The Marin Economic Forum (MEF) enables Marin’s stakeholders to collaborate on improving the County’s economic vitality.
It’s our job to watch the economy and interpret the risks and opportunities for our residents and businesses.
Marin County is not a large economy, but it is a successful one. Over 64 percent of our population is employed and the median household income is almost double the national average.
We are fortunate to have important sectors like food and beverage manufacturing, agriculture, life sciences, and creative industries.
Low unemployment rates in Marin County and across the state and country are creating difficulties for employers to attract and retain new talent and high costs of living foster other challenges, according to presenters at a conference put on by Marin Economic Forum.
Presenters at Tuesday’s event put on by the nonprofit economic development organization in San Rafael included Robert Eyler, director of the Center for Regional Economics at Sonoma State University, and Craig Nelson, who chairs the San Rafael-based Nelson Family of Companies.
No recession before 2020 at the earliest and higher Marin home prices in 2019 were among the predictions made at an event sponsored by the Marin Economic Forum this week.
“Right now it seems unlikely that we would have a recession before the end of 2020,” said professor Robert Eyler, head of the economics department at Sonoma State University and the forum’s chief economist.
“I think next year will be a little trickier,” he said. “In 2021, I’m not sure yet; the clouds have yet to part for me.”
An estimated 300 people turned out for the breakfast meeting Tuesday at Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael. Eyler spoke to the Independent Journal about his findings on Wednesday.
We are pleased to announce Craig Nelson as our keynote speaker for Forecasting the Future event on Tuesday January 29th, 2019.
Craig Nelson is the Chairman of the Board of the Nelson Family of Companies and iWorkGlobal. He joined Nelson in 2001 as General Counsel. He led the Nelson staffing units from 2005 through 2011 as Executive Vice President. Craig served as Chief Executive Officer from January 2012 through September, 2013.
Marin Economic Forum SAN RAFAEL, CA, November 15, 2018 – Former Bay Area business owner and economic development expert Mike Blakeley has been hired as the next Chief Executive Officer of the Marin Economic Forum (MEF). Mr. Blakeley, grew up in Marin County and comes to the MEF after 15 years with Nathan Associates Inc., a global economics consulting firm where he recently served as a Managing Director. In this role Mr. Blakeley was responsible for implementation of large-scale economic development programs in emerging markets funded by country donors, including the U.S. government.
On May 4, Marin Economic Forum (MEF) hosted a briefing on “Marin’s Housing Shortage – Costs and Potential Solutions,” where our economists presented extensive research and analysis on the impact of our chronic lack of housing supply.
Some impacts are explicit, like having some of the worst traffic in the North Bay.
Other impacts are less explicit for most of us, such as Marin’s ranking for the highest minority income disparity in the state of California.
Our analysis calculated the costs for Marin County businesses, small and large, from lost consumer spending to challenges employers face in hiring and retaining the workforce needed to run their businesses. Marin employers report a lack of housing is causing serious workforce problems with over 60 percent of workers and over 70,000 cars commuting to Marin each day.
We are pleased to report that James Morante of Engage Strategies has been retained on contract to fulfill MEF’s new program – Employer-Education Partnership, a new model for Marin companies to improve the supply of workers for Marin’s target industries. The initiative was launched after MEF was awarded a $50,000 grant in February from the Workforce Alliance of the North Bay and $50,000 in matching funds from College of Marin to examine current and future employment needs in Marin County for two industries – tourism/hospitality and business/technology.
Marin Economic Forum held its first significant event on Housing and Inequality at the Embassy Suites in San Rafael May 4. The turnout was excellent with 170 attendees, including press representatives from the Marin Independent Journal, North Bay Business Journal, Marin Magazine and The Registry. After opening remarks from MEF CEO Robin Sternberg, Forum’s Chief Economist Rob Eyler presented an economic overview of Marin County trends related to employment, housing and commuting, which was followed by the research findings of Jesús Guzmán, a temporary Economic Policy Consultant on loan to MEF from the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, where he is completing graduate work for a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree.
A 10-foot bike alley on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, as depicted in a project illustration, would cost $13.5 million or more. (Bay Area Toll Authority image)
By Mark Prado
A plan to put a bike lane on the westbound top deck of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge is being questioned by a Marin supervisor who says using the space for vehicles makes more sense.
Commuters should see some traffic relief when a third lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge opens on the bottom, eastbound deck, a move set for April that could happen as soon as next month, transportation officials said. That project is coming in at $27 million.
SAN RAFAEL, CA, November 15, 2018 – Former Bay Area business owner and economic development expert Mike Blakeley has been hired as the next Chief Executive Officer of the Marin Economic Forum (MEF). Mr. Blakeley, grew up in Marin County and comes to the MEF after 15 years with Nathan Associates Inc., a global economics consulting firm where he recently served as a Managing Director. In this role Mr. Blakeley was responsible for implementation of large-scale economic development programs in emerging markets funded by country donors, including the U.S. government.
