8/30/18 The City of Elk Grove has approved $1.5 million for Startup Elk Grove, a program geared towards encouraging entrepreneurs, helping existing startups that are looking to grow, and building a base of incubator supporters such as co-working spaces. The program provides a mix of financial, permitting, and site selection assistance based on three tiers: Launch, Scaleup and Spaces.  The Launch program offers incentives up to $10,000 along with city-paid co-working tuition, Scaleup provides incentives up to $150,000 for existing startups with high growth potential, and Spaces provides as much as $250,000 in permit expediting and site selection assistance for proven operators.
Competitiveness among peer metropolitan regions is increasingly defined by a local economy’s ability to innovate and commercialize new products, processes, and platforms. Developing an innovation-based economy in Elk Grove by fostering the growth of startup companies, is one way the city is developing a more competitive and sustainable economy. It’s also a critical component of Elk Grove’s strategy to develop a better jobs-housing balance in order to support the regional Blueprint program and take the pressure off increasingly congested highway corridors such as I-5 and highway 99.