 |
 |
|
Berkeley Retains Manufacturing Jobs |
|
Linking workers with jobs, helping firms find sites for expansion, and creating and facilitating financing programs are leading to successful industrial retention and attraction efforts in Berkeley, California. The flight of manufacturing jobs to outlying areas where manufacturers find cheaper land and lower development costs caused the loss of valuable industrial jobs in the 1980s and 1990s, explains Bill Lambert, the Berkeley Office of Economic Development's (OED's) manager of economic development. To stem the loss of jobs in west Berkeley, OED devised a variety of industrial retention and expansion tools and initiatives during the 1990s, reversing 20 years of declining manufacturing employment in the city. In 1999 OED's outreach efforts linked hundreds of Berkeley residents to jobs and helped more than 10 businesses to expand or relocate locally. In short, Berkeley's efforts have led to success—the city is retaining inner-city manufacturing jobs. According to Lambert, OED's comprehensive toolbox includes zoning changes, infrastructure improvements, finance and permit streamlining, site location assistance, and public works issues resolution—all of which added to a stable and growing manufacturing base. Through Berkeley's First Source Employment program, OED links qualified city residents with local companies. OED's efforts have helped to expand existing businesses and attract new ones, including a biomedical firm, a chocolate maker, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, and a fiber optics company. Berkeley's industrial retention activities began with a rezoning effort in the late 1980s, which resulted in an update to the Berkeley Area Plan that protected industrial and manufacturing industries. Updating the area plan for west Berkeley, where many industrial businesses were located, would preserve jobs for lower-skilled residents. OED recognized that industrial jobs are valuable to lower-skilled workers who have limited education or experience and provide important opportunities for low-income people. Lambert explains that industrial jobs generally provide better pay and benefits, are full time and often unionized, provide internal/onsite training, and often have the promotional ladders that many service industry jobs lack. Revisions to the Berkeley Area Plan included planning meetings and conversations for all of the local players—planners, residents, unions, commercial brokers, and other interested parties. The result was special zoning that called for the preservation of portions of the industrial area, where conversion to higher use was not allowed or severely restricted. Special zoning protects manufacturers from being pushed out of the city by rising real estate costs. The revised Berkeley Area Plan was adopted by the city council in 1994. Addressing the needs of businesses. Throughout the 1990s OED used various resources to reach out to businesses and identify their needs. OED conducted interviews with all of the firms in west Berkeley, partnered with the chamber of commerce to plan lunches with industrial firms, and mailed a one-page survey to all manufacturers, top tax generators, and major employers in the area. These efforts were designed to prevent local manufacturing firms from closing or moving and to help companies expand, add jobs, and increase their hiring of disadvantaged city residents. Through these outreach efforts, OED identified the needs of local firms—low-cost expansion space; qualified workers; improved refuse pickup, police surveillance, and public infrastructure; and ongoing political support for industrial retention—and planned initiatives to help them address these concerns. As part of its continuing assistance to the firms, OED delivers business retention services that include:
OED also encourages all businesses that receive its help to hire entry-level workers through Berkeley's free First Source Employment program, which refers qualified local job candidates from area job-training agencies and other community sources. The city requires First Source agreements from firms that apply for discretionary permits for more than 7,500 square feet of commercial space, for construction that costs more than $100,000, for public works construction, and from firms that receive financing from the city. Employers give First Source early notification of job openings and consider First Source candidates for jobs before looking elsewhere. Through First Source, OED has linked 1,500 Berkeley residents to local jobs since 1986, placing 250 people in jobs in FY 1997 alone. Minorities filled 90 percent of the jobs and formerly homeless individuals filled 10 percent; one-half of the new hires came from southern and western Berkeley, which are low-income areas. Success of industrial retention efforts. OED's industrial retention efforts have been extremely successful. Lambert reports that one-half of the 10 businesses that OED has helped retain and/or expand in FY 1999 were industrial firms. In addition, several companies have relocated to Berkeley, including a chocolate maker (25 workers); a manufacturer of biomaterials, membranes, and specialty polymers for medical devices (20 workers in 1996, expanded to 40 and renewed its lease in 1999); a pharmaceutical firm (70 employees); a furniture manufacturer (20 employees); and a sweater manufacturer (13 employees). Berkeley companies that have expanded include a pharmaceutical manufacturer that grew to 1,200 employees and purchased a 14.5-acre site in west Berkeley, where it is adding 330,000 square feet of manufacturing space, 105,000 square feet of distribution space, and 105,000 square feet of office space. A fiber optics technology manufacturer grew from 85 employees in 1997 to 250 employees in 1999 and expects to add 150 additional employees within the next few years. A bread company, a steel manufacturer, and a printer also are expanding. Changes in the business climate. Berkeley's challenges continue to increase. The industrial retention and expansion efforts in Berkeley began before the technology revolution was in full swing, so rezoning and outreach efforts could not take into account the impact that the high-technology industry would have on manufacturing or the city. Lambert indicated that the planners had "no clue what was about to come." Lambert describes tremendous pressure on the manufacturing space in west Berkeley to be converted to higher-use space. The pressure stems from speculative developers and industrial owners seeking to convert industrial space to office, research and development, and flex space—all of which command higher rents. However, Lambert defends the existing policy, believing that "a holistic development policy mandates pursuit of a mixed economy, which includes industrial activity. The naysayers differentiate that manufacturing and technology are mutually exclusive, but in reality manufacturing processes are becoming more technological as well." Despite all the pressure on the real estate market to up-zone, "so far, the city council has held the line on industrial zoning," continues Lambert. For more information, contact: Bill Lambert, Manager of Economic Development, Office of Economic Development, City of Berkeley, 2118 Milvia Street, Suite 200, Berkeley, CA 94704, (510) 705–8180, Blambert@ci.berkeley.ca.us. Or see: Expanding Economic Opportunity: Lessons from the Field, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, May 2000.
|