LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
The COVID-19 Fog is Beginning to Lift for Business
PHOTO BY TERENCE DUFFY
Where do we go from here ? It seems that as the number of COVID-19 vaccinations increase , it ’ s lifting a fog of uncertainty that we all have been living with for more than a year . It gives us a chance to move from making short-term decisions based on a changing rainbow of restrictions to taking a look at the bigger picture .
As that fog lifts , it is gradually revealing a business environment different than it was a year ago . Even as we start getting back on our collective feet , there are challenges . Restaurants and hotels , a big segment of the Capital Region ’ s economy , are finding it almost as difficult to fully reopen as it was to shut down . They are scrambling to find enough qualified workers after many fled the hospitality industry .
People who were fortunate enough to work remotely may or may not return to their offices — or their companies — or even to the same city where they once worked . I think it shows that the disruptions of the last year caused many people to question where they were living and how they were working . And many of them were on the move to find something better .
In March , we had the opportunity to snag Jim Wunderman , president and CEO of the Bay Area Council , to be a guest speaker at the Comstock ’ s Editorial Advisory Board meeting . It ’ s his job to stay on top of what ’ s going on in the broader regional business world , and he tells us that some of the big-picture trends he sees “ are troubling .”
California lost 1.5 million jobs during the pandemic , Wunderman says . Last year , there were fewer people living in California than the year before . Most troubling , he says , are the number of companies developing contingency plans to leave California , which suggests there is an undercurrent of dissatisfaction deeper than has been reported up to now .
Like the first rumblings of an earthquake , decisions made by the more than 325 large companies Wunderman represents can eventually shake up the world of small businesses that support the companies , such as law firms , dry cleaners and restaurants , that are part of every local economy .
Some of the reasons he gives for companies wanting to leave are not new . High taxes and heavy regulation typically top the list . But issues such as homelessness and the high cost of housing are not far behind . As a result , companies or their workers are looking for options and are on the move .
But Wunderman ’ s comments aren ’ t all gloom and doom . In any fight , there is strength in numbers . And he believes that as the Bay Area grows into an economic megaregion that stretches into the Capital Region , we can turn the economic tide .
Some of that regional growth is happening naturally . Many people leaving the Bay Area are not moving out of California . Taking advantage of working their jobs remotely , Wunderman says many are moving to places like Sacramento , where housing is more affordable .
After his presentation , I started thinking about the advantages the Capital Region can add to this megaregion he envisions . We have a lot to offer . Sacramento State and UC Davis are producing highly skilled workers . UC Davis graduates 63 percent of its students in four years , according to the National Center for Educational Statistics .
And in 2019 , Sac State reported that 20.4 percent of its graduates completed their course work in four years , up from 8.8 in 2016 , representing a 127 percent increase , the largest leap in the California State University system .
Sac State and SMUD are among the founding partners that created the California Mobility Center , which could attract international investment while it develops futuristic electric transportation technology . UC Davis initiated Aggie Square in Sacramento that will create new jobs in the high-technology world of life science and agriculture research . A community benefits agreement tied to Aggie Square will provide job training and require local hiring .
A program initiated last year by the Greater Sacramento Economic Council and the Greater Sacramento Urban League to teach high-tech job skills to disadvantaged youth is poised to expand to all six counties it represents ( El Dorado , Placer , Sacramento , Sutter , Yolo and Yuba ) after 93 percent of the first class graduated with professional certifications and had jobs waiting for them , according to Barry Broome , GSEC ’ s president and CEO . The Sacramento region is recovering from the pandemic recession faster than the rest of California , according to GSEC , and that ’ s a positive sign . It doesn ’ t mean our challenges are behind us , but it shows we are on the right road .
We still need better transportation systems to connect to the Bay Area . But a small step in that connection — those many Bay Area workers now living in the more affordable Capital Region — can give their companies another reason to stay put instead of leaving the state .
What do you think ? Let me know at winnie @ comstocksmag . com .
Winnie Comstock-Carlson President and Publisher
May 2021 | comstocksmag . com 13