County talks economic development, including biotech

The San Mateo Daily Journal 5/21/11.  "San Mateo County can lure new business and retain the companies already here by taking a page from areas that already found success by streamlining the permit process, creating industry hubs like the biotech center in South San Francisco and removing obstacles like overlapping requirements, according to a cross-section of officials brainstorming a regional economic strategy.

Sometimes a simply thank you doesn’t hurt, either.  Rosanne Foust, president of the San Mateo County Economic Development Association, recalled how the Redwood City Council on which she also sits, acknowledged two local companies lauded by Forbes’ top 100 places to work. The effort was free but made the businesses realize they were welcome, she said.  Small gestures like that were among the ideas shared Friday by those who gathered as part of RoCKET — Resources Connecting Knowledge, Economics and Technology — an effort spearheaded by county Supervisor Don Horsley to promote economic development. 

Horsley ran for office last year on a platform that included finding ways to lure new business and associated revenue to the county, using biotech as a strong example. Cities, the county and even the state are faced with stiff economic challenges, he said.  “It seems to be the best way out of that is economic development,” he said.  As LinkedIn showed Thursday in its initial public offering, Horsley said, there are a lot of small companies poised for development. San Mateo County ought to be the place they want to call home, he added.  Horsley assembled several individuals with that experience, including South San Francisco Mayor Kevin Mullin, former assemblyman Gene Mullin, BayBio Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Leffler and Burlingame Economic Development Specialist Patricia Love.

Drawing on her experience helping a life science company expand in Burlingame, Love said even companies located outside her city are a win for all when they reside in San Mateo County. The city can’t give companies incentives like huge tax breaks but they can tackle the small issues, she said — removing big trucks from the street so the area appears more research-oriented than industrial, fixing unreliable shuttle times for employees who rely on the mode of transportation and performing checks of buildings and plans before a formal application is submitted.  Jim Eggemeyer, the county community development director, agreed that early assistance is crucial as is establishing a single point person and being available.

Even established companies are constantly at risk of pulling up roots for better business climates in other states and countries, said Assemblyman Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, who chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Biotechnology. “The challenge that we have here is we’re under attack,” he said, citing Genentech’s manufacturing plant in Oregon and calls by the Texas governor to California companies.

South San Francisco, the largest local example of an industry-specific area, drew Genentech in the late ’70s because the former Industrial City had a large amount of vacant space and “we were cheap,” Gene Mullin recalled. The City Council also had to decide if they were willing to take a chance on the future, he said.  The question for it, he said, was “Do we want to have whatever the hell genetic engineering is in our city?”  The city is again involved in large-scale redevelopment by working with Shorenstein Properties LLC and SKS Investments to revamp Oyster Point. When done, the project will include two million new square feet accommodating up to 6,000 jobs. Investment in infrastructure, education and the business climate is what helps draw economic development, Kevin Mullin said.  Experienced staff, like those in the Planning Department, also help.  “When something comes across the counter, they speak the language,” he said.

San Mateo County has a lot of economic gems even if they aren’t widely known, Foust said. For instance, 14 of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the Bay Area, 12 of the largest software companies in the Bay Area, six of the top 25 digital entertainment companies in the Bay Area and seven of the top 25 venture capital clean tech companies in the Bay Area are in San Mateo County, Foust said.The next step is more meetings, hopefully with federal stakeholders like congressional representatives Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo, Horsley said."

Submitted by Jim Wagner