Economic Newsletter January 2011
City of Vista Redevelopment Director Accepts Position at City of Menifee
Bill Rawlings, Director of Redevelopment & Housing at the City of Vista has accepted the position of City Manager for the City of Menifee. Mr. Rawlings has been employed with Vista for four years and has spearheaded the efforts to revitalize the mile-long corridor on Santa Fe Avenue which stretches from Monte Vista Drive to Orange Avenue. This project, known as Paseo Santa Fe, is vital to the success of the city as it brings many benefits to the city and its residents, including: new job creation, increased revenue to the City to support general fund activities, improved streets and infrastructure, affordable housing, and facilitated investment in the community through private-public partnerships. The desired outcome of this revitalization will be a thriving community with mixed-use buildings that include ground-floor retail shops with offices and condos on top.
Rawlings will begin his new role in March at Menifee as the city’s second city manager, succeeding George Wentz.
The Vista One-Stop Career Center
The Vista Townsite Community Partnership (VTCP) is collaborating with the North County Career Center, San Diego Workforce Partnership, Arbor Education & Training and the City of Vista to bring you the Vista One-Stop Career Center. The Vista Center offers various programs and services to persons currently employed, as well as unemployed residents. Services include assisting clients with job searching needs; weekly workshops to improve job marketability, and personal guidance in exploring career transition opportunities.
The Vista One-Stop Career Center also assists employers through the Vista Center’s social network sites. Job opportunities and workshops are posted through Facebook and LinkedIn. Employers are encouraged to follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn - “Jobs in the city of Vista” and post job opportunities for clients searching for employment. If employers do not have access to these resources, assistance is available through VTCP. For more information about the Vista One-Stop Career Center services please call (760) 806-8980 or fax a job post at (760) 726-9309, Attn: Gumaro Escarcega.
bmw of vista now open
Located off the 78 freeway, BMW of Vista is now open for business. This state-of-the-art facility is family owned and operated. It is the
newest BMW facility to open in the US.
The site, formerly occupied by Circuit City, has been renovated and expanded to approximately 40,000 square feet to accommodate 22 service bays, sales offices and a showroom. Amenities include the latest diagnostic equipment, complimentary car wash with every service visit, a cafe lounge, complimentary wireless internet, and an iPad loaner while customers wait.
Recruiting new businesses to Vista such as BMW, keeps Vista competitive with other cities and strengthens the City’s economic development core, as well as provides job creation and community needs.
BMW of Vista is located at 1715 Hacienda Drive in Vista.
vista community clinic opens on la tortuga
In October 2010 Vista Community Clinic opened their administrative offices at 465 La Tortuga Dr. in Vista. These offices currently house Finance, Human Resources, Finance, Clinical Services Programs and the Health Promotion Center offices.
VCC’s current location on Vale Terrace is being renovated to expand the site an additional 31,000 square feet and will include 24 exam rooms, offices, three waiting areas, conference and classrooms. A parking structure, which will contain 310 parking spaces, will be constructed on the former site of the old administrative office building on Williamston Street. The expansion of the Vale Terrace site will create 42 new jobs including eight physicians.
The clinic is one of 85 community health centers in the nation to receive grant funding and was awarded an $11.4 million for their expansion. Construction will be completed in December 2011. For information, visit vistacommunityclinic.org.
Other Notables
- On January 13, the Hyatt Place broke ground for the construction of a new 150 room hotel on the corner of Faraday Avenue and S. Melrose Drive. The hotel is scheduled to open in spring 2012 and will serve the City’s Business Park, as well as neighboring communities.
- Another hotel, the Marriott Town Place Suites hotel, opened last year at S. Melrose Drive and Sycamore Avenue.
- Wal-Mart is renovating its current facility, and will be one of the few Super Wal-Marts in the County. Ribbon cutting will be held on March 23, 2011.
- Vista Strawberry Festival & 5K event will be Sunday, May 29, 2011 from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm in Downtown Vista. The 2010 event was a success with 170 vendors and over 30,000 attendees. This is prime opportunity to promote you company by being an exhibitor or through sponsorship. For more information visit vistachamber.org.
Vista Cares
The Economic Development staff recognizes the importance of nurturing a vibrant business community and the department offers an active business retention and expansion program. The Vista CAREs (Communicate, Assist, Retain, Expand) program strives to communicate, assist, retain, and expand Vista businesses. Through this program City leaders and members from the Vista business community meet with Vista businesses to learn about their products, services and find out how the City can help them become more successful. If you know of a business that wants to expand or may be considering a move, please let us know - we would like to meet with them. All referrals and meetings will be strictly confidential. We have had many successes in assisting businesses with retention and expansion concerns within Vista and we are ready and willing to help.
If you have a question or know of a business that is in need of assistance, please contact Rachel Beld at rbeld@cityofvista.com or call (760) 639-6165.