IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
As a source of jobs, that is. A non-profit economic development organization is looking to lure small manufactures, and it will be down here in two months to make a recruiting pitch.
Watch out, Inland Empire. A nonprofit economic development organization in Lewis County, Wash. – population 78,000 – is looking to speak with IE businesses that are looking for greener pastures.
Specifically, it’s looking to see if it can persuade some small to medium-sized manufacturers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties to move 1,100 miles north to the great Pacific Northwest.
“Small to medium-sized” means 50 employees or less, said Matt Matayoshi, executive director of the Lewis County Economic Development Council.
“We see a lot of opportunity in California, and especially in the Inland Empire,” said Matayoshi, whose job is to keep businesses in Lewis County while persuading other businesses to move there.
Matayoshi, who has worked in economic development for nearly 20 years, believes Lewis County has a lot to offer a business that they can’t find in the Inland region. The county is on Interstate 5 and is a one-hour drive away from two major markets: Seattle to the north and Portland, Oregon to the south.
It’s also covers about 2,400 square miles and is within 90 miles of five ports, which arguably matches the Inland region’s access to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Lewis County’s median household income is approximately $43,874, and its per capita income – the average income earned per person in a given area in a specific year – is $21,695, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Washington also has no personal income tax, and its corporate taxes are more business-friendly than California’s, according to Matayoshi.
“We have a lot to offer any business that wants to come here,” Matayoshi said.
Next January, Matayoshi and several members of the economic development council are scheduled to spend three days in the Inland region, trying to find manufacturing businesses that might consider moving north.
Cities and counties covet manufacturing jobs because they pay better than other jobs, are more innovative than service sector jobs and tend to attract more skilled workers.
The idea of the economic development council looking for manufacturing jobs in the Inland Empire took hold after Matayoshi met with Jim Renzas, one of the most prominent site-location experts in the world who is based in California.
Despite the difficulty of moving a business, Renzas and Matayoshi are certain there are manufacturers in the Inland region who would a least consider a move.
According to recent reports some eighteen hundred businesses left California last year, and nearly seven hundred thousand people left the state in 2018. One major Southern California relocation was when Toyota moved its North American Headquarters from Torrance to Plano, Texas and it is one of many such moves during the last few years.
“Businesses do whatever they have to do keep operating, and we’re to a point where a lot of businesses can’t afford to stay in California,” said Renzas.
Renzas has agreed to participate in the January business recruitment trip.
“There are so many hassles associated with Southern California that there are always people looking to leave,” said Renzas, whose business specializes in site selection for companies that are looking to either move or expand. “They probably have a better lifestyle up there. If nothing else, what Lewis County is trying to do tells people down here that there are places for businesses to go besides Texas, Arizona and Nevada.”
The Inland region could be vulnerable to losing small manufacturers because some small manufacturers can move without much difficulty, said Jay Prag, clinical professor of economics and finance at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
“California is a notoriously difficult place to do business,” said Prag, who will also be participating in the recruiting trip. “Lewis County is near Seattle, so if you’re in a defense or a high-tech business, a move to Seattle could be attractive.”
Unfortunately, there are few things local municipalities can do to keep a business if it wants to move.
“It never hurts to throw your arms around a business and tell them how much you appreciate them and want them to stay, but that only helps so much,” Prag said. “When a business wants to leave, you’re talking about issues like tax structure and traffic congestion. Those are things local government can’t do much about.”
