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Making it Work
Employers are finding fewer hurdles and more employees in Lincoln , Rocklin and Roseville
by Graham Womack photo by Mike Graff
Sacramento has long been considered a core for employment opportunities in the region , drawing commuters daily from the surrounding suburbs into the city . That was part of a mid-20th century philosophy of land-use planning that people would be willing to drive greater distances to work in exchange for large homes , good schools and safe communities for their families .
In recent years , however , this trend has started to shift .
While many residents still commute from southern parts of Placer County into Sacramento every day , Placer Valley — the cities of Lincoln , Rocklin and Roseville — has also become a major employment hub , attracting a range of companies and sectors .
The employment landscape Chris Burnley needed people . His Hayward-based company , Corefact , which markets automation software to the real estate industry , was struggling to find employees in the Bay Area . “ It ’ s too expensive . Nobody can afford to live ( in the Bay Area ) anymore ,” he says . So when his company was ready to expand , it added an office in Roseville in 2018 .
A 2017 report by Beacon Economics found that Placer Valley is home to roughly 90 percent of Placer County residents and about 80 percent of its jobs , with total employment in the area at the time pegged at 121,000 jobs . Most of South Placer ’ s businesses at that point were small , with the report noting that around 3,400 of the nearly 3,800 establishments in the area employed fewer than 50 people .
“ The backbone of our economy are small businesses ,” says Sherri Conway , Placer County ’ s economic development director .
There are also major employers in each city . In Roseville — where there are 89,492 jobs , with a median household income of $ 84,900 — the largest private-sector employers are Kaiser Per-
2020 | comstocksmag . com 15