By the BF Staff
From the January/February 2018 Issue
If California were a country, it would have the sixth-largest economy in the world. While everyone knows that a significant portion of our vegetables are grown in CA, the Golden State has launched an aggressive program to make sure we know about the manufactured products that are produced in California.
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) recently announced a partnership with California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC) designed to increase the benefits for businesses that participate in GO-Biz’s recently launched ‘CA Made’ state labeling program for manufacturers. The partnership provides CA Made manufacturers with access to the statewide benefits of CMTC’s ‘Made in California’ program.
“Since launching in 2011, CMTC’s Made in California program has grown to include more than 900 small-and medium-sized manufacturers. Through this partnership with GO-Biz and the CA Made program, we will significantly enhance the ability of California manufacturers to promote products that are made in California,” said CMTC’s President and CEO Jim Watson.
CA Made is a state labeling program designed to encourage consumer product awareness and promote the purchase of products manufactured in California. The program is administered by GO-Biz. CA Made provides the following services to approved products:
- A license to use the CA Made label on products, packaging, and point of sale merchandising.
- Placement of the product and company biography on the CA Made website.
- Information on services from program partners.
- Marketing via GO-Biz’s social media sites (e.g., Twitter, Facebook).
- Access to CMTC’s Made in California partnership benefits.
SHASTA COUNTY: NORTH OF UNEXPECTED
Shasta County is in a part of Northern California it calls Upstate California—and it wants everyone to know it also is “North of Expected.”
We are a different place, with different people, full of opportunities for companies and talented, hardworking people to join our wonderful community. If you are looking to establish a beach head in a community that will be supportive and committed to your success, the communities in Shasta County should be on your radar.
Our area is located North of Sacramento and extends to the Oregon border, it would be similar to Upstate New York. We are a more rural community, with smaller cities. We are home to many manufacturers and technology startups. Our people are hard-working, committed employees and citizens. Our cost of living and doing business is far below that of the rest of “Northern California” and the LA Basin. Lower wages, energy costs, water costs, land prices, and home prices! Our costs are low as much as 40-60% below many other places in California.
We are more like the California of 50 years ago in terms of community, a place where business is welcomed with open arms and a cost structure providing a platform for success. However, we still offer affordable accessibility to the large markets in California and throughout the Western US, able to reach 50 million end-users within 24 hours.
Many people, with great talent and experience, in electronics, solar, semiconductors, engineering and manufacturing disciplines have come here to take advantage of our lower cost of living and extremely high quality of life.
The average commute is 23 minutes, but only because many of our citizens want to live in our more rural surrounding areas.
Some of the industries which have clustered here include food processors, logging, lumber mills, and other secondary forest products companies, aircraft maintenance/service/ accessory providers, custom metal fabricators, recreational product manufacturers, and concrete casters. We have companies in the restaurant ventilation fabrication business; custom industrial hoses, piping and connectors; architectural and structural metals, an electronic microscope maker, high volume insulation manufacturing, and many technical startups in both cloud applications and “widget” development and production.
We have a hardworking citizenry. They are very productive at work, but also in our community. Our rates of participation in service-oriented organizations are very high on a per capita basis in organizations such as Rotary International, Lions Clubs, and many others. We have a very engaged millennial citizenry with groups such as 20-30s Club, Catalyst and many others. People love to live here and invest in the community.
After our work day is done, we like to play. Shasta County is an “Outdoor Playground.” We are home to a biking, hiking, and walking trail system of over 160 miles, with many of those miles along the Sacramento River or overlooking Shasta Lake, the largest lake in California. We are one of the top 5 sunniest places in the US. Some say, we are number 2! We have a 14,000 ft. peak one hour to our North that is included in the list of the “Best 30 Places to Ski in the World.” Shasta Lake offers houseboating, water skiing, and fishing. Shasta County and the surrounding areas include some of the world’s most sought-after fly-fishing destinations. All around us are beautiful rivers, lakes, mountains, and streams. If you can’t relax here, you can’t relax anywhere.
Statistics show that Shasta County businesses are on average 11 percent more profitable than other businesses in California. We believe that comes for our closeness and collaboration. We know that our community is stronger when we work together. That doesn’t mean that we don’t compete, but it does mean that we do it ethically and wherever there are opportunities to support each other, we search them out.
HESPERIA: IDEAL FOR LOGISTICS
Hesperia, located in a superior Southern California region outside the South Coast Air Quality Management District, but only 90 miles from Los Angeles, makes an ideal location for any industrial, distribution, and manufacturing operations.
facility in Hesperia, which was developed in close proximity to 80 acres of
city-owned rail-accessible property in the city. (Photo: City of Hesperia)
With its strong Interstate highway network, large parcels and prime rail-accessible land, Hesperia can forge a strong link in any supply chain. Goods movement has never been easier—or more cost effective—than in the City of Hesperia.
The city is staffed with pro-development professionals who make it their business to cut through red tape. An added advantage is the Hesperia Economic Development team that fosters ongoing relationships with developers, brokers and landowners. Staff actively cultivates potential buyers and tenants for developers who have sites in Hesperia, promoting vacant land and facilities as locations of choice in the High Desert region in which Hesperia is located.
This pro-active stance proved to be an advantage when Hesperia was contacted by Aemerge, an Indiana-based waste management company interested in a location for their new manufacturing facility. Armed with a lengthy list of potential sites in the region, Adam Seger, President and CEO of Aemerge RedPak Services, visited with Hesperia’s senior ED staff. Although not on the original Aemerge list, a site tour of an industrial property well-known to Hesperia staff, and characterized by them as an optimal location for the project, was facilitated by Coldwell Banker Commercial for the next day. Staff was very optimistic about that particular property while touring the site’s two existing buildings with Seger. Especially important was that all utilities already were in place, so it was easy to visualize RedPak’s future operations there. Soon after the initial site visit, Aemerge chose the Hesperia as the first west coast site for RedPak Services, a manufacturer of energy and beneficial carbon co-products from medical waste.
Initially the focus of the site search had been on the existing industrial buildings, but expansion plans were quickly implemented to encompass an adjacent property, the transaction of which was handled by Coldwell Banker Commercial, eventually doubling the scope of the project. Ultimately, RedPak developed on 4.75 acres in close proximity to 80 acres of city-owned rail-accessible property in the largest industrially-zoned area of Hesperia.
This new 37,700-square-foot facility will be fully operational by November 2017, running two shifts and creating 20 new mortgage-paying jobs within the community. Hesperia staff is now helping to orchestrate RedPak’s open house and ribbon cutting ceremony.
RedPak safely treats medical waste in a manner that utilizes the waste as a medium to produce power and produces carbon black and recycled medical-grade metals. RedPak is the only facility in California permitted to treat all types of medical waste as regulated by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
“Our core focus is to provide a safe, reliable and convenient treatment solution for generators of all medical waste streams,” said Seger.
More than 90 percent of the waste processed through the facility will be landfill diverted, which along with the elimination of hauling out of state for treatment, offers a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This is accomplished using an energy efficient patented technology—the “Carbonizer”—for the treatment and elimination of medical waste for which a significant portion cannot, by law, be treated in the State of California.
Hesperia’s staff has remained a strategic partner with RedPak throughout the process from pre-development meetings and beyond, often times working with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. However, during the project’s planning and construction stages, Hesperia’s ED team also championed the development of RedPak’s project with letters of support to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority so that approval for the issuance of tax exempt bonds would be granted to RedPak.
This pro-growth, customer service oriented city understands the important role manufacturing plays in its overall economic development strategy and has taken progressive steps to ensure that it is a viable location for industry. Domestically, manufacturing is experiencing a renaissance and Hesperia looks forward to capturing its share of the new capital invested in manufacturing and complimentary warehousing/distribution.
