📬 ICYMI: CITY OF AUSTIN | ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMITTEE UPDATE (March 21, 2025)
📬 ICYMI: CITY OF AUSTIN | ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY COMMITTEE UPDATE (March 21, 2025)
🔁 Revived Committee Launches Bold Vision for Jobs, Child Care, and Downtown Revitalization
The Austin City Council’s Economic Opportunity Committee returned for the first time in a decade with an ambitious agenda—and a clear focus: create economic opportunity through workforce training, child care access, and a stronger, more coordinated downtown.
Here’s what you need to know from the March 21 meeting:
🚧 Austin Infrastructure Academy Launches March 26
The committee’s top item was the official rollout of the Austin Infrastructure Academy, a first-of-its-kind program designed to train up to 10,000 Austinites annually for high-demand careers in construction, transit, and mobility. The Academy will help meet workforce needs for major projects like Project Connect, the I-35 expansion, the airport, and new tech campuses.
📍 Temporary location: ACC Riverside; permanent site planned near the airport
👷 “This is more than training—it’s about helping people navigate careers with dignity,” said Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions.
🗣️ “This is a first-of-its-kind initiative,” said Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area. “We’re not just training workers—we’re helping people build a future with dignity.”
The Academy will feature:
A digital career navigation platform
Six months of free child care for participants
Career coaches with lived experience
Crisis support for housing, transportation, and more
🗣️ “Meeting people where they are isn’t optional—it’s everything,” said Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison. “If you’ve never pawned anything, you probably shouldn’t sit across from someone who has and advise them on their career path.”
👶 Prop A Child Care Funding Rolls Out
Travis County’s voter-approved Proposition A—expected to generate $75 million per year—is now moving into its implementation phase. The fund will increase access to affordable child care and out-of-school-time services through:
Subsidies for working families
Capital investments in child care facilities
Support for early childhood educators
🗣️ “This is a multi-pronged strategy that includes facility investment, subsidies, and early childhood workforce support,” said Korey Darling, director of research and planning for Travis County Health and Human Services.
Council members pressed for accessible systems that don’t overwhelm working parents.
🗣️ “We’ve got to remove the red tape,” said Vice Chair Fuentes. “This funding is historic—we need to make sure families can use it without jumping through hoops.”
Darling noted the County is building digital access tools and multilingual public communications to make the process smoother.
The committee emphasized seamless access for families. “Let’s make sure people don’t have to jump through hoops,” said Vice Chair Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes.
🏙️ A Strategic Office for Downtown Austin
City leadership also previewed plans for a new Downtown Strategy Office, aimed at unifying efforts across city departments to better coordinate:
Homelessness response
Public safety
Cultural programming
Economic development
🗣️ “Multiple departments touch downtown, but we don’t always coordinate,” said Deputy City Manager Jon Fortune. “This office would centralize the strategy and improve how we manage downtown outcomes.”
Initial staffing would include 1–3 employees, with a potential launch by the end of the current fiscal year—pending funding.
🗣️ “If we’re going to reimagine downtown,” said Council Member José Velásquez, “the community has to be in the room. Let’s build a downtown that reflects the people who live here.”
💡 Big Picture: Coordinated, Community-Driven Change
The committee’s session revealed a comprehensive strategy: one that connects workforce development, family well-being, and place-based planning into a shared vision for Austin’s economic future.
🗣️ “We’re not flying folks in from California,” said Velásquez. “This is for Austin. This is for Travis County. This is for Texas.”
🗣️ “The Infrastructure Academy, Prop A, the downtown strategy—they all work together,” added Fuentes. “This is a holistic, community-forward approach to economic opportunity.”
📅 What’s Next?
🟪 The Infrastructure Academy launches March 26 with a citywide kickoff event
🟪 New child care subsidies and supports begin rolling out this spring
🟪 The Downtown Strategy Office proposal will return for funding discussions later this year
📩 Have questions or want to get involved?
🟪 Contact The Bingham Group at info@binghamgp.com to learn how we can help you navigate local policy, workforce initiatives, and city partnerships.