February 22, 2021

Woodland Business Community,

Please read on for the following updates:

NEW Promo video: Shop Small. Eat Local. #GOWoodlandLocal
NEW parklets are popping up in Downtown Woodland!
Woodland Research & Technology Park - recorded Zoom presentation now available
Say hello to City Hall's new pollinator garden
Local businesses invited to participate in a food & ag industry survey & join the Yolo County Workforce Innovation Board

NEW PROMO VIDEO: Shop Small. Eat Local. #GOWoodlandLocal

The City launched a #shopsmall and #eatlocal promotional video targeted at our local community. This film features several Woodland small businesses as a dollar circulates through our local economy. As small businesses are the backbone of our Woodland economy, an effort to elevate messaging on the power of spending a dollar locally continues to be a main objective. The film was produced by Woodland-natives, John Ramon and Kevin Ulrich from Jevin Films and is currently being disseminated on The Food Front, GO Woodland Local and City of Woodland social media pages. A second promotional video is set to launch within the coming month. Stay tuned!

Please watch and share the video, available on the City’s YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQvp_5G_U4Q

NEW PARKLETS ARE POPPING UP IN DOWNTOWN WOODLAND:
FINANCED IN PART BY THE WOODLAND SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM

Get ready for outdoor dining and workouts at the Las Milpas, House of Shah, Main Street Lounge, & Fit Within PARKLETS!

From November 19th to November 30th 2020, the City of Woodland accepted applications for the "Support Small Business Assistance Program". From a pool of $235,707 federal CARES Act dollars, the City awarded grants to 42 qualifying small Woodland businesses and independent contractors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What were the results of this grant?

60% of the small business recipients were restaurants. The remaining 40% were a mix of fitness studios, small retail, personal care services, and small hotels.

Furthermore,42% of the total applicants received funding for outdoor use/winterization, which has resulted in:

Partial funding for the creation of three new parklets in Downtown for four businesses (House of Shah & Las Milpas - shared space; Main Street Lounge; Fit Within)
Partial reimbursement for two existing parklets (Las Brasas & Father Paddy's)

The City continues to offer outdoor use space permits free of charge to applicant businesses. To date, 21 permits have been issued, with an equal amount issued to businesses in and outside of Downtown Woodland.

Interested in applying for a FREE outdoor use permit? Click HERE.

Fit Within Parklet on 1st Street - financed in part via the Woodland Small Business Assistance Grant Program

GET UP TO SPEED ON THE
WOODLAND RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY PARK

Find out how Woodland is paving the way for a new technology hub, intended to serve an array of research and technology businesses - right here in our city!

Consisting of 350 acres, the Woodland Research and Technology Park is proposed as a new type of employment center that will also include a range of housing options, a commercial mixed use town center focused around an 11 acre linear park - all connected by a multimodal street network, including a pedestrian and bicycle trail system. Read more HERE.

Watch the recorded Zoom presentation on the Woodland Research & Technology Park Specific Plan HERE.

SAY HELLO TO CITY HALL'S NEW POLLINATOR GARDEN

We hope you don't miss City Hall's lawn because this newly established urban pollinator landscape is here to stay!

On February 12^th, the City & UC Davis Arboretum experts held the City Hall Pollinator & Water Wise Planting Day. Volunteers from the UC Davis Master Gardeners and the Woodland Tree Foundation helped plant 150 bee & pollinator friendly plants at City Hall and some Main Street planting beds. This effort is in line with the City’s commitment as a ‘Bee City USA’ affiliate to spread awareness about the importance of pollinators amongst our community and enhance pollinator habitats. Once these young plants reach establishment, watering will be reduced to once every two weeks, resulting in impressive water savings at City Hall - quite a change from the heavy watering frequency with the former lawn.

Daily Democrat article on the planting day can be found HERE.

SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE!

Greater Sacramento Economic Council's food & ag industry survey

As the Greater Sacramento Economic Council continues to work on its Business Retention and Expansion program, they are inviting all food & ag businesses within the region to fill out the State of the Food & ag industry survey. The information gathered will help them compile data regarding the business environment and trends in the food and agriculture industry.

FILL OUT THE STATE OF THE FOOD & AG INDUSTRY SURVEY HERE.

Local businesses invited to join the Yolo County Workforce Innovation Board

Applications now open!

Yolo County’s Workforce Innovation Board (WIB) is actively recruiting local businesses to fill vacancies in the private business category. WIB is a 23-member board comprised of business, labor, education, non-profit, government and community leaders charged with convening partners and providing policy, planning and oversight for local and regional workforce development initiatives under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WIB members represent the four Yolo County cities of Davis, West Sacramento, Winters and Woodland.

CONTACT YOUR TEAM

We're here to support you through this challenging time. Please contact us at the email addresses below (do not reply to this email).

We also encourage you to periodically visit our COVID-19 Business & Employee support page and the business & employee FAQ page.

We look forward to connecting with you.

Ken Hiatt
City Manager
Ken.Hiatt@cityofwoodland.org

Erika Bumgardner
Business Development Liaison
Erika.Bumgardner@cityofwoodland.org

Stephanie Burgos
Business Engagement & Marketing
stephanie.burgos@cityofwoodland.org