Economic Development Programs

Shop El Cerrito Marketing Campaign
Money spent in local businesses has a ripple effect: it benefits not only the shopper and the business, but also the community as a whole.

In 2008, El Cerrito’s Economic Development Division launched a marketing campaign to promote the benefits of shopping locally. Highlighting El Cerrito retail, restaurant, entertainment, and business service companies, the campaign’s centerpiece is www.ShopElCerrito.com. The site business directory lists any El Cerrito company with a City business license, providing basic company information, links to its website, and any online coupons and promotions the business chooses to offer.

The Economic Development Division also supports the program with promotional materials such as print ads, posters, window decals, and television spots.

So come shop El Cerrito. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Business Workshops and Events
Economic Development staff work both independently and with other business resource organizations to provide business workshops and events like these:

	Taste of El Cerrito Restaurant Event
	Annual El Cerrito business reception
	Business Entrepreneur Strategic Training (BEST) seminars
	West County “Taking Your Business to the Next Level” Resource Fair
	Small Business Resources Workshop at El Cerrito Library
	El Cerrito Home Improvement EXPO

These events give El Cerrito businesspeople the tools and enhanced skills they need to operate and grow a successful business—and they’re great networking opportunities.

Our business resource partners include the El Cerrito Chamber of Commerce, the Contra Costa Workforce Development Board, the West Contra Costa Business Development Center, and the Contra Costa Library.

Business Recognition Awards
The Business Recognition Program recognizes those El Cerrito businesses that have contributed to the economic well-being of the City. The recognition awards also foster goodwill with the city’s important businesses and demonstrate El Cerrito’s pro-business attitude.

The program operates in partnership with the Economic Development Board (EDB), whose members participate in choosing the recipient companies as well as the presentation before the City Council. The program recognizes three business twice each year. To ensure representation of all segments of the business population over time, recipients are selected based on one or more of these varied criteria:

	Major contributor of sales tax or employment
	Longevity in the City of El Cerrito
	Significant involvement in community events or organizations
	Involvement with innovative or specialty products or ideas
	Achievement within a particular industry

Recognition includes

	Presentation at a City Council meeting
	Acknowledgment in a newspaper advertisement and on the City Economic Development website

View the Current Award Recipients
View the Previous Award Recipients

Business Support Program
We know how important thriving businesses are to our community’s economic vitality. The Business Support Program reaches out to the El Cerrito business community, visiting targeted companies to identify key issues or concerns of their business or industry. It’s an active demonstration of the City’s commitment to directly supporting our local businesses.

Site Selection and Permitting Assistance
Economic Development staff work closely with property owners and the brokerage community. We provide site selection assistance to new businesses looking to locate in El Cerrito, as well as to established businesses seeking to expand. When new development projects take shape in the City, our staff work with the applicants to facilitate the permitting process with the necessary City departments.

Video Surveillance Loan Program
Employee and customer safety is important for any business: safety concerns can affect employees, customers, and clients, as well as a business’s bottom line. To address this, the City of El Cerrito passed an ordinance in 2007 that requires certain categories of local businesses to install and use a digital video camera surveillance system that records images in color and at a higher level of quality than the older, VHS-tape based systems commonly in use. These older systems often do not produce clear images and are not as useful in a crime investigation.

To offset the financial impact on small businesses for the cost of purchasing video surveillance equipment as required by this ordinance, the City has designed a Video Surveillance Loan Program.

Find out if your business is eligible for a loan
Read the Video Surveillance Loan terms
Download a loan application