Yeah, but what have you done for us lately?
Al Martinez, the soon-to-retire executive director of the San
Benito County Economic Development Corp., must be familiar with
that question. In nearly 20 years, he’s convinced some of San
Benito County’s biggest employers to open their doors here.
Yeah, but what have you done for us lately?
Al Martinez, the soon-to-retire executive director of the San Benito County Economic Development Corp., must be familiar with that question. In nearly 20 years, he’s convinced some of San Benito County’s biggest employers to open their doors here.
But it’s never enough, and with unemployment rates that place San Benito 45th of California’s 58 counties there’s clearly more work to be done.
San Benito County offers some of the Bay Area’s most affordable land, an attractive climate and a transportation network that’s nearly ideal, with easy access to the state’s major north-south corridors as well as key east-west highways. It also offers a willing wokforce of commute-weary workers.
So why isn’t more happening? Certainly the larger economy is the largest contributor. Hollister’s six-year-old moratorium on new sewer hookups must be contributing. And the fact is that there are many places offering attractive climate, great transportation and even lower costs.
It’s expensive to do business in California. What’s San Benito County’s edge? Two things deserve consideration.
In a story appearing in this week’s edition, both Martinez and a local employer said that Hollister’s policy of forgiving some impact fees for construction of new businesses was influential in getting them to Hollister. With the sewer moratorium set to be lifted in several months, such a policy deserves a second look.
Second, the impending arrival of a new EDC executive is a fresh opportunity for collaboration. There are many people and organization’s devoted to a brighter economic future – chambers of Commerce, the Stewardship Council, Hollister Downtown Association, Hollister’s economic development department and the EDC itself. What’s missing, all acknowledge, is effective, consistent collaboration. Can that be so hard?
