A state of competition.Both Northern and Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, share the unwelcome experience of seeing other states trying to lure lure the skin-covered object which runs on a monorail on a Greyhound racing track and which the dogs are schooled to chase. The lure must be kept 30 to 40 ft ahead of the leading dog so that the field is stretched out. away California's valued companies. State officials come to California to talk with corporate CEO's; economic development agencies place ads in California newspapers. Their message is: "Relocate re·lo·cate v. re·lo·cat·ed, re·lo·cat·ing, re·lo·cates v.tr. To move to or establish in a new place: relocated the business. v.intr. to our state; we offer lower business costs." But the Bay Area is responding to these challenges with a message of its own: "California is competitive with any other state. The San Francisco Bay Area “Bay Area” redirects here. For other uses, see Bay Area (disambiguation). The San Francisco Bay Area, colloquially known as the Bay Area or The Bay is competitive with any other region." A powerful combination of assets has made the San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. region the fourth largest economy in the country. The area does have economic problems which must be addressed, but actions are now under way to improve the region's business climate, and to become more responsive to business needs. One reason an area with so much economic strength is vulnerable to overtures o·ver·ture n. 1. Music a. An instrumental composition intended especially as an introduction to an extended work, such as an opera or oratorio. b. by other states is that the San Francisco Bay region is a victim of its own success. During the past 40 years the Bay Area enjoyed an outstanding economic performance. Its economy expanded at an incredible pace and it weathered national recessions with relatively little distress. The Bay Area became and remains the high-tech capital of the world, an important center of finance, services, and tourism, and a hub for distribution and trade. The primary reason for the Bay Area's present vulnerability is that it became complacent com·pla·cent adj. 1. Contented to a fault; self-satisfied and unconcerned: He had become complacent after years of success. 2. Eager to please; complaisant. . It took prosperity for granted. It was lulled into thinking that its tremendous growth and economy would go on forever with no effort or foresight (graphics, tool) Foresight - A software product from Nu Thena providing graphical modelling tools for high level system design and simulation. required. Fortunately, the Bay Area is beginning to hear and to respond to the warning shots The firing of shots or delivery of ordnance by personnel or weapons systems in the vicinity of a person, vessel, or aircraft as a signal to immediately cease activity. Warning shots are one measure to convince a potentially hostile force to withdraw or cease its threatening actions. at its economy. The response is coming from all levels throughout the Bay Area -- from the cities, the counties, and the region. Regional actions The San Francisco Bay region is composed of nine independently strong counties. Until recently, however, no framework existed for the counties to work together to effectively address mutual economic problems. Recognizing that need, the Bay Area Economic Forum was created -- a public/private partnership of regional leaders committed to fulfilling the region's economic potential while maintaining its unique quality of life. The forum's board of directors is composed of the highest level of business, government, academic and civic leaders. The forum targets regional economic problems and advocates effective solutions. The forum, in existence since early 1989, has addressed or is addressing the following regional competitiveness issues: * Assisting the emerging bioscience industry. The Bay Area is the world leader in bioscience research and innovation, but it lacked a centralized cen·tral·ize v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate. 2. focus for assisting this important, emerging industry. The economic forum has created the Bay Area Bioscience Center, an independent entity focused on assuring the region's continued preeminence pre·em·i·nent or pre-em·i·nent adj. Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding. See Synonyms at dominant, noted. [Middle English, from Latin prae in bioscience. * Alleviating traffic congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. that adversely affects the region's economy. The forum challenged conventional wisdom for alleviating traffic congestion, and at the same time improving the region's air quality, by developing the concept set forth in its report, "Market-Based Solutions to the Transportation Crisis." The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has embraced the Forum's package as the most effective alternative for addressing air quality and traffic congestion problems. The forum is now working with the district to secure enabling legislation Noun 1. enabling legislation - legislation that gives appropriate officials the authority to implement or enforce the law legislation, statute law - law enacted by a legislative body in Sacramento. Water issue * A stable water supply is essential for the economic vitality and the environmental health of the region. The economic forum brought together a coalition of business, government and environmental leaders and proposed a dramatic but common sense change in the way water is allocated in California. This concept is set forth in its report, "Using Water Better." Legislation is now pending in Washington and Sacramento to implement these recommendations. * Dredging dredging, process of excavating materials underwater. It is used to deepen waterways, harbors, and docks and for mining alluvial mineral deposits, including tin, gold, and diamonds. and the disposal of dredged materials from the Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. It is now the fourth busiest container port in the United States; behind Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Newark. is an issue of tremendous economic importance to the region -- dredging is required in order to accommodate the depth requirement of large container ships; but disposal of dredged materials is an environmental concern. A number of agencies -- public, private, and environmental -- worked together to achieve an acceptable solution which would permit the necessary dredging while maintaining environmental safeguards to the bay. * Retaining valued businesses is a priority for the San Francisco Bay Area. There are a number of efforts under way on the regional, city and county levels to help companies to continue to do business and to expand in the region. Retention programs The Bay Area Economic Forum, in partnership with the Regional Office of the State Commerce Department and the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., developed a cooperative, regional business retention program. The forum and its partners are in the process of involving each of the nine counties as participants in the regional program, which supplements and complements local retention efforts. The comprehensive regional approach enables cities, counties, region, and state, to pool available resources to help companies considering relocation RELOCATION, Scotch law, contracts. To let again to renew a lease, is called a relocation. 2. When a tenant holds over after the expiration of his lease, with the consent of his landlord, this will amount to a relocation. to remain in the Bay Area. As part of this program, and as separate efforts, both the State Commerce Department and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. have identified business retention as priority issues for their agencies. The State Commerce Department has developed business incentive programs to assist companies by providing cost offsets. Through this program, Commerce offers companies employee training grants of $2,500 per employee, enterprise zones with lower state taxes, foreign trade zones where duties are eliminated or delayed, pollution control equipment financing, small business loans and an export finance program. Pacific Gas and Electric Co., in addition to the regional business retention partnership, strongly supports and encourages local economic development efforts in each of the nine counties. The company works directly with all Bay Area businesses to help them become more productive by reducing operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales through one of the most aggressive customer energy efficiency programs in the nation. PG&E offers direct cash incentives for the installation of equipment, such as lighting, motors, refrigeration refrigeration, process for drawing heat from substances to lower their temperature, often for purposes of preservation. Refrigeration in its modern, portable form also depends on insulating materials that are thin yet effective. and cooling systems cooling systems for housed animals include spraying of roofs with water, evaporative pads with fans, foggers and misters; for pastured animals shelter from the sun by trees or artificial shade devices and cooling ponds are used. , that meets certain energy-efficiency standards. PG&E also suggests new, energy-efficient technologies that may help companies meet environmental regulations in a progressive, cost-effective manner. In addition, in order to supplement and strengthen the overall regional business retention efforts, both the Commerce Department and PG&E are working with counties and cities which do not have their own local economic development programs in an effort to help these governmental agencies establish workable business retention programs. City and county actions A number of cities and counties within the region have developed aggressive and effective programs to directly assist companies expanding to or doing business within their communities. Two cities, San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. and Sunnyvale, are outstanding examples of cities appreciating the needs of their critical industry and developing programs to respond to those needs. Both these cities are in Silicon Valley, the high-tech center of the world. San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley, has taken a particularly proactive stance in technological and market development. With the guidance and support of its mayor and the City Council, San Jose's Office of Economic Development has mounted a comprehensive campaign to retain and expand the area's high-tech profile and increase its competitiveness. One of the most innovative achievements is the Center for Software Development, established through a partnership between the city's Office of Economic Development and the Software Entrepreneur's Forum, a local industry group. The Center is a groundbreaking effort to boost software development in the area. Novell Inc., a leading vendor of computer network systems and the first corporate partner in the center, pledged more than $350,000 in cash and in-kind contributions. The City of San Jose matched that pledge. The Center for Software Development provides a software testing Software testing is the process used to measure the quality of developed computer software. Usually, quality is constrained to such topics as correctness, completeness, security, but can also include more technical requirements as described under the ISO standard ISO 9126, such lab where programmers This is a list of programmers notable for their contributions to software, either as original author or architect, or for later additions. See also: Game programmer, List of computer scientists can work with all major hardware and software platforms, business assistance for fledgling entrepreneurs and firms, a software library, conference rooms, and networking opportunities. Entrepreneurs, software firms, and hardware vendors all can gain from the comprehensive testing facility and associated services. Sunnyvale As the foundation for maintaining a strong, dynamic, economic environment to assist its high-tech community, Sunnyvale became a "service-oriented" governmental agency. To support a company's need to change processes quickly in order to meet competition, Sunnyvale cuts through red tape to help companies achieve desired results within the necessary time frame. The city has developed a special program known as the "Sunnyvale Advantage" -- a method which commits all the key people on the city's critical path for permitting to be "service-oriented" by finding practical solutions to problems. As an example of the "Advantage" program serving a company's need, Sunnyvale made a commitment to Advanced Mico Devices to expedite ex·pe·dite tr.v. ex·pe·dit·ed, ex·pe·dit·ing, ex·pe·dites 1. To speed up the progress of; accelerate. 2. the company's $100 million project through every step of the process. Without bending any rules, the city made sure it met the company's challenging schedule and enabled the company to avoid any run-up of corporate construction costs. Alameda Alameda (ăləmē`də, –mā`də), city (1990 pop. 76,459), Alameda co., W central Calif., on an island just off the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay; settled 1850, inc. as a city 1884. County Alameda is the most economically diverse county in the region: a manufacturing center; home of UC Berkeley and major national research labs; international airport; international seaport; and the location of Oakland, one of the three major cities in the region. Alameda also is a prime example of how a county assures it remains competitive. Alameda launched an ambitious program whereby a coalition of local government, business, labor, education, special districts and environmental groups banded together to form the Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB EDAB European Dana Alliance for the Brain EDAB Empresa de Desenvolvimento do Aeroporto de Beja (Portugal) EDAB Early Deploying Armored Brigade ). More than a marketing group, EDAB advises the Alameda County Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. concerning policy, and has distinguished itself by taking a hands-on attitude to solving problems on behalf of local business. The EDAB has played a key role in some notable success stories. Within the past year, when General Motors was announcing major production cuts and layoffs in the rest of the country, the GM/Toyota plant in Alameda County was given approval to begin construction and hiring to add a new $350 million truck line. Also within the past year, a major biotech bi·o·tech n. Informal Biotechnology. biotech Noun short for biotechnology Noun 1. manufacturer negotiated a 30-year development agreement with the City of Berkeley that will enable it to proceed with $300 million of renovation and expansion, and to add 350 employees to its workforce. EDAB was active in getting the truck line expansion through difficulties in the permit process; and it assisted the negotiations concerning the biotech development agreement among the company, neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. businesses, community groups, environmentalists, labor unions labor union: see union, labor. and the city of Berkeley. The also worked closely with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in achieving a modification of the new California air quality regulations -- an issue of particular importance to businesses considering plant modernizations. San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden Through the combined efforts of the city administration and the Chamber of Commerce, the City and County of San Francisco have taken major steps to assure that they remain prime competitors for any company that would like to be a part of their corporate headquarters, financial, service-oriented business climate. The Mayor's office, for example, has established an improved business climate as a top priority and is involved in efforts to assure San Francisco's business community that the city is sensitive to their concerns. The Chamber of Commerce has taken aggressive steps toward improving the business community's perception of San Francisco as a place to do business. The chamber has created three sub-committees focused on specific business issues -- retention, marketing and economic development -- with each group committed to restoring its image as a city that works with its business community. In addition, the chamber is launching a high-level task force to curtail cur·tail tr.v. cur·tailed, cur·tail·ing, cur·tails To cut short or reduce. See Synonyms at shorten. [Middle English curtailen, to restrict the relocation of jobs out of the city. In the first six months, the new program has convinced nine major companies, with more than 2,000 employees, to stay and grow in San Francisco. As evidence of this new spirit in San Francisco, a history-making proclamation An act that formally declares to the general public that the government has acted in a particular way. A written or printed document issued by a superior government executive, such as the president or governor, which sets out such a declaration by the government. "to share a commitment to attract, develop and retain business in San Francisco" was signed by 63 representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, the Labor Council and the Building and Construction Trades Council. Napa and Sonoma counties Even the region's smaller counties, with relatively new economic development efforts, are playing key roles in improving the region's overall competitiveness. Napa County emphasizes its balance between agricultural beauty and industrial development, and has developed incentives to bring related companies into the community. Napa's business programs include: assistance with grants and financing, assistance with permit processing and advocacy efforts for business concerns with government. Sonoma County, with its emphasis on its high quality of life, has developed programs to respond to the needs of businesses interested in becoming a part of its community. The county programs include: Business-Regulatory Roundtable, a cooperative group of elected officials, regulatory managers, and senior business executives who attempt to streamline and resolve regulatory issues adversely affecting businesses; planning for an ombudsman ombudsman (äm`bədzmən) [Swed.,=agent or representative], public official appointed to deal with individual complaints against government acts. in each agency to help businesses trouble shoot problems; and a focused effort to streamline the permitting process. In addition, Sonoma was recently awarded a Small Business Development Center grant to help small businesses with their financing. Unresolved Not completed; not finished; not linked together. See resolve. economic issues While the San Francisco Bay Area clearly cares about its economic future and is taking actions to insure that future is bright, the region also acknowledges problems that remain unresolved. For example, the region must focus more effort on improving the availability of affordable housing. There are, however, three factors which must be taken into consideration regarding this issue: High costs are the result of an overwhelming demand for housing in the Bay Area. To obtain a fair comparison, housing costs in the Bay Area should be compared with those in another region with an economic vitality as strong as that of the region. Housing costs within the region vary greatly, depending on the proximity to the center of a major city or major employment area. Regardless of these factors, however, affordable housing is an issue which the region must resolve. Another issue that concerns businesses is environmental regulations -- California has stricter environmental regulations than most other states. This is true, and could be considered either a blessing or a curse Curse Ancient Mariner cursed by the crew because his slaying of the albatross is causing their deaths. [Br. Poetry: Coleridge The Rime of the Ancient Mariner] Andvari king of the dwarfs; his malediction spurs many events in the . California and the San Francisco Bay Area want to protect the natural beauty that contributes to their high quality of life. Other states and the federal government are looking to California as a leader in protecting environmental resources. In fact, other states soon may be following the lead established by California and may hire companies from this region who will have a tremendous breadth of experience and expertise in responding to environmental regulations. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion