May 14, 2004, from 8:30 – 10:00 AM

The Oakland Marriott

Oakland, California

Sponsored by:

Colliers International

East Bay Municipal Utility District

Media Sponsors:

Comcast

East Bay Business Times

Over 180 EDAB members and guests participated in EDAB’s Annual East Bay Economic Outlook and Spring General Membership Meeting.  The session featured presentations on the State’s actions to improve the business climate and the economic outlook prepared by the UCLA Anderson Forecast.  Members were also updated on the launch of the East Bay Jobs/Housing Coalition and the Bay Area Goods Movement Task Force initiatives. 

David Crane, Special Advisor for Jobs and Economic Growth, Governor's Office, provided an update on the Governor's activities, with particular emphasis on business, housing and infrastructure.

Zach Wasserman, Partner, Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean, provided an update on the Bay Area Goods Movement Task Force and the need for an organized effort that brings Bay Area business, labor and community leaders together to review, evaluate and advocate for solutions that will address the growing problem of transportation congestion for commuters and businesses.

Mike Brown, Chair of the Real Estate Group of Morgan Miller Blair, reported on the East Bay Jobs/Housing Coalition that is promoting a regional consensus to remove barriers and increase the availability of housing.  The work of the Coalition will focus on the findings and recommendations of the recently released report entitled Ten Steps to Housing Affordability in the East Bay and California by the East Bay Business Times. EDAB members are encouraged to review this report and let EDAB know which areas they support, what needs work and how we should proceed (look for a survey page on this website by May 21, 2004, that will facilitate this feedback).

Dr. Chris Thornberg, Senior Economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast, provided the economic outlook for the nation, state, Bay Area and East Bay.  Highlights of this presentation included a zero net job growth projection for the Bay Area through 2004, in response to revisions of the employment data for the last month.  Those numbers place San Jose with the worst recession of any metropolitan area in the nation.   In 2005, however, 15,000 net new jobs are projected to be created in the Bay Area.  While the US, California and even the East Bay have recovered from the current recession, inflation, with associated rises in mortgage interest rates, a slowing of construction and a decrease in spending (more saving by consumers) could change that picture negatively, as could changes in the economies of our trading partners.  You can view the information Chris shared via his PowerPoint presentation for this speech, which has been converted to PDF format, by clicking on the following link East Bay Forecast May 2004. For more forecast information, please go to Chris Thornburg's April Forecast on this website by clicking on the East Bay Economic Forecast April 2004.

Comcast videotaped the program for cable viewing.  Please click on here for a broadcast schedule (this will be updated as soon as the new schedule becomes available).