Russ Steele
The Union writes in A new approach to economic growth
County supervisors probably didn't like what they heard from a recent 73-page economic report that was released earlier this month. Mostly, we suspect, because it suggested that there has been a lack of cohesiveness and leadership when it comes to cultivating and recruiting the kind of businesses that do and can pay the kind of wages necessary for families to live in this expensive slice of paradise.
What I heard on the street last night was the County did not like the original report and demanded an extensive re-write. The first author quit half way through the report and started his own consulting business, and the consulting firm's owner Libby Seifel had to finish and deliver the report. So, it would appear that the Supervisor were not surprised by the release of this report. It appears they may have had some input to the final document.
The Union Editorial Continues:
"You need to focus on business attraction, and you haven't done much," said Libby Seifel, author of that county-financed study. The county should target higher-paying businesses such as information services, which have "significant" growth potential, along with professional services and health care, the study said.
You know the Union is not telling the whole story. This is the third story on this report and every time the Union failed to mention that the report recommended the County should also target the construction industry. Here is the list of business targets from the report, just so you will know the facts.
The target industries and business clusters listed below were selected using the analytical
techniques described in the body of the report:• Construction
• Finance and insurance
• Professional services
• Health care services
• Information services
The report explains why the construction businesses should focus on green building to help reduce greenhouse gases.
Nevada County should attract a network of diverse construction related establishments, including manufacturers, building suppliers and green building companies that can provide for the comprehensive needs of the building industry.
I looked in the Nevada County Contractor Associations Directory and I found 123 contractors listed, many in the green and solar business as recommended by consultant as target businesses. This report was done from high above the city of San Francisco using "analytical techniques" with little insight to local conditions. I would like to see the list of people the consultant interviewed for this report. If they had spent a little more time they would have found out that most of our local high tech businesses were grown -- not imported. The Consultant did not recognize that information services require redundant communication paths, and we have limited industrial areas in Western Nevada County where AT&T and Comcast can provide these redundant broadband communication services. And, when this report was written non existed, as it is only is the last few months that Comcast has offered business Internet services.
When it comes to development sites the consultant did not list the Gold Flat Road Complex and totally missed the County's newest and most innovative business Telestream. Dan Castles, the President, could have provided some real insight in the recruiting of employees and businesses to the area. He gave a great presentation to the ERC Board at our last meeting. Real hands on stuff, not "analytical techniques."
The Union might want to read a recent study of business relocation in California by the Public Policy Institute of California. The main reasons for the relocation were economics, to increase efficiency, productivity, and profits. They found that companies moved to reduce employee and owner commute times, to be closer to suppliers, to reduce transportation costs, and to find lower cost real estate when expanding. Also, most of the intrastate moves were over short distances, just one county over. Now the real question is where does Nevada County fit in to this California relocation picture? The Seifel report does not say.