| Seatrec Moves to Vista to Advance its Ocean-Powered Robotics Technology While Providing Employees a Better Cost of Living Seatrec moved to North County San Diego from Los Angeles about one year ago in search of modern space, affordable cost of living and fellow ocean-tech-minded businesses. Its new home in Vista is where it continues to develop energy harvesting and robotics technologies that help improve how much we know about the ocean, and just as importantly, how we capture the data. |
| CVBID Grant Program The Central Vista Business Improvement District (CVBID) has opened their grant program. The program provides grants and micro-grants to fund activities in Downtown Vista that help accomplish the goals of the CVBID. The money for the grants comes from an annual City of Vista assessment on the businesses within the district, which totals approximately $50,000 each year. Grants will be available in the amount of $1,000 to $10,000. |
| Pioneer Beer Trail Vista Made Tours has released a new episode! This episode will guide you thorough the Pioneer Beer Trail, a 3 mile driving loop that includes 3 breweries that were among the first to put Vista on the map as the beer capital of San Diego County. Learn more about the Pioneer Beer Trail and breweries by listening to episode 2 of Vista Made Tours. |
| North County Steward: Tory Walker Choosing North San Diego County as his destination for home and business came down to a quality-of-life issue. He and his wife wanted a place to raise their children with space and a community around them. “We just saw North County as a gem,” said Walker. In more urbanized areas “a lot of the creeks have been covered over, and the agricultural areas are replaced. North County has done a good job of balancing that – keeping a sense of the land, both in an agricultural and a natural sense. I think that’s really wholesome for families and communities.” |
| North County Steward: Ron Dutt “The way you DON’T keep your costs down, is to hire somebody below market (rate),” said Dutt. “They’re going to leave, and now you’ve got to recruit and train somebody. It’s disruptive. That costs a lot of money. Or you get somebody you can hire pretty cheap but doesn’t have the experience, and bad decisions happen. Those bad decisions cost us a lot of money.” Fortunately, North County is an excellent place to recruit talent, partially because it is a desirable place to live, according to Dutt. From its great climate that allows for year-round outdoor activities (for balanced living and stress reduction) to its plethora of restaurants and activities accessible within a reasonable distance, there is no shortage of amenities to attract talent. Gaining and retaining that talent does take some finesse. |
| San Diego Regional EDC Summer Bash 2022 On August 31, join San Diego: Life. Changing. and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. for an epic party celebrating San Diego innovation with 300+ of our closest friends. Guests will enjoy an inspiring short program, incredible food, and an open bar—all at the new state-of-the-art SD Tech by Alexandria in Sorrento Valley. |
Free Online Business Courses
The City of Vista has partnered with Strategies 360 to offer two free online courses for business. The first course, Entrepreneur Bootcamp, provides new and aspiring Vista business owners lessons on how to prepare for and/or launch a new enterprise. The second course, Business Accelerator, provides small business owners lessons on how to grow and expand their business, identify new customers, improve their online and social media presence, and more. Both courses allow entrepreneurs to watch videos on-demand and proceed at their own pace.
To learn more about the Entrepreneur Bootcamp course: cityofvista.com/bootcamp
To learn more about the Business Accelerator course: cityofvista.com/businessaccelerator
| Community Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs San Diego State University Lavin Entrepreneurship Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurial Studies will be hosting the Community Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs for those in difficult circumstances who are trying to start or grow a business. The program includes training, one-on-one consulting, mentoring, and other resources. The program will be held in-person on Saturday mornings September-October. |
| Live Entertainment Permit Fees Waived! The City has received federal American Rescue Plan Act Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSLFRF) to respond to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and its negative economic impacts. As a part of this program, the City is offering to waive the Live Entertainment permit fees for qualified businesses. This one-time waiver covers the permit fees for the period through June 30, 2024. To receive this fee waiver, a complete Live Entertainment Permit Package including a list of all employees and a proof of their Responsible Beverage Service training needs to be submitted to Sara Trench at strench@cityofvista.com. |
| Cybersecurity is now everyone’s business! The FBI reports a 300% increase in cybercrimes across all industries during the pandemic with the average cost of a data breach climbing over $4 million! More than half of these costly attacks are aimed at small businesses and supply chains – our region’s economic engine. The Cities of Carlsbad and Vista invite local small businesses to participate in the North County Cybersecurity Awareness Program. The Cities are partnering with Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) to help small businesses increase their cybersecurity awareness and preparedness to bolster the region’s economic resiliency. The program is FREE to participating small North County businesses, made possible by grants from the Cities of Carlsbad and Vista. Cybersecurity Awareness Program Offerings: Detailed cybersecurity risk assessment from MasterCard’s RiskRecon. Cybersecurity awareness training for up to 100 employees from ESET. Tools to develop and exercise your cyber incident response plan with CyberCatch’s simulator. Threat landscape briefing from the FBI. Connectivity to the region’s cybersecurity industry including additional customizable resources. And most importantly…get the tools to take positive action to protect your organization’s data, employees, vendors and customers. To be eligible you must have fewer than 100 employees and be a business located in the 78 corridor OR a supplier to North County businesses. Register Today! *Source: Ponemon Institute 2021 |
| Putting a CAP on Climate Change With Vista’s “Climate Action Plan ”Major steps are being made to advance the City of Vista’s Climate Action Plan, including a move that could reduce your energy bill an average of two percent through the city joining the Clean Energy Alliance. |
Helpful Reminder
If you would like to offer live entertainment, whether it is a comedian, trivia night, karaoke, or musical performers, you must first get a license from the City. Applications are available through the City Manager’s Office or by contacting Sara Trench at strench@cityofvista.com or 760-643-5206.
City of Vista | 200 Civic Center Drive, Vista, CA 92084
