Is Stillwater Park Our Future? Should it be? What about Recreation and Tourism?

 

We recently read that Turtle Bay “delivers $9.6 million” to the County last year. Not bad for a Park that receives $350,000 from the City each year to attract visitors from near and far. So, how do the “experts” come up with $9.6 mil? A complicated formula, no doubt, but seems to be based on the theory that the income that Turtle Bay generates is equivalent to 233 full time jobs in the area. These jobs would then provide income that would in turn be spent on living expenses here in Redding, which would in turn generate sales tax, property taxes, and a lot of other jobs that would create income, and on and on.

OK, I’ll buy that, to a degree. However, what does this “income” really tell us? It tells me that “tourism pays”. So, why aren’t our City leaders looking at ways to increase tourism/recreation dollars? In fact, maybe the tourism/recreation “industry” would be a good fit for Shasta County? Maybe even as logical to pursue as big industry coming to Stillwater Business Park. 

 

Since my theory of “tourism/recreation” as our major industry will be discussed, down-played, and dismissed by smarter folks, I broadened my thinking to include all of the other sources of recreation/tourism dollars that flow into the City. There is the hotel-motel tax that is paid for every room occupied. Taxes are paid by Win-River and the 3 movie complexes. From Water World to Shasta Caverns, folks pay for this recreation and part of what they pay flows in as tax income to the city. How about the gas tax that is paid to the City, a good portion of that coming from out of town “tourists”. And so it goes. We are talking some “big bucks”, and yet, what are we doing to increase this “industry” if you will?

 

Stillwater broke ground a few weeks ago, and there was an excitement in the air that we would start seeing new businesses announce they were coming to Redding. We are all hopeful that they will, but will they? Over the past few years, a number of the new businesses, some in manufacturing and hi-tech have come, and gone. My thought is that it could be that we are not looking at the “right business or industry for our area”. Maybe we might consider going after industry that is related to what we seem to be doing pretty well, the recreation and tourism “industry”. Think about it: boats used on our lakes and rivers are built in Oregon, and the equipment used in fishing and water sports is a big business and made someplace, but not Redding. Ski equipment for both water and snow sports are manufactured in various parts of the country, but not in Redding. Bikes for many uses are sold in a number of local stores and come from all over the world, but not from Shasta County. RV’s are sold and repaired here, but are built in Montana or Mississippi. Even swimwear and snow attire could be made here, and the list of recreation/tourism related products goes on. It might be very interesting to be able to go visit the plant where your boat was being built, or see how snowboards or skateboards are made. And, of course, when one company finds that we have a great work force, a reasonable cost of living, and an exceptional quality of life, the word will spread.

 

Wishful thinking or naivety? Maybe. But the fact that we have all of the uses for these various products within a short distance does make a lot of sense to a manufacturer if only from the shipping and transportation aspect. Certainly makes sense to me to seriously look into this potential industry, especially when we don’t have many others lined up at the gate to get into Stillwater Park. But, just my view. 

Thanks,
Ron Largent    Keller Williams Realty in Redding, CA
www.ronlargent.com

 

What a great time we had when Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee spoke to Shasta Voices.....all about California and the state economy....all on the day when President Bush was in Redding, CA...what a day in the north state.
Thanks,

Ron Largent of Keller Williams Realty in Redding, CA
www.ronlargent.com    ronlargent@kw.com  

 

The State of the State, of sorts!

 

 

Last week about 80 of us gathered to hear one of the most enlightening speakers in California, Dan Walters. Dan has been a journalist for more than 40 years, spending all but a few of those years working for California newspapers. At one point in his career, at age 22, he was the nation's youngest daily newspaper editor.

Dan joined The Sacramento Union's Capitol bureau in 1975, just as Jerry Brown began his governorship, and later became the Union's Capitol bureau chief. In 1981, Mr. Walters began writing the state's only daily newspaper column devoted to California political, economic and social events and in 1984, he and the column moved to The Sacramento Bee. He has written more than 6,000 columns about California and its politics and his column now appears in more than 50 California newspapers. He has written about California and its politics for a number of other publications, including The Wall Street Journal and the Christian Science Monitor. In 1986, his book, "The New California: Facing the 21st Century," was published in its first edition. He is the founding editor of the "California Political Almanac," the co-author of a book on lobbying entitled "The Third House: Lobbyists, Money and Power in Sacramento," and is a frequent guest on national television news shows.

 

He came to Redding to give our group, Shasta Voices, his views on where California has been over the past 40 years, and where we are now headed economically, socially, and culturally. A most interesting time, as he gave us a “walk through time” from the 1960’s through today. In case we have forgotten what California, and Redding, was like “back then”, here are some of his points.

 

Traditionally, California was primarily an agricultural and manufacturing state.  Santa Clara County was a leading producer of various crops, located right in the middle of what is now Silicon Valley. Fishing played a big part in the state economy from Eureka to Santa Barbara and Ventura County. Logging was a big part of the north state and the Sierra’s, including Redding. Large auto manufacturing areas, like Ford in Fremont and GM in Southern California employed thousands, and the Oakland Shipyard was one of the largest in the nation. Fontana had the largest steel plant on the west coast, and airplanes were built from San Diego to the Bay area. After Korea and Vietnam, the nature of the California economy started to change. Oil fields closed, tire plants in the Central Valley relocated out of state, and chemical plants shut their doors due to environmental concerns. California had some tough years in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s.

 

To fill this economic void, and address the changing nature of the state, cities and counties, and the State, reacted by encouraging a “new economy’, and companies like Hewlett Packard, Intel, and Apple Computer emerged, joined by a whole new kind of “industry” called Healthcare. Almost overnight, where there were factories and orchards, we saw housing developments, with all of the trades and services involved with this industry, along with a new group of employees called immigrants. They came from all over to the land of opportunities, bringing with them their culture and traditions, and California started absorbing these folks at a record pace. Jobs were created and the economy was rapidly changing. Overnight, biotech and hi-tech companies sprang up, like Gentech in Vacaville and Google and Yahoo in Mountain View. What had been referred to as “Kansas on the West Coast” was quickly becoming the largest “melting pot in the world”, with population groups like Russians moving to Sacramento and Vietnamese to Orange County. This changing culture caused California to change its education strategy, for languages almost unheard of 10 years before were now being taught in the schools. Change would be, and is,  the future of California. like it or not.

 

Today, California needs to create 250,000 jobs a year, just to keep pace with the growth. Every aspect of our lives, from water to transportation, to land use to healthcare is now an “issue” for the State. How the State deals with change, such as the graying of the baby boomers”, will affect each of us. Every service we receive, from good highways to good healthcare will be a ballot item, and each of us  must realize that now, as in the 1800’s, California is still the “destination of choice” for many. The Gold Rush is still with us. Are we ready, is the question. Stay tuned.

 

Ron Largent

July 20, 2008