A recent Marin IJ story reported that Marin grew more in 2017 (population) than its county neighbors of Sonoma and Napa, attributing much of that growth to last October’s wine country wildfires. The population estimates were provided by the state Department of Finance and showed that Marin County had a net people gain of 624, or 0.2%, compared with net population losses of 0.3% in both Napa and Sonoma counties. Throughout the state, more than 13,200 housing units were lost last year, mostly to fires in northern and southern California, the IJ reported.
You can feel the winds of change shifting in the community as the City’s Economic Development Department rises up to meet an exciting new market reality.
“The economy has done very well in recent years,” notes Novato’s Assistant City Manager, Peggy Flynn. “People are ready to embrace change, and Novato is well positioned for the coming transformation.” Flynn points to a steady increase in the demand for local housing, as well as a renewed smart-growth mindset, in creating a momentum for positive innovation.
Marin’s median home price reached $1.144 million last month, up 23 percent over the $930,000 median price a year earlier, a real estate data tracking firm reported Tuesday.
The number of new and resale homes and condos sold in Marin dropped 9.9 percent, from 263 homes sold in March 2017 to 237 last month, according to Irvine-based CoreLogic.
Across the Bay Area, prices rose 14.7 percent over the same period. CoreLogic analyst Andrew LePage said the increase “reflects a change in market mix, where a higher share of transactions is occurring in mid- to high-priced markets.”
Marin Economic Forum (MEF) is celebrating a significant transportation improvement. Last Friday, April 20, Caltrans opened the long-awaited third eastbound lane on the San-Rafael-Richmond Bridge. The third-lane is providing much-needed, instant relief to thousands of working commuters leaving work in the afternoons and evenings and is open from 2 pm to 7 pm weekdays. Highly functioning infrastructure is essential to talent attraction and worker productivity some of the issues we have been concerned about at MEF.
Our new members and sponsors, BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc, receiving the Large Business of the Year award at San Rafael’s “State of the City” event.
By Keri Brenner
A homegrown San Rafael grocer took his 15 minutes of fame to steal the show at the “State of the City” dinner and awards ceremony this week at Peacock Gap Clubhouse in San Rafael.
Andy Bachich, earlier named “Citizen of the Year” in San Rafael, on Thursday delivered a passionate call for action to support local businesses before about 420 attendees at the annual San Rafael Chamber of Commerce event.
San Rafael, CA(April 5, 2018) – The Board of Supervisors met for three days last week to hear recommendations by county departments that must pitch in to help close a projected budgetary gap of $5.6 million over the next two years.
The purpose of the hearings, County Administrator Matthew Hymel said, was for the board to review the recommendations—meant to achieve a 5 percent across-the-board spending reduction—before approving a balanced 2018-2019 budget in June. This is the first time in five years that the county has asked for reductions from its departments.
San Rafael, CA (April 5, 2018) – Marin Economic Forum Chief Executive Officer Robin Sternberg announced that it is hosting an event in San Rafael on May 4 to address Marin’s Housing Shortage – The Cost and Potential Solutions.
In nine months on the job, Marin Economic Forum CEO Robin Sternberg is already zeroing on areas key if Marin is to continue to prosper.
“Marin has a workforce shortage, economic inequity, a housing shortage and other factors that influence our ability to grow and prosper,” she said. “Demographic changes are also impacting the region. MEF — with county of Marin’s support — can play a role in developing a plan that focuses on a vision and how we should direct investment to ensure future economic success while maintaining our unique and special assets.”
Sternberg served previously served as the senior economic development adviser on the American Jobs Project at University of California, Berkeley.
SSU Economic Outlook Conference in Rohnert Park on March 2, 2018 (Photo by Anthony Borders/NBBJ)
With national and California economies good, economist Robert Eyler, Ph.D., is positive about continued expansion — perhaps through 2021 — and believes Marin County will not recess without a national and state recession coming first.
“There are two major economy drivers in Marin — biosciences/biotech research linked to health and wellness, along with tourism, hospitality, food and beverage categories,” said the chief economist for Marin Economic Forum. He’s also dean of the School of Extended and International Education senior international officer and professor of economics at Sonoma State University. “These industry clusters should be supported and enabled to increase in breadth and depth in the years ahead.
“Tourism is big with so much weekly flow of visitors through Marin, the beverage and hospitality sector still has room to grow — including West Marin, home of a burgeoning artisan cheese market in a setting that includes scenic attractions and ocean views.”
Independence Fosters Marin General Hospital’s Innovative Spirit
By Lee Domanico, Chief Executive Officer
Much has been said about our success as a locally owned, independent facility. The hospital is now on solid operational and financial ground. Independence has allowed us to build our own infrastructure, finance, IT, supply management, and executive operations. Independence also allows us more room to be innovative as we develop programs for the community, foster the expertise of our medical staff and ensure we provide a safe, healing environment for our patients where our staff can do their best work.
