What has GSEC been up to?

The Greater Sacramento Economic Council Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC) is Sacramento’s ambassador to businesses worldwide. The council’s ultimate goal is to recruit companies to the region. Through various programs, GSEC plants the seeds to make Sacramento a better place to do business. Recently, their monthly newsletter featured a couple of these initiatives.?

The Entrepreneurship Growth Alliance reaches inward while the Globalizing Greater Sacramento reaches out.

GSEC is partnering with the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Growth Alliance. Over the past five years, they have seen $12.17 billion invested to expand Sacramento's entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem. This initiative will promote collaboration among accelerators, investors, startup support organizations, and the educational sector. Click on the link here: The Entrepreneurship Initiative.

GSEC and the Sacramento International Airport are executing The Globalizing Greater Sacramento initiative, increasing direct flights to the Greater Sacramento region and improving one-stop Atlantic connectivity through East Coast hubs. Around 50% of business development activity is currently from international companies, making this a massive step towards further expanding business opportunities in the region.

Across industries, organizations are looking for headquarters/expansion locations that will provide the infrastructure, workforce, and business climate needed to support their success. ?Business Facilities magazine uses its Annual Metro Rankings Report to recognize metro areas and cities of all sizes for attracting and retaining businesses from numerous industry sectors. In their 2023 report, Sacramento was named a top 10 tech talent leader among small cities (labor pool under 50,000) and ranked 2nd for growth in the life sciences industry.?

The rise of remote work in 2020 led to a 70% increase in people relocating from San Francisco County to Sacramento County. GSEC noted that the Greater Sacramento area is now home to more than 450 full-time employees from Google and Microsoft alone. This Silicon Valley exodus could be blamed on soaring housing prices in the Bay Area or “the abundance of delicious, local dining options available” as the New York Times noted in their recent review of the food scene in America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital of Sacramento.?

It could result from all the work GSEC has done to continue making Sacramento a better place to do business. GSEC has been directly responsible for large companies like Centene* (formerly Health Net) moving to the area and helped Clutch, a leading woman-owned business specializing in consulting services for both private and public sectors, secure $11 million from the California Competes grant.?

Recognized as the Sacramento Business Journal’s fastest-growing company, Clutch plans to hire more than 600 individuals by 2027. On January 19th they celebrated the move to their new HQ, a 78,000 SF office building in Rancho Cordova. The space will also be home to Frequency Coworking and a new VC fund, accelerator, and incubator, the MinervaVerse (coming in 2025). The approximately $1.5 million capital expenditure from this new investment will significantly impact the local community and the Sacramento business landscape.

Recently, Mark Haney (and his Co-host Ashley Haney) launched a new podcast addressing different regions and economic drivers within the Sacramento MSA. For this inaugural podcast, Michelle Willard, with GSEC provides insights about the region's attractions that draw people here. It feels like we are just getting started and in for a nice 10-year run!