As part of CALED’s role in promoting economic development and providing an opportunity for local economic developers to engage directly with the gubernatorial candidates, the Board of Directors met with Gubernatorial Candidate the Honorable Betty Yee to have a conversation about #EconDev.

Betty stated how important it was to align state and local efforts to grow the economy, address affordability, and tap into the innovation and interconnectedness of our rural and urban communities so we can partner to support economic development and create economic opportunities for all Californians.

Read the full interview with Betty Yee.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies’ new Small Business Development & Impact Investing White Paper documents the potential of a collaboration between Impact Investors and high performing Development Finance Agencies (DFAs) to fill the capital gaps facing small businesses and to accelerate DFAs as a major source of capital to enable small businesses to grow, create jobs and spur economic and community development. Click here to download the white paper documents.

Eighteen states have submitted their selections of local neighborhoods that will qualify as “Opportunity Zones” under a new tax incentive created by Congress in last year’s tax bill.  These selections—and the characteristics of the neighborhoods themselves—will be important determinants of the ultimate success of the program. As I wrote in February just before the state selections were due, poor choices by states could turn a program meant to benefit residents of poor neighborhoods into a tax break for developers investing in already-gentrifying areas. With information in hand from 18 states, I describe the characteristics of neighborhoods that have been selected so far. (That information is also available in this file (.xls) for the remaining 32 states who have yet to select their Opportunity Zones).

Looking at the 18 states that have submitted, the good news is that most states designated deeply impoverished places for the new subsidy, with Georgia and California standing out for allocating most of their picks to their most distressed neighborhoods. Nevertheless, 22 percent of selections were for areas with relatively low poverty rates (below 20 percent) and an additional 19 percent were in already-gentrifying areas (areas with the highest rates of home price appreciation).

Opportunity Zones (hereafter referred to as OZs) offer favorable capital gains treatment for taxpayers who invest in designated low-income neighborhoods. States were given a list of eligible neighborhoods produced according to the law by the Department of Treasury—a broad list that actually includes 57 percent of all neighborhoods in America, not all of which are distressed—and were allowed to select one in four of them to be Opportunity Zones.

If states select areas that are relatively well off or already gentrifying, most of the benefits will accrue to investors and developers for investments that would have happened anyway.

The choices matter. They will help determine who benefits from the subsidy and the cost effectiveness of the program. If states select areas that are relatively well off or already gentrifying, most of the benefits will accrue to investors and developers for investments that would have happened anyway. If states select deeply impoverished areas that are starved for investment, the subsidy is more likely to encourage new activity—and, hopefully, benefit local residents.

We now have information on neighborhoods designated as opportunity zones from 18 states, giving a sense of the characteristics of the places selected. There is good news and bad, and substantial differences across states. As the remainder of the states select their zones, they can benefit from these early examples.

Source: https://www.brookings.edu

USDA Rural Development’s Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program helps California’s ag producers increase income opportunities by developing or expanding markets for new or existing value-added products.

VAPG applications are now being accepted. Please visit the VAPG website, or the August 28, 2017 Federal Register notice for complete program details.

In addition, USDA Rural Development California staff will host a webinar on Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 9:00am. Anyone interested in applying to the VAPG program is strongly encouraged to attend. Topics will include:

• Who can apply and what are eligible program uses;
• How to write a strong application;
• Common mistakes and how to avoid them.

Please RSVP for the webinar to Greg York at (530) 792-5805.

Apple Valley, CA – August 28, 2017: The Town of Apple Valley will soon be home to one of only five existing Big Lots distribution centers in North America. The 1.3 million-square-foot facility is planned for construction just south of the Walmart Distribution Center on Johnson Road.

“The latest project developments are good news for jobseekers in the High Desert as the project will serve as a catalyst in attracting continued economic and industrial growth not only to Apple Valley but the entire High Desert,” said Orlando, Acevedo, Assistant Director of Economic Development and Housing, “It’s good to see the project moving forward.”

The 1.3 million square foot distribution center is estimated to bring between 400-500 new jobs to Apple Valley and the surrounding region. Additionally, the $120 million dollar project investment by Big Lots, including streets and infrastructure improvements, and increased property taxes will be a major shot in the arm for the entire High Desert economy.

Distribution centers across America have spurred local economic growth in their communities. They attract other companies to the area and are known to sponsor local events, support charities and work with educational institutions to improve the local workforce. According to the corporate office, Big Lots currently employs more than 35,000 associates across the U.S. and operates approximately 1,400 stores in 47 states.

“Apple Valley is ripe to capture Southern California’s next wave of economic growth,” said Apple Valley Mayor, Scott Nassif. “We offer a cost-competitive alternative to the rising costs and shrinking space for large scale industrial projects in the Inland Empire, which is one of the nation’s hottest industrial markets.”

The Big Lots center will fall inside of the 6,600-acre North Apple Valley Industrial Specific Plan (NAVISP) and join current tenants such as Fresenius Medical Care’s Tru Blu Logistics Center, the Walmart Distribution Center and Victor Valley College’s Regional Public Safety Training Center.

Victor Valley Transit Authority’s new bus route #42, which began its daily service on August 13, adds two stops to northern Apple Valley, offering another transportation option for future employees at the distribution center. It currently stops at Victor Valley College, St. Mary’s Hospital, the Walmart Distribution Center, Los Ranchos Mobile Home Park, the VVC Regional Public Safety Training Center and the High Desert Juvenile Detention Center.

“We are excited to see another transportation option for our residents,” said Councilwoman Barb Stanton. “This new route will provide students and workers from across the high desert the opportunity to work and continue their education right here in Apple Valley.”

The Apple Valley Big Lots Distribution Center will replace the current facility in Rancho Cucamonga as one of the five in the US. The other four distribution centers are located in Alabama, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

For more information on the North Apple Valley Industrial Specific Plan visit www.applevalley.org.

Source: Town of Apple Valley

Article available at:  www.vvng.com

The League of California Cities® and the California State Association of Counties has created a toolkit for cities and counties to use to announce their list of projects and ensure that their residents are informed about how their local government will be investing in their local infrastructure.

This toolkit comprises:

These materials are also located on the League’s website, including a link to a recording of the League and CSAC’s webinar on SB 1 implementation and reporting requirements.

If you have questions about submitting your project list, please contact League Legislative Policy Analyst, Derek Dolfie.

Original article available at:  www.cacities.org

Amazon will open a new 600,000+ square foot fulfillment center in south Stockton, California. The company expects to create 1,000 full-time jobs.

Stockton officials said the city has worked with Amazon’s representatives to meet expedited timeline requests and as a result “a world-renown employer is coming to Stockton.

The distribution hub which will be located near the city’s airport, is seen as a major revitalization for Stockton’s south side, providing much needed jobs. Construction of the building will require continued support from the City of Stockton Community and Economic Development Departments, city officials said.

“While there is no timeline for a formal announcement from Amazon, the City of Stockton thanks Amazon for choosing to invest in our community. Five years ago, the City of Stockton gathered in the Council Chamber to announce bankruptcy. Today, with a commitment and focus on economic development, the Council can make this major announcement about job creation in our community,” officials noted at a press conference.

According to Amazon the company chose Stockton because of its dedicated workforce and the city’s support for the project. “We are thrilled to join the community and look forward to building relationship and being a good neighbor for years to come.”

Source:  www.areadevelopment.com

By Colleen Mooney

Former Speaker of the House Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill famously said, “All politics is local.” My experience as the executive director of South Bay Center for Counseling (SBCC), a nonprofit helping Los Angeles County’s most underserved communities, says that job creation is as well.

For 40-plus years, SBCC has been dedicated to empowering individuals, strengthening families and transforming communities. We harness new ideas and innovative solutions to help people in underserved communities lead healthy, productive and self-determined lives.

When the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) recently released an important study that highlights the oil industry’s contribution to California’s economy, the numbers on employment and industry-generated state and local tax revenue were bound to be huge, given the state’s size and population. Sure enough, the LAEDC study, commissioned by the Western States Petroleum Association, found that refineries generate 368,100 jobs in California, including 77,847 in Los Angeles County, and pay $26.4 billion in state and local taxes.

With our mission viewed in the context of the LAEDC report, let me make the job-creation, economic-benefit story very local.

In the past, I heard community members voice concerns about why the hard-working men and women in neighborhoods surrounding the refineries didn’t have jobs there. It wasn’t because jobs didn’t exist. It was because the residents lacked the skills necessary to perform them.

In response, about a decade ago, representatives of nearby oil refineries, organized labor, community colleges and SBCC got together to address a full range of concerns and obstacles that limited the refineries’ ability to employ people from the community. The result was the Don Knabe Energy Pathways Program.

Ten years later, the program is a big success. To date, more than 450 men, women and veterans from the underserved South Bay communities of Wilmington and Long Beach have entered and passed through this rigorous program. The program helps working adults — most of whom already have full-time jobs — enhance career skills by attending classes after work four nights a week.

Making the program what it is today didn’t occur overnight, and there was much skepticism about its near-and long-term viability. Thanks to community colleges, the program overcame this challenge with a bridge program that helped close this gap in important areas such as math, science and English. Through a collaborative process, representatives of the refinery community, labor, community colleges and SBCC meet monthly and modify the program to ensure it meets today’s and tomorrow’s skill-level needs.

We’ve run into situations where program graduates couldn’t find employment at a refinery because there was not a job opening at that time. But because of the top-notch process technology training they received, these individuals found jobs in another industry and then, when openings at a refinery occurred, were hired by the refinery. We believe that’s a true measure of successful cooperation between the community, educators, industry and SBCC.

Quality of life starts with a job. The Don Knabe Energy Pathways Program has proved to be a “win-win” for the community — with men, women and our veterans getting cutting-edge skills through training, followed by securing living wage and family-supporting careers. The refinery community wins because it gets skilled employees from the local area. For SBCC, we have a leading-edge program that, were other large employers as willing and able to participate as the refining industry has been, we would love to replicate.

To me, the significant economic and employment contributions of the refining industry, as highlighted in the LAEDC study, tell a story far more compelling than the aggregate numbers. What they really demonstrate is that programs like the Don Knabe Energy Pathways Program and industry can work together to improve the lives of real people through skills building and careers that empower individuals to support themselves and their families, building pathways to self-sufficiency that change lives.

Original article available at: www.presstelegram.com

By Thomas Elias

For many years, Californians have heard “experts” (read: folks who figure to profit by touting the theory) claim their state suffers from a lousy business climate and is steadily losing middle class population and jobs to other states, especially arch-rival Texas.

The current national secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, even made radio and television commercials while governor of Texas touting the advantages of moving there. And there have been moves: a major one is the ongoing shift of Toyota’s U.S. headquarters from Torrance to Plano, Tex., outside Dallas.

Through all the rhetoric, some of it orchestrated by corporate move specialists plainly out to fatten their own wallets, California continues growing, with population now above 39 million, more than the entire country of Canada and 12 million more than fast-growing Texas.

Yes, plenty of youthful, educated Californians feel compelled to move away by the high prices of real estate in the state’s largest urban areas. And some corporations try to accommodate those moves by establishing satellite facilities in places like Boise and Tucson, where homes can be bought for less than one-third the price of comparable real estate in coastal California counties.

But there’s a reason California keeps growing despite it all: the state’s economy is fundamentally healthy. A new, comprehensive study from the business-oriented personal finance WalletHub website finds this state’s economy is not only strong, but is the second-strongest in America, trailing only Washington state.

WalletHub ranks California in the top five among states in startup activity, percentage of jobs in high-tech industries and patents granted to individuals. Texas, meanwhile, ranks 20th overall and is not among the top five states in any significant category.

This comes despite the fact that Texas and other states not in the top five overall often offer businesses discounted land, plus years of tax benefits, in exchange for moving.

What gives California its top-flight rating? The state is 7th in the U.S. in growth of gross domestic production, 15th in exports per capita despite its humongous population, tenth in median household income despite its host of low-income undocumented immigrants, eighth in upswing of nonfarm payrolls and last year had the seventh-largest state budget surplus per capita.

None of this shuts up the critics. And no one can seem to stop Texans from trying to denigrate California. While he’s no Rick Perry in the department of foot-in-mouth rhetoric, current Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently disparaged his own state capital of Austin by saying “I will not allow Austin, Texas, to California-ize the Lone Star State.” Of course, Austin has been trying to do that to itself for years, creating a mini version of Silicon Valley, but with lower real estate prices.

The oil and natural gas price bust, fueled in part by a fracking-induced surplus and also by California’s pioneering and widely-emulated emphasis on renewable energy, has had plenty of deleterious effects on Texas.

For example, average wages in California — higher than those in Texas for decades — grew much faster the last two years here than there. The California economy overall outgrew Texas’ last year by 2.9 percent to 0.4 percent, reported the Houston Chronicle.

This doesn’t make California perfect. For example, the state’s real poverty rate (based on average income compared to basic expenses) is the nation’s highest, chiefly because of high rents and home prices. But that statistic also is flawed: When four-bedroom coastal homes routinely sell for $2 million and up, they tend to skew the average real estate price that’s part of the “real poverty” calculation. The same for rents when three-bedroom houses in coastal cities often go for $6,000 per month or more.

The upshot is that the folks Gov. Jerry Brown likes to call “declinists” have been exaggerating California’s impending demise for many years. Reality is the same as it’s been for most of the last century and a half: California outstrips the rest of America in almost every economic area.

Original article available at: www.uniondemocrat.com

California Consulting is pleased to announce the State Water Resources Control Board: Water Recycling Funding Program (WRFP)

State Water Resources Control Board: Water Recycling Funding Program (WRFP)
 
Deadline: Applications accepted continuously through the FAAST system
 
Amount: $75,000 (for Planning Grants); $15-$20 Million (for Construction Grants)
 
Match: 50% (for Planning Grants); 35% (for Construction Grants)
 

Financing: For Construction applications Interest at 1/2 General Obligation
 
Bond Rate: 30 year term; Allowance following the CWSRF Policy
 
Eligibility: local public agencies
 
http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/grants_loans/water_recycling/proposition1_funding.shtml
 
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) provides funding for the planning, design, and construction of water recycling projects that offset or augment state fresh water supplies. 

There are two programs within this fund:

Planning Grants: The purpose of the planning grant is to assist agencies or regions with completing feasibility studies for water recycling projects using treated municipal wastewater and/or treated groundwater from sources contaminated by human activities.  Only local public agencies are eligible to apply for planning grants.

Construction Grants: The Water Recycling Funding Program provides grants and financing to eligible applicants for the construction of water recycling facilities. Construction projects may be funded with grants and low interest financing from a state bond, a CWSRF financing agreement, or combinations of funding sources. 

Eligible applicants are local public agencies, nonprofit organizations, public utilities, state & federal recognized Indian tribes, and mutual water companies.

If you or your entity would like California Consulting to write this application, please contact our Southern California office at (323)728-9002.

VISTA, Calif. — No secret, San Diego County loves its beer, but the city with the most breweries in the state of California, per capita may surprise you.

It’s Vista!

Vista’s taps are flowing. 14 breweries are in the small north county community and another five are set to open soon.

“Businesses are successful, people are happy and the vacancy in the business park is less than three percent,” Kevin Ham said, who is the Director of Economic Development at the City.

Those 14 breweries all moved in within the last six years, meaning there’s one brewery for every 7,000 people in Vista. For comparison, there’s one brewery for every 19,000 people in the City of San Diego.

“We’re bringing a ton of people to the area and putting Vista on a new map,” Kris Anacleto said, who is the General Manager of Booze Brother Brewing Co. and the President of the Brewers Guild.

There’s beer to drink in the business park and with the downtown village growing, so are the options on tap.

“We have 15 beers on tap, the Ol’ Grandaddy’s double IPA is our most popular,” Anacleto said.

Like many success stories the Booze Brothers started home brewing as a hobby, then made it their profession with the help of the city. “Vista has been more accommodating than other cities,” he said.

A fellow home brewer turned businessmen and now owner of Wavelength Brewing Company agrees and says the city was very accommodating, helping out with everything from planning to permitting.

“Good timing, good policy, good communication from the city made a big difference,” Hans Haas said, who is the owner and President of Wavelength.

So chalk it up to the fact Vista has the space, reasonable rents and, mostly – a City Council that says “yes.” For nearly a decade, this has been part of their economic development plan. While other cities were leery of an influx of breweries, Vista saw their value.

“They bring people into the business park, so there are eyes and ears in the park when we might not have them there,” Ham added. In addition to helping breweries get on their feet, the city also enacted noise and operating ordinances to keep residents happy.

Original article available at:  www.cw6sandiego.com

Bakersfield ranks as third-highest city nationwide where millennials are buying homes rather than renting, according to a study released recently.

In its “Top 10 Cities Where Millennials Are Buying Homes,” SmartAsset looked at homeownership rates among households where the head of the household was less than 35 years old. The study gathered data on the percentage of those households who owned their homes in 2006 and in 2015 for 200 of the largest cities.  The data came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 and 2006 1-Year American Community Surveys.

According to the study, “Bakersfield, the ninth-largest city in California, is located in the San Joaquin Valley. Under-35 homeownership in Bakersfield increased from 35.2% in 2006 to 40.3% in 2015. That’s an increase of 5.1%, the second-largest in our study. For a somewhat large city, homes here can be relatively affordable. The median home value is $237,600.”

Only two other California cities, Elk Grove and Roseville, made the Top Ten.  You can read more about this study here.

Original article available at:  smartasset.com

The Madera Metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which includes most of Madera County, has been ranked #1 in the nation for short term job growth (8/2015-8/2016) in a small city and #61 for 2016’s Best Performing Small Cities in a report published by the Milken Institute. Madera is one of eight small cities in California listed in the national ranking of 200 and has held a ranking on the prestigious list since 2010.

Madera’s biggest industries are Tourism and Agriculture, while the on-going drought has hampered growth for Ag., tourism added 1,500 jobs when Chukchansi Casino reopened its doors after a 14 month closure. There was also growth in the manufacturing and commercial sectors. A new manufacturer, Deerpoint Group, built and opened a new facility adding 100 jobs to the local market and several small commercial businesses opened around the county including Dollar Tree in Chowchilla.

With the addition of new industries coming into Madera County over the past few years coupled with the growth and expansion of several local companies, there has been hundreds of new jobs created,” said Bobby Kahn, Executive Director of the Madera County Economic Development (MCEDC). This is verified by the fact that for nearly three years Madera County has maintained a 1% or less vacancy rate for industrial space.

“It is really gratifying to receive these positive rankings” said Julie Herd, Marketing and Business Development Manager for MCEDC. “With new projects on the horizon, Madera will continue to be recognized.” Herd said.

FY 2017 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS ­ APPLICATION SUBMISSION AND PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS FOR EDA’S PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

EDA provides strategic investments on a competitive merit basis to support economic development, foster job creation, and attract private investment in economically distressed areas of the United States. Under this FFO, EDA solicits applications from applicants in order to provide investments that support construction, non-construction, technical assistance, and revolving loan fund projects under EDA’s Public Works and EAA programs. Grants and cooperative agreements made under these programs are designed to leverage existing regional assets and support the implementation of economic development strategies that advance new ideas and creative approaches to advance economic prosperity in distressed communities.

Current Closing Date for Applications: There are no submission deadlines under this opportunity. Proposals and applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the publication of a new EDAP FFO.

FY 2016 – FY 2019 EDA PLANNING PROGRAM AND LOCAL TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

Through its Planning and Local Technical Assistance programs, EDA assists eligible recipients in developing economic development plans and studies designed to build capacity and guide the economic prosperity and resiliency of an area or region. The Planning program helps support organizations, including District Organizations, Indian Tribes, and other eligible recipients, with Short Term and State Planning investments designed to guide the eventual creation and retention of high-quality jobs, particularly for the unemployed and underemployed in the Nation’s most economically distressed regions. As part of this program, EDA supports Partnership Planning investments to facilitate the development, implementation, revision, or replacement of Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS), which articulate and prioritize the strategic economic goals of recipients’ respective regions. The Local Technical Assistance program strengthens the capacity of local or State organizations, institutions of higher education, and other eligible recipients to undertake and promote effective economic development programs through projects such as feasibility studies and impact analyses.

Please see the Federal Funding Opportunity for full information on how to apply. Please note that applicants must apply to their respective EDA regional office. The chart below is provided as a reference for the Competition ID and Competition Title information needed to complete the application process.

Also note that any applicants who are in the process of developing an application under the previous FFO will need to apply under the new FFO and use the associated new forms.

Current Closing Date for Applications: Applications are accepted on a continuing basis and processed as received. This Planning and Local Technical Assistance opportunity will remain in effect until superseded by a future announcement.

2015 REGIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGIES PROGRAM COMPETITION

EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) leads the Regional Innovation Strategies Program competition to spur innovation capacity-building activities in regions across the nation. The program is authorized through the America COMPETES reauthorization Act of 2010, and received a dedicated appropriation for the first time in FY 2014.

THE PARTNERSHIPS FOR OPPORTUNITY AND WORKFORCE AND ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION (POWER) INITIATIVE

The Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative is a new interagency effort to assist communities negatively impacted by changes in the coal industry and power sector. Booming natural gas production, declining costs for renewable energy, increases in energy efficiency, flattening electricity demand, and updated clean air standards are changing the way electricity is generated and used across the country. These industry shifts are impacting workers and communities who have relied on the coal economy as a source of good jobs and economic prosperity.

PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING AND ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPLATES

(Required documents for submitting an application for construction assistance to EDA)

By  MARGOT ROOSEVELT, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEWS GROUP

Yamaha Corp. of America, the Buena Park subsidiary of the giant Japanese musical instrument and audiovisual equipment maker, agreed to remain in California, rather than move to Texas or Tennessee, after the state granted it a $3 million tax break last month.

The global company, which has operated its U.S. marketing and sales divisions from Orange County since 1971, told California officials it would move out of state without the tax credit.

The incentive, shrinking the company’s corporate tax burden over five years, rewards Yamaha for investing $46 million in a new California campus and boosting its workforce of 350 by another 66 full-time employees.

The average annual salary of the new workers will be $56,400, according to Yamaha’s agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown’s Office of Business and Economic Development, or GO-Biz.

Go-Biz’s California Competes Tax Credit program, enacted in 2013, awarded $243 million in tax breaks this year to encourage businesses to expand or remain in California, up from $200 million last year.

The program was conceived to counter the aggressive efforts of Texas, Nevada, and other states to lure businesses away from the Golden State by offering generous subsidies.

Another large Japanese company, Toyota Motor Sales, is building new headquarters in suburban Dallas, moving 3,000 sales and marketing jobs from Torrance, where it was the city’s largest employer.

Yamaha was evaluating relocating to Texas or Tennessee, according to letters to Go-Biz in September from Assemblywoman Young Kim (R-Fullerton) and Buena Park Mayor Fred Smith.

The elected officials wrote that the company provides “hundreds of high-wage, skilled positions” and asked the state agency to “work with Yamaha to grant approval of their application.”

According to the agreement between Yamaha and Go-Biz, the Japanese conglomerate “certified in its application that absent award of the (tax credit), its project will occur in another state; and, it will terminate all or a portion of its employees in California or relocate all or a portion of its employees in California to another state.”

Asked about Yamaha’s threat to move, Tom Sumner, senior vice president of marketing, acknowledged the company “studied out-of-state options.”

However, he added, “We don’t want to, or in some cases aren’t allowed to, discuss the locations or incentives offered by those locations.”

The $3 million tax credit “makes it more inviting to stay in California which is the place we want to be,” Sumner said. “Our employees love it here.”

Sumner said the company would not release the amount of its overall corporate tax bill. Yamaha’s U.S. revenues in 2015 were $607.6 million, according to Music Trades magazine.

Under the Go-Biz agreement, Yamaha agreed to locate its new campus either in Buena Park, possibly rebuilding on the same site, or in Irvine.

“The building we’re in is almost 50 years old,” Sumner said. “We want to stay in Orange County, but we don’t know where yet.”

Yamaha’s was the largest grant of the $7.7 million in tax breaks given to nine companies for Orange County investments in the November round.

Statewide, 74 businesses were granted $61 million in credits for pledging to invest $670 million and add 6,568 new California jobs between 2015 and 2020.

Among the Orange County beneficiaries, Willdan Group, an Anaheim engineering firm which helps companies and cities become more energy efficient, pledged the second largest investment: $2.7 million.

The money will buy computer equipment, software licenses, furniture and fixtures, office space, and tenant improvements.

Willdan, which now has 270 employees, agreed to hire another 100 full-time workers in Anaheim, City of Industry, Fresno and Oakland, at an average salary of $70,000 a year.

Willdan President Michael Bieber said the company’s $845,000 tax credit, spread over five years, “allows us to continue accelerating our investment in our business.”

Unlike the Yamaha agreement, Willdan’s contract with Go-Biz makes no mention of any out-of-state move.

Asked if the firm would have remained in California without a tax incentive, Bieber replied, “No comment.”

Any business can apply to California Competes, but awards are geared toward “industries with high economic multipliers that provide their employees good wages and benefits,” according to Go-Biz.

Other factors: the extent of unemployment or poverty in the area where the business is located, and the incentives available to the business in other states.

The other grantees pledging to create jobs and invest in Orange County over five years include:

• Sequoia Solution LLC, a San Diego County consulting firm to the biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.

• Go Biz awarded the company a $2.5 million tax credit to invest in computer equipment and expand its current workforce of 42 by 182 full-time employees in Solana Beach, San Francisco, and Orange County.

The new workers would earn an average annual salary of $100,000.

• Pscore Inc., an Aliso Viejo software developer, gained a $250,000 tax credit, without which, it told Go-Biz, “its project may occur in another state.”

With only one employee this year, the company agreed to hire another 34 by 2020 at an average annual salary of $45,000. It will invest $36,000 in computer equipment and furniture.

• Partners in Control Inc., an Irvine renewable energy services firm, earned a $160,000 tax credit. It agreed to invest $327,351 in computer equipment, software licenses, and tenant improvements.

The 18-employee company agreed to add 22 new hires at average annual salaries over $73,000.

• American Psychiatric Centers, which operates psychiatric clinics, earned a $700,000 tax credit. It pledged to expand in Irvine, Culver City, Sacramento and San Rafael. It will invest $166,000 and grow its workforce to 50 full time employees from 32, at an average annual salary of $150,000.

• Brian Levy, an Irvine financial planner, gained a $125,000 tax credit. He agreed to invest $125,000 and boost his workforce to 8 from 3, at an average annual salary of $36,000.

• PHA Professional Services Inc., a plumbing and HVAC firm in San Clemente, earned a tax credit of $100,000. The firm will invest $475,000 in vehicles and a facility. It will boost its workforce to 14 from 5 at average salaries from $45,000 to $53,000.

• Amy Braun, an Anaheim architect, gained a tax credit of $20,000. She will invest $75,000 in computer equipment and tenant improvements. Her office will grow to six employees from one, with an average annual salary of $40,000.

In the California Competes program, 25 percent of the tax credits available each year are reserved for small businesses.

If a company fails to meet the terms of the agreements, and fails to retain its new hires for at least three years, the tax credits are to be revoked.

Valley Vision and partners invite you to attend a forum connecting small, rural food and ag businesses with helpful resources and financing information. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about relevant resources and speak with resource providers.

Date: November 18, 2016
Time: 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Winters Community Center – 201 Railroad Ave, Winters, CA 95694
Parking will be available

The event is targeted at rural businesses with under 50 employees. Resources are geared toward growers, ranchers, processors, distributors, and others in the supply chain. Follow-up assistance and additional resources will be available for attendees.

Please click here to RSVP if you plan to attend. Seats are limited!

Speakers include:

• Mayor of Winters, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
• Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor
• Solano County Supervisor John Vasquez
• David Shabazian, providing an overview of SACOG’s West Yolo Case Study

Resources from:

• USDA Rural Development California
• Small Business Adminstration (SBA)
• Economic Development Adminstration (EDA)
• UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR)
• Capital Region Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
• First Northern Bank
• Wells Fargo & Co.
• Opening Doors, Inc.
• Many other resource providers to connect with!

*NOTE: We will have three additional small business forums in early 2017 covering the rest of the rural Sacramento region. Stay tuned!

Please email Adrian Rehn with any questions or call (916) 325-1630.

We hope to see you there!

Prior to each application period, GO-Biz hosts workshops and online webinars about the California Competes Tax Credit program. Each workshop or webinar consists of a 45-minute presentation, followed by a question and answer session. Each presentation includes the following:

• Overview of the program
• Program goals and evaluation criteria
• Step-by-step instructions through the application process

All businesses are encouraged to attend a workshop to receive instructions on how to apply. We also provide webinars for those who are unable to attend workshops. Visit the California Competes Tax Credit Webinars page for schedule information.

We are pleased to share the launch of “The Project: Inside Corporate Location Decisions,” a new podcast by Development Counsellors International (DCI), that takes an inside look at the most recent company location announcements. Every two weeks, we’ll follow the trail of a new site selection decision, interviewing key individuals from both the company and community perspective.

You can check out different podcast episodes at: http://aboutdci.com/the-project-podcast/

ARS
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is USDA’s primary internal research agency. ARS conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to major agricultural problems that are both national and international in scope. ARS has nearly 2,000 scientists nationwide and a few in overseas locations. ARS scientists carry out 750 research projects on a variety of subjects. ARS has a Congressional mandate to disseminate the research findings of these projects to the American public and other interested parties. Learn more by visiting: http://www.ars.usda.gov.

ARP Network
The ARP Network enlists the help of partners to spark economic development, entrepreneurship and community development. USDA ARS founded the ARP Network in an effort to expand the impact of ARS research and provide resources to help companies grow. By combining ARS research expertise with complementary capabilities and talents of partnering organizations, the ARP Network helps stimulate economic growth through technological advancements. The ARP Network matches business needs with ARS innovations and research capabilities and provides business assistant services to help companies and startups solve agricultural problems, develop products and create new jobs. Learn more by visiting:https://www.ars.usda.gov/business/Docs.htm?docid=24715.

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The Modernizing American Manufacturing Bonds Act (MAMBA) has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. MAMBA will help modernize and revolutionize Qualified Small Issue Manufacturing Bonds, known as Industrial Development Bonds (IDBs), by increasing the maximum bond size limitation (from $10 million to $30 million) and the capital expenditure limitation (from $20 million to $40 million) as well as expand the definition of manufacturing to include high-technology manufacturing techniques.

IDBs are tax-exempt securities issued by cities, counties, and joint powers authorities (such as the California Enterprise Development Authority, CEDA), to provide small- to medium-sized manufacturers money for land purchases, building construction, facility expansion, new production equipment acquisition, and solar and energy conservation retrofits at below market interest rates.  Overall, IDB financing reduces total financing costs so more capital can be invested back into the organization’s operations. CEDA supports statewide manufacturers and is a proud issuer of IDBs, among its other financing tools. More information about CEDA and this tax-exempt financing for manufacturers can be found on CEDA’s web site or contact Helen Schaubmayer  at (916) 448-8252 x16.

Apply for Brownfields Grant Funding

These Brownfields grants may be used to address sites contaminated by petroleum and hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants (including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum). The proposal submission deadline is December 20, 2016. Learn more at: www.epa.gov.

Alan Ehrenhalt  |  Senior Editor

 

Economists and public policy experts have been telling us for decades that sports stadiums are a terrible investment for governments to make with taxpayers’ money. These expensive buildings almost never bring in the windfall of jobs and local business development that team owners promise; within a few years they are white elephants and the sponsoring localities are struggling to pay off many millions of dollars in debt.

So the argument goes. Research from a wide variety of places over a long period of time seems to bear it out. The mammoth sports palaces built in the 1970s and 1980s have failed to meet the grandiose expectations that surrounded them. Many are already being replaced.

But if the folly of stadium subsidies has become accepted wisdom among economists and other urban policy scholars, it hasn’t fully convinced the elected officials responsible for making the decisions. A few weeks ago, the Minnesota Vikings began playing football at their brand-new home, U.S. Bank Stadium, in Minneapolis. The stadium cost just over a billion dollars, and about half of the money came from taxpayers at the state and local level. Cobb County, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, is borrowing nearly $400 million in bonds to finance a new baseball stadium for the Braves. Last year, the city of St. Louis made a similarly extravagant proposal to prevent the NFL Rams from moving to Los Angeles. The team moved anyway.

Meanwhile, the volume of skeptical scholarship on this issue continues to grow. In fact, it has grown more sweeping. The most original of the recent critics is Jonathan Wynn, who teaches sociology at the University of Massachusetts. Wynn makes all the standard arguments against gargantuan public stadium subsidies. But he doesn’t stop at sports arenas. He goes on to argue that virtually all the public entertainment facilities that cities like to invest in — art museums, aquariums, “hall of fame” headquarters for this and that — turn out to be unwise gambles with public money. “Why,” he asks, “do museums, stadiums and other ‘concrete culture’ receive such a privileged place in urban development?”

Wynn has an answer for his own question. “You want that symbol,” is the way he put it to me. “You want to be a franchise location. But it’s truly astounding that cities make such a large bet on such intangible grounds.”

Wynn makes more than a rhetorical case. He cites, for example, the NASCAR Hall of Fame that opened in Charlotte in 2010. If any entertainment edifice seemed like a sure thing, it was a museum devoted to racing cars in North Carolina, where the sport largely grew up. But the NASCAR museum not only hasn’t done much for the Charlotte economy, it’s been a money loser itself.

Projected to attract 400,000 visitors annually, it was struggling after four years to draw 170,000. The city is still paying off a $22 million loan on the facility.

Art museums are a different phenomenon. They are rarely offered to the public primarily as economic development magnets; they are valued for the broader benefits they can bring to a community. But promises of increased public revenue are nearly always part of the deal. Ever since the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, became a worldwide sensation in the 1990s, cities all over the globe have dared to dream about what a similar project might do for them. Many have backed up those dreams with public money. But the one substantial effort to measure the impact of the museums, a study called Set in Stone published by the University of Chicago in 2012, reported that of 725 art museums built or expanded in the United States over a period of 15 years, at a combined cost of $15.5 billion, only 12 percent could claim significant increases in attendance.

Wynn, who admits to being a sports fan, feels the same way about mega-sports events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl as he does about the buildings in which they take place. I haven’t seen a definitive study of Super Bowl economics, although I imagine that one has been done. But Wynn’s point about the Olympics seems to hold true virtually every time. Since Los Angeles made money as an Olympic host back in 1984, cities have been bidding for the games in the hope that they will produce a similar windfall. But it doesn’t happen. Some Olympic cities manage to break roughly even, but most of them end up losing at least a few billion dollars.

Of course, there are other reasons to want to take on the challenge of being an Olympic host; Barcelona, Seoul and Sydney acquired new global reputations as a result of their Olympic splurges. But that doesn’t refute the dollars-and-cents argument that Wynn is making. Rio de Janeiro is almost certainly the latest piece of evidence for his case.

If stadiums, museums and sports extravaganzas are nearly always bad investments, as Wynn believes, what can cities do to create a genuine economic development windfall?

Wynn thinks he knows the answer. He says there ought to be more music festivals. That’s the argument of his new book, Music/City.

There’s no disputing that music festivals are big moneymakers. If, like me, you’ve never been to one, you may not have noticed just how big a deal they have become. This year, there will be roughly 800 music festivals held in the United States, according to Trips Reddy of the Umbel consulting firm, a prolific source of information on this subject. Some 14.7 million millennials will go to at least one event. The total attendance will be more than 30 million.

Many of the festivals will be modest neighborhood affairs. But if recent history is a guide, the top five will take in a combined $200 million in 2016 in ticket sales alone. Lollapalooza, the annual bash in Chicago that was held this August, was projected to attract 160,000 people and sell $30 million worth of tickets, at prices ranging from about $200 for a single day’s general admission to as much as $6,205 for a four-day platinum VIP pass. In case you’re curious, it cost $18 to party at Woodstock for four days back in 1969.

Electric Daisy Carnival, the electronic dance music festival whose flagship event is held annually in Las Vegas, drew more than 300,000 people this year. Based on past years’ receipts, it will pump at least $300 million into the economy of surrounding Clark County and add more than $20 million to the city and county tax rolls. SXSW, the weeklong extravaganza held in Austin each year, has evolved over the years from a music festival to a convention of entrepreneurs in everything from film to computer technology to environmental stewardship, and has dramatically enhanced the city’s global public image.

As Wynn sees it, these events are economic development gold. They bring in millions of dollars while costing very little to stage. They don’t require big buildings; Electric Daisy Carnival is held at the motor speedway. Unlike the “concrete culture” investments that Wynn decries, they involve few fixed costs of any sort. The biggest problem is security. “Festivals are nimble,” Wynn says. “They’re able to switch venues and change programming if necessary.”

And if a city wishes, it can pour festival money directly into the local cultural scene. Nashville uses some of the proceeds from its Country Music Association (CMA) Festival to finance music education programs. Altogether, the festival is estimated to have contributed $30 million to charitable causes in the city since 2000. “The majority of the funds from CMA,” Wynn says, “go back into the city of Nashville” one way or another.

All of this may strike you as a little too good to be true. It seems that way to me as well. No doubt a few more cities could take a close look at Electric Daisy Carnival or SXSW, find a way to encourage or sponsor something like it, and come away with a substantial windfall. But it can’t work in that many places. A few hundred more music festivals a year, and the whole concept would begin to look tiresome. Wynn doesn’t dispute this. “There’s certainly a saturation factor,” he admits.

Beyond that, the big music festivals aren’t exactly local events. They make their money by bringing in people from far away. Trips Reddy calculates that the average attendee at a major music festival travels 903 miles round-trip. Even iconic events like SXSW, CMA and Rhode Island’s Newport Jazz and Folk festivals have to deal with local residents who resent seeing their daily lives disrupted by noise, traffic and general public mischief. If I lived in the vicinity of CMA, I’m not sure I could be bought off by donations to music education.

So Wynn’s idea isn’t likely to be the answer for the average medium-sized city struggling to come back from decades of failed economic development. Still, he has a point. There are reasons why spending a billion dollars on a new stadium or cultural institution may be worthwhile. But annual rate of return usually won’t be one of them. And once the building is built, somebody is going to be paying for it for a generation, whether it’s a success or not. On the other hand, there’s one thing you can say for a music festival: If it doesn’t work, you can always fold it up and try a different panacea next year.

Original article available at: www.governing.com

California and Massachusetts have both won the top spot in the 10th edition of the 2016 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard published by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). This marks Massachusetts’ sixth consecutive year in first place, but the first time it shared the spotlight with the Golden State, which last held the title in 2010. The balance of the top 10 consisted of Vermont (3), Rhode Island (4), Connecticut and New York (tied for 5), Oregon (7), Washington state (8), Maryland (9), and Minnesota (10).

“Governors, legislators, regulators, businesses, and citizens are increasingly recognizing that energy efficiency is a critical state resource that keeps money in the local economy,” said Steven Nadel, executive director, ACEEE. “The past year has been an exciting time for energy efficiency, with several states strengthening efficiency policies and programs. States are spurring efficiency investment through advancements in building energy codes, transportation planning, and leading by example in their own facilities and fleets. These investments reap large benefits, giving businesses, governments, and consumers more control over how and when they use energy.”

The three most improved states are Missouri, Maine, and Michigan. The ACEEE State Scorecard identifies the following states as most in need of improvement:  Louisiana (47); Kansas (48); South Dakota (49), Wyoming (50), and North Dakota (51).

Key Findings

The 2016 ACEEE State Scorecard zeroes in on six policy areas in which states pursue energy efficiency: utility and public benefits programs and policies; transportation policies; building energy codes; combined heat and power (CHP) policies; state government-led initiatives around energy efficiency; and appliance and equipment standards.

Here are the leaders in each category:

• Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Vermont are the top states in utility-sector energy efficiency programs and policies. A total of 26 states enforce and adequately fund energy savings targets to drive investments in utility-sector energy efficiency programs. The states with the most ambitious targets include Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Arizona. New Hampshire is the most recent state to adopt energy savings goals for its utilities.
• California, Massachusetts, and New York are out in front on energy-efficient transportation policies. California’s requirements for reducing greenhouse gas emissions have prompted several strategies for smart growth. Massachusetts promoted smart growth development in cities and municipalities through state-delivered financial incentives. New York is one of the few states in the nation to have a vehicle-miles-traveled reduction target.
• Several states—including Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Vermont, and Washington—join California and Illinois in achieving top scores for building energy codes and compliance this year. A growing number of states have taken major steps toward the adoption of the most recent DOE-certified codes for both residential and commercial new construction. These include Alabama, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
• Massachusetts, Maryland, and California score highest for their combined heat and power policies.
• California, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Tennessee set the pace in state government-focused initiatives.
• California continues to lead the nation in setting appliance standards, having adopted standards for more than 100 products. Within the past year, it became the first state to adopt standards for LEDs and small-diameter directional lamps, and it also updated its standards for HVAC air filters, fluorescent dimming ballasts, and heat pump water chilling packages.

States continue to be standouts in other regards when it comes to energy efficiency. New York posted an increase in electricity savings. Earlier in the year, the Empire State also completed major updates to its state building energy codes. Utah and Tennessee made similar gains thanks to updates to state building energy codes this year. Arkansas committed to extend its energy efficiency goals and gained points for state government-led policies, having recently closed its first commercial PACE project.

“Over the last 10 years, we have seen that many if not most innovative policies and programs that promote energy efficiency originate at the state level,” said Weston Berg, research analyst and lead State Scorecard author, ACEEE. “As a cost-effective compliance option, efficiency is a valuable addition to any state’s policy toolkit, saving money, driving investment across all sectors of the economy, creating jobs, and reducing the environmental impact of energy use.”

Original article available at: businessfacilities.com

To learn more about Buxton’s approach to retail recruitment, contact us today.

Original article available at: www.buxtonco.com