SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
GSEC ’ S NEW STRATEGIC PLAN ENVISIONS A $ 4 BILLION IMPACT ON THE REGION ’ S ECONOMY BY ATTRACTING UP TO 60 COMPANIES AND CREATING 6,000 JOBS OVER THE NEXT THREE YEARS .
PHOTO COURTESY OF GSEC
Over the last six years , Barry Broome , president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council , made countless trips — and 2,135 cold calls — to Bay Area companies to sell them on moving or expanding to the Capital Region . For the most part , he got a cold shoulder , fighting the perception that Sacramento was strictly a government town .
But those pitches are paying dividends now , due in part to GSEC ’ s award-winning # NextOutWest campaign promoting the region ’ s assets that prominently featured Bay Area workers who had migrated to Sacramento to work remotely during the pandemic . “ We didn ’ t get Google or Facebook , but we are getting second-tier action and start-ups from the Bay Area ,” Broome says . “ Silicon Valley now says Sacramento is rising .”
The campaign , which featured a video of unscripted testimonials from workers talking about why they liked living in Sacramento , garnered Gold Rank and Bronze Rank awards from the International Economic Development Council last October . “ After the COVID pandemic , the working model really shifted to working remotely and cities had to work even harder to distinguish themselves ,” says Michelle Willard , GSEC ’ s chief public affairs officer . “ Talent is the number-one concern for companies looking to expand or relocate and we wanted them to think of Sacramento as the next ‘ it ’ city .”
The video was aimed at people 25-40 years old in the tech industry , but the awards also exposed the campaign to 5,000 attendees at IEDC ’ s annual meeting , including a highly influential network of site consultants who advise companies looking to relocate .
Building on that exposure , GSEC launched its first three-year strategic plan in September designed to craft a broader Sacramento economy over the next decade . In contrast to the coldcalling tactics of GSEC ’ s early days , the strategy will target companies in futuristic industries including future mobility , biotech , life sciences and fintech , building on existing projects such as the California Mobility Center and Aggie Square in Sacramento and ag research facilities in
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