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The East Bay Green Economy Industry Cluster Study, authored by the Craft Consulting Group,
was released in late June and identified four industry clusters in the East Bay where
our region has a competitive advantage. These industry clusters include: Green Building, Environmental Solution Providers, Biofuels, and Solar Technology. The objective of the study was to
"determine the existence of green economy companies in the East Bay and
recommend, if appropriate, an industry cluster based economic development
strategy to support and grow key industry clusters. Cluster-based economic
development strategies are an alternative to traditional economic development
programs, if they are carefully identified, well-designed, and properly
supported."
This
study, and other reports and information pertaining to Green business in the
East Bay, can be found at the new Green Industry page at
www.eastbayeda.org.
Click here to download the full report.
San Diego’s well-known networking organization, CONNECT, has launched a new quarterly survey called CONNECT-track in partnership with the San Diego Institute for Policy Research. According to CONNECT, the purpose is to create, “an important measure of economic strength” by establishing an ongoing survey that would be, “an independently-verified tracking of new company formations in California in seven innovative clusters: software, communications, pharma/bio/medical, computer and electronics, environmental technology, defense and transportation, and recreational goods.” East Bay EDA will also be at BIO in the Team California booth representing the East Bay -- one of the largest and most mature life sciences clusters in the country. We often overlook the fact that the East Bay is home to over 200 bioscience companies and that our cluster is growing fast. Last year in a sample of five East Bay cities, it was discovered that the number of life sciences companies had doubled between 2002 and 2007. These companies range from startup R&D operations to major manufacturers of biotech drugs, medical devices, test kits, and other products.
The survey tracks important sectors in which San Diego has an interest, but it probably shouldn’t be considered a comprehensive tracking of “innovation.” For instance, where would startup Internet social networking companies such as Second Earth and Facebook be included? Would companies that provide content for mobile telephones, like Emeryville’s MobiTV, fall under “communications” or is that category limited to telecom equipment? Would Oakland’s online Wine Commune be left out despite growing 2708% between 2003 and 2006 and becoming Inc. Magazine’s #1 food and beverage company? Has the “industrial/energy” category been left out or does “environmental technology” include companies such as new battery and biofuel companies?
Despite these questions and limitations, it is an interesting project and in the first quarterly survey the East Bay fared well. In 2007 five of the top ten counties were from the Bay Area including both Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. For 2007 Alameda created 170 new companies finishing second behind Santa Clara in the Bay Area and fifth in the state. Contra Costa created 83 new companies and finished tenth in the state. The Top Ten:
Los Angeles
Santa Clara
San Diego
Orange
Alameda
San Francisco
Riverside
San Mateo
San Bernardino
Contra Costa
Refer to: CONNECT Newsletter, June 24, 2008, http://www.connect.org/news/newsletter
A popular conception of the Bay Area is that the largest companies are either the new economy companies in the South Bay or the traditional economy companies in San Francisco. Therefore it is worth noting that the latest Fortune 500 list confirms once again that Chevron, an East Bay company located in San Ramon, is the largest publicly held company in the Bay Area and third largest in the nation. Not to be outdone in the new economy, the East Bay is also home to as many as 200 biotech/life science companies including the Bay Area’s second largest biotech company, Bayer’s worldwide biotech headquarters in Berkeley.
June 17 – 20, 2008, East Bay EDA along with eight other economic development organizations helped staff the Team California booth and kiosk in the California Pavilion at BIO 2008. BIO is the biotech industry’s largest and most prestigious trade show in the nation with over 20,000 attending this year’s event in San Diego. Attendees came from 70 countries and 48 states,
and most also had booths or pavilions in the exhibit hall. The California Pavilion was especially swamped the second day when Governor Schwarzenegger made an appearance a few feet away from our booth to deliver some comments and sign a few autographs. A number of people visited the booth to offer comments and ask questions with approximately 170 leaving contact information for further follow-up.
Team California represents economic development organizations throughout the state that voluntarily joined together to continue marketing the state after the demise of the State’s Technology Trade and Commerce Agency. It was East Bay EDA’s Keith Sutton, incidentally, who initially organized and subsequently managed this project for several years.
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