Economic Development Division, Foothill Workforce Development Board Present 2023 Spending Plan

The City’s Economic Development Division presented its proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2023 before the Economic Development and Technology Committee on Tuesday, May 3.

Dave Klug of the Economic Development Team said the total budget for the division for FY 2023 is $1.975 million. That is an increase of 1.3% from the $1.950 million last year.

Klug said the new budget adds one FTE (full time equivalent) Administrative Specialist.

Of the total budget, $1.305 million will be allocated for personnel costs, $440,759 will go to services and supplies and $229,345 will go to internal service charges.

The Office of Economic Development is responsible for encouraging business investment opportunities and supporting business retention and attraction activities in Pasadena.

As part of the City Manager’s Office, the division works closely with the Foothill Workforce Development Board to ensure that businesses have access to qualified and employable talent.

In FY 2022, the division added new headquarters, launched campaigns including “From Pasadena With Love” holiday shopping campaign and “shop local” campaigns, and launched the “Plant Your Flag in Pasadena,” which encourages tech companies located within the city to add their company name to a citywide tech map.

Klug said the division is planning to upgrade the current webportal map and partner with new data software that will measure, benchmark and promote startups on a real-time basis.

The Foothill Workforce Development Board (WDB) presented its proposed FY 2023 budget as well on Tuesday.

This year’s proposed budget totals $4.627 million. That is a decrease of 4.7% from the FY 2022 budget of $4.853 million.

The expenditures decrease are due to staff reduction caused by retirement, among other factors, according to Diane Russell-Carter, Executive Director for the Foothill WDB.

Russell-Carter said the board’s FY 2023 revenue includes $2.4 million worth of grants previously awarded by the state.

“There are other grant opportunities that come from the Department of Labor down through the State and they are competitive grants. We are very successful this year in obtaining a number of competitive grants,” she added.

The Foothill Workforce Development Board makes investments in workplace skills development and job-specific training to help residents gain skills or obtain the education they need to get a job.

It serves Arcadia, Duarte, Monrovia, Pasadena, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena.

In FY 2022, the board had served 4,867 job seekers and unemployed workers through its One Stop Career Centers, served 30 low-income youth through a year-round program to support high school completion and provided 24,116 services to individuals seeking workforce services, according to Russell-Carter.