our residents with the need for open space, recreational opportunities, and sustainable development. It is no secret that Great Park has been envisioned as the West Coast equivalent of Central Park in New York, and we are making real headway as of late to execute this longstanding vision. Some items underway are: • Demolition of the ARDA site to make way for a Veteran’s Memorial Park & Botanical Gardens • Developing lakes, meadows, farm, and a forest surrounding a world-class amphitheater • Rehabilitating around 450,000 square feet of existing building space to facilitate cultural uses, including the Flying Leathernecks air and space museum concept, the California Fire Museum, Pretend City, and OC Music & Dance. • Making needed improvements to the Sports Complex, including construction of an aquatics facility in partnership with USA Water Polo and a potential inclusion of a Cricket stadium As we all know, Irvine is an intentional destination. Irvine’s strategic location, strong partnerships, creativity and innovation, set us apart as an ideal place for businesses to thrive. The City provides, at a high-level, most everything that is of value to a business: opportunities, local high- skilled employees, public education support, safety, and top-quality infrastructure. Irvine is a thriving and diverse center of business. More than 20,000 businesses have a license in Irvine, producing more than 275,000 jobs. And one of the areas that we are focusing on to sustain our strong economic hub is our start-up ecosystem. In late 2021, I established the Irvine Innovation Council, a working collaboration developing ideas and strategies for further expanding Irvine’s position as a regional technology
and innovation hub. And based on my efforts with the Innovation Council, we’ve been able to refine an action plan geared toward attracting, retaining, and supporting high-growth technology businesses. And… I’m excited to share that we’re on the precipice of launching Irvine’s first Innovation Lab. At the Innovation Lab, entrepreneurs with unique and viable ideas will find a world-class ecosystem of support that will help facilitate the accelerated development of their business through the incubation period, all aimed at growing and retaining successful Irvine-based companies. And once there, entrepreneurs and founders will find access to business support resources, venture capital connections, legal support, and other relevant services. We’ve been able to pull together a tremendous pool of talented business executives to help support and operate this public-private venture. Together, with this group, I will submit a request to the full City Council later this month to consider leasing 4,000 square feet of vacant City-owned space at the Irvine Train Station in order to establish Irvine’s very first Innovation Lab. Later this month local organizations will be hosting Tech Week, and from May 9 -11, I hope you will join me as Octane, in partnership with the city, Greater Irvine Chamber, OC Business Council, UCI Beall Applied innovation and many more will host Innovation Week where entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and professional services firms convene. This… is just the beginning of our ecosystem that generates opportunities, provides support, and retains talent, right here in Irvine. As I look around the room, I am inspired and hopeful because together, we set the standard… for not only Orange County, but the state and the nation. We…set the standard for generations of success because we have a deep sense of
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