Santa Monica’s Local Economy

A Plan for Economic Recovery

On April 28, the City of Santa Monica launched a COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force to lead the City government’s economic recovery planning efforts in the wake of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). The Task Force is joined by a group of experts from a wide range of local industries, government leaders, community-based partners and policymakers. Together these leaders and community members will provide critical insights to help the City Council to balance a robust health response with a strategic economic response that addresses the unique challenges presented by COVID-19.

Santa Monica cares about our businesses, our workers, and our entire community as we work together during this major public health and economic crisis.  This is a rapidly evolving situation and things are changing daily, and we are committed to helping you.  

Community Survey

Take a moment to give us your feedback and share your ideas about the Santa Monica Economic Recovery efforts.

As a thank you for participating in the survey, the City is randomly selecting five participants to win a $25 gift card redeemable at a Santa Monica Buy Local business. The survey is available in English and Spanish.

Recent Actions

• May 29, 2020: Restaurants can expand their outdoor dining.
• May 29, 2020: Santa Monica hair salons and restaurant dining rooms can reopen with proper safeguards. Our seventeenth supplement to our emergency order aligns business reopenings in Santa Monica with the County and State; where the two conflict, the City will follow whichever is stricter.
• May 28, 2020: We've launched Santa Monica Cares, the community-partnered outreach effort for our economic recovery. Learn more.
• May 19, 2020: To protect our restaurants, we've placed limits on excessive fees charged by third-party food delivery services. Learn more.
• May 12, 2020: Council Approves Zoning Changes to Expedite Business Recovery City Wide. The changes affect existing businesses in the Third Street Promenade area and the major commercial districts in the city, and include modifications that reduce requirements on parking, restaurant size, and alcohol. 
• Created by Santa Monica Economic Recovery Outreach community partners to help support our businesses, the "Santa Monica Cares" Business Re-Opening Toolkit is now available – Download Today 

Task Force Policy Areas

Businesses are an important part of the fabric of our Santa Monica community and we know many of you have been deeply impacted by recent events. The Task Force will help drive five key areas of focus and will continue to elevate any available resources here on this website: