Title
Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation Venture Café Phoenix Events Programming Sponsorship (Ordinance S-51289)
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to approve a Founders Circle sponsorship for the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation's Venture Cafe Phoenix Events Programming on the Phoenix Bioscience Core (PBC) in the amount of $50,000 annually for three years, for a total amount not to exceed $150,000. Further request authorization for the City Controller to disburse all funds related to this item. There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding is available in the Genomics Facilities and Operations Fund.
Report
Summary
Launched in 2022, Venture Cafe Phoenix is a collaborative initiative to bring people of all backgrounds together with a shared vision of building and sustaining an inclusive community that champions innovation in Arizona. To date, this has been accomplished through weekly gatherings of meaningful events that connect, inspire, and encourage participants to take positive action and support one another’s goals. Venture Cafe Phoenix is a community-driven movement to unleash local and state-wide potential and make Phoenix a leader in innovation.
Since it’s inception, Venture Cafe Phoenix's event programming has facilitated 111 weekly events which have resulted in over 800 break-out sessions with over 14,000 attendees, over 400 speakers, and an average weekly attendance of 160 in 2024. Venture Cafe Phoenix's weekly events encourage connectivity and collaboration and serve to enhance Phoenix’s ecosystem and infrastructure to support the growth of existing Phoenix companies, both in early-stage development or mature organizations, along with the formation of new companies leading to the creation of new jobs for Phoenix residents. Venture Cafe Phoenix has been an instrumental platform for showcasing Phoenix's economic development efforts in bioscience, sustainability, and other synergistic industries and was awarded 2023 Fastest Growing Venture Café “Making Things Happen Award” by Venture Café Global.
Venture Cafe Phoenix was modeled after the successful Thursday Gatherings of Venture Café programs taking place in Wexford Science+Technology innovation communities that have served to grow and strengthen the innovation districts in those respective communities. Venture Cafe Phoenix events are free, open to the public and serve to connect attendees to employers, innovators, academic educators/researchers, business mentors, and the community. Presentations and breakout sessions are purposely curated to support the community’s connectivity, foster collaborations, talent and workforce development, business strengthening and access to resources. Venture Cafe strengthens Phoenix’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and enhance the City's Bioscience Healthcare Strategic Initiative.
Venture Cafe Phoenix plans to host 45 events in calendar year 2025 with a goal of more than 6,000 attendees who will all convene on the downtown PBC, elevating its visibility as a premier location for companies to locate for bioscience research, collaboration, and access to talent
Venture Cafe Phoenix will be hosted on the PBC at the 850 PBC building and will include benefits such as:
- A convening hub of innovators from the region.
- Elevating the PBC’s brand as a premier location for bioscience-related companies and Phoenix’s robust bioscience ecosystem.
- Increasing partnerships between, and among the City, academia, industry, the startup ecosystem, arts and culture.
- Curating meaningful events that connect, inspire/encourage participants to take positive action.
- Prioritizing participation and support of attendees with marginalized identities.
- Enhancing infrastructure for research, education, entrepreneurship, arts and culture.
- Providing access to one-on-one mentoring with subject matter experts.
- Bringing entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, artists, designers, corporate innovators, technologists, etc. together to:
1. Find commonalities;
2. Share knowledge from different perspectives;
3. Forge partnerships; and
4. Explore opportunities for collaborations.
Founders Circle sponsorship benefits include:
- A seat on the Leadership Council.
- Venture Café’s website promotion with prominent logo placement.
- Recognition at all events, including announcements at beginning and end of event programs.
- Inclusion in marketing material, social media, and Venture Café Phoenix’s weekly newsletter.
Staff will be actively engaged in the planning and attending of events to pursue opportunities for business recruitment, retention and expansion, and introductions to workforce development services and programs.
The organizational framework will include the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation to serve as the host institution along with providing programming, financial management, and staff support. Venture Cafe will provide the City with an annual report of metrics of attendance, voluntarily collected demographics of attendees, qualitative and quantitative information from surveys, and engagement metrics.
Financial Impact
The fee for a Founders Circle sponsorship is $50,000 annually. Staff requests a Founders Circle Sponsorship for three years, for a total amount not to exceed $150,000. There is no impact to the General Fund. Funding is available in the Genomic Facilities and Operations Fund.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
This item was recommended for approval by the Economic Development and Housing Subcommittee at the September 11, 2024 meeting by a vote of 3-0.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager John Chan and the Community and Economic Development Department.