Historically recognized for its
agricultural economy, the Subregion is experiencing strong diversification in
employment. High levels of recent job growth have occurred in construction,
retail trade (department and apparel stores), and services (hotel/lodgings
facilities, engineering, management, etc.). Future expansion in service
employment is expected to be particularly strong in engineering, accounting,
research and management services, as well as business and health services and
private education. Retail trade is anticipated to be the second major generator
of new jobs, over half of which is expected to occur in restaurants and
department stores. High technology employment (a component of manufacturing) is
also expected to increase significantly, from nearly 11,000 in 1990 to nearly
19,000 by 2010.
The Subregion weathered the economic
recession of the early 1990's remarkably well. Whereas most counties, and the
region as a whole, withstood pronounced and contractions in employment, the
Subregion experienced an increase of some 14,000 jobs between 1990 and 1995.
Current (1995) countrywide employment is estimated at about 163,900.
Profound global economic restructuring is
underway. A key to success in dealing with this restructuring will be a
strategic and cooperative approach to shift from less efficient activities and
business approaches to higher-value added per employee activities and
facilities (to support a rising standard of living and counteract national
trends pointing in the opposite direction). The pitfalls, compel local
jurisdictions to pursue partnerships of business, education, labor and
government. Worldwide, such creative partnerships are increasingly seen as
models of success. A desirable role of government is that of a facilitator
within the larger economic system: to serve as a vehicle for communication and
to foster a consensus for action.
The following are issues relating to the economic vitality of the Subregion.
How to:
- Promote continued economic viability
of agriculture and tourism/recreation activities.
- Establish strategic cooperative
approaches to economic development.
- Retain existing businesses and attract
new businesses critical to the future economic success of the Subregion.
- Minimize negative impacts of
revenue-driven land use decisions.
- Ensure the availability of a skilled
labor force.
- Ensure diversified employment
opportunities.
- Economic viability of agriculture
and tourism/recreation activities
- In order to protect agriculture,
including viticulture, and promote rural-related tourism and recreation, the
Jurisdictions should consider developing standard ordinances or guidelines for
urban areas that abut vineyard and other agricultural uses and rural-related
tourism and recreation activities (e.g., wineries, equestrian uses, etc.).
These ordinances and guidelines might apply to permitted uses, site development
standards, landscaping and design guidelines, transitional areas, etc.
- The Jurisdictions should cooperate in
promoting the abundance of subregional tourist attractions including: the
Sonoma Coast, the Russian River, historic downtowns, wineries, equestrian
facilities, exotic animal facilities, small scale agricultural fairs and
special events, etc.
- Strategic cooperative approaches to
economic development
- The Jurisdictions should create and
support a task force or public-private partnership to develop a strategic
economic action plan and programs for the Subregion. This action plan would
identify and promote key clusters of economic activity for which the Subregion
has a competitive advantage and which are consistent with other public policy
objectives. The Jurisdictions should consider partnership with Sonoma State
University and/or other educational institutions in this endeavor.
- Business attraction and
retention
- Each Jurisdiction should identify and
mitigate, where appropriate, obstacles to the formation and expansion of local
businesses.
- The Jurisdictions should identify
businesses that could serve unmet needs of the Subregion's residents, and
develop specific strategies to attract those identified businesses.
- The Jurisdictions should monitor the
absorption and availability of land for economic activity within the subregion
to ensure a balanced supply of available land for a variety of business
sectors.
- The Jurisdictions should coordinate
capital improvements and other infrastructure development to coincide with the
needs of existing and future businesses. Public facility design should also
accommodate technological change such as fiber optics, wireless communication,
and fuel-efficient vehicles.
- Each Jurisdiction should expedite the
development review process for desirable employment-generating projects,
including re-use of vacant sites, small business development, and existing
business expansion.
- Each Jurisdiction should identify and
recruit specific businesses to its downtown (in the case of the County, to the
"downtowns" of areas of urban development in the unincorporated
portion of the Subregion).
- The Jurisdictions should work
cooperatively among themselves and with the Regional Water Quality Control
Board and other applicable agencies to develop procedures for the timely
cleanup of toxics on otherwise appropriate development sites and should
consider legislative advocacy to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
regulations governing such sites.
- Minimizing impacts of
revenue-driven land use decisions
- The Jurisdictions should develop
recommendations and advocate for reform of state-fiscal laws and policies in
order to offset revenue-driven land use plans and development programs.
- The Jurisdictions should consider
subregional revenue sharing agreements to offset the fiscal impacts of land use
decisions. By reducing incentives to base land use decisions on the fiscal
impacts of those decisions, revenue sharing agreements could:
- promote orderly subregional
development;
- diminish the potential for
over-development of certain types of businesses (e.g., retain) within the
Subregion, which can result in vacant buildings that do not easily adapt to
re-use; and
- redistribute revenues to where the
impacts caused by a revenue-generating use (e.g., increased traffic or demand
for service) would be felt.
- Availability of a skilled labor
force
- The Jurisdictions should, in
cooperation with local employers and other entities, identify the labor force
requirements and job training needs of existing and future employers. The
Jurisdictions should support and/or establish employment training vocational
education programs to ensure resident's skills meet employers' current and
future needs.
- The Jurisdictions should encourage
cooperation between employment development departments, Sonoma State
University, community colleges, local school districts, and employers to ensure
that appropriate programs, classes and internships re available to potential
employees of the Subregion's businesses.
- The Jurisdictions should seek to
overcome impediments to gainful employment such as lack of transportation,
childcare, job training, vocational education, and other factors.
- Each Jurisdiction should work with
developers and appropriate public and nonprofit agencies to provide for the
development of sufficient housing for the Subregion's labor force. Such housing
should reflect a range of sizes and prices in order to meet the needs of
workers employed in the Subregion and in order to ensure employers access to
diverse labor pool.
- Diversification of job
opportunities
- The Jurisdictions should seek to
attract a wide range of employment opportunities to the Subregion, there by
expanding the ability of all residents to find employment.
- Each Jurisdiction should promote the
establishment and expansion of workplace alternatives (including home
occupations, telecommuting, and technology transfer based businesses) by
identifying appropriate sites, providing infrastructure, creating home
occupation incubators, and by acting as a facilitator to encourage such
workplace alternatives.
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