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MAY 2016  
FEATURE STORY
/ JABIL WOLFE DOUBLES MANUFACTURING SPACE
#sjgrowth

In response to growing demand for its products, Jabil Wolfe, a division of Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE: JBL) has announced its decision to lease a 110,542 square foot facility at 5981 Optical Court in South San Jose, effectively doubling Jabil Wolfe's existing footprint with additional space for high-purity assembly, machining, sheet metal fabrication, welding, pipe bending, orbital welding, frame assembly and system integration.

"We have been a fixture in San Jose's capital equipmen t manufacturing community for more than two decades," said Craig Trotter, general manager of Jabil Wolfe.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo congratulated Jabil Wolfe, whose expansion fits with the Mayor's "Built in San Jose" initiative launched last year.  "I am extremely proud that a company with a long-time San Jose presence is helping to reinvigorate American manufacturing and create more middle income jobs for our residents."

As part of the "Built in San Jose" initiative, the City of San Jose is committed to supporting local manufacturers through expediting the permitting process, reducing fees for retrofitting manufacturing buildings, collaborating with workforce training organizations to create a pipeline of eligible workers, and partnering with local energy companies to reduce energy costs. 

For more information, contact   Chris Burton, Senior Business Development Manager.

 
DEVELOPERS & BROKERS
/ DEVELOPERS GIVE KUDOS TO CITY STAFF
#sjgrowth

The Registry, a Bay Area real estate publication, convened a distinguished panel of six leading regional and national developers for the Silicon Valley Developer Forum on April 12. Addressing a crowd of more than 200, the panel shared their companies' projections for the Silicon Valley real estate market. The companies represented on the panel all have significant projects underway in San Jose, including:
  • Andy Shorenstein - Shorenstein: a mixed use project with 400K sf of office and 800 housing units
  • David Cropper - TMG Partners: conversion of 800K sf of former Cisco offices into state-of-the-art R&D facilities, already fully tenanted
  • Don Little - Trammell Crow: #DIRIDON,  940K sf off office, 340 sf of retail and dining, and 345 housing units between Santa Clara and San Fernando streets at Delmas
  • John Sobrato - Sobrato Organization: multiple commercial and housing developments throughout San Jose, including plans for a 23-story, 399-unit apartment tower at 150 S. Second St., next to the downtown Safeway Market store and The 88 condo tower
  • Mark Regoli - South Bay Development: a four-building, 615K sf development on First Street at 237 in North San Jose
  • Jan Sweetnam - Federal Realty: two projects on Santana Row including a six-story office tower and build-out of the Century theaters site.
In addition to voicing cautious optimism about the life-span of the region's current recovery, the panel agreed that San Jose is a great place in which to do business.

For more information, contact Nanci Klein, OED Director of Real Estate.

SMALL BUSINESS
/ SAN JOSE'S SMALL BUSINESS SUMMIT - REGISTER NOW!
#sjgrowth

Registrations for the 5th Annual Summit on Entrepreneurship and Innovation  on May 6 are pouring in, so register now!

Part of San Jose's Small Business Week celebrations, the Summit brings together Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, City leaders, experts and investors, for a range of workshops and lectures.
  • San Jose City Mayor Sam Liccardo and Santa Clara County Board President Dave Cortese will kick off the event.
  • Maria Contreras-Sweet will deliver the keynote address which will be streamed live. She is a member of President Obama's Cabinet and SBA Administrator.
  • Hear from OED Director Kim Walesh on San Jose's Business Tax Modernization Proposal.
Not only is the event streamed live, but simultaneous translation in Spanish and Vietnamese add accessibility.

The Summit will take place in the Rotunda of City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara Street, San Jose. The program runs from 8 am to 1 pm.  
At the event, attendees can get help, advice and no-cost counselling from many organizations, including Wells Fargo and other traditional and non-traditional lenders who will provide guidance on securing financing.

With as many as 300 anticipated attendees, this is likely to be the largest business-oriented event that OED will organize this year.

Admission is free but you need to register here. For more information contact  BJ Sims with work2future.
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MANUFACTURING
/ GLOBAL, LOCAL TRENDS SUPPORT SAN JOSE MANUFACTURING GROWTH
#BuiltInSanJose

San Jose's manufacturing prowess was in the spotlight on April 5 as industry leaders and city officials gathered at Jabil's Blue Sky Center for a Silicon Valley Manufacturing Roundtable event celebrating the release of a new report from the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. 

Titled " Reinventing Manufacturing - How the Transformation of Manufacturing is Creating New Opportunity for California," the report d etails trends that bode well for San Jose, including the folowing major factors driving manufacturing growth: 
  • Technology advances, such as 3D printing and flexible automation
  • Customer demand for customized products
  • The move from off-shoring to on-shoring as China costs rise
  • Efficiencies in manufacturing leveraged by sensor and data analytics advances'
  • An increasingly skilled and trained workforce.
San Jose is particularly suited to manufacturing expansion, according to the report, as it enables manufacturers to locate near customers in the high tech sector. "Localized supply chains that have formed around subsectors such as energy-efficient lighting, healthcare devises, and automotive vehicles...have enabled high-value production to occur in close proximity to research activities."

The report provides valuable insights that affirm the ongoing work of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Roundtable (SVMR), a quarterly convening of businesses, educational institutions and government to identify and address key issues facing local manufacturers. SVMR is a regional initiative led by San Jose economic development staff in partnership with the cities of Fremont, Morgan Hill and Santa Clara.  

For more information,   contact   Chris Burton , OED Senior Business Development Manager.

INTERNATIONAL
/ SJC GOING GLOBAL
#FlySJC

In April, Air China received federal regulatory approval to launch flights from Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) to Shanghai, China, beginning in June, 2016. This is just the latest international destination accessible through SJC.

In November, 2015, two daily Air Canada flights to Vancouver were announced, to launch in May. Also, Europe's largest airline, Lufthansa, announced nonstop flights to Frankfurt, Germany, planned to start July 1 this year. 

British Airways will begin flying nonstop to London in May, and Hainan Airlines last year launched its first nonstop flight to Beijing, one  of the most important destination for Silicon Valley business and leisure travelers.

For more information on SJC air service, contact   Joe Hedges, OED's International  Programs Manager. 

REGIONAL ECONOMY
dollar_bill.jpg
/ SAN JOSE RELEASES STUDY ON REGIONAL IMPACT OF $15 MINIMUM WAGE
#sjworks

San Jose's City Council received a report from UC Berkeley' s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, which shows that raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2019 throughout Santa Clara County would generate an average pay increase of $3,200 or 19.4% of annual earnings for 250,000 workers, representing one quarter of the county's total workforce.

96% of the workers who would receive pay increases are over 20 years of age; 57% are over 30. Affected workers are household breadwinners, bringing home half of their families' income on average.

The estimated impact to businesses countywide would be an average payroll cost increase of 1.0%. Restaurants, which have the highest share of minimum wage workers compared to other industries, would experience an average payroll increase of 9.6%. The prices charged by businesses as a result of the higher minimum wage would increase 0.2% across all industries and 2.9% for restaurants.

Additionally, the City commissioned BW Research Partnership to conduct a countywide survey of more than 500 employers, focused on industries which are most likely to be impacted by a minimum wage increase. The majority of surveyed employers anticipate that they will likely have to increase prices for customers (66%) and that their employees with be more satisfied and productive given a minimum wage increase (66%). Seventy-six percent of respondents believe a minimum wage increase makes sense given the region's high cost of living but that it will make it harder to start and grow businesses locally (61%).

San Jose set a trend when it raised its minimum wage to a rate above the state threshold, in 2012. Other cities have since surpassed that mark, which built the momentum for the statewide bill, which Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a bill incrementally raising California's minimum wage to $15 by 2022.

The report is also being considered for its regional implications by the Cities Association of Santa Clara County.

For more information, contact Michelle Thong, Business Development Officer, OED.

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LIFESTYLE
/ DOWNTOWN SAN JOSE SUPPORTS A VIBRANT COFFEEHOUSE SCENE
#SJDowntown

Coffee aficionados have a growing choice of coffeehouses in Downtown San Jose, starting with the well-known B2, Philz, Caffe Frascati, Devine Grind, and Bel Bacio.

More recent additions to this burgeoning coffee scene are Social Policy (SO/PO), Ola's, Voltaire Coffee House, Vero's Coffee Bar and Kartma Coffee opening up just in the last year. We just learned that Chromatic Coffee will be opening up a new café on 2nd Street soon.

It's nothing but good news for those of us who just have to have a really good cup of coffee to start the day!

For more information,   contact Tina Kapoor, OED  Senior Executive Analyst and Downtown Coordinator.

Find Your Place
#WHYSJ

San Jose inventors claim more patents per year than any other city in the nation. 

 

In 2015, San Jose generated 9,369 patents. 

 

Source: USPTO Patent Database

  
HOW WE HELP

OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIGITAL BROCHURES & PRESENTATIONS

San Jose Brochure

/ Downtown San Jose Brochure

 

BUSINESS ASSISTANCE

PROGRAM FACT SHEETS

  
For more information, call 408.535.8181 or contact Elisabeth Handler
  
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