. Now, look at us. We are stronger and more resilient than ever. The future may be uncertain but what is certain is that together we will thrive no matter what comes our way.