Friday Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom released a California economic development and job growth plan as his first major policy move since he was elected.
Congratulations are in order for Newsom and his report. He is showing he is serious about growing our job base by making the state attractive to manufacturing and other high wage sectors.
California’s economy needs large scale job creation in every sector. Our state must catch up and once again outpace the country’s economic growth. This will require aggressive action not seen in California for over a decade. It will also depend on developing the state’s existing job base and employers as a means to California’s expansion. In the past, Newsom has said many times, that "95 percent of growth is organic," meaning it’s easier to grow an existing California company than start a new one. We could not agree more.
For the past few years, economic development in California has comprised of picking and providing for one winning sector, but consequentially leaving many other losers, often times existing industries, such as manufacturing and other sectors. Every job should count in California.
While the politically challenged task of growing the state’s economy is immense, the essentials that any employer needs for growth are simple: predictable costs, competitive costs, adequate infrastructure, access to skilled workers and regulatory certainty.
The California manufacturing community — and it’s 1.2 million strong job base — is anxious to work with Lt. Gov. Newsom and Governor Brown to restart California’s economic engine.