Regional Futures Forum: 2018
Brookings Regional Assessment Released
View Brookings Report:
Charting a course to the Sacramento region’s future economic
prosperity
On April 30, the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program released
an independent assessment of the economy of the six-county
Sacramento region at the Regional Futures Forum held in
Carmichael. The Forum gathered the Sacramento region’s elected
officials and executives from city, county, and non-governmental
organizations for the first time in over a decade to learn
together and plan for a more economically prosperous and
inclusive region.
Earlier this year, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council,
Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Valley Vision,
Sacramento Region Business Association, and the Sacramento Area
Council of Governments partnered to engage the nationally
recognized Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program to conduct
a market assessment of the six-county Sacramento region. The
study examines the economic drivers of successful economies in
regions and benchmarked Sacramento against national markets with
similar characteristics.
“The Brookings Institution is a world-renowned think tank
organization who continues to research and develop plans for
leading regions throughout the nation,” Greater Sacramento
Economic Council President & CEO, Barry Broome said. “It’s
important someone outside of our market is evaluating the
Sacramento region’s advantages and disadvantages to determine how
we can form regional prosperity. The regional market assessment
gives us the framework to move forward as one community and
cohesively work together to build an advanced economy.”
A summary of findings from the market assessment were presented
at the Regional Futures Forum by keynote speaker Amy Liu, Vice
President at Brookings and Director of its Metropolitan Policy
Program. She is a recognized expert on the drivers of successful
regional economies.
“The Sacramento region benefits from an educated workforce,
world-class research institutions, and the presence of the state
government, but our research shows that the region also faces
significant challenges, including lagging growth of its export
industries, stark educational and earnings disparities between
white, black, and Hispanic residents, and investment needs in
transportation and broadband infrastructure to connect residents
to opportunity,” said Ms. Liu. “In an age of rapid technological
changes and an ongoing demographic transformation towards a
majority-minority future, existing disparities will be
exacerbated without deliberate action. Now, leaders across the
region must do the hard work of creating a shared vision for
inclusive growth, mobilizing people in government, business, and
the broader community to tackle these challenges and make the
Sacramento region truly inclusive and prosperous in the years
ahead.”
Although the Sacramento region has recently become more
prosperous and productive, relative to peer metro areas, the
region has struggled to fully recover from a recession, which was
more deeply felt and sustained than in other parts of the nation.
“This region has recovered the 145,000 jobs lost during the
global downturn, but as our economy has rebuilt, far too many
people have been left out of the recovery,” said Valley Vision
CEO Bill Mueller. “As leaders, our next action must be
building a truly inclusive economy that lifts everyone, and that
is the aim of this joint effort.”
To counter this troubling economic trajectory of the past decade,
the assessment highlighted core factors of regional
competitiveness: tradable industries, innovation ecosystems,
skilled labor, efficient infrastructure, and reliable governance.
“It’s important that we focus on diversifying our workforce and
developing a skilled labor force in the coming years,” said
Joshua Wood, CEO of Sacramento Region Business Association.
“These findings help us understand the urgency of investing in
our future workforce and improving the economic competitiveness
of our region to make it a place where businesses can startup and
flourish.”
The findings from the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program
informed the full-day Regional Futures Forum that included
breakout sessions and engaging conversations for attendees to
dive deep into topics and to develop priorities and actions to
take the region to new levels of economic growth, prosperity, and
inclusion. “This report shows just how important it is that we
build an inclusive economy that provides opportunities for
everyone in the Sacramento region,” said Jay Schenirer, City of
Sacramento Council Member and SACOG Board Chair. “Together, our
region needs to provide–among other investments–more workforce
development and on-the-job training opportunities for youth and
young professionals. Investing in digital skills training and
connecting young workers to in-demand occupations and industries
will help our industries grow while creating access to jobs for
more people.”
“A strong regional economy requires us to have a robust
workforce, supportive physical and governmental infrastructure, a
business climate conducive to growth, as well as happy and
healthy communities,” said Amanda Blackwood, incoming President &
CEO of the Metro Chamber. “Right now, the Capital Region is
experiencing an abundance of opportunity while also facing very
real and serious challenges that will require collaboration to
overcome. And while the Metro Chamber has a long history of
active engagement and advocacy to address these important issues,
by building upon the findings of the Brookings Institute, the
Metro Chamber, in partnership with other regional leaders, will
continue working towards the creation of a strategic and aligned
framework for accelerating progress and ultimately the success of
the entire region.”
The Sacramento region has the opportunity to organize and invest
in a shared and inclusive economic future. Building off today’s
forum, the region’s economic development and civic leadership
organizations will continue with stakeholder engagement to
promote ownership, organization, prioritization, and an all-in
commitment to an inclusive economic framework.