Infrastructure Bonds to Support Port/Goods Movement Improvements in NorCal

I attended the NorCal Trade Corridor Coalition Meeting on Tuesday at the Port of Oakland. It was a full house with at least 50 attendees from the public and private sectors, representing jurisdictions all over Northern and Central California. The goal is to develop a list of project proposals that could be funded by the $2 billion infrastructure bond funds that were approved by voters last year. It seems that there is a lot of competition between Northern and Southern California for these funds, which will be used to improve ports and goods movement infrastructure. The Southern California ports already have a list of projects lined up and ready to go, while the Northern CA groups have not yet come to agreement on a specific list of projects. The NorCal Trade Corridor Coalition was started to bring together a wide variety of interests in the region, to help determine what the projects should be. $2 billion seems like a huge amount of money, but when it comes to transportation infrastructure, especially in a huge state like California, it's really not. Several people made remarks, including Omar Benjamin, director of the Port of Oakland; Jeff Brown and Norman Fassler-Katz from the California State Senate (representing Senator Lowenthal and the Senate Subcommittee on Goods Movement); Tom Addison from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District; and representatives from several county Councils of Governments. Sacramento COG was represented by Pete Hathaway, director of transportation planning. The meeting lasted just over two hours and was followed by a reception at GSC Logistics, a freight forwarder with offices in the Port building. I was just there as an observer, but was impressed by the number of people and organizations represented, and also by the interest from the private sector. I'll be curious to follow this project and see what happens in the future. Next meeting is May 22, but that's the date of the NCWTC's Consular Corps Luncheon.

Significance of Trade to California's Economy

• Small businesses account for 95% of ALL California’s exports.
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  California companies exported nearly $128 billion worth of goods in 2006 – not including services.
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  California companies export to 224 global markets
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  Vietnam is California's fastest growing market among the state's 30 largest export destinations
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  Export-supported jobs account for an estimated 8.6 percent of California's total private-sector employment
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  More than one-fourth (26.3 percent) of all manufacturing workers in California depend on exports for their jobs
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  Exports from CA to China have nearly tripled from 2000 to 2006

NorCal Trade Corridor Coalition to Meet 3/27 in Oakland

Please plan to attend the next meeting of the Northern California Trade Corridor Coalition on Tuesday, March 27th from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Port of Oakland (530 Water Street, Oakland). We will continue our conversation with regional transportation planning agencies about improving freight mobility in the Altamont and Central corridors, as well as discussing plans for growing the Coalition and advocating effectively. Additional agenda items and presenters will be announced shortly with a draft agenda; in the meantime please mark the time on your calendar and let me know if you plan to attend (or if someone else from your organization will attend). And please share this notice with business associates in other organizations that you think should be involved in the Coalition; the broader and larger that the Coalition becomes, the more influential and effective it will be.

Goods Movement Headlines

Jerry Tidwell, Safeway Senior Vice President Supply Operations, represented the Northern California Trade Corridor Coalition in testimony before a recent hearing of the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission in Los Angeles. Jerry described the business effects of inadequate trade infrastructure in Northern California and emphasized the need for a coordinated federal/state/regional strategy for investing in trade infrastructure. The Commission is developing recommendations for Congress and the President on how they should structure the next federal transportation act, and there is an opportunity through this process to advocate for a larger federal role in supporting goods movement.

Fresh from allocating $4.5 billion from Proposition 1B for highway projects, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) is now turning its attention to the $2 billion goods movement category. On March 8th, CTC staff will convene a kick-off meeting of state, regional, and local public agency staff that will discuss options and provide recommendations to the Commission on how to implement the program. The workings of this group will provide the first insights on how the CTC intends to implement the $2 billion program and also provides the first opportunity for the Coalition to shape and influence the direction of the program.

The California Legislature is prepared to guide the $2 billion goods movement program as well. Legislation has been introduced in both the Assembly (AB 995) and Senate (SB 9) that states the intent of the Legislature to define how the program is to be implemented; these same bills will likely be amended later to include specific program guidance.

Kiplinger California Letter features Int'l Trade

Here is the lead article from the March 21, 2007 Kiplinger California Letter:


New exporting opportunities abound for Calif. businesses as the dollar stays cheap
and trading partners’ economies thrive. Expanded trade infrastructure will help
at major ports of Oakland, San Diego, Stockton and L.A./Long Beach. Docks are being overhauled to handle the growth of shipments overseas. They’re adding workers to increase port hours. Warehouses are being built along trade routes. And highways and rails are being upgraded. Additional markets are opening up. Besides mainstays Mexico, Canada, Japan and China, India has huge potential as it tries to imitate China’s success. Brazil’s economy is poised to expand rapidly. And sales will soon grow in Central America and Chile, thanks to recent trade agreements. Figure on a 9% increase in sales abroad from California for 2007, repeating 2006 gains. The state will beef up trade support. After shutting down in the 2003 budget crunch,
the Calif. Trade Technology and Commerce Agency is likely to be revived, sponsoring trade missions and advertising Calif. goods in other nations. Companies can count on local help from World Trade Centers, run by business groups to train business owners and to link companies with foreign trade partners. World Trade Centers are in Sacramento, S.F./Oakland, L.A./Long Beach and San Diego. See www.wtca.org. The centers help line up financial aid, such as loans from banks, from the Small Business Administration and from the Export-Import Bank. Don’t overlook community colleges, which offer classes and advice through California’s Centers for International Trade Development. Products with the best potential are in hard-to-fill niches: Specialty agriculture products such as nuts and citrus. Software.
Environmental technology. Aircraft equipment. Electrical machinery. Popular services: Engineering. Infrastructure development. Architecture. Mold remediation. Security. And home-building expertise. Just getting started? Here’s what the experts recommend: Do plenty of market research on demographics and competition. Consider intermediaries, such as export-trading companies, which buy your products and sell them in the foreign country. Visit trade fairs in the U.S. or abroad to promote your product. The Commerce Dept. has more tips at www.unzco.com/basicguide.

I started this blog because...

...international trade is an important part of the Sacramento region's economy, and will be even more crucial in the future as California ports accept a huge increase in imports from Asia. The Northern California World Trade Center is the region's premier international business membership organization, providing a variety of programs, events, and services to local businesses who are already engaged in trade or who are interested in learning about opportunities available in the global marketplace. I wanted to start this blog to create a forum for information on international trade in Sacramento - a place where interested people can learn about events and programs, and learn about statistics and companies that are leaders in international trade in our area. I welcome any comments and feedback, and I invite you to visit the NCWTC's website at www.norcalwtc.org.