Data and New Tools for Economic Development

Napa's Economic Development team is embracing advanced technologies to enhance our decision-making process. We've recently added two new tools to our arsenal: Placer.ai and IMPLAN. These powerful tools provide us with in-depth insights and accurate projections that are transforming our approach to maximize the positive impact of our programs.

IMPLAN (Impact Analysis for Planning) is a sophisticated economic modeling system that helps us project the potential impact of new businesses and industries in Napa. This tool allows us to simulate how introducing a new economic project might affect other industries and the overall economic landscape, helping us understand the broader effects of proposed projects.

For example, when considering a large format retailer like Costco or Walmart, IMPLAN helps us estimate its potential effects on local employment, tax revenue and overall economic activity. This allows us to analyze direct impacts like jobs and revenue creation, indirect impacts like effects on local suppliers and induced impacts such as increased spending by new employees on the local economy.

Take a look at the example IMPLAN analysis of a theoretical development below:

Prompt: A new major wholesale retailer and gas station is looking to locate in Napa and staff would like to show to the Planning Commission and City Council the economic impact of the new retailer to inform the decision-making process.

Baseline data: The industry types are known (wholesale retailer and gas station) and will hire 300 workers (250 for retailer, 50 for gas station).

Results:

• Adds $101.1 million of total economic output for the region, which contributes to the gross domestic product, and includes nearly $25 million in total employee compensation.
• Would directly result in a local increase in tax revenue of $658,300 with an additional $180,000 of indirect and induced tax revenue increases.
• Would grow the wholesale industry by 281% and gasoline stores by 19%.
• In addition to the 300 direct jobs, another 177 jobs would be indirectly added to the economy through other businesses and induced jobs needed.

By utilizing IMPLAN, we can work collaboratively with City Council to make more informed decisions about economic policy and business development, ensuring that these decisions align with our community's needs and long-term goals.

While IMPLAN helps us project future impacts, Placer.ai gives us detailed insights into current economic activity. This tool uses anonymous cell phone data to provide detailed information about visitor behavior, foot traffic patterns and consumer preferences. Placer.ai aggregates anonymized location data from mobile devices to identify patterns and trends and generate user-friendly visualizations including heat maps and traffic flow diagrams.

These insights will be used to support our larger Downtown Diagnostics project, which is centered around analyzing economic activity in downtown Napa. Placer.ai will help us analyze retail mix, consumer spending patterns and more to assess whether the data aligns with the "feel" and perception of downtown.

In addition to Placer.ai and IMPLAN, the Economic Development team is using good old-fashioned human research on the Downtown Diagnostics project. Our in-depth review of existing businesses in downtown and the Oxbow area have yielded the following data points:

• Restaurant and bars represent only 13% of the businesses in downtown and the Oxbow district, but they generate 64% of the area's sales tax
• Tasting Rooms represent only 6% of the businesses in downtown and Oxbow district
• Of the over 1,000 people who took our Downtown Sentiment survey, the majority of them stated that over the past year, they visited downtown more than 3 times a week. The number one thing our locals like to do downtown? Dining! The least favorite activity of locals downtown? Wine tasting!

These insights will help us make data-driven decisions, inform our downtown specific plan and more effectively collaborate with partners like DoNapa to build a more economically vibrant downtown for both consumers and businesses.

As we integrate IMPLAN and PlacerAI into our economic development strategies, our team is focused on maximizing their potential to optimize our decision-making process. We look forward to sharing more insights as we continue to explore these tools and use their data to create targeted, effective strategies for our community's economic future.

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