Berkeley has 10 co-working spaces, which together with the UC campus, serve as an incubator for many local start-up businesses.
Mayor Arreguin is deeply committed to promoting a culture of innovation and start-ups, as well as providing all residents equitable opportunities for success.
Our city's location in the heart of the Bay Area, the best public university and a highly educated workforce make Berkeley an ideal place for new companies. Berkeley is already home to nearly a dozen co-working spaces and more than 300 startups. All entrepreneurs are encouraged to work with our Office of Economic Development, which offers expertise in commercial real estate, financing, economic data, green business, and marketing. Whatever your business is, we want your company to thrive.
Arts
The Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive, located on Bancroft Street in downtown Berkeley, is a premier destination for art, cinema and special events.
Photo by Hanae Ko
Berkeley's economy is enriched by its diverse and flourishing arts scene. As a councilmember, the Mayor secured funding for various organizations, including the UC Theatre, Kala Arts, and various arts grants.
Mayor Arreguin is committed to working with arts groups throughout the city to expand resources for local artists, despite federal threats to cut funding.
As a result of the Mayor's advocacy, Berkeley increased its Civic Arts Grant Program to $500,000, the largest amount in city history. This program distributes grants to local artists and arts organizations. The Mayor also helped lead efforts to dedicate revenue from Short Term Rental taxes to support the arts.
With expanded funding for the arts, and a new Berkeley Cultural Plan, Berkeley is uniquely positioned to support existing artists and expand performing and visual art throughout the city.
Employment and Labor
Minimum Wage
The Mayor championed raising the City’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, which was achieved in 2018. To ensure that the value of the minimum wage does not decrease over time, after reaching $15, future changes were tied to the Consumer Price Index, which is updated annually on July 1st. As of July 1, 2022, Berkeley’s minimum wage is $16.99 an hour.
The Mayor introduced the HARD HATS Ordinance with Labor officials and construction workers in September 2022.
HARD HATS
During a time when the City has been asked to produce 9,000 units of housing over the next eight years, California faces labor shortage among the construction workforce. A key reason for this is a lack of apprenticeship programs and benefits such as healthcare. In 2022, the Mayor introduced a referral to create the Helping Achieve Responsible Development with Healthcare and Apprenticeship Training Standards (HARD HATS) Ordinance. This proposal will help meet the City’s General Plan goals on housing production by reducing construction delays on affordable housing due to a lack of skilled workers, in addition to providing adequate healthcare to employees in a job that has higher rates of injuries compared to other industries (one out of five insurance claims for a significant injury involves a construction worker, despite making up one out of 25 jobs in California). Advancing apprenticeship programs and training will also improve safety and worker retention.
Bayer's headquarters for research and development is located in West Berkeley, and employs 1,600 people, the city's largest employer.
Workforce Development
The Mayor is deeply committed to providing all Berkeley residents equitable opportunities for success. In addition to continued partnership in the Vision 2020 Initiative, alongside Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley Community College, and UC Berkeley, working to close the achievement gap in education, Mayor Arreguin is also working to expand vocational training and career options for Berkeley’s young people and other residents.
The Mayor believes in offering training that leads to productive and stable careers. Berkeley students already benefit from workforce development programs, including internships with Bayer and with Rising Sun Energy Center, and our office supports continued collaboration with these community partners.
We are also working with organizations such as the Carpenters Union, Trades Council, and Cypress Mandela Training Center to establish even more opportunities for future generations.
Small Business and Startups
Small Business Package
One of the first pieces of major legislation as Mayor was the Small Business Package, first introduced in 2016. This package seeks to reduce obstacles for new businesses, provide financial support, promote buy local policies, and create tax incentives to attract and retain locally-owned businesses. Over the past seven years, the Mayor has been working with the Office of Economic Development and stakeholders in implementing these proposals. Highlights include:
Improving outreach and communications with small business
Increase support for businesses navigating the permitting process, including placing most permits applications online.
Modify the Zoning Ordinance to support small businesses, including reducing parking requirements, simplifying food services from three categories to one, streamlining the permit process and reducing permitting costs and times for businesses requesting a change of use in existing commercial spaces.
Pilot new small business retention programs, such as the Uptima Business Bootcamp to provide education and advising to entrepreneurs, reaching out to 215 small business and nonprofit leaders in Berkeley before the pandemic. The retention caused by this program has resulted in nearly $5 million in revenue and 49 jobs.
Support independently-owned retailers with marketing, networking and education
Research & Development
Berkeley is home to over 400 businesses in its “innovation sector”. This includes tech, biotech, Research & Development (R&D), and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) industries. This number has risen considerably in recent years, with just 150 such businesses calling Berkeley home in 2013. In 2022, Council voted to update its definition of Research and Development, which allowed for the inclusion of office space for R&D purposes. This will allow R&D startups to grow in Berkeley instead of expanding by moving to another location.
Through the Berkeley Startup Cluster, the City, University, Berkeley Lab, and local business organizations are partnering to make policy changes and develop new programs and mechanisms to support the local innovation ecosystem. Berkeley Ventures, Berkeley Values (BV2), a program of the Berkeley Startup Cluster, provides startups with resources and advice to startup founders and tech industry workers to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion. Through ongoing support, 66 Berkeley companies raised $1.5 billion in capital in 2021, more than double the investment in 2020.
Worker Cooperatives
Worker Cooperatives such as the Cheese Board Collective are becoming a popular was to provide job security and upward mobility.
Berkeley is well known for being home to several worker cooperatives. These businesses, which are owned and run by employees, often provide higher wages, benefits, professional development, job security, and upward mobility for low to moderate income people. Just as importantly, these small businesses provide a diversity of locally owned services that become valuable community assets.
In 2019, Project Equity, which the City has partnered with to advance Worker Cooperatives, calculated that 1,200 Berkeley businesses are over 20 years old and employ a third of Berkeley’s workforce. Nationwide, half of business owners are looking to transition out in the next 5 years, but 85% have not come up with a succession plan. By promoting the option of an employee ownership succession, we will help ensure that the retirement of Baby Boomers, who own nearly half of all businesses in the Bay Area, will be met with a smooth transition to allow businesses to continue operating while providing new opportunities for its employees.
Over the last six years, the Office of Economic Development has been implementing policies I brought forward in 2016 to support worker cooperatives. Starting in January 2022, the City now includes worker cooperatives in its Buy Local contracting policy. Business license permit applications now allow any new business applicant to register as a worker cooperative. We have also partnered with the Sustainable Economies Law Center to provide legal assistance, lease negotiation expertise, and educational materials to support businesses converting to cooperatives. In 2019, the Revolving Loan Fund policy was expanded to include businesses seeking to convert to worker cooperatives.