Dr. Chris Brenner of the University of California at Davis Center for Regional Change has produced this economic study of San Mateo County. It is a sectoral analysis of San Mateo industries and provides a snapshot of the current state of the economy and work force in the County. The report examines where economic growth is likely to occur and where, if problems are not addressed, where further contractions in economic activity and employment will continue. The report also examines the disparities in the work force that are manifesting themselves in current trends towards a bimodal distribution of the highly skilled, well compensated and the low skilled, low wage worker. Unfortunately, this segmentation of the work force has ethnic and educational components.
The County needs to look beyond the present economic conditions. We need to start thinking about what the economy will look like in five, tens or 20 years and what can we do, as a governmental body, to create the conditions that will provide our economy with some degree of self-sufficiency and growth. How do we retain and attract businesses that will foster economic vitality and job creation while enhancing a stable and sustainable economic environment?
We need to see who are the stakeholders, what programs are already in place, and what new initiatives do we need to propose to sustain the economic vitality of San Mateo County. How do we bring all the component elements of this shared vision together to build the infrastructure to realize this plan? How do we bring businesses, our educational institutions, labor, the Workforce Investment Board (WIB), EDD and other impacted parties into a conversation about creating a sustainable economic future? What are the sectors that have greatest potential in the near term and what can we do as a community to sustain and expand the prospects of those currently at work here and face the vagaries of these unsettled times.
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