7/31 Blog Topic: Retaining and Expanding Marin Businesses is Critical for Today and Tomorrow
July 31, 2019
Last month one of my favorite local bike shops closed its doors. I had noticed changes in the store over its lifetime, from selling bikes to focusing on more profitable merchandise and repairs, but even that wasn’t enough to save the business. Marin residents are watching this story repeat itself with some other beloved merchants. On the flipside, some successful companies like Glassdoor and Straus Creamery, are moving out of Marin because their expansion demands, like talent or space, cannot be satisfied by remaining here. All of this is troubling for a lot of good reasons:
Research shows that over 80% of any U.S. region’s economic growth comes from local businesses – not by attracting new ones. Yet if our local businesses grow – and then leave – there needs to be something to replace them to continue the pipeline of jobs, tax revenues and corporate philanthropy that Marinites depend on;
To that extent, the current environment for starting a business in Marin is not great. Marin has just a few “incubator” spaces where entrepreneurs can access assistance they need to grow their companies and as technology sector experts have noted, we lack the critical mass of venture capital funding that would allow successful start-ups to scale;
The recent “National Citizens Survey” commissioned by the Marin County Board of Supervisors revealed that 98% of Marin resident respondents (over 3,000) purchase goods or services from a business located in Marin County. If those goods and services are not offered because we don’t have those businesses, then residents suffer; and
A significant proportion of our residents leave Marin each day to work in places where there is a higher volume of high-skill jobs (with high salaries); the resulting commute traffic is not only stressing our infrastructure but stressing those individuals who do it every day.
These issues, and the many others I did not share for the sake of brevity, are things that can be addressed and will be addressed through the “Marin County Business Retention & Expansion” project implemented by MEF and community partners. In listening to over 50 businesses (and another 100+ are lined up for focus groups and interviews), we are finding that businesses have solutions but not the time, energy or critical mass of colleagues to take on these issues. For example:
Retailers know they need more foot traffic but that will only occur if cities and towns are on board promoting more visitors (read by some as “traffic”) and have good marketing strategies. Retailers also feel the squeeze of the “Amazon effect” but don’t know best practices to compete.
Marin has never had a strong business attraction spirit but the current resident landscape (more working professionals and higher education attainment relative to the past) as well as the desire of companies to provide quality of life for their employees has resulted in more companies considering Marin as a location. How are we ensuring those kinds of companies can learn about locating in Marin?
These are just two examples of the interest and desires of local businesses that are being communicated through the project. Residents (and policymakers) should be excited that MEF, along with 17 community partners like Chambers of Commerce and other business groups, will use this input to drive evidence-based solutions and programs that can lead to a more vibrant local business community. Those solutions will allow our local businesses to survive and thrive-today and tomorrow.
Mike Blakeley, CEO
Marin Economic Forum
Tags: blog
