On Tuesday night, City of Davis Chief Innovation Officer Rob White laid out his draft of the city’s proposed Innovation and Economic Vitality work program for 2014 to 2016. As the staff report noted: “The City of Davis and UC Davis have evolved together sharing similar sustainability goals and values, community assets and attributes. Each is now poised to take deliberate, intentional steps to secure more sustainable futures. The City is a globally recognized leader in sustainability and is now presented with the opportunity to further demonstrate leadership in innovation, business growth, education and employment balanced with environmental, social and economic sustainability goals.”
Rob White laid out some of his thoughts in his weekly Vanguard piece on Thursday. He wrote, “Davis has demonstrated new regional leadership by working collaboratively with regional partners and creating a focus on Davis that highlights its unique culture, quality of life, and human capital. Coordination with regional, state and federal legislators has led to early recognition for Davis and has resulted in evolving roles as a leader in the advancement of innovation, economic development and technology.
“And though we have seen challenges in our local economy as we exit the Great Recession – as demonstrated by local job deficits, deflated property values and slower than expected rises in sales tax revenues – some encouraging opportunities have been identified with respect to increased growth in local agricultural technology (agtech), sustainable manufacturing and biomedical companies.
“Davis technology companies are receiving ongoing regional, national and global recognition as leaders of innovation and sustainability. Marrone Bio Innovations, Arcadia Biosciences, Novozymes, DMG Mori Seiki, FMC/Schilling Robotics, Blue Oak Energy and Sierra Energy are but a few examples. And because UC Davis has gained preeminence in interdisciplinary research, the City is experiencing a surge of opportunity to support the development of businesses created from this activity.”
Below is the full video of his presentation to council on Tuesday night as well as the PowerPoint presentation.
Click here to see Rob White’s PowerPoint presentation.
Watch the video of his presentation below…
great presentation rob. i know this has been a challenging time, but i see your hard work paying off.
How do go about quantifying the economic benefits leakage, and it’s twin consequence – aka sales tax leakage – when discussing the pivotal role of technology employment in most communities serving as host to world class research universities? Does the IPTF need more funding to help develop this essential background information?