Home
News
ENLARGE
As any law enforcement officer (among others) will tell you, many folks in our neck of the woods take their own "magical mystery tour" without even leaving their home.
Yesterday, I hopped aboard a bus with other locals for a magical tour that took us away to some Nevada County businesses. The trip, sponsored by the Economic Resource Council, highlighted export manufacturing businesses - a low-profile sector accounting for an estimated 10 percent of our county's economy.
The turnout was lighter than last year and included visits to 2Wire, Benchmark Thermal, Maier Manufacturing Inc., Ensemble Designs, the Nevada City Tech Center and the Nevada County Airport. (For me, at least, the tour was mysterious because nobody handed me a detailed itinerary - tough when you're pressed for time).
I'm already familiar with many of the small businesses, and the paper has written about some of them. As we've also said, the Tech Center can be a catalyst for private sector growth in our community.
I enjoyed the trip and the presentations, as well as meeting some more members of our community. (People are more friendly in person than when they send e-mail rants).
Early on, however, I got the feeling that this tour was more about celebrating existing businesses and retaining them, rather than recruiting new ones. Some others said they felt the same way.
It's an OK strategy. After all, some businesses have been bailing on our county. In January, two companies with offices in Grass Valley - SMA America and Mobius Technologies - left. SMA went to Auburn, and Mobius left for Lincoln.
With a precarious economy, I'm glad we're making our businesses feel at home. I'm also glad we're educating our community about our area's export manufacturing businesses.
But we also have to be much more proactive in recruiting new businesses - both in public and private leadership. Our population is barely growing, and we are getting older.
On a plane flight on Saturday, I read a story in the Wall Street Journal profiling the gold-mining town of Murphys in the southern Sierra foothills, titled "Striking Gold." On resident said: "Murphys may have a lot of retirees, but it doesn't feel 'old.'" It went on to talk about the town's newest "prospectors," grape growers; being home to 350 businesses; as well as a steadily growing population.
This brought big visibility to the town in a national business publication. I saw a guy reading the same article in a San Diego hotel later in the day.
Wouldn't it be great if our area could get that kind of visibility in the Wall Street Journal? It was a little sad, too, because I've been to Murphys a lot, and our area has more going for it.
Here's some thoughts about what we can do to bring more private sector business and quality jobs to our county:
• Privatization. I still wonder why we don't explore privatizing some of our government-run businesses, ranging from the airport to our animal shelter. It can lead to cost savings and improvements in the quality of service. Small towns in Oregon have benefited from the shift.
Our county doesn't seem too open to the idea, however. It's good to know the airport is running in the black; the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection's operations provide a huge boost. Our economy is still too dependent on the public sector, and we need to diversify.
• More affordable housing. The gap between housing costs and the paychecks required to make the mortgage payments remains wide. Few government programs for affordable housing are successful, but the real-estate slowdown is prompting builders to come up with more affordable, practical projects. The market has a way of doing this. It's painful but necessary.
• Tackle our drug problem. This remains a concern of many families who are considering relocating here, business owners said. But we can't agree. Look at the heat the Sheriff's Office is taking for the recent crackdown on commercial pot farmers masquerading as medical marijuana growers. Meth is still a big problem.
Drugs in the workplace is another problem. Benchmark Thermal of Grass Valley has launched a successful drug-testing program, its owner said.
• More business "evangelists." We need more people to beat the drum of our county's benefits - outdoor recreation, lower manufacturing costs than Southern California, as well as some experienced, talented professionals - to the "flatlanders." I don't mean big business - I mean small, technology-type businesses. We need to get the word out - on a high level and a grassroots one.
The cottage industry spawned by Grass Valley Group in television and video technology offers our best hope. This industry is growing too, with the interest in HDTV, booming sales of flat-screen TVs, as well as Internet video.
• "Buy local." Businesses, not just consumers, need to "buy local." I ate lunch with a smart guy from ZAP Manufacturing of Grass Valley, which makes street signs out of refurbished aluminum. It has customers from throughout the West. Customers also include Nevada County and Grass Valley but he'd like to add Nevada City to the list. So far, no luck.
ooo
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
Yesterday, I hopped aboard a bus with other locals for a magical tour that took us away to some Nevada County businesses. The trip, sponsored by the Economic Resource Council, highlighted export manufacturing businesses - a low-profile sector accounting for an estimated 10 percent of our county's economy.
The turnout was lighter than last year and included visits to 2Wire, Benchmark Thermal, Maier Manufacturing Inc., Ensemble Designs, the Nevada City Tech Center and the Nevada County Airport. (For me, at least, the tour was mysterious because nobody handed me a detailed itinerary - tough when you're pressed for time).
I'm already familiar with many of the small businesses, and the paper has written about some of them. As we've also said, the Tech Center can be a catalyst for private sector growth in our community.
I enjoyed the trip and the presentations, as well as meeting some more members of our community. (People are more friendly in person than when they send e-mail rants).
Early on, however, I got the feeling that this tour was more about celebrating existing businesses and retaining them, rather than recruiting new ones. Some others said they felt the same way.
It's an OK strategy. After all, some businesses have been bailing on our county. In January, two companies with offices in Grass Valley - SMA America and Mobius Technologies - left. SMA went to Auburn, and Mobius left for Lincoln.
With a precarious economy, I'm glad we're making our businesses feel at home. I'm also glad we're educating our community about our area's export manufacturing businesses.
But we also have to be much more proactive in recruiting new businesses - both in public and private leadership. Our population is barely growing, and we are getting older.
On a plane flight on Saturday, I read a story in the Wall Street Journal profiling the gold-mining town of Murphys in the southern Sierra foothills, titled "Striking Gold." On resident said: "Murphys may have a lot of retirees, but it doesn't feel 'old.'" It went on to talk about the town's newest "prospectors," grape growers; being home to 350 businesses; as well as a steadily growing population.
This brought big visibility to the town in a national business publication. I saw a guy reading the same article in a San Diego hotel later in the day.
Wouldn't it be great if our area could get that kind of visibility in the Wall Street Journal? It was a little sad, too, because I've been to Murphys a lot, and our area has more going for it.
Here's some thoughts about what we can do to bring more private sector business and quality jobs to our county:
• Privatization. I still wonder why we don't explore privatizing some of our government-run businesses, ranging from the airport to our animal shelter. It can lead to cost savings and improvements in the quality of service. Small towns in Oregon have benefited from the shift.
Our county doesn't seem too open to the idea, however. It's good to know the airport is running in the black; the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection's operations provide a huge boost. Our economy is still too dependent on the public sector, and we need to diversify.
• More affordable housing. The gap between housing costs and the paychecks required to make the mortgage payments remains wide. Few government programs for affordable housing are successful, but the real-estate slowdown is prompting builders to come up with more affordable, practical projects. The market has a way of doing this. It's painful but necessary.
• Tackle our drug problem. This remains a concern of many families who are considering relocating here, business owners said. But we can't agree. Look at the heat the Sheriff's Office is taking for the recent crackdown on commercial pot farmers masquerading as medical marijuana growers. Meth is still a big problem.
Drugs in the workplace is another problem. Benchmark Thermal of Grass Valley has launched a successful drug-testing program, its owner said.
• More business "evangelists." We need more people to beat the drum of our county's benefits - outdoor recreation, lower manufacturing costs than Southern California, as well as some experienced, talented professionals - to the "flatlanders." I don't mean big business - I mean small, technology-type businesses. We need to get the word out - on a high level and a grassroots one.
The cottage industry spawned by Grass Valley Group in television and video technology offers our best hope. This industry is growing too, with the interest in HDTV, booming sales of flat-screen TVs, as well as Internet video.
• "Buy local." Businesses, not just consumers, need to "buy local." I ate lunch with a smart guy from ZAP Manufacturing of Grass Valley, which makes street signs out of refurbished aluminum. It has customers from throughout the West. Customers also include Nevada County and Grass Valley but he'd like to add Nevada City to the list. So far, no luck.
ooo
Jeff Pelline is the editor of The Union. His column appears on Saturdays. Contact him at 477-4235, jeffp@theunion.com, or 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley 95945.
