1/10 MEF Blog Topic: What’s ahead for MEF in 2019?
January 10, 2019
As we all flip the calendar to 2019 MEF is excited about conducting a range of activities around two critical issues affecting Marin County’s economy: workforce development and business retention & expansion. Let me explain why we are focusing on these areas:
The data shows that 60-80% of a region’s economic growth results from existing businesses, not attraction of new businesses. This is important because Marin’s economy does not rely on, or encourage, major manufacturing or other industries that are characterized by large-scale companies (1000 employees or more). In fact, we have an inverse situation here in Marin County; over 85% of our businesses are 10 people or fewer. For smaller employers, expanding a business carries risk but that risk can be mitigated with an efficient and responsive business environment. So MEF is going to work on a County-wide level with public and private sector stakeholders to address issues that affect businesses ability to compete and sustain.
Part of the ability to compete is having a secure workforce. Employers in Marin are facing difficulty in retaining and attracting employees. Fortunately, there are a number of good organizations in Marin providing skills training and tools to link job seekers with employers to help ease this challenge. However, MEF is thinking about Marin’s future workforce-not only our younger job seekers but also the needs (and emerging needs) of our employers in important industries like biotech, healthcare and the creative industries to name just a few. Marin (and the Bay Area) is the envy of a lot of regions for having these industries locate here but if we don’t ensure companies have a talent pipeline or a good business environment we could just as easily lose them to other regions. MEF has an important role to play here by helping to understand the future trends of these industries and what that means from a workforce perspective-including linking industry demand back to job seekers, training entities and the education sector.
To kick things off in 2019 we are hosting “Forecasting the Future: Workforce Challenges and the Future of Work” on January 29th in association with the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce. This important event will feature discussions on the challenges employers face with hiring and keeping employees as well as a preview of Marin’s economy in the year ahead. You can register for this event below.
So MEF is excited about what’s ahead in 2019 because we know our work in these areas will have value to all of Marin’s residents while keeping our economy in focus. Make sure to be on the lookout for more public events and important studies that represent our effort to secure Marin’s economic future-in 2019 and beyond!
-Mike Blakeley, CEO, Marin Economic Forum
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