Economic Development

Of all the elements of the upcoming General Plan we have studied, our Task Force found Lodi’s current state of economic development or job creation as most lacking. It is critical the people of Lodi, our elected officials and city staff show greater respect for the retention and create activity producing the attraction of jobs, as jobs, are the chief contributor to a strong local economy.

The need for a consistent economic development program is actually magnified due to our 2% growth cap which has a tendency to retard property tax and sales tax revenues. With these two revenue contributors to city coffers being smaller by comparison to other neighboring cities, the ability to attract good paying private sector jobs is imperative.

Lodi is in desperate need of new industrial and commercial zoned land, especially industrial. With no dedicated position for economic development within city hall the environment for development to occur, we believe, has been severely handicapped. Such a position serves as the advocate for prospective businesses seeking to get up and running. This position is a guide through the maze of permits, fees, and city requirements. For several years now there has been no spending that has yielded positive job growth. In short Lodi has not been out for business, but to a degree we have been out of business competitively speaking.

At the Chamber we hear a need for a new attitude of cooperation centered around a “pro-jobs” mentality. We believe jobs have been caught up in the “growth-no growth” debates and that should not happen and is certainly not the case. We recognize under recent budget cutbacks, constraints there has been a need to find cash for city coffers wherever possible. One idea, as an example of a “jobs attitude,” would be for an employer creating a certain number of jobs to be eligible for some impact fee reductions or wavier. For other projects that did not appreciably contribute to the Lodi job pool, they would pay full tariffs. We offer this as a back-drop to say new land is not enough. We need an advocate and “project pilot” inside city hall, a budget to work with, and the ability to accelerate processes that have bogged down in recent years.

Without a doubt Lodi is a “cut above” in many respects to other California Cities. Our climate for business development needs an extreme makeover, and it needs to be of a quality to compliment our city’s other attributes. Here are what the task force believes the City should do in terms of attracting jobs and producing economic development:

• Fund an economic development position as a priority investment for the next city budget cycle.
• Place in our sphere and annex contiguous land on Lodi’s east side for manufacturing, warehousing, and various forms of commercial, retail and office usage.
• Develop a Master Plan for all new land annexed into the city on the east side of Lodi.
• Supply the new business park area with the needed infrastructure plan to attract the clean industries and businesses we desire in the community.
• Develop targeted industries, working with the SJ Partnership and their resources to expedite attraction of businesses that compliment what Lodi is about.
• The City must embrace the need and begin developing a comprehensive Economic Development Plan for balanced job creation. It is our belief the changing economic times call for new strategies with creative public-private partnerships focusing on Lodi’s best opportunities for meaningful, primary job growth.
• A comprehensive review of current policies that enable or dissuade development should be performed. Also work hand-in-hand with the Chamber and service providers in the community in a Business Retention and Expansion effort.

Assuming the Delta College campus is approved and annexed into the City of Lodi, land immediately to the south of the campus should also be brought into the City. This would be a piece of land extending south from Victor Road approximately ¼ mile and running west from Tecklenburg, back to ¼ mile east of the Traction Railroad Line, where upon the boundary or eastern city limit line would come down to the south, just east (1/4 mile) parallel the Traction Rail Lines, basically down Curry Ave.

By doing this Lodi picks up rare “rail accessibility” parcels linking to Stockton terminals and the Port, valuable to businesses needing rail siding. The eastern city limit line will continue to parallel the tracks straight south to ½ mile below Harney. In doing this, the City is “squared off” with commercial and residential in the Reynolds Ranch area just west of highway 99 and south of Harney Lane, and to the north on Victor road.

The Master Plan can tailor the types of businesses and employment centers in the different areas of this expanded business park. For example, the parcels along
Victor Road south of the Delta Campus must fit into the transition from industrial zoning to the west and vineyards to the east. The beautiful tree-lined Victor Road should front office complexes and mixed use office-retail. The parcels along the railroad would be suited for warehousing. While Lodi should not be all about recruiting a lot of logistics type businesses because of low job density, some will desire to be along the rails, a logical place for them.

The Master Plan must also consider commercial / retail along the very valuable and highly visible Highway 99 frontage and along the arterials Kettleman & Harney. In between the two east west roads could be the multi-tenant, high job-density structures, which will provide business space for a variety of businesses. The whole design, because of its planning, will have a coordinated look, with a respect visually for both the workers in the area, the visual “quality look of Lodi” and the neighboring ag lands to the east.

A Master Planned Business Park is essential in attracting higher paying jobs to Lodi. While the wine and hospitality industries will bring tourists and tax revenue to Lodi, the higher paying jobs attracted through the business park will contribute more to the ongoing strength of the local economy. We neither want, nor can the City afford to become, a bedroom community where people leave the City and go out of town for employment. In our view, developing a Master Plan and following that plan is the only way to ensure we attract the right businesses and not have hodge-podge growth done in a piece meal manner.

At the Chamber we are continually hearing the need for quality workers. Minimal skills needed are language, math and the ability to write. We also hear there are people who want to work with a strong work ethic who want and need a better wage. This begs the question, why are they missing each other and is there some way to facilitate the critical necessary meeting? We would urge a City-LUSD-Chamber partnership to create a JOBS RESOURCE CENTER located on the eastside of Lodi. This Center would be a physical place where a person wanting to work can find help to overcome barriers, learn where to gain skills to employment and also meet Lodi employers that have jobs for those who qualify. It would seem to do many good things including a lot for the eastside rehabilitation.

Lastly, Lodi needs to support whole-heartedly two separate initiatives in the coming weeks (Summer-Fall 2007). If Lodi is fortunate to have these two economic stars align, they will work terrifically together for our economic development effort.

First is the activation of Lodi’s Redevelopment Agency. This is of major importance to energize and stimulate investment into depressed and blighted parts of our city. With no negative economic impact in taxes or fees on business owners or citizens, the lion’s share of incremental property tax gain is returned to a specific area in Lodi for reinvestment. Such activity creates jobs where there are none and not much hope for any, plus a Redevelopment Agency brings new life to run down neighborhoods decreasing crime and increasing prosperity. Funds can be used for many projects but for the purposes of this report the focus is on economic benefit in job creation. A redevelopment agency is a tool to stimulate economic development in areas of Lodi which are in the greatest need of investment.

Second, the state of California is limited to only 42 Enterprise Zones. Every so often the state will allow a set number of these zones to modify their plan. The San Joaquin County Department of Economic Development is one of 23 counties (or zones) applying for 1 of 8 modification slots in 2007. The SJC proposal is a billion dollar expansion of Stockton’s Enterprise Zone to include almost all the cities of San Joaquin County. Like the redevelopment zone, incentives are given to employers within a certain geographic area. The EDD is considering basically Sacramento Street east through the industrial zoning east of highway 99. The City will need to participate in application costs on a proportionate basis, and some economic incentives. City of Lodi incentives, yet undefined we believe, should be viewed as investment spending, based on potential gains. We encourage Lodi to take this step.

The Enterprise Zone funds facilitate business start-ups and give tax incentives per employee to those businesses who qualify within the zone’s boundaries. The Enterprise Zone and Redevelopment Agency work together and do not negate one another’s benefits to the business owner, or to the City.

Anything the City can do to bring these two initiatives into being will greatly accelerate the success of economic development in Lodi.