The City of Vallejo, located just 30 miles northeast of San Francisco, is one of the most diverse cities in the country. After emerging from bankruptcy, the city is working to redefine its role in the region. FUSE Fellow Slater Matzke developed a marketing and communications strategy focused on promoting the city’s economic development goals of increased investment and job creation. Slater’s deliverables included websites aimed at attracting businesses, a digital media library, a marketing playbook and sustainability plan, digital and print marketing campaigns, and mixed-media marketing collateral.
Slater’s work helped to elevate the profile of Vallejo both regionally and nationally as a prime location for business development. He also helped bring together the various divisions and departments within the city and community stakeholders to help foster stronger relationships in both the public and private sectors in the community. His work also helped reframe and reshape how innovation and risk is viewed. Having a FUSE Fellow embedded in the community and working every day with staff helped stakeholders become more comfortable with adopting creative approaches to problem-solving, project management, and seeing the value of leveraging risk in their work.
