Economic Development Action Plan 2025-2029

Oakland is a city defined by its resistance and resilience and celebrated for its diversity and commitment to racial equity. And like many cities across the country, Oakland is navigating complex economic, fiscal, environmental, and social challenges. In recent years, our business community has faced significant strain, from the persistent impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising operational costs to challenging quality-of-life issues that affect neighborhood vitality. These pressures ripple across the local economy, influencing job creation, real estate activity, and the City’s ability to generate the revenues needed to invest in essential services and infrastructure. They also impact the artists, cultural organizations, and community spaces that help residents gather and create the sense of belonging that is central to Oakland's identity.

In response, the Economic & Workforce Development Department developed the 2025–2029 Economic Development Action Plan (EDAP). This Plan is an equity-centered, strategic framework designed to stabilize and grow Oakland’s economy.

Economic Development Action Plan(PDF, 22MB)

The EDAP is organized around five goals:

1. Attract and Grow Key Industries

Target high-impact and high-growth industries, including healthcare, construction, transportation and logistics, and creative sectors, as well as subsectors that advance Oakland’s climate goals, and position Oakland as a competitive, innovation-driven economy.

2. Sustain and Support Businesses

Deliver tools, technical assistance, and targeted resources to help local businesses, especially small and minority and women-owned businesses, survive, adapt, and succeed.

3. Build Oakland's Workforce

Strengthen partnerships with major employers and develop relevant and adaptable workforce pathways that connect residents to thriving-wage jobs and reduce unemployment disparities, particularly in communities that have been historically underserved.

4. Invest in Places

Focus on improving the places that support Oakland’s economy by facilitating investment in key business corridors and under-resourced neighborhoods, ensuring that the built environment supports economic activity and sustained community well-being.

5. Support Oakland's Artistic, Cultural, and Social Activities

Support artists, cultural institutions, and community events that drive economic vibrancy, attract residents and visitors, and reinforce Oakland’s unique identity.

Letter from Mayor Barbara Lee

Dear Oaklanders,

Oakland is a city of strength, creativity, and resilience. Time and again, our community has faced immense challenges – and time and again, we have responded with courage, compassion, and resolve. As we look ahead, I am proud to introduce Oakland’s 2025–2029 Economic Development Action Plan (EDAP), a forward-looking roadmap that leverages our tremendous assets, supports our business community, creates new opportunities, contributes to fiscal sustainability, and builds the kind of inclusive, thriving city we all know Oakland can be.

Guided by a vision of an inclusive, thriving economy that offers equitable opportunities to live, work, learn, and play in sustainable neighborhoods, this Plan is rooted in a simple but powerful idea: when Oakland’s economy grows, so do the opportunities to invest in our people. A strong economy generates fiscal revenues that allow the City to deliver better services – from safer streets and cleaner parks to more housing and resilient infrastructure. These public investments, in turn, help attract and retain businesses, support good jobs, sustain our climate, and create a virtuous cycle of opportunity and reinvestment. This is how we build a city that works for everyone.

This belief is more than aspirational. It is actionable. The EDAP outlines a series of strategic priorities and targeted actions to stabilize and grow Oakland’s economic activity, while ensuring that prosperity is shared across all neighborhoods, and that those who have historically been left behind are centered in our recovery and future growth.

But economic development isn’t something the City can do alone. It requires partnership. It requires all of us: residents, business owners, workers, entrepreneurs, community-based organizations, educators, and investors, working together toward a shared vision of an Oakland that is both vibrant and just. That is why this Plan is also an invitation to be part of a growing movement to make Oakland an even better place to live and work.

We know the path ahead will not always be easy. Like many cities, Oakland faces structural challenges, including rising costs, a structural deficit, regional inequities, real and perceived crime, and the lasting impacts of COVID and the economic disruption that persists. But we also have immense assets: an unrivaled cultural and artistic richness, a diverse and talented workforce, longtime, stable employers, and a deeply engaged community ready to build something better together.

This Economic Development Action Plan is our collective commitment to building an economy that uplifts all Oaklanders, not just a few. Let’s build the future of Oakland, and let’s do it together. With hope and determination,

Barbara Lee

Mayor of Oakland