Bay Area Business Support for 2016 Olympic Bid Swells; Business Community Support Deemed Critical for Bid Success.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Eighty-six percent of Bay Area CEOs and top business executives surveyed by the Bay Area Council support the City and County of San Francisco's bid for the 2016 summer Olympic Games, according to a poll conducted between July 12 - August 2, 2006 with 509 Bay Area CEOs and top business executives. This is a significant increase over the sixty-five percent of respondents who said they supported the Olympic bid in August of 2005.

Business community support is deemed critical for any bid because of the required financial backing. To date, significant amounts have been raised or pledged from the private sector to fund the Bay Area bid.

"The 2016 Olympic bid has the potential to unite our sometimes fractious region together like no other event," said Jim Wunderman, the president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, which represents more than 275 of the largest employers in the region. "In addition, if the Bay Area is selected to host for the United States, it would instantly put our region at the front of the line for federal infrastructure dollars, would rapidly accelerate redevelopment projects, and would focus 4 billion viewers from 200 countries on all facets of our region for 17 days. When you add to that the $7 billion worth of economic activity the Olympics typically drive to the host region, it's no surprise that business leaders get the Olympic vision."

If the Bay Area is selected as the United States candidate for the 2016 bid, more than half or 277 of the 509 companies surveyed said their company would willingly advocate for a Bay Area bid internationally. This could be a critical element in helping to winning the bid as the Bay Area has one of the most significant international presences in the U.S. Peter Ueberroth, the chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, has made clear that the city most likely to secure 60 of the International Olympic Committee's 114 votes, has the best chance to represent America in the bid process.

The Bay Area has more Fortune 500 companies than any other location, except New York. Many of the companies in the Bay Area have very large international operations, connections and prestige, such as: Hewlett Packard, Chevron, Intel, Levi Strauss, Yahoo, URS, Google, Bechtel, Gilead Sciences, the Gap and Apple Computer. Hewlett Packard alone operates in more than 170 countries, and Levi Strauss is in more than 110. The Bay Area is also home to 491 foreign-owned companies. Indeed the Bay Area is closely knit into the global market, and an impressive 30 percent of the region's economy is related to international trade.

The Olympics require an incredible logistical program to accommodate the athletes and visitors to the host region. Fully 70 percent of CEOs said they would encourage their employees to be volunteers helping host the games in the Bay Area in 2016. Eighty-five percent of the CEOs surveyed think government and civic leaders should work to bring the Olympics to the Bay Area.

"Support for San Francisco 2016 has been clear and strong from a whole range of San Francisco and Bay Area communities," said San Francisco 2016 Managing Director Scott Givens. "The Bay Area business community has been at the vanguard of support for the bid. Businesses are playing their part to ensure the bid is privately financed and we're grateful for their assistance and expertise."

Bay Area Council

Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council (www.bayareacouncil.org) develops and drives regional public policy initiatives and researches critical infrastructure issues. Led by CEOs, the Bay Area Council presents a strong, united voice for hundreds of major employers throughout the Bay Area region whom employ more than 490,000 workers, or 1 of every six private sector employees in the Bay Area.