Comstock's magazine 0919 - September 2019 | Page 33

lends itself to that kind of illegal activity,
unfortunately. I’m hopeful that with the
legalization of cannabis that regulation
and control will be better, and (canna-
bis) will be less of a negative impact in
our community, but I suppose we’re in
a wait-and-see mode right now. I heard
on the news the results of the (California
Bureau of Cannabis Control’s) expectation
of having brought in $200 million by now,
and having only brought in $2 million —
1 percent of the expectation.
we’re out of the earthquake zone, we’re
(close to) Tahoe, we’re two hours from San
Francisco, we’re close to an international
airport. n
Sena Christian is managing editor of Com-
stock’s. On Twitter @SenaCChristian or
senachristian.com.
Tell us about your business in
El Dorado County.
TWEET US @COMSTOCKSMAG
How has the region’s affordable-hous-
ing crisis affected efforts to retain or at-
tract workers and, therefore, businesses
in the county?
Affordable housing is important to com-
munity, not just business. We have a lot
of generational families, pioneer families
that have been here for a very long time,
… and the young people will go away to
school and they can’t come back, and
that’s really sad. It is almost exclusively
(due to) the cost of housing. The lack of
workforce housing is an issue in many
communities but seems to be more im-
pactful to El Dorado County. Govern-
ments, both local and state, could develop
programs to create incentives to make it
possible for developers to produce an af-
fordable product.
What do you want readers to know
about doing business in El Dorado
County?
El Dorado County has it all. We are at a
tipping point right now because of the new
paradigm and new culture in county gov-
ernment, because of the opportunities in
our agriculture industry and our ag-tour-
ism — we now have 71 wineries … with
more to come. … We have the educated
workforce that lives here and commutes
out of El Dorado County. So to be able
to come here as a startup or relocating
your business to El Dorado County, not
only do you have the workforce and the
business-friendly environment, but you
have the quality of life that is untouch-
able anywhere else. Our central location,
September 2019 | comstocksmag.com
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