by Matt Williams
In the discussion last weekend about Davis’ Urban Boundary and Innovation Park Creation Strategy, two of the questions that arose were:
Will an Innovation Park succeed in Davis?
What is the optimal size of an Innovation Park?.
Meg Arnold, a Davis resident who is the CEO of our region’s most notable and active organization championing innovation and entrepreneurship spoke about technology two Fridays ago at the regular meeting of DSIDE (Designing a Sustainable and Innovative Davis Economy), which is an organization started here in Davis in 2011 whose mission is Advocating for long-term economic vitality to protect and enhance the quality of life in the Davis community
Meg’s organization is SARTA, the Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance. The fact that SARTA both exists and thrives is one of the core components of the answer to the first of the two questions posed by Vanguard readers. In large part due to champions like SARTA, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship are alive and well in both the Sacramento Region and in Davis. Meg’s presentation to DSIDE covered Technology and its value to Davis businesses.
Before diving into Meg’s presentation it is important to talk about UC Davis’s Technology Transfer program, which has become much more prominent in the past five years.
UCD sees Technology Transfer as a means of accomplishing its mission of providing public benefit through research and education.. Technology transfer is accomplished in a variety of ways both within and outside the university, ranging from education and outreach programs to commercialization through patenting, licensing and support for entrepreneurship.
To facilitate technology transfer UCD has created InnovationAccess, which “provides a broad spectrum of services specifically aimed at preserving valuable intellectual property and disseminating it for public benefit using the most appropriate means available.” InnovationAccess is responsible for handling and entering various types of contractual arrangements in order to properly and efficiently transfer intellectual property to commercial enterprises, as well as to universities and other non-profit institutions.
How much Technology does Davis have?
In her presentation to DSIDE Meg shared some very interesting information about the current presence of Technology companies in Davis. Her graphic below is one of those “a picture is worth a thousand words” situations. Although the appellation is probably already outdated, I’m inclined to refer to the Davis technology companies as the “Great 58.”
Meg did not share the list of the 58 technology companies that call Davis home, but in the next slide in her presentation shown below she broke the 58 companies out into industry categories.
Most of us know that the UC Davis School of medicine is one of the best in the US, so it is no surprise that approximately a third of Davis’ Tech companies are in the Med Tech sector. Nor is it a surprise that approximately a quarter of them are in Ag Tech. Both of those sectors build on UCD’s core competencies, and with the increased commitment of UCD to transfering technology for the public benefit through InnovationAccess,, we can expect both the Med Tech and Ag/Food Tech presence in Davis to grow.
What isn’t as obvious from two graphs above is the opportunity for growth that exists in the engineering sectors (Robotics, Machinery & Equipment, et.al.) Engineering is one of UCD’s core competencies in large part because of Kazuo Yamazaki, professor of mechanical engineering, whose program studies how computers can be used to control and run manufacturing and design tools.
Professor Yamazaki has made unique contributions to the manufacturing industry, both in the US and abroad, through his research on intelligent machine tools and through his training of young engineers. This support both acknowledges the unique work done in Professor Yamazaki’s laboratory and the high value that the industry places on faculty research.
The founders of Digital Technology Laboratory (DTL) Corporation were graduates from Professor Yamazaki’s program. DTL, a technology success story in its own right, now is the research and development arm of Mori Seiki, one of the largest machine tool manufacturers in the world; and consultation services and support for many machine tool users. Their stated mission is to provide advanced manufacturing and machine technology for CNC machine tools.
Mori Seiki’s commitment to Davis coupled with Professor Yamazaki’s UCD program should provide considerable incentive for the next iteration of entrepreneurs like the founders of DTL.
Rather than reciting all the positive information about the one robotics company in Davis’ Great 58, the Shilling Robotics division of FMC Technologies, I’m going to point you to a recent newspaper article that does it much better than I ever could. Just click here and enjoy the reading.
The above information doesn’t answer the two Vanguard questions, but it does begin the process of answering them.
surprised no one has commented here yet. i think it’s clear that davis has the potential to attract a lot here if we are cognizant of our opportunity and influence.
I was just informed of the UC Davis World Food Center initiative.
[url]http://chancellor.ucdavis.edu/speeches-writings/2013/world-food-center-7.18.13.html[/url]
UCD private-public business partnerships are going to advance with or without us. I suspect that UCD is talking to Solano county in anticipation of Davis no-growth activists blocking yet another opportunity to open up some land for business development.
I have often reflected that Davis lacks upper-scale full-service restaurants that would serve our rather affluent population of regular residents (no shortage of coffee, pizza, Mexican, sandwich and Thai restaurants to satisfy our student population).
With this announcement from the Chancellor about the UCD World Food Center initiative, Davis should begin to emphasize the need for growth of our retail food and entertainment business sector. Davis can be a culinary destination… one that focuses on local farm produce and innovation.
But none of this is possible without opening some land to develop on.
Changes to our zoning – for example expanding the commercial zone of the core to the near-core, and allowing for taller buildings – can certainly help. There are also some in-fill options we should focus on to expand our food and entertainment sectors. However, ultimately we will need to open up some peripheral retail development.
I would develop a retail center on 113 around the hospital and relocate Davis Ace there.
Then I would build a hotel and food market on G street.
Here is what I would model it after:
[url]http://napa.andaz.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html[/url]
[img]http://www.cscdc.org/miscfrank/andaz2.jpg[/img]
[url]http://oxbowpublicmarket.com/[/url]
[img]http://www.cscdc.org/miscfrank/oxbow1.jpg[/img]
[quote]… spoke about technology two Fridays ago at the regular meeting of DSIDE[/quote]
DSIDE still exists? And holds regular meetings?
Anyone care to take a stab at how many businesses like the current 58 can be housed per acre, or — vice versa — how many acres of business park it takes to support the average tech/innovation business? That would help inform consideration of business park acreage demand over time.
Jim, if I remember Tyler Schilling’s public comment from last Tuesday night, FMC Schilling Robotics is looking for 40 acres for their one company.
Bayer/AgraQuest has contracted for a total of 20 acres for their new West Sacramento location.
HM Clause is rumored to be looking to relocate its current Davis footprint which is 140 acres on the west side of Mace Boulevard (in Solano County) and 47 acres on the east side of Mace Boulevard (in Yolo County)
[url]http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2013/05/31/davis-seed-company-harris-moran-grows.html[/url]
Those are all examples on the large size, but you can see from that information that the answer to the business park acreage demand over time question is not a simple one to answer.
[quote]Harris Moran, part of a unit called HM Clause, will move from a 4,000-square-foot space on Mace Road into an 11,000-square foot one on Cousteau Court, under a lease agreement brokered by the Buzz Oates Group of Cos.[/quote]
[quote]HM Clause is rumored to be looking to relocate its current Davis footprint which is 140 acres on the west side of Mace Boulevard (in Solano County) and 47 acres on the east side of Mace Boulevard (in Yolo County)
[/quote]
In terms of the space HM Clause needs in town for offices and such, 11,000 square feet is 1/4 acre. What they need in ag land doesn’t need to be in the city limits. Their ag field trials would be appropriate in ag zoning. Where exactly do they have 187 acres right now, and how does that pertain to any business park we might build inside the city limits?
Don, if you go south on Mace Boulevard just before the South Putah Creek levee you will find Harris Moran’s facility on the right with the 140 acres of seed fields spreading out behind the facility, and 47 acres immediately across Mace Boulevard.
As the information that Bayer/AgraQuest shared publicly during their location search tells us, the most desirable configuration is with the trial greenhouses/fields immediately adjacent to the labs/offices. In West Sac they settled for 10 acres in one location and 10 acres remotely located.
One of the advantages that Davis could have over most other cities is the ability to provide that very adjacency, with the offices/labs inside the Innovation Park boundary and the greenhouses/trial fields immediately outside the Innovation Park on some of the permanently conserved ag land. The graphic below shows that possibility with the Potential Incremental Easement areas shown in purple being immediately adjacent to the cross-hatched Innovation Park West area on the Class IV soils west and north of Sutter Davis Hospital.
[IMG]http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h321/mwill47/ConservationBoundary-1_zps89f90176.jpg[/IMG]
Mick Jagger has often told us that “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.
Don Shor said . . .
[i]”In terms of the space HM Clause needs in town for offices and such, 11,000 square feet is 1/4 acre.”[/i]
Don, what do you think the total footprint is of 11,000 square feet of office space? The office space itself is only a portion of the total footprint.
Continuing the discussion from prior threads, we need to figure out what we, as a city, want to accomplish. From my perspective, the primary goal is to obtain enough sustainable revenue to balance the budget while accommodating legally-mandated growth targets. A secondary aim is to protect as much ag land around the city as is feasible.
Anyone have budget figures handy? How much do we need to provide reasonable service levels and make up for the retiree demands that are coming?
Well said Jim. The only tweak I would make to your statement is that for me the “sustainable revenue to balance the budget” goal and the “protecting as much ag land around the city as feasible” goal are co-equal given the historical culture of Davis.
They clearly are interdependent. If the budget isn’t balanced, any monies needed to permanently protect the ag land will be hard to come by. In times like those the protection will have to come from our community actions rather than through financial and legal instrument, which will be fiscally unfeasible due to the budget deficit.
[i]for me the “sustainable revenue to balance the budget” goal and the “protecting as much ag land around the city as feasible” goal are co-equal[/i]
If I agree with this, then it is clear we have been out of balance focusing on ag land protection and ignoring “sustainable revenue to balance the budget”. So, the latter should take precedent until we have reached a level of balance or until we have a clear strategy that ensures we will reach a level of balance. In the meantime we can celebrate all that land we have already preserved and we can look forward to more of the same.
To answer the broader question about the technology sector (and the implied what is going on around Davis in this sector), here is some of the news and activities as it relates directly to City of Davis involvement. This is not intended to be a complete list and does not take in to account the efforts of other groups, like UCD – these are only things with direct links to efforts with the City staff:
** State of California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) Innovation Hubs –
Four new iHubs were designated by GO-Biz earlier this week, including the California Network for Manufacturing Innovation (CNMI).
More info on GO-Biz: http://business.ca.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=jzanjcqMs2Q=&tabid=40&mid=626
http://business.ca.gov/
CNMI is a non-profit corporation for the purpose of promoting manufacturing competitiveness in California through a collaboration of industry, national laboratories, technical assistance, government agencies, academia, workforce and economic development organizations. Rob White, CIO for the City of Davis, is the lead for the Policy and Communications Working Group.
More info on CNMI Working groups: http://www.cnmi.bz/working-groups/
** Innovation Park Task Force
Meetings to be started in mid-October (agendas and dates being finalized now). Will include members of the previous task force, but will take on a role as an unofficial committee in order to create the greatest community dialogue possible around the topic of innovation, entrepreneurs, tech sector growth, and potential for business parks to serve these areas. Meeting times and place will be publicized and posted. Open meeting processes will still be followed.
** Innovation Council
As an unofficial successor to the City’s Business and Economic Development Commission (BEDC), the City Manager and Chief Innovation Officer will begin convening an advisory body to be known as the Innovation Council to regularly discuss community-wide needs and ideas for economic development, tech sector support, small business starts, and support for our retailers. This group will be selected by the City Manager and CIO and will consist broadly of representatives from across the economic and business landscape.
** Davis Roots Speaker Series- Bazu Sports Co-founder Paul Itoi
This month’s event showcases Bazu Sports, which was started in Davis in 2009 as a marathon and triathlon timing company with a special focus on mobile text messaging services.
Oct 11 @ 5 pm to 6:30 pm.
Location – Davis Roots building: 604 2nd Street, Davis
More Info: http://davisroots.org/event/now-speaker-series-featuring-bazu-sports/
** Twitter Workshop – Sacramento Business Journal’s Connectionopolis
Many orgs in Davis are starting to use Twitter as a way to rapidly and succinctly provide information. This is a low cost workshop that will assist you in learning about the usefulness of Twitter for your business, news info, and personal life.
October 24, 2013 @ 5 pm to 6:30 pm
Location: Davis Senior Center: 646 A Street, Davis
More Info: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/event/96541
And more…
** Davis Start-Up Weekend – Co-hosted by Davis Roots, HackerLab, and City of Davis
A 40-hour innovation event that focuses entrepreneur teams on rapidly solving an issue or problem.
Nov 15 @ 5:30 pm until Nov 17 @ noon.
Location – Old Dimple Records space: F Street, Downtown Davis
More Info: http://davisroots.org/event/davis-startup-weekend/
** FarmHack
Though not a City function, it bears special note due to its unique focus.
Meet other farmers, designers, engineers, mechanics, and builders. Learn about some of the problems small-scale farmers are facing, and participate in design sessions to brainstorm potential solutions to these challenges.
Nov 16th and 17th, begins at 9 am.
Location: Glide Ranch, Davis
More Info: http://farmhack.net/shop/national-center-appropriate-technology
** Northern California Academy of Leadership
A ten-month leadership program designed to grow business leaders in the 530 region of Northern California with particular focus on the tech and entrepreneur sectors. Topics include Creativity and Innovation, Networking, Building Effective Business Teams, and Navigating Change. The City of Davis is a partner with the Innovate North State iHub and sits on the Board.
Application period opens on October 15th. Cost is $1,500, and includes a retreat.
Academy starts January 2014.
More Info: http://innovate-northstate.com/nor-cal-northern-california-academy-of-leadership/
Planned for 2014
•City of Davis Quarterly Symposium on relevant tech topics, including agriculture, medicine, biotech and advanced/sustainable manufacturing. Collaborations to present the symposia to include SARTA, Innovate North State, UCD, Davis Roots, techDAVIS, HackerLab, federal labs, and other innovation groups relevant to Davis.
•Innovation Challenge – in early spring 2014, the City will co-host an entrepreneurs showcase and competition with Innovate North State in Davis. More info to come.
Jim – I do not have those budget figures handy, but I suspect it is something the Innovation Park task force will be able to bring forward as part of that forum.