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YUBA COUNTY UPDATE - SEPTEMBER 2003

Located in California’s booming capital region, Yuba County is a mecca for recreational activities, including the Sleep Train Amphitheatre and a proposed $90 million hotel/resort development in its Sports/Entertainment Zone. It offers tax incentives in California's largest Enterprise Zone, and was ranked a “Best Place to Do Business” in California by Forbes/Milken in 2001 and 2002.

A positive trend is occurring in Yuba County, California.  Aided by strong sales in construction materials, retail sales from January through March of 2003 showed a 23.7% sales tax increase as compared to the same quarter in 2002.

“Significant sales from businesses located within the Yuba County Airport Industrial Parks also contributed to the recent upswing,” commented Economic Development Coordinator John Fleming. “Only one county in California performed better than Yuba County for first quarter comparisons, and that’s due to positive retail activity in both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County,“ stated Fleming. Fleming sees the positive trend continuing for the next few years in retail and job growth.

During the last quarter of 2002 and the first quarter of 2003, the County has sold over 50 acres at the Yuba County Airport.  Airport Manager and Enterprise Zone Director, Mary Hansen, stated that the recent successes are a result of years of work.  “We’ve been continually marketing the property for over ten years,” she said.  “It’s just now starting to pay off.  With the added benefit of the properties located within the  Yuba-Sutter Enterprise Zone, significant tax savings for equipment purchases and employee hiring are real,” she added.  Hansen said a key breakthrough happened in November when prominent Sacramento area developer Buzz Oates decided to invest in the industrial parks.  Ground has already been broken for the development of eight ready-to-occupy facilities similar to projects he has done in the Lincoln and Stockton areas.

Commercial and retail developments are also gaining ground.  The County’s first Wal-Mart held a welcome grand opening in August. Prior to this 100,000 square foot newest retail addition, residents in an area 57 miles long by 22 miles wide in Sacramento’s northern corridor were forced to leave the County to buy common, household items.

The Yuba City MSA, which includes Yuba County, was ranked as the "Best place to do business" by Forbes Magazine and the Milken Institute in 2001 and 2002.  In May

2003, it was ranked by Forbes Magazine and Economy.com as 11th out of 168 areas nationwide for job growth, and 19th for income growth. Yuba County's strongest

points include available and relatively inexpensive land, a low cost of housing ($130,000 median home price in 2002), and a low cost of doing business. Yuba County does not have a business license fee for most businesses, no utility user tax, no Regional Transportation Fee or Tax, no Local Sales Tax in addition to State Sales

Tax of 7.25%, no Parking Tax, and no Gross Receipts Tax. Although Yuba County is within the booming Sacramento Region, high unemployment levels in Yuba County (typically double-digit) provide an available labor pool.

Yuba County offers a low-cost alternative to other areas in California. As a result, County-owned properties in the eight airport industrial parks are essentially sold out to new manufacturing-related facilities.

To support future growth, economic development staff has successfully applied for over $5.5 million in grant funding for the extension of water, sewer, power, and related infrastructure improvements for the development of the Airport Industrial Parks. These improvements have enabled several new companies to locate within the parks, adding over 500 new employees. Staff successfully assisted in applying for and managing grants for the construction of a $2.3 million water treatment plant that serves the Yuba County Airport’s eight industrial park.  The project included the extension of new water lines that has opened up the availability of an additional 150 acres adjoining the Airport Industrial Parks and zoned for industrial projects.

“The demand for existing or new industrial space for small to medium-sized manufacturing firms has reached an all-time high,” noted Fleming. “And these are the same companies that will show the most growth over the next few years.”

In 2000, a $25 million Bill Graham Presents outdoor amphitheater was constructed in Yuba County's Sports/Entertainment Zone, an area rezoned by an 87% countywide initiative in 1998. The Sleep Train Amphitheatre now anchors a Zone that has other proposed uses, including a casino/hotel/resort project. Nearly 1,000,000 concert-goers have attended since the amphitheatre opened; an eclectic mix of shows have included Britney Spears, Dave Matthews, Carlos Santana, Aerosmith, and Brooks & Dunn.

Possibly the construction project that will have the most significant long-term impact on Yuba County is the Highway 70 widening and improvement project. Started May

2003 by the Department of Transportation, the project effectively builds two lanes each direction between Sacramento and Marysville. This will ultimately result in the success of the Plumas Lake Specific Plan area, approved in 1993, and now under construction for as many as 12,000 single family residential housing units. Beazer Homes, the 6th largest residential home builder in the country, has begun grading lots for some of the first sub-divisions in the Plumas Lake area and should have preview model homes constructed and pre-sales under way before the end of 2003.

The Yuba-Sutter region successfully lobbied the Department of Defense to locate the newest Air Force mission to Beale Air Force Base, located in Yuba County. Global Hawk, an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft will bring an estimated 725 government and civilian jobs to the area and have a $150 million annual impact on the region when the new mission begins rolling in to the base in 2004.

The Yuba-Sutter region successfully submitted an application to the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency to extend the life of the Yuba-Sutter Enterprise Zone, a State enterprise zone, for another 5 years. The Enterprise Zone is currently the largest, geographical Zone in California and provides significant hiring and tax credits to new, expanding, and existing businesses.

To spur entrepreneurial growth, Economic Development staff in Yuba County has created a micro-business training and loan program in partnership with the local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Four classes with approximately 60 students have successfully graduated from the program to pursue start-up businesses or improve existing small businesses in the Yuba-Sutter Region.