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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Regional Focus: March 2006
Comeback County
How Yuba-Sutter overcame bad press to become one of the best places to do business
Story by Thomas Dodson
When people want to learn about the latest happenings in Yuba and Sutter counties, there is only one man they need to call: Tim Johnson. Executive director of the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corp. since 1999, Johnson is responsible for the retention of Beale Air Force Base, Yuba-Sutter becoming the new home to autonomous technology, and the creation of thousands of jobs in various sectors. We asked Johnson a few questions about his counties’ present and future goals.
Comstock’s: You and your organization, the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corp., managed to save Beale Air Force Base. How’d you do it?
Johnson: If history teaches us anything, it’s what not to do. So many communities made their base-retention efforts very myopic in nature. Beale has a $1.2 billion annual economic impact on an eight-county region. It is also the single largest employer north of Sacramento to the Oregon border.
We reached out to the region for political support through resolutions from jurisdictions like Redding to the north and Elk Grove in the south. Then we requested and received private-sector financial support regarding the retention effort.
The Beale Regional Alliance Committee was positioned as the coordinating body representing both public and private interests in the eight-county region including Butte, Colusa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.
In addition, we made a very strong case to statewide officials. We welcomed what would become a very aggressive campaign by the governor, the California Congressional Delegation and state Legislature to retain bases in the state.
We created a 60-day media blitzkrieg that ran the gamut from sophomoric to sophisticated, enlisting the help of thousands, from spelling out “Save Beale” on a local high school football field that was seen in 23 major media markets including The Washington Post to having former Sacramento Kings help raise funds for the lobbying effort. We made our case and sold it constantly and consistently!
Comstock’s: Now that Beale is off the chopping block, how do you see the base playing into Yuba-Sutter’s future?
Johnson: I look at it from the other angle: How we in the Capital Region play into Beale’s future. By virtue of its retention, we will now be at the forefront of a new, innovative and emerging technology associated with robotics: autonomous technology.
Beale is home to the Global Hawk, the unmanned aircraft which is the exemplary model of autonomous technology. The use of robotics in the defense of our nation and in our own lives as consumers is occurring.
Today, in a triangulated area between Davis-Sacramento to Chico including the Yuba-Sutter area with Beale, there are over 2,000 people working in this field. In less than five years there could be more than 10,000 employed in this sector. There are at least five unmanned aerial vehicles being produced in this area.
Behind the scenes at our region’s universities they are working on a new curriculum called “mechatronics,” which is a cross between mechanical and electronic engineering. When coupled with computer sciences, this creates the educational platform for autonomous technology. The growth of this industry sector is changing the future of the Capital Region.
The commercial applications are staggering, specifically in the areas of agriculture, healthcare and communications. The recruitment of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft created the major onus towards possessing an unequalled opportunity to help diversify and sustain our region’s economy.
Lastly, Beale is about near-space operations. Because of the recent base-realignment and -closure process, we have a better understanding of future opportunities given Beale’s retention, and it looks extremely bright.
Comstock’s: Where does Yuba-Sutter fit in the overall Capital Region puzzle, both economically and in terms of importance to the area?
Johnson: Agriculture here still remains as the economic base. Eighty percent of the lands in Yuba-Sutter are focused on agriculture. However, pressures from suburbanization are constant. Public policy issues discussed in the urban environment of the Capital Region can weigh heavy on the stability and growth of the retention of agriculture in the Yuba-Sutter region.
For example, the recent discussions on the future of the Port of Sacramento as it pertains to the movement of resource-based commodities is important to this region, as are policy discussions pertaining to floodplain protection.
Policy changes can have a ripple effect in many ways and impact the character of the rural environment. For example, the rural character of the region has felt the continued expansion of housing. Today, 12,000 people commute from the region — 10,000 to Sacramento and south Placer County, and 2,000 head north towards Chico.
But to ensure the Yuba-Sutter region remains sustainable and not dependent as a bedroom community, it is quickly diversifying. We see more value-added product development occurring in concert with agriculture [and] with the growth in nondurable goods, healthcare and business services. These sectors are playing a significant role in the future of our region’s economy.
The Capital Region has a rural content that needs to be addressed. Many times, the dynamics of the rural economy are either ignored or forgotten in the visioning of the region.
Comstock’s: The Yuba-Sutter region had been ranked twice by Money magazine as the worst place to live in the country. How did you overcome that kind of press?
Johnson: It was corrected by a strong grassroots effort, beginning with the formulation of a community-supported economic development program and strategy that incorporated the reversal of one of the nation’s highest unemployment rates as one of its goals.
In less than six years, the unemployment rate has dropped 8 percent. Today, the region has achieved high marks in the areas of job growth, ranked second in the nation by percentage only behind Las Vegas, and is also ranked one of the top 10 hottest real estate markets in the nation.
And to support such changes, Forbes magazine ranked the Yuba-Sutter area twice as one of the top 10 best rural places in the nation to do business in the last five years. This occurred with the recruitment of several major businesses, including a new energy power plant by Calpine, Sysco Foods Distribution Center, the [Autowest] Amphitheater, and the recruitment of the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft and its 1,000 jobs and $150 million annual economic impact.
Coupled with this work there have been grassroots efforts to enhance schools — five built in 2004-05 — along with building stronger working relationships with our region’s utility providers, PG&E and AT&T, along with companies such as Lennar, KB Homes and financial institutions such as Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Union Bank and US Bank.
Today, the business model for the Economic Development Corp. is one of the premier models in the nation, acting as both a secondary lender in support of disadvantaged, minority- and women-owned businesses, and as an economic development service provider.
Comstock’s: What’s this we hear about the World’s Fair?
Johnson: The board of directors of YSEDC [Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corp.] has expressed keen interest in examining the opportunity to apply for a location as the site for an upcoming World’s Fair. It is only in the exploratory stage, but could have significant implications associated with the development of the 2,200-acre Entertainment Zone located in Yuba County.
