New economic development director sees more jobs, affordable
homes and better retail variety in Hollister’s future
Despite a state mandated building moratorium
– now in its fourth year – Hollister is doing remarkably well,
economically.
New economic development director sees more jobs, affordable homes and better retail variety in Hollister’s future
Despite a state mandated building moratorium – now in its fourth year – Hollister is doing remarkably well, economically.
That’s the assessment of Hollister’s recently hired economic development director, Jeff Pyle, who spins his ideas and makes business connections from an office he shares with the county Veterans’ Services program in the Veterans Memorial Building on San Benito Street.
“I think the city is in good shape,” Pyle said during an interview this week. “Of course, our big problem is the wastewater treatment plant. It’s brought everything to a halt. In the meantime we have to get ready for the next wave of development.”
Pyle, hired by the city council in January, says Hollister missed out on a few building boom crests that some cities throughout the state, such as Oak Grove near Sacramento, have ridden with abandon. But with the expertise of Pyle and his boss, Bill Avera, director of development services, Hollister is positioning itself for the day it can get in on growth and prosperity.
Already, Pyle said, two job-bearing industries are preparing to move in. One is a Honda equipment dealership that is renovating the old Hollister Family Bowling, which could potentially attract customers as far away 200 miles away to purchase motorcycles, generators and everything else Honda builds with the exception of automobiles.
The other is a hazardous waste trucking company, which plans to take over the old Milgard building near the airport. The latter would specialize in cleaning up potentially toxic messes, such as highway spills, and work with companies like PG&E to haul away PCB-laden transformers.
“We might tend to attract green industries,” Pyle said, and noted that a third company based in Gilroy is eyeing the area. It’s a tire recycling plant that doesn’t stockpile but instead chops up the tires for other rubber products.
Pyle, sporting a grey beard and talking candidly with reporters, is 56 and single. He hails from Baltimore and the Washington Beltway where he worked for 12 years as a community planner renovating blighted old neighborhoods. He packs a master’s degree from Baltimore Morgan State University and has worked from coast to coast in his field. He managed economic development for jurisdictions big and small from Portland, Ore., to Solano County. He lived and worked in the East Bay before landing his latest job in Hollister.
“It’s not the smallest town I’ve worked in,” Pyle said of Hollister.
He genuinely loves his new home, and sees a great strength in the myriad restaurants the area has to offer. He believes more business could be generated if the eateries collectively put forth a promotional campaign.
“There are so many great places to have lunch in this town,” he said. “I’d like to see them band together and promote themselves.”
One way restaurants and other businesses could do that is by staying open longer for people who get off work at 5 p.m. He would also like to see an independent bookstore downtown and a cafe where people could meet and rest during their shopping excursions.
“People shop from 5 to 9 p.m.,” Pyle said. “The local food and the local growers are phenomenal. We have some of the best organic products in the country.”
He sees taking the Farmers’ Market a step further.
“What about a weekly marketplace for other goods?” he offers. “But my first priority is to get the business community through this economic crunch time. Most of the jobs will come from smaller companies.”
Pyle and Avera are putting together a 12-member citizens’ advisory group of local business leaders and council members to put together the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and Implementation Plan.
“It’s not a one-person job,” said Avera. “But this time we have Jeff who is getting involved with community organizations so people can get to know him and work on the long-term plan. Jeff is our liaison, he is the go-between running interference between planning and other agencies to bring business here.”
It’s not easy, given the sewage hook-up moratorium and what Pyle calls the “regulatory climate” for businesses in California. While being interviewed, Pyle motioned to a thick document on his conference table: a strategy for downtown economic growth.
“This is 15 years old,” he said. “The one thing we have missed is the residential growth aspect. We need more affordable apartments, condos – workers need a place to live so we can eliminate long commutes.”
Avera has great faith that when the time comes for growing, Pyle will have Hollister poised to take advantage of the new era, but in a managed, well-thought way.
“It’s very difficult to sit and recruit companies into a community that has essentially stopped,” Avera said.
For more information about Hollister’s economic development plans, call Jeff Pyle at 831-630-5103.
