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If you wanted to write a recipe for potential disaster, you might do what Gil Mathew did at the beginning of 2008 and become an economic development director hired at the start of a national recession.
Almost two yearssince he started as head of the Nevada County Economic Resource Council, Mathew has managed to land a hi-tech company and has five other small firms strongly interested. One of his top priorities is to establish broadband Internet across Nevada county using grant money in conjunction with government funding to attract even more.
At the same time, he has helped tutor businesses in drafting basic business plans and offered tips to a number of existing local firms to help them survive tough times.
He has also earned raves from the agency's board members, who know that Mathew accepted the challenge at a difficult time.
“We're in a pretty tough economy as everybody knows,” said ERC board member and commercial real estate broker Lock Richards. “To have as much interest and excitement with the ERC is pretty good at this point.”
Mathew was a board member in 2007 when Chuck Neeley stepped down as the ERC's president and CEO.
Mathew had been retired for four months after selling his Benchmark Thermal heating element firm and was charged with finding Neeley's successor. He found that person in the mirror.
The fact that he had business experience with the firm he started in a Southern California garage helped sway other board members to hire him.
“I wanted to take the ERC in a different direction,” Mathew said. “It had just been (business) retention for years and I thought that was questionable.”
Mathew said he prefers to foster growth in the companies that are already here and then bring others here to compliment them.
“We have attracted Huntington Mechanical Laboratories of Mountain View,” Mathew said. The firm makes aerospace and computer chip industry products.
That company's Vice President Tom Franz said plans are to move to Nevada County by next summer, a move that would bring 35 new jobs. The costs of doing business is cheaper here and the quality of life was a big factor, said Franz, who lives in Penn Valley.
He personally suggested Nevada County to company leaders and it beat out Bend, Ore. and Reno, Nev. because of its proximity to the Bay Area.
“We're poised to bring in five more companies with 20 to 25 employees apiece,” Mathew said. He would not identify those firms, but he said one could be announced as early as next month.
“One priority at the moment is broadband,” Mathew said. “We'll know in November if we're successful for the first cut,” of grants needed for the $13 million project. “Just the 20-month buildout would mean 50 jobs,” Mathew said.
The Economic Resources Council targets firms with a low carbon footprint that employ workers with higher degrees and pays them well, “Like high-end software companies,” Mathew said. “We want the next Oracle but we have to have widely available broadband to do it.
“The hard part about getting manufacturing here is we don't have large buildings,” Mathew said. “There's only five buildings over 40,000 square feet, so you can't store a lot of products built here.”
Other accomplishments include a biomass task force just formed by the ERC to examine what economic opportunities the area's vast forests have to offer.
Another is the Experience Works program, according to Barbara Campbell, Mathew's executive assistant. In that program people 55 or older who lose their jobs are matched with companies who can train them for new positions through the One-Stop Business and Career Center in Grass Valley.
An angel fund has been established at the ERC as well to attract venture capital to new business ideas. Possible investors have rejected two ideas, but two more are on the table for consideration, Mathew said.
The former Bring Them Home campaign to bring county high school graduates back to start businesses has morphed into the Nevada County New Business Network with staffer Jesse Locks in charge, Mathew said.
Eight graduates are in the database now, according to Mathew.
“In 2010 if I can bring five of them back and they last five years or more, I will consider the program a success,” Mathew said.
The ERC has also assisted Nevada Union High School in setting up a video lab, with plans to help Bear River High School and Sierra College's campus here with the same thing.
The idea is to train local students in video production, “so they can get hired by the local video community here,” Mathew said.
With a $165,000 budget from local government and ERC members, Mathew said his resources are somewhat limited to do the job he really wants to do.
“We would really like a budget of $250,000 to $300,000 that would allow me two more staff members,” to attract business, Mathew said. About 50 percent of his time is spent administering the ERC office and the volunteers he has recruited.
“That's time that I'm not knocking on doors, looking for business,” Mathew said.
“I think Gil's doing a good job,” said ERC board chairman Dale Creighton, a local land planner for SCO Planning and Engineering. “He could always do more with more but the bottom line is they have to live within their means.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
Almost two yearssince he started as head of the Nevada County Economic Resource Council, Mathew has managed to land a hi-tech company and has five other small firms strongly interested. One of his top priorities is to establish broadband Internet across Nevada county using grant money in conjunction with government funding to attract even more.
At the same time, he has helped tutor businesses in drafting basic business plans and offered tips to a number of existing local firms to help them survive tough times.
He has also earned raves from the agency's board members, who know that Mathew accepted the challenge at a difficult time.
“We're in a pretty tough economy as everybody knows,” said ERC board member and commercial real estate broker Lock Richards. “To have as much interest and excitement with the ERC is pretty good at this point.”
Mathew was a board member in 2007 when Chuck Neeley stepped down as the ERC's president and CEO.
Mathew had been retired for four months after selling his Benchmark Thermal heating element firm and was charged with finding Neeley's successor. He found that person in the mirror.
The fact that he had business experience with the firm he started in a Southern California garage helped sway other board members to hire him.
“I wanted to take the ERC in a different direction,” Mathew said. “It had just been (business) retention for years and I thought that was questionable.”
Mathew said he prefers to foster growth in the companies that are already here and then bring others here to compliment them.
“We have attracted Huntington Mechanical Laboratories of Mountain View,” Mathew said. The firm makes aerospace and computer chip industry products.
That company's Vice President Tom Franz said plans are to move to Nevada County by next summer, a move that would bring 35 new jobs. The costs of doing business is cheaper here and the quality of life was a big factor, said Franz, who lives in Penn Valley.
He personally suggested Nevada County to company leaders and it beat out Bend, Ore. and Reno, Nev. because of its proximity to the Bay Area.
“We're poised to bring in five more companies with 20 to 25 employees apiece,” Mathew said. He would not identify those firms, but he said one could be announced as early as next month.
“One priority at the moment is broadband,” Mathew said. “We'll know in November if we're successful for the first cut,” of grants needed for the $13 million project. “Just the 20-month buildout would mean 50 jobs,” Mathew said.
The Economic Resources Council targets firms with a low carbon footprint that employ workers with higher degrees and pays them well, “Like high-end software companies,” Mathew said. “We want the next Oracle but we have to have widely available broadband to do it.
“The hard part about getting manufacturing here is we don't have large buildings,” Mathew said. “There's only five buildings over 40,000 square feet, so you can't store a lot of products built here.”
Other accomplishments include a biomass task force just formed by the ERC to examine what economic opportunities the area's vast forests have to offer.
Another is the Experience Works program, according to Barbara Campbell, Mathew's executive assistant. In that program people 55 or older who lose their jobs are matched with companies who can train them for new positions through the One-Stop Business and Career Center in Grass Valley.
An angel fund has been established at the ERC as well to attract venture capital to new business ideas. Possible investors have rejected two ideas, but two more are on the table for consideration, Mathew said.
The former Bring Them Home campaign to bring county high school graduates back to start businesses has morphed into the Nevada County New Business Network with staffer Jesse Locks in charge, Mathew said.
Eight graduates are in the database now, according to Mathew.
“In 2010 if I can bring five of them back and they last five years or more, I will consider the program a success,” Mathew said.
The ERC has also assisted Nevada Union High School in setting up a video lab, with plans to help Bear River High School and Sierra College's campus here with the same thing.
The idea is to train local students in video production, “so they can get hired by the local video community here,” Mathew said.
With a $165,000 budget from local government and ERC members, Mathew said his resources are somewhat limited to do the job he really wants to do.
“We would really like a budget of $250,000 to $300,000 that would allow me two more staff members,” to attract business, Mathew said. About 50 percent of his time is spent administering the ERC office and the volunteers he has recruited.
“That's time that I'm not knocking on doors, looking for business,” Mathew said.
“I think Gil's doing a good job,” said ERC board chairman Dale Creighton, a local land planner for SCO Planning and Engineering. “He could always do more with more but the bottom line is they have to live within their means.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
